impeachment procedures contained in it. wewill receive evidence and will conduct the proper hearings. period. thank you very much. reporter: when will you have the hearing? and the other members care to expand? [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> coming up we talk with members of congress on the house judiciary committee hearing. pennsylvania congressman mike kelly, massachusetts , nowesswoman lori trahan

with congressman anthony brown and kevin hurt. join the discussion all morning long with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. " is next. ♪ host: good morning. it is thursday, december 5, 2019. this is "washington journal." after the marathon house judiciary hearing on the basis for impeachment, timing because an issue. we should get clarity with speaker pelosi. there are many house members pushing for a vote before the house leaves for the holidays. we will talk to members and ask you should the impeachment vote happen before christmas. if you agree it should, 202-748-8000.

no, that is 202-748-8001. particularly if you have a legal or constitutional experience, your thoughts on the hearing. you can send us a text, 202-748-8003. tell us where you are texting from and your name. on twitter, we are @cspanwj. and on facebook, facebook.com/cspan. the long hearing yesterday, in total, 6 to 7 hours worth. harvard, pamela karlan, michael gerhardt, and jonathan turley. the headline, democrats push for a vote by christmas. house leaders insist they can juggle legislation and impeachment. house democrats accelerated the rush to impeach president trump with the leaders dropping the pretense of not anticipating the

vote before the end of the year. nancy pelosi insisted there is no set schedule or expectation for articles of impeachment, but rank-and-file democrats told the washington times leadership has been hoping for an impeachment vote before christmas and appear to be teeing it up. i don't know if they can get done by christmas, i know there is a hope it might said jens himes of connecticut and the majority leader steny hoyer saying he saw an opening for an impeachment vote before new year's day when impeachment would get thrown into the mix with election politics. there is time to do it before the end of the year according to steny hoyer. let's get it over with and into the senate so we can do a real investigation. mark said the senate should drag it out for months. says the trial will be

over by christmas. this process is moving to -- too fast. regardless of what you think of this democrat play, you need to consider where you stand on our constitution and bill of rights. from roll call, there headline displayisan golf on began with statements from the chair and the ranking member, here is jerry nadler and part of his opening statement. [video clip] >> it is important to place president trump's conduct into context. the house of representatives has impeached only two presidents. a third was on his way to impeachment when he resigned. this committee voted to impeach two presidents for obstructing justice. we voted to impeach one president for objection -- obstructing an impeachment

investigation. there is precedent for recommending impeachment here. never before in the history of the republic have would -- have we been forced to consider the conduct of a president who appears to have solicited personal political favors from a foreign government. never before has a president engaged in a force of conduct that included all of the acts that most concerned the framers. the patriots who founded our .ountry were not fearful men they thought of war, they witnessed terrible violence, they overthrew a king. ourhey met to frame constitution, they feared one threat above all, foreign interference in our elections. they juxtaposed a tyrant and they were deeply worried we would use our newfound dignity -- through corruption from within. in the early years of the

republic, they asked each of us to be vigilant to that threat. impeachment the hope happened -- vote happen before christmas? 202-748-8000 if you say yes. if you say no, 202-748-8001. the front page photo of the wall street journal, a divided committee opens next phase of impeachment. i am astonished by how the republicans and anyone in the republican refuses to recognize any evidence that has been brought forward thus far. they are in a state of denial and sticking with trump. they should have started the impeachment trial after the mueller investigation was over. they took their time, they did not think they had public approval of that and they made a mistake starting off late.

they should take their time and make sure these subpoenas -- i want to see the president cost men testify -- the president's men testify. host: at that time, do you think they had enough to go on at the release of the mueller report? caller: of course. -- anesident is a unindicted co-conspirator. the most corrupt president we have had in the history of our country. host: we are asking you on timing, you are saying they should not vote before christmas. caller: that is right because they made the mistake not starting earlier. they should have realized the senate would stall and delay this. they will pull the same thing if ruth bader ginsburg passes away, they will put somebody forward.

republicans, when people say democrats were against trump from the beginning, republicans were against barack obama from the beginning. there is a statement people made they were going to stonewall everything barack obama wanted to do. host: we will move on to florida, tony says the vote should happen before christmas. make sure you mute your television, go ahead with your comment. caller: i just want to state this whole process is totally ridiculous and we see this president is not good for this country. that is basically what i have to say. host: sebastian, florida, next up. good morning to bill. caller: i think the first caller made a good point. the check robert mueller got

should be investigated and the mentionedi called, i there were 17 million votes purged. inis 14 million votes purged the election and i feel that should be investigated by homeland security as well as the fbi. the investigative reporter has proven this along with stacey abrams in georgia. this has got to be examined more. you can get more information concerning this. this is the issue. sayinghicago next, bruce the vote should not happen before christmas. tell us why? caller: people should have time to digest what they saw

yesterday. i watched the entire thing and i came away seriously doubting anyone should send their children to a place of higher education. those three people on who were isprejudice and hateful, it scary the democrats are so mean-spirited and ill-informed commony don't apply sense. host: ricky saying the vote should happen before christmas. tell us why. aller: we don't need president to betray our country for the future of our children. host: we will let you go, the reporting on what could come next after a vote, whenever it happens. the headline in the washington

post, trump crimes for tv trial. the white house signaled it will defend president trump in a near certain impeachment trial as legal experts testify in a contentious hearing that from's ukraine dealings constitute an impeachable defense. at the white house director of legislative affairs told reporters trump's wants the case made fully in the senate, previewing a strategy that would include witnesses on the floor rather than videotape depositions entered into evidence during bill clinton's impeachment trial in 1999. that if theyrongly were to elect against our better advice, we need witnesses and in full depend -- defense of the president, gesturing toward the u.s. senate chamber. top white house officials including pat sipple on who met

with gop senators on wednesday. the administration continues to strategize with republicans on the senate proceedings. one of those opining legal scholars was jonathan turley of george washington university. here is some of his testimony. [video clip] >> we are living in the very period described by alexander hamilton, a period of exaggerated -- aggravated passions. you are mad, the president is mad. my republican friends are mad, my democratic friends are mad. s are mad. mad, my kid mad.e all where has that taken us?

does slingshot impeachment make us less mad? will it invite madness to follow every future invitation -- administration? it is not wrong because president trump is right. it is not wrong because the house has no legitimate reason to investigate the ukrainian controversy, it is not wrong because we are in an election year, there is no good time for impeachment. it is wrong because this is not how you impeach an american president. case of the not a unknowable, a case of the peripheral. we have a record of conflicts that have not been fully considered, on subpoenaed witness with material evidence. to impeach a president on this record would expose every future president to the same impeachment. host: dr. turley agrees

democrats are projecting onto the president as they always have. anyone that says yes is obviously a democrat. it showed the impeachment vote happen before christmas? john says yes. john a north carolina, you are on the air. happen.it should everybody is entitled to a speedy trial. trash, stack more it up on the pile. host: good morning. iowa. gary, you are on the line. go ahead. sayer: i was just going to i am registered independent, but i voted democrat most of my life.

to see what they are trying to -- i will not vote democrat ever again. -- piece,pinion peach impeachment is backfiring in the midwest. voters in wisconsin and other battleground states believe the details on what happened less important than what is happening in their communities. impeachment efforts are backfiring throughout the midwest. how after poll is revealing president trump is gaining stronger footing for reelection in key swing states. democrats have themselves for blame for increasing the odds of trump's second term. we hear next from michael in portland, oregon. caller: hello. i voted against trump and i think him a man of low

character. i think jonathan turley's comments about the in advisability of making this a rushed progress -- if this causes us to have any credibility, we have to take our -- giveovide republicans full rights to call people forward -- otherwise, we will divide ourselves further. i think this being a lifelong democrat and being horribly opposed to president trump. the process legitimizes the whole affair. bill inxt up is .llinois, good morning

caller: i say the impeachment process is letting the public know. it has been a whole lot of corruption and kellyanne conway anything to come out of there mouth is alternative facts. with that, we have all the facts . --you want to believe believe the republicans that try to defend all of these .lternative facts then we will see how wrong it is. the public will get a chance to impeach him and vote him out. host: there is already a democratic casualty from the impeachment proceedings. our presented of heck wheelie after a member of the house

-- heigence committee who will not seek reelection. he was elected to represent a district southwest of seattle. he had rest and relaxation, which led to his retirement decision. it is incredible work, but takes its toll. being away so much from my best friend and my wife can be lonely even when i am in a crowded room. however many good years we have left together is not a growing number. 116thng at the end of the congress. should the impeachment vote happen before christmas? sean is in the gas column. caller: absolutely. give -- thiswill

is probably the tip of the iceberg with the corruption in our foreign policy. who knows what they are doing in the middle east with jared and all of that good stuff he does. host: there is actually news about the middle east. i will pull the story from the wall street journal. we are not seeing it anywhere else yet, but this is on their front page. the u.s. buying sending 14,000 .roops to the mideast including dozens more ships, other military hardware and as many as 14,000 additional troops. it could double the number of military personnel who have been sent to the region. president trump these expected

to make a decision on the deployments as soon as this month and they write mr. trump facing an election has long-sought to exit foreign entanglements and avoid elections. he is convinced of the need to aidter the threat of his tehran opposes. in greensboro, north carolina, helen on the line. caller: i accidentally looked at the number wrong, but i say no. host: tell us why. i am 79because, sir, years old and what i watched yesterday was absolutely appalling. our president has done more for this country in three years 8.ce barack obama has done

they don't want to investigate adam schiff. they went in and they have got people's phone numbers, you should not trust none of them. for nancy pelosi, for her to hold this conference at 9:00 wanting to oust our president and her district, all of these homeless people, i would like to see them do things for social security. we are getting a 1.1 something raise and they will take nine dollars out of that. these people that work in washington are absolutely appalling. these american people who say we need to impeach him -- a lot of them do not know their history. they listen to these pendants -- london -- pundits.

i am so outraged at our government. host: helen mentioned other things to get done. the house and senate essentially has two weeks before we expect will be the last day of the year around the 19th or 20th of december with federal spending the biggest item and potentially more judiciary committee hearings. yesterday's hearing featured four scholars, he was asked what constitutes a presidential abuse of power. [video clip] >> abuse of power is when the president uses his office that is part of the presidency not to serve the public interest, but his private benefit and it is an abuse of power if he does it to facilitate his reelection or gain advantage not available to anyone who is the president. >> why is that impeachable conduct?

>> if the president uses his office for personal gain, the only recourse available under the constitution is for him to be impeached because the president cannot be charged criminally while he is in office because the department of justice works for the president. the only mechanism available for a president who tries to extort the process is to impeach him. that is why we have impeachment. host: should the impeachment vote happen before christmas, .he text line, 202-748-8003 --y in hawaii, i believe there is other evidence to be uncovered, i am curious to know if hearings will continue if more evidence comes forward. we should get it over, the whole process was compromised when the senate vote to sis bend -- suspended the geordie. when you mess with the

constitution, it bites back. doesn't matter when they hold the impeachment vote, trump will continue to obstruct an act criminally and republicans will continue to support him regardless of what he does. impeachment for what? because he talked to another president? did trump know this president was a good guy or bad guy? yesterday was a show of how bad the democrats hate this president. in maryland, this is amy. i vote for yes to continue this and proceed as quickly as possible to not drag things out. to that end, i would say the investigation into a foreign power in a prior administration is of interest to the public

regardless of whether benefiting the president or not. if there are corrupt dealings and favors being done during administration, i would want to know about that and investigate that and no more about it. right now, this is not being looked at, not being investigated and i believe it should be. to the folks that say why did president trump wait until now for an election cycle to initiate aber west to investigate the hunter biden scandal or issue, i would say there was a corrupt investigation prior to zelensky being elected into office of ukraine. our president has a duty to look into the country that we provide and haved understand them investigate corruption. we should not be getting foreign

aid to countries that have those funds used in a corrupt manner. to look intouest this matter is not for the benefit of the president's personal gain. it is for the benefit of the country. in marylandto jim on the others, thinks the vote should not happen before christmas. keep throwing christmas into represent a time, regardless of when it takes place, there has to be enough time for the information coming to be investigated for .ts validity was 17in the army when i

years old to represent this thing called freedom. at that time, i did not have no clue what that was because i have always had freedom up to that point. for those people that think our freedom is being attacked, it is not, it has always been. i am really proud of the citizens of this country on both sides of the aisle because what is being represented is the ability to freely speak your opinion without any repercussions and that is the essence of our nation and that is why we have explored this experiment. what scares me about this rush to come to some conclusion immediately about the actions of the president -- if president trump is impeached, that will

disappear in history just like everything else that has taken place. the damage that may be done to every president that has to sit in that white house may be irreversible. our president is the most powerful individual on earth where he is respected, disrespected all 4 corners of the world. if we hamstring him and impeach him without taking the amount of time to do so, it is a travesty. host: you mentioned you joined the army at age 17. how long did you serve? caller: 6.5 years. host: thanks for being a part of the program. we mentioned denny heck announcing his retirement from congress, there is a new member of congress retiring --

replacing johnny isakson. kelly leffler, financial executive to the u.s. senate, they said the governor appointed financial executive kelly levers wednesday selecting the co-owner of atlanta pot wnba -- of franchise.nba she presented herself as a lifelong conservative who was " pro-second amendment, promilitary, pro-wall, and pro trump, painting her as a closet liberal. in hanover, maryland. caller: good morning. i agree with what the previous caller said. military.m also i read an article this morning saying jonathan turley is half right. democrats should really have their case as strong as

possible. he made really good points, really good comparisons, you to grow -- i base am an independent and i tend to lean a little right. emotions and if this is not the definition of a political hit, from day 1, democrats have been talking about impeachment. they have been looking for a reason to impeach. right?t is angel, argue for ad that longer process to get the testimony and the evidence republicans have asked for -- democrats have asked for? say take as long as you need. it really is -- from my political perspective, it is

exposing the democrats and the way they are looking at this. they want to get it done as soon as possible because the election is coming up. why is the election an issue? if you are arguing you should do it because the election is coming up, that lends credibility to the opposite argument you are doing it for political reasons. can anyone argue against that? host: more of your calls coming up. a question for you, should the impeachment vote happen before christmas? we are joined by mike burgess representing the dallas area, the 26th district. the timing of a vote seems likely to happen at some point in the coming weeks. what is your sense of it? guest: i agree it does seem likely and certainly, i don't think -- if anyone wants to look ahead over the horizon, we all

know what the ultimate outcome atld be for that exercise that yet -- at the end of that situation, we have the same situation of divided government that now all the participants are more angry with each other than before if that is possible. i could not stay glued to the television and watch the drama unfold. professor turley, who has testified before committees before -- i had the privilege of being on committees when he has testified, he always comes prepared and does an excellent job. this will be the first impeachment with an abundance of anger and i think that is

exactly right. is the the talk i hear impeachment vote must take place before christmas because air will go out of the balloon when members go home to their districts. the enthusiasm for impeachment may dwindle. that is not a reason to proceed with haste. that may be a political reality, but that is more indicative of the fact democrats have not made their case here. i did a telephone town hall the other night and overwhelming sentiment was the president should not be impeached and even a larger number of people said the president should not be removed if he were impeached. certainly the part of the world i represent, that has been the prevailing sentiment. trump won 61%-30 4% in 2016.

against trump wafer thin or undisputed? does this speak to -- democrats have been frustrated by not being able to get testimony and documentary evidence from the white house. what do you think will open on that -- will happen on that front? guest: that has been an oft repeated line from democratic prosecutors. i would submit i thought the president during the entire process of what was called the mueller investigation or the russia hoax depending on where you are, the president i thought should have exerted executive privilege multiple times and he did not. he made members of his cabinet, inner circle available for 18erview by basically democratic prosecutors per hour after hour after hour. all of that information has been

put forward in what is called the mueller report, the judiciary committee had a hearing on that earlier in the year and i think most agree it fell flat. it did not change's people -- it did not change people's opinions. i understand now why the white house would made the assertion that it is time to get on with who wants to go into an election cycle with the basket of accomplishments this year? there are some big things that could happen and people need to put their weapons down long enough to actually do a legitimate debate and trade -- vote on a trade agreement. democrats do not want to give the president a win on the trade agreement and i find that .roubling and upsetting

175,000ld add between 500,000 jobs to our national 1% toy and it could add the g2 -- gdp. why would we for political reasons and not want to give the president a win -- why would we not deliver that trade agreement back to the white house? it has been done for about a year and we have done nothing. host: you talked about other business being done yesterday, dr. michael burgess, the longest-serving medical doctor in the u.s. house and the ranking member on the energy and commerce health subcommittee. let's talk about one of those items, hr 3, where do you stand on that -- that has been passed by the house, correct? is broadhink there agreement and going back to previous congress where i chaired a hearing on drug supply

chain issues, data i made available was 70 to 80% of the country feels there is a problem with pharmaceutical countries. there is not agreement on what that something should be. you have heard the president reflect that. you want to talk about squatter opportunities democrats have wasted, it is on the issue of prescription drug pricing because the president was willing to go pretty far in whatever direction they wanted to lead on the democratic side and they responded by punishing with this impeachment and now the president is angry with the speaker and the likelihood of sitting down next. we are talking about something becoming less and less. the problem with hr 3 and what speaker pelosi proposed is punitive tax on pharmaceutical manufacturers. 65% growth receipts tax that would increase to 95%.

the democratic mantra has been we have got to get the secretary of health and human services to negotiate prices. never mind that pharmacy benefit managers have already been doing that and doing that quite successfully for a number of years and some would argue the last thing we need is another middleman in the process. this is more of a hostage taking because the threat of that 95% if negotiations -- new drugsted would not be produced over the next 10 years, but other people -- bute studied the same that number much higher because

the timeline for bella being a pharmaceutical product is 14 years. all the stuff in the pipeline now may come out of the other end of the pipeline in a 10 year window. what new studies are going to be barked upon, what new medications -- where is the investment going to be made for those new products and what are those products? cures for different types of dealrs, we have passed a saying here is the 21st century. therapy -- things i never would have dreamed of in medical school are being talked of as a reality. it is unbelievable some of the things that are being talked us back to atake place where we do not have those tools and no one is working on developing them.

i also know having watch this from the standpoint of the committee that makes a lot of the policy -- when we did the bills to advanced 21st century , how do you get the deliverables to the people who need them? what is the cost of not developing a sickle-cell therapy that could possibly be cured? fda therapy for sickle-cell in 40 years up until a couple years ago, that came at a cost as well. it is harder to demonstrate that cost, harder to get an analysis of what the cost of doing nothing is. substantial from the financing of public sector

insurance, dedicated, medicare, there is a cost. the total of human suffering that goes on. we have to consider all of those things. ll takes us in a direction that will stifle innovation. we could be talking about things that could happen. subcommittee on health -- they would be acceptable over the senate. we could get to work on what is achievable now. question from you. speaker pelosi, we will have an update on the impeachment process. what would you like to hear from her? guest: pencils down, we will get back to the work for the american people. calls.ack to your phone

should impeachment -- the vote beforein the full house christmas? if you say yes, 202-748-8000. if you say no, 202-748-8001. we go to texas next and michael. hello. caller: how are you doing? host: doing fine, thank you. i voted for him when i lived in dallas and i want to speak to jim in maryland. get this thing over with. we already know how it is going to go in the inquiry. they are going to vote for impeachment and the house is going to vote for impeachment and it will go to the senate and they will vote against it. .t is a stacked deck as it is republicans cannot really call any of the witnesses they want.

i think a lot more truth will come out if it does actually get to the senate. it is ridiculous. it is a waste of time, a waste of money, and it is divisive to this country because we know how it will turn out. morning.hael, good you are on the air. i don't know why they keep trying to impeach this man. i wish they would hurry up and get it over with. this man is not even charging the state money, he has done --e than host: democrats signal impeachment threats and talk about what is likely ahead.

the house intelligence committee is expected to testify about its report before the judiciary committee. democrats failed to prove their case in defending mr. trump's actions. mr. mueller's report documented at least 5 and as many as 10 episodes of trump trying to obstruct the probe. the matter would move to the senate where a two thirds majority is required to convict and remove him from office. the office of mitch mcconnell indicated wednesday the chamber 's scheduled for january will be open. caller: good morning. to bea very unlikely man president and i know democrats are jealous. it is a human emotion. it is jealousy.

i think we should wait until after christmas because i think something is going to happen. something we humans do not know. they want him out before he gets elected again. they are petrified. they say why not stone him? that is what they are doing. i say wait because you never know what god has in store. this man, even though he is a .inner, we are all sinners wait until after christmas. host: linda, good morning. caller: good day. thank you for c-span. i listened to the hearings and i listened to professor turley who eloquently stated the abuse going forward would be from the house of representatives. he makes good sense. if everyone in government is a mad man, it is because they have

a gross misinterpretation of law and do not know how to apply constitutional law in real-life cases. if they are doing it to him and his family -- either what is like myself do not have a ghost of a chance in the courts. happy holidays, everybody. host: craig caplan tweeting the news speaker pelosi will deliver a statement on the status of the impeachment inquiry this morning at 9:00 a.m. in the balcony hallway at the u.s. capitol. we will have that live 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, c-span radio. on timing from the associated press, liberal democrats pushing the party to incorporate findings from former special counsel robert mueller's report on interference in the 2016 election. centrist and moderate democrats prefer to stick with the ukraine

matter as a simpler narrative americans understand. democrats could begin drafting articles of impeachment in matter of days with a judiciary committee vote next week. the full house could vote by christmas. doug collins is the ranking republican on the house judiciary committee, here is part of his opening statement from yesterday. [video clip] >> will have a lot of interesting discussion, but we also talk about the founders. the chairman talked a lot about the founders and this is why we have the hearing, about the founders being concerned about foreign influence. what he did not quote was the founders being concerned about political impeachment because you don't like the guy. you did not like him since november 2016. the chairman has talked about impeachment since last year, before he is even sworn in as

chairman. don't tell me this is about new evidence. we may have a new hearing room and new chairs, but this is nothing new. this is sad. what do we have here today? and what isthis interesting is there are two things that have become very clear. this impeachment is not really about facts. if it was, i believe the other committees would have sent over recommendations for committees. i guess they want to blame adam schiff's committee. they are already drafting articles. they are already getting ready for this. ukraine.fter this with the american people are failing to see us legislate. what is really driving this is the clock and the calendar.

if -- most people in life, if you want to know what they value, you look at their checkbook and their calendar. that is what they value, time. they want to do it before the end of the year because we are scared of the elections next year. we are scared we will lose again, we have to do this now, the clock and the calendar are driving impeachment. front page,day's lawmakers clash over high crimes. testifiedprofessors trump's actions impeachable. in plainview, new york, good .orning caller: i think this committee lacks credibility because i agree with the previous callers that they wanted to impeach him right after the election, which he was not supposed to win.

the standards now are misdemeanors. therefore, many people -- what comes around, goes around, this can be used as a weapon when democrats get in. maxine waters for years has been saying impeach 45. confronted them in restaurants, gas stations, etc.. nancy pelosi voted on committees where her husband made money on os.a ip that should be impeachable, shouldn't it? biden committed a crime, there was a quid pro quo, he is on tape saying. host: are you saying hunter biden, joe biden? caller: yes. is on trump's

friend call investigating them, but everybody tries to get dirt on their opponents, that is called opposition research. hillary did it, she got a former russian spy from great britain and that should be impeachable. i think it is liberal progressive lawyers, they are biased. i think that he should not be impeached even though his personality is not what democrats want. host: alfred is next in alabama. caller: louisiana. host: sorry, louisiana, thank you. knew we needed a businessman before obama. talk about going over their heads, obama went over their

heads all the time. he did what he wanted to. fast and furious should have never happened. the borders should have been done years ago. pelosi and all of them other democratic pieces of crap should be thrown out. they are wasting taxpayer money, their cities are going to hell because they want money in their pocket instead of taking care of people. -- toweek go next cap capitol hill. we have been talking to members of congress joining us on capitol hill, mike kelly sits on the ways and means committee. the intelligence committee last week, the judiciary committee this week taking over your hearing room, putting you out of business -- at least out of the room for a couple days. what did you hear out of yesterday's testimony.

what do you think? guest: i think probably those people that heavily favor this president still heavily favor this president. most who are blinded by hate still are going to say i don't care. we don't like this guy and he should not be in office. to me, we have wasted so much time, so much taxpayer money. we have jurisdictions and things we work on. we work on trade, we work on health care, social security, so many things that are really important in everyday life and those have all been back bernard . this whole thing about impeachment has taken center stage. there are so many things we need to get done and infrastructure that has to be repaired. watching this go on and having little to say about it, i was shut out of almost everything that took place beforehand. we are starting to see what a sham this hearing or whatever it

is our friends on the other side are calling it is. it is a time of -- waste of time and taxpayer money. there are so many things we have to get done in this country. the united states, mexican, canadian trade agreement is critical. we are talking about millions and billions of dollars and why are we concentrating on this? it is all about the 2020 election and the folk -- the fact some of these folks have never got over 2016 some people decided to bring a businessman in to run the toughest business in the world. it is so polarized right now. my whole life, i have been in the private sector. the sixthworry about and the 21st of every month, because those were paid eight. i want to make sure we can issue

checks. this is the only business i worked where nobody cares about canada -- calendars, clocks, there is no such thing as a debt ceiling, a debt limit, even one penny on any of these programs is ridiculous. if the american people held the government to the same standards government holds us to, he would be an altogether different ballgame, but that does not exist. host: congressman's mike kelly includes erie. when you came back over the thanksgiving break, what did you hear in either formal settings, town halls, meetings, and informal settings? host: one of the things we have always talked about his being able to get families together over the holidays. i kept hearing families will not be able to sit down because there is so much arguing over politics.

that makes no sense, we live in the greatest country in the world, the greatest times this country has ever experienced and we are going to argue over politics? andas become so polarized saddest loss of all is the faith and trust the american people have in this incredible system of self government. i am from strong trump territory. they like this president because he is doing exactly what he said he was going to do. he is unencumbered by political ties. this is the way you run a business successfully and the way you get people back to work, these are things that make sense, this renews our position in the world. the only time we can do that is when we have a dynamic and robust economy. if you are worried about social security going into the future, understand every single penny goes from working -- comes from working people and the people they work with. the people i talked to for the

most part, i would say probably 90% of the people i talked to say back our president, tell him to keep doing what he is doing, we appreciate it, tell him to keep holding that firm stand and a couple other people say i don't like you and i don't like him. do you have a reason for that? i just told you i don't like you and i don't like him. i go to mass every morning, i will put you on my prayer list and hope you get through this traumatic experience in your life. we have to get over it. host: here is some of their hometown reporting, yearly news.com, scholars called by democrats testify trump actions include impeachable offenses. legal scholars took the stand, but i was been callie, you sit on the ways and means committee and obviously you have a big

hand in the continuing resolution. where do things stand? what happens now? guest: we will go through another cr. if the american people held the government to the same standards the government holds them to -- we are going to have record $3.5ues, something like trillion in revenues. when you have the highest revenues you have ever had, but also the highest spending and you sit down and look at the budget and the continuing resolution and say there wasn't any of these programs? you could even find one penny you could cut out of that spending? going to banks and lenders from time to time when we needed additional capital, the person they would look at is let me look at your current situation and how you are running your business. let's see how you are running the family business and if you

are not running at the right way, we don't think the risk is worth it. if we can see you will act in a positive manner, we will help you. entity -- in everyday terms, somebody who makes about $34,000 a year consistently goes out and spends $44,000 and says that is okay, i will find somebody who will lend me that money to get through it. are you going to change your spending habits? no. i cannot change my spending by one penny. why is that? lack of political courage. nobody would run their lives, their business, their church, or their schools in the manner we are running this government looking at the greatest revenues we have and not even coming .lose i am not going to vote for something that is irresponsible

not only to future taxpayers, but current ones. host: back to impeachment as we wrap up, you talk about going to banks asking for loans, what do you think of efforts by congressional committees and the city of new york to find the financial records of the president, particularly his dealings with deutsche bank? guest: i am more concerned about other things, they are concerned about the president's tax returns and the money he borrows. i am sponsoring a bill called the magic act and that has to do with being able to develop a insulin.ubstitute for 30 million americans have this disease. i am a type 2if they don't haver insulin, they die. type two can start to lose eyesight, their heart and liver's are affected. if we are going to back burner the ability to produce a generic substitute because we are so worried about impeaching a president and we have not seen

attack -- his tax returns? it --he hell up and find and realize what is important to people. doing something that we should not be doing. we are following a sham. let's get back to doing the business of the people. the country has never been in better shape when it comes to revenues. people working, wages rising. saying we have to stop all of that because we have to win in 2020 and keep this president from getting reelected. i believe in history we will look back and say in 2016, the people elected a businessman that decided to run the business a right way and make sure the future is secure for our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and we can continue to be the greatest force in the world for liberty and freedom. host: that was a congressman from pennsylvania joining me on capitol hill. thank you. for the next two hours we will continue our comments --

continue you can't -- your comments and our question for you, should the impeachment vote happen before christmas? if you say yes, (202)-748-8000. if you say no, (202)-748-8001. and that question could change. we may find out if that vote will happen, and an hour, 9:00 a.m. eastern we will hear from house speaker nancy pelosi with an update on the impeachment process. we will find out more than. if you want to send us a text, (202)-748-8003. this is from mark in massachusetts who says, i am sorry but republicans can't argue this both ways. they can't ask for more -- for more time to undergo further investigations when the president made it clear he won't allow key figures to testify. how long should we wait? texas, get it done, minds are made up, it is not going to be a bipartisan vote anyways.

the senate will convict him. get it done and on with the 2020 debates. our caller comes from kentucky. good morning. caller: i am still holding out -- engagement 25 because we really think that president trump is ill. he is in the early stage of alzheimer's and it will be an embarrassment for him and for -- but the 25th amendment, article four, and he can do that when the vice president gets the majority of to deemnet and congress the president unfit. host: our next caller is in georgia. good morning. hello there. caller: hello.

time. been waiting a long impeachment --is if it happened tomorrow morning it would be good. it would make christmas much better because the president is guilty. we all know he is guilty. we know he did it. host: you are breaking up a bit. we will go to tim in wisconsin. caller: good morning c-span. i believe that it should take as long as it should take because the people with firsthand knowledge are the ones the president is keeping from testifying. congress,ructing obstructing congress is an impeachable offense. it is plain as day.

it's his own people that will take him down if we can get them to testify. thank you. host: thanks. fromnt to read reporting the daily mail in the u.k. an incident happened yesterday during the hearings. impeachment, a witness implies -- apologizes for using barron trump as the but of a joke after melania trump issues a furious tweet saying a minor child needs privacy and you should be ashamed. here is how that developed. [video clip] >> what comparisons can we make the framerss that were aware -- afraid of and the president's conduct today? >> kings could do no wrong because the king's word was law and contrary to what president trump has said, article two does not give him the power to do anything he wants. he will -- i will give you one exam that shows you the

difference between him and a king, which is the constitution says there can be no title of nobility. while the president can name his son baron, you can't make him a barren. -- you can't -- he can't make him a baron. host: a number of republican members were upset at that comment. later in the hearing, she apologized for those remarks. [video clip] >> i want to apologize for what i said earlier about the president's son. it was wrong of me to do that. i wish the president would apologize for the things he has done that is wrong but i do regret having said that. >> thank you professor. host: back to your calls. dorothy in new york. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: make sure you mute your television. caller: ok. should i shut off my tv? host: you can if you want to. caller: ok.

i would like to make a remark presidents have -- when the presidents were up for reelection, the new presidents always retained some staff prior president's to show how the governments operated. this president came in, through everybody out -- threw everybody out, took a whole new batch who didn't know anything, and then what happens? you have exits beyond comparison. nobody learns their craft quickly. also, when someone goes in to rob a bank and the guy is

outside waiting in the car. if he doesn't succeed in getting any money, both of them are equally guilty. andcannot have a president all of his subordinates doing whatever supposedly he has no conscience knowledge -- conscious knowledge of and they are all going to jail. besides, this president who is a businessman has gone through four bankruptcies. like the -- i would like the republicans to show how that makes a good president. thank you. caller in old forge, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. first i want to say i don't want him impeached. i think they are making a big mistake.

second of all, i am so tired of hearing the democrats say that donald trump said that he was out to get dirt on his opponent. he has never said that. say is thing i have to the real problem here about this impeachment is what is coming next week. the democrats are panicking. when the people read what has , fromed to this president barack obama's administration, they are going to be floored. i hope and pray that everyone reads everything that is going to come out because it is going to be a doozy. that lady that just called sounds so sweet. she sounded like the lady from archie bunker, that show. host: the president tweeting this morning. a couple of things on his mind. he said the do-nothing democrats

had a historically bad day yesterday in the house. they have no impeachment case and are demeaning our country but nothing matters to them. they are going crazy. if you are going to impeach me, do it now and fast so we can have a fair trial in the senate so that our country can get back to business. we will have shift, the bidens and pelosi testified and will reveal for the first time how corrupt our system really is. i was elected to clean the swamp and that is what i am doing. tremendous things achieved for the u.s. at nato, probably for our country. no president has ever achieved so much in so little time. without a u.s. increase, other countries have already increased by $130 billion. such a thing is never been done before. he is talking about getting nato countries to increase their percentagending as a of their gdp. in florida, this is chris.

caller: hey. good morning everybody at c-span. do andfor what you getting everything out and recording everything. i just wanted to say about the impeachment, i don't support impeaching the president but democrats want to do it, they should do it now and get it over with instead of wasting time and money. -- i knowought is lindsey graham went on face the nation a couple of weeks ago and he said he was going to get to the bottom of why the whistleblower rules were changed . that would public be a good thing to get to the bottom of. why was there complained to the complainted -- their to the ig backdated? host: sam is in cleveland, ohio. caller: thank you for taking my

call. is the impeachment should have happened a long time ago just for obstruction of justice. the fact of the matter that no witnesses are available and the white house is stonewalling all , tompts to contact people me is an impeachable offense. back to the quid pro quo stuff. ourppen to be ukrainian and president is a showman. when he speaks, he repeats himself and repeats himself. yesterday when i watched him speaking at nato, i was embarrassed for america. i can't believe that we as americans but a person like this as representing us. we are better than that. i used to be a republican. when i see republicans doing

their song and dance, i am starting to hate them. i really truly am. -- now i finduse that it is not about the country itself. they are keeping themselves in power. they looked down the aisle of all the republicans, blue suit white guys with a couple token women. that is not representative of our country. that is representative of our business world. , they are they want subjecting all of us to this farce. impeachment should have happened as soon as they started not allowing witnesses to testify for congress. duty to dos a oversight on the president and the fact that the president was not allowing it is impeachable.

the last thing i would like to say is regardless of whether the impeachment succeeds or doesn't, i believe more information is and it isome out going to be a check on the president in the next year. host: that is sam in cleveland. members who sat in both hearings is jim jordan from ohio. yesterday on the house judiciary committee, he sat temporarily on the intelligence committee. here is some of the questioning by congressman jordan. [video clip] >> the facts are on the president assad. we have an unfair process. they don't have the facts. we have an unfair process. this gets to something else you said mr. turley. so wellscary, that was said, this is scary. the democrats have never accepted the will of the american people. 's point, 17 days

ago, the speaker of the united states house of representatives called the president of the united states an imposter. americans million voted for, who won the electoral college by a landslide. the house -- the speaker of the house of a percent is called batman an imposter. this is not healthy. the facts are the facts and they are on the president side. that is what we need to focus on, not some constitutional hearing at the end of the process when you guys of already determined where you are going to go. host: more of your calls and comments on the impeachment process coming up and we will hear from speaker nancy pelosi in about 45 minutes at 9:00 eastern on what may be ahead. we have been speaking to members of congress yesterday and today, members of the house, getting their thoughts on the process. a congresswoman from the third district in massachusetts joins us. let me start with a headline from your hometown paper, one of

the papers, the boston globe. as impeachment proceedings continue, no one seems happy in washington. we catch you at a -- in a happy mood yesterday? guest: nobody comes to washington to impeach a president. that is not what you run on, that is not what you campaign on. that is not the conversations you have with your voters. you talk about getting to work, getting things done, making people's lives better, getting the gridlock out of washington. this is not in any a joyous occasion for any member of congress. especially those of us who were elected last year. this is a very solemn moment but one we take seriously. unfortunately this it administration and this president has left us with no choice. when we all take that oath of office it is to defend our democracy, to uphold our constitution. as i read that report from the intelligence committee, it again, inclear, once

a very condensed manner, everything we have learned, which is the president has abused his power, the power of his office for his own personal and political gain. host: there is some talk in addition to the intelligence committee report that there could be consideration of the obstruction of justice issues coming out of the mueller report. would you support that? guest: there is a body of evidence and it did start with the mueller report. what was most notable when i read the intelligence report by the chairman is the lengths that this it administration went to defy our subpoenas and defy the separation of powers and the checks and balances we have in our system today. worrisome and it is such a dangerous precedent for

says tose it basically another president, a future president, that you are above the law. obstruction of congress, obstruction of justice, we cannot let stand. host: you're a member of the armed services committee. what were your concerns when user did hearing the reports of the withheld aid to ukraine -- wing you started hearing reports of the withheld -- when you started hearing the reports of the withheld aid to ukraine? guest: a coveted white house meeting and military aid only proves that this president was thinking about himself. he was thinking about the 2020 election and the advantage that he wanted to have in that election. we were completely appalled by that behavior. that wetaxpayer funds appropriated from our committee, this congress to make sure our

national security interests are protected abroad. the president has no right to aid for the money, that his own personal gain. host: you talked about some of your frustration with being a new member of congress and getting things done. one of the items we noticed you are trying to work on is minor-league baseball, saving minor-league baseball. tell us the back story on that and what you are trying to do. coalition inlt a the house of representatives and now in the senate that basically stands up for our communities. major league baseball has a proposal on the table to wipe out 42 minor-league teams across the country. i represent lowell, massachusetts where i grew up with which -- which would be affected by that cut. minor-league teams have been a part of our community for 20 years and the economic devastation, the cultural and

psychological devastation to our community if that team leaves would be so harmful. i think there are a lot of communities in the same boat. ofa very rare moment bipartisanship, which i think we needed, we all joined together and we expressed our concerns and we lifted our voices so that the mlb understands that this proposal would devastate so many fans across the country, so many families who don't have access to major league baseball, whether they be cut -- with her because they don't live close enough to a major league team or they can't afford it. we want to make sure our voices are heard. host: in addition to getting your voices, is there a potential legislative remedy on this? guest: absolutely. everything is on the table. togress has been a partner pro sports and major league baseball for over a century. we are going to make sure that

our voice, our input is heard as they continue these negotiations. a freshman member from the third district, thanks for being with us. guest: thank you. host: a question for you this morning, should the impeachment vote happen before christmas? --2)-748-8000 four yes (202)-748-8000 for yes. (202)-748-8001 for no. speaker pelosi with an update on the process in about 40 minutes. we welcome your comments by text as well. (202)-748-8003. a text here from massachusetts. this is sue who says the vote should happen before christmas. this isn't just about the ukraine call, this is about obstruction of justice for three damn years and a president who gets on tv and says article two of the constitution says i can do whatever i want. yes we should get it over, the whole process was compromised.

we will go to christopher in new jersey. the answer is without question, and absolutes -- and absolute yes a vote for impeachment. there are more offenses he committed since the stole democracy from us. in calls, we go to karen karen -- we go to karen in warren, michigan. caller: a few small comments. he should be impeached before christmas. .is name is a disgrace he took an oath to protect our country, to be our voice. all he has done is put us in debt. he has made us a laughingstock. he has put us in danger from his reckless behavior. people shame that we the

-- we should be proud but instead i see children locked in cages. he has taken away from the poor people. he has put us into debt. he was supposed to be our president. none has ever acted as improperly as he has. he is a disgrace. --does not along or deserve does not belong or deserve a procedures place in the white house. host: bill in memphis, good morning. caller: yes. i am very concerned about what is happening. i think they should go ahead and impeach him. i agree with the previous caller. one of the things that i am disturbed about, about the unscrupulous behavior of the republicans. and disrupt the

proceedings. if trump has nothing to hide and he is so innocent and honest, why should he be afraid of anything? he be afraid of people coming and giving testimony? people need to wake up. another thing. putin is running america and we don't see it. it is sad. republicans are complicit with that. crazy stuff that that trump is doing. mannerisms, the terminology that this man in the white house is using. it comes directly from the putin playbook. thank you very much. your two atlanta, anthony, thoughts on impeachment? should the vote happen before christmas? caller: i don't think so.

i think we need to slow down. i support impeachment but i think we need to wait until we from the mueller grand jury material. the trump administration is stonewalling everything. we need to call the people in trump administration that they subpoenaed and are refusing to testify. trump is one of the most corrupt presidents i have seen and right now it is a sad day. host: this is the reporting of the new york times. there news analysis, an argument for the unheard facts. house democrats are making a mistake by moving swiftly to impeach president trump win some facts remain hidden about whether he abused his power in the ukraine affair. that was the argument put

forward on wednesday by jonathan , a george washington university law professor who was the only republicans elected witness of four legal scholars who testified at the house judiciary committee's open impeachment hearing. 's point crystallize the constitutional dilemma facing congress as it pushes forward on impeachment rather than pausing to go after additional evidence the white house has withheld. a president willing to dig in and stonewall subpoenas for documents and testimony can use the courts and run out the clock , undermining the house's ability to use it -- to use its impeachment power and practice. they also write the calling the period of this investigation both problematic and puzzling, mr. turley said congress had assembled a quote, factually incomplete and inadequate record in order to impeach a president. the evidence has gaps because subpoenaed witnesses and

material evidence -- it is wrong to move forward without hearing from them. the new york times writing the democrats have conceded that they would like to obtain more document and hear more testimony from president trump's key aides but they argue the evidence they have is sufficient to impeach him. next up we hear from alabama, janet, go ahead. caller: yes. think you should impeach president trump. hussein obama was our president. he said i have appointed 30 czars. i said that sounded like russia to me. he also to -- he also told putin, just wait until i am back in and we can work together. and you say trump is messing with russians?

hussein obama was our most inept president that we've ever had. he divided our nation down through the ages. read you that piece in new york times which quoted some of jonathan turley jackie testimony. here is some of it from yesterday talking about charges that president trump has committed obstruction of justice. [video clip] that when we demand information from another branch, it must be turned over or we will impeach you in record time. making that worse is that you have such a short investigation. it is a perfect storm. you set an incredibly short period, demand a huge amount of information and when the president goes to court you then impeach him. with the rule of

law that we talked about? would encourage you to think about this. in nixon, it did go to the courts and nixon lost. that was the reason nixon resigned. he resigned a few days after the supreme court ruled against him in that critical case. in that case the court recognized their our executive privilege arguments that can be made. it didn't say you had no right coming to us, don't darken our doorstep again. it said we have heard your argument, we have heard youress's argument and lose, turn over the material to congress. what that did for the judiciary is a gave this body legitimacy. position the extreme that only you decide what information can be produced.

recently there are some rulings against president trump, including a ruling involving don mcgahn. i testified in front of you a few months ago and if you recall we had an exchange and i encourage you to bring those actions. i said i thought you would win, and you did. i think it was an important win for this committee because i don't agree with president trump's argument in that case. that is an example of what can happen if you actually subpoena witnesses and go to court. then you have an obstruction case because the court issues an order and unless they stay that order by a higher court, you have obstruction. emphasize this enough and i will say it one more time. if you impeach a president, if you make a high crime and misdemeanor out of going to the

power, it is an abuse of it is your abuse of power. host: more of your phone calls on impeachment, your texts and tweets in just a moment. perhaps no other member of congress has called for president trump's impeachment longer than congressman al green of houston, texas. congressman greene joining us from capitol hill. we have been talking about timing and process all morning. what is your sense of when the house may take up articles of impeachment? guest: my sense is that it will occur before the new year. orm not giving you any hints information, it just seems that this is the pace we are moving at and i don't think we are moving at the pace because we have to do it before the new year, i think we have collected enough intelligence to bring articles of impeachment before the new year. it is all about the intelligence acquired and the position we currently find ourselves in. host: you and other democrats

have been criticized and it was mentioned yesterday that democrats have wanted to quote, impeach the president since the day he took the oath of office. push earlyind your on to impeach president trump? guest: thank you for the question and thank you for having me on c-span. let me put out a shout out to brian. i have never wanted to just impeach the president. there has always been a reasonable constitutional based rationale for my efforts. when i went to the floor two years ago i was there because the president at fire mr. comey and in so doing, he was obstructing the investigation of his campaign and the allegation that russians were intruding into our elections. that is impeachable. you cannot decide that you don't want to be investigated and you were going to simply fire the

person investigating you. i would also add, he went on national television in primetime and gave a confession. much was said about it at the time and little is thought about it this time. i haveother occasions brought impeachment on the floor, i have dealt with the president's behavior as relates to his incendiary comments. the president has to realize that his words mean something to people. a wordre those who say is dead when it is said but i say just begins to live. the president has the greatest bully pulpit and as a result, he is violating what alexander hamilton called to our attention. for all the constitutional --olars who would like to but i think is the most salient

part of this issue, read the words of hamilton where he expresses this, that impeachment deals with public men, people who hold public trust in violation of that trust that causes harm to society. it is in the second paragraph. you don't have to read a lot but if you read that you will get a better understanding of what impeachment is all about. host: the washington times has a short featured piece on you and some of the comments you make. they quote you saying, how will failure to impeach an unapologetic president trump for the adverse impact is racism is having on the countless african-american victims who believe that too often one party ignores us and the other takes us for granted. congressman greene, i understand you expressed some frustration over the lack of diversity in minority witnesses testifying on the impeachment process. what have you told the leaders of those committees and democratic leadership in the house on this? guest: the world knows what my

opinion is. in clear and concise language. we have four witnesses, none of whom were persons of color. this is a seminal moment of this congress and we have four witnesses, not one of color? what subliminal message are we sending to the world? are we saying there are not people of color with the intellect to discuss this issue? are we saying there were no constitutional scholars of color who can have an opportunity to be a part of this debate? imperativeis a moral that we consider people of color. for too long, one party tends to ignore people of color and the other party takes people of color for granted. the parties seem to want their support at election time. they want the output for elections but they don't want the input that can make a

difference on the issues of concern to them. a lot of talk about how kitchen table issues to be discussed. for those who don't not -- you don't know, racism is the kitchen table issue for people of color who happen to be of african ancestry. i do not agree with what happened. it was disrespectful to people of color and i believe that we must challenge these things. if we don't challenge them, they will continue. you can't challenge them in back rooms. you have to challenge them openly and notoriously which is why i said what i said. i said it and i stand by it because i was sent to congress to represent those persons who are ignored, those persons who are taken for granted. we can't allow it to continue. host: the reporting this morning in the houston chronicle, the headline, pelosi to deliver public statement on trump impeachment. we understand that is coming up at 9:00. it will be live on c-span.

what do you hope to hear from leader pelosi? guest: i can tell you what i hope to hear, that is easy for me to do, but i am not sure that that is what i will hear. i hope to hear that we will issuesthis and take up beyond the ukraine issue. hasink the mueller report some issues in it that ought to be considered. i think the obstruction of the comey investigation has issues that should be considered and i think the insidious discrimination i have called to the attention of the public is so thing that should be considered. my hope is we will expand this and take up additional issues. i will say this for your viewers. a president can be impeached more than once. forward with what we have on the table currently. we can take this before the

senate and we can still investigate other issues and when the president has committed additional offenses and my suspicion is that he will, we can take those before the senate. there is no limit on the number of times the senate can vote to convict or not convict a president. no limit to the number of times a house can vote to impeach or not. my belief is that the speaker will probably say we are going to move forward with what we have now, but we are not going to end investigations and that there may be a possible opportunity to do other things at a later time. host: under that scenario, the multiple votes on impeachment, don't you run the risk of not being able to get anything done on capitol hill? guest: we have been walking and chewing gum quite well. i have a piece of legislation, a community develop and block grant that deals with disaster relief. that passed the house and a bipartisan way. we passed hundreds of pieces of

legislation. it is being held up in the senate. the senate is not engaged in the impeachment process but the senate is blocking all of this legislation that we have sent. by the way, if the senate does not agree with the legislation, they can pass their own version of it and we can have a conference committee and be in regular order and get things done. it is not the house that is holding up legislation, it is the senate of the united states of america and we ought not continue to blame the house. a good number of people focus on the house because of the multiplicity of things we are doing in a very honorable and very thorough way. the: congressman al green, ninth district of texas, that is the houston area, thanks for being with us. guest: thank you. host: back to your calls and comments on whether the house should vote on -- should vote by christmas on impeachment. 20 minutes or so before nancy pelosi.

chris in colorado. caller: thank you for taking my call. the last time i called was on 9/11. i think there is ample evidence to proceed at this point. stunned and staggered at the way people choose to diverge and deflect and take modes of conversation when we are supposed to be talking about impeachment. they talk about god. this is not a theocracy. they talk about president obama. president trump committed many legal acts -- many illegal acts. hiss -- so has administration. steven chu -- steve mnuchin was

told he will turn over tax returns requested by ways and means. these laws have been violated. this is not some kind of propaganda. these are facts. facts are stubborn. it is not propaganda. days watching fox the other and i think it was sean hannity said little jerry nadler. then he said ambassador yana ch.ture -- ambassador yonavit i don't know if that is supposed to be kind of slur but it is deftly not the kind of reporting most people would be doing. we need to get this on. it is a legal matter. they don't have to be crimes. all that there has to be is for the president to not to be acting in our interest.

he is not acting in our interest. one obama was president, they were griping about him making us look weak on the world stage. how do we look now? the world is laughing at us and has been for years. president trump asked michael cohen, we heard the tape, should i just write her a check? i've got that covered. host: a look at how the world is looking at us. the financial times front page this morning, fallout and disunity mars the nato summit. president trump leaving before holding a news conference there. heads of government yesterday prepare for a pose for a photograph to celebrate the nato 70th anniversary after a stormy two days in the u.k. the 29 heads of government failed to overcome disunity in the ranks. alan is next in virginia.

welcome. caller: hello. host: you are on the air. caller: good morning. one thing i want to say. i really appreciate what you folks do in being very evenhanded in presenting all without anyues spin. i much appreciate that. i think this needs to move forward and get done. the fact is, the results are predetermined. me and maybe i am ignorant on this, is the fact that the president asked for an investigation of a potential political rival in a foreign country. a does not seem to be asking

foreign country to intervene in the election. it seems to me that he has a what may besue corruption and maybe criminal acts that may have been perceived. see any potential interference in the u.s. election. i just don't see it. maybe i am missing something. host: here is what michael gerhardt, one of the four who testified yesterday, spoke about that issue in particular. [video clip] ifi just want to stress that -- what we are talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable. misconductcisely

that the framers who created the constitution including -- included impeachment to protect against. concludes that they will give a pass to the president here, than every other president will say ok, than i can do the same thing and the boundaries will just evaporate. those boundaries were set up by the constitution and we may be theirsing their roshan -- erosion. host: should the impeachment vote happen before christmas? if you want to send us a text. this one from francis who says yes, given that the senate will not convict, continuing the process is a waste of time. bill in new jersey, impeachment vote is not going to happen before christmas, but it would be a nice christmas gift to us liberals. house, --t vote, full

from anthony in maryland. if we can't get impeachment by christmas, we should start the coronation of the new king. larry in michigan, welcome. caller: yes. the thing that is frustrating to me is that this country has always been established on law & order and due process. the problem with what we are having here is when these proceedings started, the very first thing was public and that everything else was behind closed doors. either we are ashamed of what is , and/or we stand on their merits as to what we really represent. i just think that we should see more of this in public so that people can determine. yesterday's proceedings were clearly a one-sided proceeding

and that is the problem. we talk about this country being divided. this country has been divided for many years now. i have been active in voting ever since i was able to vote. respect, we have seen the same process happening today happen with other presidencies. process,tand on due due process takes time. your question as to whether or not the proceedings should happen before christmas. i don't think there should be a rush to judgment. on the same token, i think there should be more public airing of what is happening rather than things happening behind closed doors and things being represented the way they are. i don't know what else to say about that but i think it should be more public so people can see what their government is doing for them. that is what they were elected for, to represent the people of this country. next, in ohio.

caller: thank you. what i don't understand, he should be impeached before christmas and in the beginning, he kept saying russia, russia and the donald trump can't saying not russia, it could be over here or over there. he got on national television and said i believe putin. i am amazed at the republicans who voted for him, still supporting this man. the banks in america will not loan him money because there must be some kind of reason why but the republicans still try to support him. he is always saying something about his businesses, all of these businesses coming back to the country. not one time of you heard him say he is going to bring his businesses back into the country. one more thing.

like all the rallies, he kept saying don't we love wikileaks? wikileaks is this or that. all of a sudden the guy got busted for wikileaks and donald trump says i don't know anything about wikileaks. thank you very much. host: coming up at 9:00 eastern or so, the speaker of the house with an update on the impeachment process. we will have that live on c-span, c-span radio. --orting within the hour from politico with the headline, democrats offer clues about articles of impeachment. impeachment crystal ball, house democrats starting to show their cards about the content and timing of the potential impeachment articles. speaker nancy pelosi will deliver an update on the status of the house of representatives impeachment inquiry from the speakers balcony at 9:00 eastern. she will also participate in a cnn town hall tonight. they write this comes after yesterday's first dish year a

committee hearing on impeachment were democrats displayed a chart that listed three topics that could form articles of impeachment. abuse of power and bribery, obstruction of congress and obstruction of justice. politico.com is re-can read all of that. susan in west virginia -- in virginia beach. go ahead. caller: good morning. about ao make a comment lady that called earlier about trump's connection to russia. the new york university school of law has a website called justsecurity.org. they have a trump russia timeline over the years. thatf the first entries in

was -- you just got indicted and is cooperating with congress who sold apartments and condominiums are donald trump's father fred in the 1980's. he has been a part of that family for 35 years. another entry in the early 90's was that trump had applied to australia to build a trump australia and they turned him connectionsg his and ties to the mafia. they were are tons of interviews with his children and with trump and other parties that are legitimate. even his children who i'm sure never thought would -- he would be president in the 80's and 90's said that a majority of their business comes from russia. it is just littered with it and can'tt believe that we understand the difference between a fact and a lie. host: this website you mentioned , what is the name of the

website and who is sourcing it again? caller: new york university's school of law. it is called justsecurity.org. tom is up next in mississippi. caller: hello? host: you're on the air. caller: the first time i called. i am sorry but this is the first time i've called and it is the most garbage i've ever heard. seen a president that was so hated that trump is. if you go back in 2016 for the election, obama gets up and said --re is no way anybody they said that because they were sure that hillary was going to win. win, they she didn't went through thing they could think of to attack trump and accuse him of this and that.

when something doesn't stick they go to something else. he hasn't done anything. biden wasout ukraine, bragging about what he did. he basically bribed the guy. trump didn't do that. this is garbage. it boils down to, they hate trump, they can't accept that he won and they do everything they can -- they are wasting our time and our money on something that is not there. go back to the congressman you talk to, the black community has voted for the democrats for over 60 years and what have they got out of it? poverty, food stamps. -- obama put millions on food stamps and trump is taking millions off. they can't challenge trump on his economy, a he has done.

that is why they have to go with this impeachment. host: more of your calls and texts coming up in nancy pelosi, the house speaker in just a few minutes and update on the impeachment process. going to capitol hill now to talk with congressman anthony brown who serves the fourth district of maryland, some of the washington, d.c. suburbs. congressman brown, we will hear from the speaker shortly but she spoke in the caucus meeting schiffay, also adam laying out the case for impeachment. where do you think things stand? caller: good morning -- guest: good morning. i expect there will be a vote before christmas. this is not a rush to judgment, this is important work being done by the house intelligence committee, having heard from any witnesses about the president's abuse of power, the impact on national security, undermining

our elections, it is firmly in the hands of the dish year a committee. yesterday's hearing framed up the constitutional issues, the historical context and the basis for the house to bring this to the floor, articles of impeachment, up or down vote and then send it to the senate. our goal is not to delay it or rush it but in a timely way present it to the american people and get it to the senate. host: there was talk earlier in the week both in the media and members about the possibility of censure instead of an impeachment vote. guest: right now i would think ,hat the majority of congress and we are talking about democrats, it will be a partyline vote in support of impeachment that would go to the senate for consideration to remove the president from office. this is a fundamental betrayal of his oath of office. if congress were to simply

censure the president, which is significant but not nearly commensurate with the abuse of power that we have seen, that would set a bad precedent for future presidencies. it would erode our democracy and erode congress's power over the executive branch and that is not what the founders contemplated or what the american people deserve. host: you come from a fairly blue state, former lieutenant governor of maryland. what are you -- what you think about the vote, if a vote comes on the house floor on articles of impeachment? do you see any republican members who would vote for any of those articles? guest: there is a possibility. i think the number is small. i don't really take issue with the claim that many republicans are making that this is energized their conference and they have coalesced around it. itt is frightening is that

ignores the facts. the facts are that the president made a call to the ukrainian president and said do me a favor, dig up dirt on my political opponent and only then will i offer you a meeting in the white house and release military aid. that is in abuse of power that regardless of party should be clear for all lawmakers to see. dowe attract republicans, republicans see that clearly and vote their conscience, which would be to support articles of impeachment? that is yet to be seen and it would be disappointing if it was a straight partyline vote. host: you are a military veteran, the vice chair of the house armed services committee. some republicans said the impeachment proceedings and all of the issues surrounding that have been the issue but holding back getting approval of the defense authorization bill. what do you think? guest: my concern for the last several months i've heard from my constituents about their

desire for congress to impeach the president and i always caution that if and when we go down that path, it is going to take up a lot of the bandwidth of congress. whether it is the defense authorization act or the end of the year funding bills, prescription drug relief, it is going to compete with those but having said that, the defense authorization act, we are teaming up. i am confident -- we are teeing it up. it is my hope, and i know speaker pelosi is driving forward on a prescription drug bill which the american people desperately need and deserve. we are doing another -- a number of things concurrently with the impeachment proceedings and i think we will see progress on all of those in the next two weeks. host: certainly for your committee, the presence of military troops in the middle east, the president earlier this fall announcing a withdrawal of troops from syria.

we are seeing that they are saying that the administration is considering adding an additional 14,000 troops to the middle east in addition to other equipment and more. i don't know if you have had a chance to hear that news but what are your thoughts on that? guest: this has been the yo-yo foreign policy of the trump administration, the up and down. whether it was troop strength in syria, the troop strength in afghanistan, more broadly the troop strength in the middle east. the house armed services committee will receive a briefing from the chief of staff, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff as well as the secretary of defense and one of the i will say is i continue to have confidence in both the general and the secretary. i don't agree with every decision coming out of the pentagon but i do look forward to that briefing. we have to test the pentagon and the of administration, why would we send more troops to the middle east?

the president had promised to end forever wars. retreaty you shouldn't from those wars but i don't know what the rationale would be for increasing troop strength by 14,000 in the middle east. i am skeptical and i look forward to next week's briefing. host: speaking with congressman anthony brown, democrat from maryland's fourth district. we appreciate you being on with us. here on c-span's "washington journal," we are standing by for speaker nancy pelosi, set to speak to reporters and update americans on where things stand on the impeachment process. we will have that live for you when it gets underway. until then we will continue taking your calls and your comments. (202)-748-8000 if you think the impeachment vote should happen before christmas. (202)-748-8001 if you think not. danny is in north carolina. thanks for waiting. caller: good morning.

morning.ood was there ever an official investigation into ukraine for corruption? i have not seen anything or heard anything. i think that is what the phone call was about. the russians in ukraine. i have not heard or seen anything that confirms that. is there anything out here i can look for? is there anything they are doing now to check on corruption? host: there was a request by the president of ukraine for the investigation. barry in north carolina. caller: hello. that is mary from north carolina. about to say a few things the four professors on

yesterday. three of those professors, , why didy the lady they have those people come in? i don't understand that. and whatssors came in was it for? was to get ais constitutional perspective on impeachment. what the constitution says. they did hear from four professors. democrats chose three and republicans chose one. william in houston, texas. caller: good morning, c-span. things i would like to clear up real quick. ukraine was cleared of corruption. that is why the money was approved. nothing was there. therefore that is a done issue.

the young man that called and accused obama of putting black people on stamps, the majority of people on food stamps are not african-americans. trump -- see that when i am a veteran. i up until the vietnam that i fought in. that is patriotism. day all i askthe andody is close their eyes say, well, pretend it was barack obama who committed all that president trump did. this,don't stand against that opens the door for every

president there is to just say no to sending any people to testify. to be repetitive throughout the country. throughout the years to come. even a blind man can tell. i used to believe that. to walk around blindly, to actually think that there wasn't any wrong here, even turley admitted there was wrong. he said we should not let it go any further. at the end of the day we are all americans. we all have to understand wrong is wrong. have a nice day. host: he and another caller mentioning food stamps. usa today. 700,000 could lose their food stamps in a move that will knock hundreds of thousands of people off the federal food stamp

rolls. the trumpet minute ration tightened work requirements for the program that helps feed 36 million americans. ,ligibility for food stamps known as snap, is based on a formula that takes into consideration family size, citizenship status, household income and certain expenses. they can apply individuals and families. the new rule which was finalized by the department of agriculture restricts states from exhibiting certain work eligible adults receivedependents to snap benefits. paul is next up in ohio. caller: i'm glad you brought up -- i was only no line about impeachment. i'm glad you brought up the article about food stamps. in a country that is supposed to be more prosperous since he has taken office -- host: