say, if anyone wants a cigar you are all more than welcome. >> without objection the committee is adjourned. >> the house returns this morning at 9:00 eastern to debate the impeachment resolution against president trump following the january 6 attack on the u.s. capital. tuesday members debated and approved a resolution urging vice president mike pence to invoke the 25th amendment to remove president trump from office. when members return they will consider the rules for debating the impeachment resolution. once the rule is passed, members will debate the articles of impeachment and hold a final vote. live coverage of the u.s. house continued live at 9:00 eastern on c-span. >> coming up in 30 minutes,

texas congressman al green on the house impeachment vote against president trump for his alleged role in the attack against the u.s. capital. at 8:30, our discussion on impeachment charges continues with utah congressman john curtis. ♪ host: good morning. it is wednesday, january 13. for the second time in 13 months, the house of representatives will vote on an article of impeachment against president trump today. that article, incitement of insurrection stemming from his actions leading up to last week's attacks. the debate begins on the house floor two hours from now. until then, we want to hear from you on this, the second impeachment of donald trump. phone lines are open. democrats, one line, republicans one line, independents, one

line. you can also send us a text. if you do, please include your name and where you are from. otherwise, catch up with us on social media on twitter and facebook. a very good wednesday morning to you. you can go ahead and start calling in now. the house returns at 9:00 eastern this morning after staying in session late last night to debate and vote on a resolution calling on vice president mike pence to strip president trump of his powers under the 25th amendment. during that debate, speaker nancy pelosi made her case. [video clip] >> mr. speaker, this is a sad day for our country that we have to come to the floor in a way to defend the constitution of the united states at this time. the facts are very clear. the president called for this

seditious attack. for days, he urged supporters to come to washington for the insurrection. wednesday morning, he participated in a rally to encourage the rioters to march on the capital and fight. not only did he urged people to march on the capital and fight, he further fanned the flames and cheered and celebrated the desecration of the capital. later that day, as the dangers escalated, he ignored and flat out rejected the pleas of congress, including those of his own party, to call off his supporters, the rioters, the terrorists, as they engaged in vandalism and violence. later -- and now, the president is saying he is not responsible and that his incitement to violence was totally appropriate. the president's actions

demonstrate his absolute inability to charge the basic and most fundamental powers and duties of his office. therefore, the president must be removed from office immediately. host: nancy pelosi on the house floor last night. president trump, yesterday, was down in texas visiting the border to talk about the border wall. he spoke with reporters before leaving the white house about the possibility of this impeachment. [video clip] >> we want to know violence, absolutely no violence. on the impeachment, it is really a continuation of the greatest witchhunt in the history of politics. it is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. this impeachment is causing tremendous anger. it is really a terrible thing they are doing. for nancy pelosi and chuck schumer to continue on this path is causing tremendous danger to

our country and causing tremendous anger. i want to know violence. thank you very much. host: that was president trump yesterday morning. taking your phone calls this morning as the house prepares to vote on articles of impeachment today. it gets underway at 9:00 eastern. we are expecting debate on the articles themselves to come around lunchtime or a little after. possible final vote around 3:00 or 4:00 eastern time. stay with c-span all day long today to follow the action on the house floor. we mentioned that debate and passage of the resolution calling on the vice president to invoke the 25th amendment to strip the president of his powers. that resolution passing on a 233-205, mostly partyline, although republican party member adam kinzinger joining democrats. as the debate was taking place, the vice president releasing a letter to nancy pelosi saying

that he would not invoke the 25th amendment. this is some of that letter. "with just eight days left, you and the democratic caucus are demanding the cabinet and i invoke the 25th amendment. i do not believe it is in the best interest of our nation or consistent with our constitution. i urge you and every member of congress to work with us to lower the temperature and unite our country as we prepare to inaugurate president-elect joe biden as the next president of the united states. i pledge to you i will continue to do my part to work in good faith with the incoming administration to assure an orderly transition of power." mike pence in his letter to nancy pelosi yesterday showing that he would not invoke the 25th amendment. there is the letter there. this is the headline from today's "politico" showing the political party not totally united behind the president.

"republicans begin to turn on trump." the quote from liz cheney. her statement about the president "there has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the united states." liz cheney coming out yesterday saying she would vote for impeachment. this is a fuller part of her statement. "the president of the united states assembled this mob and let the flame of this attack. everything that followed was his doing. the president could have immediately, forcefully intervened to stop the violence. he did not. there has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the united states and his oath to the constitution. i will vote to impeach the president." liz cheney, one of the republicans who have come out in support of impeachment. chad of fox news, this was his latest as of almost midnight eastern last night.

up to five republicans at that point voting to impeach the president. those five republicans, so far, republicans that have come out to say they will support impeachment. we will see what happens in the hours to come this morning. until then, taking your phone calls here. getting your thoughts on this, the second impeachment of president trump. democrats, republicans and independents. phone lines are yours. we start with craig. caller: good morning. my question is this. president trump is a very deceitful man. he deserves everything he is going to get, and he is going to get a whole lot more trouble for him. you can believe that. i wanted to ask you this question. if those police would have shot -- i know one of the police shot the woman -- but like when the

man was running up the steps, if he would have shot that guy following him, would he have been in trouble for that or would he have had the right -- did he have the right to do that? host: i am not a legal expert, but those questions certainly being discussed on use of force, threats to the capitol police and members of congress and the line of succession all taking place in that attack here on capitol hill on wednesday. members of congress promising investigations into that. we have already seen resignations of the sergeants at arms, the capitol police chief. that all happening ahead of the next major event here on capitol hill, january 20, the inauguration of president-elect joe biden. a lot of police presence around capitol hill today.

a lot of new fencing that has gone up. police on most of the major intersections within blocks of capitol hill this morning, already blocking several access routes in and out of the hill. here are some of the pictures from around capitol hill today from the seven foot high fencing you can see that has been put up all around the capitol and chain-link fence further back within blocks. we will show you some of those scenes as we hear from maurice in kansas. caller: good morning. first off, took reg'point -- to craig's point, he was leading the protesters up the steps. most of the cops at that site at the capitol building opened the gates and the doors and allowed the protesters in. the protesters predominately were just following the rope lines. host: have you seen the videos

of police officers being hit in the head with fire extinguishers and fighting these crowds? caller: absolutely. if that would have been the left, that would have been a peaceful protest. all things considered. host: you think the police escalated the violence? caller: no. i think that that was an orchestrated engagement. host: orchestrated by who? caller: they was probably some protesters involved. i would say that were there in the spirit of the protest and the march. there were into for involved -- antifa involved, but also special ops. host: why do you think this is a grand conspiracy? caller: not a grand conspiracy.

i am saying the rule of law in this country is broken. our government is broken. host: that is maurice in kansas. we go to sheila in ohio. caller: good morning. my brother is a police officer in pennsylvania. one cop was be into death, one committed suicide, others were beaten and sustained major head injuries. the insurgents were looking to hang vice president pence at the gallows and news they had erected and kidnapped a losey. -- and kidnapped pelosi. host: sheila, your thoughts on the capitol police here and the job they did trying to protect members of congress? i think we lost sheila. the tunnels underneath the capitol, the walkways between

the various house and senate buildings, the way members often used to get around capitol hill, especially when it is cold out, those are starting to be filled up with messages of thanks to the capitol police for what they did. this video showing some of those messages from capitol hill. staffers, members of congress and staff thanking the capital police officers. i will show you a few of those as we hear from jill in newton square, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. i am calling just to say i am in favor of the second impeachment of president trump. i think we need to hold him accountable. he is the head of our executive branch. when you have the head contribute to a speech with falsehoods, that i did watch in its entirety, to incite that riot on our legislative branch, the legislative branch has no option but to hold those people

accountable. i think the biggest crime is president trump's complete repetition of the biggest lie which is that this election was stolen. i have been an elected official for helping out with primaries and at general elections for over 10 years in a county outside of philadelphia that was won by democrats this year. i have to say, we worked hand in hand, democrats, republicans, independents, on the smoothest election we have ever had. the problem is that i think we need to educate and learn more about how our voting process works. it is done locally by volunteers. it has been tallied by volunteers, cross checked by party, cross checked again. then sent to the county where it is cross checked again by the local people who are volunteers

and that, who again, cross party. they double confirm it, triple confirm it, and that those numbers that are represented at the county level are true. they county level gets rolled up to the state level. the biggest allied the president has continued to say is that the elections were stolen. as an independent who wants every vote counted correctly, i am appalled by what has happened in the last two or three months with this president who continues to rile people up and continues to perpetuate this life. -- lie. host: this is rhonda in ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. i am for the president's impeachment. i think congress has had it out for him since day one. i think he is just the type of president we have needed. he does not conform to typical,

political ways of speech. he does everything off-the-cuff, which is good and bad in a lot of ways. nancy pelosi has had it out for him since day one. she has showed him nothing but disgrace. i just think everybody needs to step back and look at -- everybody wants to pick on this right against the capitol building. what about all of the other ones i have taken place? host: what do you think of republicans like the number three republican in the house saying they will come out and support impeachment. this headline getting a lot of attention yesterday. mitch mcconnell is said to be pleased about impeachment believing it will be easier to purge comp from the gop -- trump from the gop. caller: i think they all have their own agendas. i don't think they are wanting

to impeach him because of the riots. i think they want to impeach him to keep him from running for another office. host: you think republican leaders want that? caller: i think republican, democratic, all of them will turn tail and run the minute anything gets rough. they don't want to lose their position, their power and what they have right now. the american people only get to hear what is being told on the news. we only get to see what is on social media, which is, other than "washington journal" is censored. we are living in a country of censorship and the news alone can instill a riot just on what they hear. black lives matter being one of them. they need to back off, let this president finish off his term and let him go. no, they are afraid he has more power than what they're willing to give him by allowing him to run again because he has already

said he wanted to do that. host: that is rhonda. more on senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. this from axios. they are reporting from mike allen saying "senate majority leader would vote to convict president trump in an impeachment trial." "the senate institutional loyalists are fermenting a counter to trump." "this would represent one of the most shocking and damming votes in the history of american politics are most powerful republican in congress. mcconnell's vote would open the door to the possibility that trump could be convicted and prohibited from running for president again." they note again the liz cheney statement the first statement that came out yesterday of one of the leading republicans that would support impeachment. john katko as well. one of the first out with

statements yesterday saying he would support impeachment. john in costa mesa, california. go ahead. caller: good morning. president trump has made his position on the peaceful transfer of power abundantly clear for weeks now, not months. it has been a week since this riot at the capital. he still has the opportunity by showing up at the inauguration and diffusing this whole thing. he will not do that. he will not do it, especially after he pushed these people. i watched that rally, parts of it. these people were standing out in the cold listening to music like "gloria" and the other

"ymca" thing in the freezing cold with their flags and insignias. i am a graphic artist. these -- people rally around these symbols and get pumped up. the right keeps saying the media this and media that. talk radio is dominated by the right. rush limbaugh, sean hannity, on down the line. you can't hear anything about the left. i wish mike pence would step up and remove them from off -- remove him from office. yesterday, i heard that they are going to stand up, let their people vote the way they want to. that is the way it should have always been. if government did their job, we wouldn't even think about government. host: that is john in california. president trump addressed

concerns that have been brought up about his statements in that rally. the president saying he doesn't believe he said anything wrong. this is the president before heading down to texas. [video clip] >> we have tremendous support, support probably like nobody has ever seen before. always have to avoid violence. report -- >> what is your view on what happened? >> if you read my speech, and i have seen it both in the papers and the media, on television. it has been analyzed and people thought that what i said was totally appropriate. if you look at what other people have said, politicians at a high level, about the riots during the summer, the horrible riots in portland and seattle and various other places, that was a real problem, what they said. but they have analyzed my speech and words and final paragraphs, my final sentence.

everybody said it was totally appropriate. host: president trump yesterday. today, facing an article of impeachment for an article of incitement of insurrection. here is what the last two paragraphs say. "president trump greatly endangered the security of the united states and institutions of government. he interfered with the peaceful transition of power and imperiled coequal branch of government. he betrayed his trust as president to manifest injury of the people of the united states. donald trump has demonstrated he will remain a threat to national security, democracy and the constitution if allowed to remain in office and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. donald trump warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of

honor, trust or profit under the united states." nancy pelosi naming her managers. it is a simple majority for impeachment in the house, two thirds in the senate to convict of the charge of incitement of insurrection. here is who would be leaving that trial in the senate. free democrats -- four democrats -- for democrats, jamie raskin, diana degette, david cicilline, joaquin castro, eric swalwell, nine in total on the floor including ted lieu, stacy plaskett and john the deuce and madeleine dean rounding out the impeachment managers that nancy pelosi announced yesterday. about 10 minutes left before we are joined by one of those who will be voting on the article of impeachment today, congressman

al green of texas will be joining us at 7:30 eastern. until then, this is james in virginia. caller: good morning. host: good morning, sir. caller: i like to say that i live in a blue state and i voted for mr. trump. i think he ought to serve out his term. i don't think he is a threat to the united states. i think ms. pelosi and people that wants to impeach him, they try to impeach him once and it didn't work. they have almost the same crew of people that want to impeach him. i think it would be a bad thing for america, and i think they are going to stir up the hornets nest if they do that. host: john in illinois, good morning. caller: good morning.

they don't need to impeach him. they have done been down that road. all he is doing is trying to make everything better for the u.s. he pretty welded everything. it democrats have been trying to hold him down. the economy is getting worse. everything is made in china. nothing is made in russia. they keep saying, not china, but everybody needs to really wake up. he is trying to help everybody. they need to lock them up and get them to work for the u.s. work for the people. host: you are saying keep members of congress in to continue the business on the house and senate floor? caller: yeah. one guy called in saying here in

michigan, the democrats and senate -- republicans need to sit together. they need to cool the heat down and straighten the place up. the news is fake. you can't trust anything out of their. i like your show because i hear from both sides. more people need to listen to both sides and try to get the truth out instead of just being fake news. host: you mentioned the security around members of congress. this story from "roll call." the latest fallout from last week's violent attack on the capital. effective immediately, "all persons including members are required to undergo screenings when entering the house. metal detectors erected outside of the chamber tuesday afternoon on the second floor of the capitol warehouse members are

usually able to move about freely. lawmakers have been warned that a failure to complete screening or the carrying out of prohibitive ite -- items could result in denial of access to the chamber." steve scalise said the situation is untenable because those new security areas in p the ability of members to come and vote. "this is our job, these are the lines." raju, one of the congressional reporters who noted concern about the new magnetometers outside the house floor. alabama, democrat. caller: good morning. i am actually a republican. i will be changing to independent after all of this.

i agree with the lady from ohio and i do ask for the same amount of time that you give the democrats. i have something i want to say. my cousin lives in georgia. she got three voting things through the mail. i have a friend that lives in alabama that got five. tell me it is not dirty. host: were those ballots or to register to vote by mail? caller: to vote by mail. five and three. they did not use them, they shredded them. host: where they ballots, themselves? caller: ballots. two votes. you are talking about all of this writing because of something donald trump said. i may tell somebody to go jump off the bus, they probably ain't going to do it. second of all, look at all of the bad times nancy pelosi, maxine waters and all of those

other people where enticing people to go attack us. how many times? why don't you show that? all of the republicans turning on donald trump are traders. i will not vote republican or democrat again. i will vote independent and vote for the person that is most closest to god instead of causing confusion. they are tearing our country apart. in the democrats that have biden in, i don't want to hear you whining and complaining when it all comes down. they are against us. they are all running scared because something is going to come out to bring them down. i trust god in this and he is a higher power than anybody. you have a great day. i pray for donald trump because i believe in the end, he is going to be a christian and the lord is going to be with him. god bless america. host: this is carolyn in virginia. caller: good morning.

i am an emergency attack survivor and kennedy's cousin. i call on all networks to have a moment of silence and to have a special tree in honor of officer sicknick. i would like to see the emergency response make sure that there is food, water and emergency tech app. i understood from gerry connolly's video, he was not able to connect to the rayburn building, making sure the special emergency aid kit. i think there is something up in florida. i think florida is connected to cuba and russia. host: carolyn in virginia calling for a moment of silence for the fallen officers. that is exactly what happened on the house floor yesterday. nancy pelosi leading that moment of silence.

here is that moment from the house floor. [video clip] >> the chair would ask that all members of staff present in the chamber and throughout the -- please rise for a moment of silence in honor of her membranes of the dedication and service of the fallen united states capital police officers brian d6 nine and how would li bin good -- brian and howard. host: that was the scene on the house floor yesterday. that is going to do it for this first segment. stick around. plenty more to come, including up next. we will be joined by congressman al green of texas to talk about today's vote to impeach the president. later, we will be joined by john curtis of utah for the same discussion. ♪

>> tuesday, the sun armed services committee will hold a confirmation hearing for lloyd austin to be defense secretary, marking the first confirmation hearing for a biden nominee. if confirmed, he will be the first african-american senate -- secretary of defense. watch live coverage tuesday at 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, on at c-span.org or on the c-span radio app. >> the votes for president of the united states are as follows, joseph r biden junior of the state of delaware, 306 votes. donald j. trump of the state of florida has received 232 votes. >> with the votes in the 2020 presidential election counted and confirmed, attention turned to the inauguration of the 46th president. on january 20, joe biden and

kamala harris take the oath of office as president and vice president of the u.s. live coverage begins at 7:00 a.m. eastern on wednesday, january 20. watch live on c-span, ondemand or listen with the free c-span radio app. >> "washington journal" continues. host: texas democrat al green was the first member of congress to call for president trump's impeachment back in 2017. he joins us now as the house prepares to impeach him for a second time. how are you anywhere where you are a week ago during that attack on capitol hill? guest: thank you very much. let me just do this quickly. i want to thank c-span for the way it has presented the news. in an unbiased way over these years as it relates to this impeachment. i would also like to applaud the

110 people who were actually there to lay the foundation for impeachment. these persons took a lot of grief. there was so much happening in their lives that i am sure they would like to recount in the world would not know about it. there was a lot going on initially that was not recorded. i think they should be appreciated and i really do want to commend those that were there at the genesis. i was in my office. prior to coming into the actual office, i had an appointment to be over at the capitol. on my way there, i was approached by an officer who said we have to shelter-in-place. the officer really meant shelter right now in place because of

what was happening. the officer had some degree of consternation in his demeanor. i said, i have got to go into my office to be with my staff. i came to my office, and i was with my staff. we had to put our phones on silent, we had to be quiet, and we had to concern ourselves with letting people know that we were actually in the office. that was a protocol we were asked to follow. we followed that protocol. as we were looking at all of this develop on the screen, seeing what i would call -- for insurrection. you don't get to see insurrection in this country the way we saw it on the screen. we saw it and it was most revealing but also something that did cause a good deal of

concern. host: congressman al green with us for the next 20 minutes. go ahead and start calling in now if you want to chat with him. democrats, republicans, independents. congressman, as folks are calling in, you have supported impeachment going back to the spring of 2017. what does a second impeachment accomplish with a week to go in the trump presidency? guest: there is irony in what is happening now because back in december of 2019, i addressed this very question and indicated then that the president could be impeached a second time. i think it is important that we do it this time because we have a president that i have concluded and said is unfit. we have articles of impeachment because he was unfit at the time, in my opinion. also, because he currently has

fought to insight insurrection. that is pretty serious business. this is the united states of america. when a president, the person who is there to protect and defend the constitution, to provide liberty and justice for all, when he incites people to march to the capitol, and when they get there, they take it upon themselves to assault officers, to scale the walls, to do all sorts of dastardly things, to erect a gallows with a noose, to have on shirts indicative of persons who support nazism, support anti-semitism, to just do some of the things that were done inside -- one of the things

that has offended me greatly, and i'm not sure why, but that just says something to me about that person. i'm not going to say everybody was involved with that, but to do this in the capitol of the united states of america on television is something we cannot allow to go unchalle nged. there must be some means by which we can deter future persons from doing this. my constituents have come to me in fear. here is why they are in fear. they believe that if the capitol can be assaulted, and these are people of color, they believe something ugly could happen to them. i don't want this to be about the members who are trying to protect themselves.

this is about protecting people who have never come to washington, d.c. if this kind of thing gets out of hand -- and people remember other things that have happened like roz well -- rose well and black wall street. i'm concerned about them and i hope the impeachment will be successful not because i want to celebrate the impeachment of the president, but because i love my country. all of this is about love for country and about doing what we have to do, even sometimes when you don't get the realm of support that you think you should get, but you know that you have got to do the right thing. the right thing right now is to support this article of impeachment. i filed an article as well. it deals with the hate at president has engendered. what has happened out there on january 6 was the result of the

hate that the president has been stirring up for some time with some of the things that have been said and done about what happened in charlottesville. about the thing that happened when he was in the white house and he was talking to senators and called certain countries, about how he has treated women and demeaned them publicly and members of congress, separated babies from families. he has sown -- sown the seeds of hate across the country. i regret having to say it, but this is the day of reckoning. the president, i believe, should be impeached, and i believe he should not be allowed to

hold office again. he is a chronic contributor to the ills that we have or in society -- abhor in society. host: i know time with you is short. we want to give you time to chat with some of our callers. this is lisa. caller: hi. thank you very much. representative green, i want to ask you about qanon. why have the republicans not renounced qanon? from the republican party of texas, i got a 2021 sustaining membership leader and it says on the back of it, "you are the storm." i think this goes a lot deeper than we are being told.

it looks to me, from "the washington post" article that the lack of security at the capitol was an inside job. people were told that the national guard was trapped and they were not. for example, lindsey graham. i don't trust anybody anymore. lindsey graham said he was done with you. and he flew down to texas with him yesterday. host: congressman? guest: thank you for your question. this is a time of great uncertainty. i think you are evidence of what i was trying to communicate earlier about people being very concerned and fearful because if it can happen at the capitol, only god knows where else it could happen.

with qanon, this is something that is irrational and it is difficult to explain something irrational. what you can do is say to people what it is. it is irrational. i am a firm believer in something carlisle has said. truth crushed to earth shall rise again. we have to forge toward justice and be truthful. i believe that in the end, truth will win. that is what we have to do, but it can be difficult when you're trying to accomplish your aim to make sure that truth prevails. host: louisiana, this is chase. caller: hi.

a couple of things on my mind. i wanted to acknowledge that the children being separated at the border was only in the case where there was no evidence of the children being the children of the people bringing them across the border, effectively reducing child trafficking. another thing was the level of confidence in the vote this year. host: congressman greene? his second point he said was a lack of confidence in the vote. guest: thank you. i believe that we have vetted this election quite thoroughly. this may be the most vetted election in the history of the united states. it has gone through not only the various states, but also the

courts have been involved in it. there has not been evidence of widespread voter fraud. i will be very candid with you. i don't think we will ever have a perfect election. things happen. people are involved and mistakes are made. things will happen, without intentionality, things will happen. there may be things occur that one or two or some people may do. if we hone in on the mistakes that are made, and there will be mistakes made, we can call any election a bad election because of some of the things that human beings can do without intentionality. mistakes can be made. if they do it with intentionality, we should capture them and they should be prosecuted for it. i believe it was a good election. i believe president-elect biden

is the person who won the actual election and vice president-elect harris won. on january 20, they will be installed in office. let me just say this, i regret greatly that the president has declined to be in attendance. this sends another signal. i'm not sure exactly what the message is intended to be, but i can tell you that there are many who perceive this as his disapproval, continued disapproval and continued disbelief in the process. the president is continuing to do irreparable harm. he has to be impeached and he should never hold public office again. i begged mr. mcconnell, do what you can to assemble a trial in the senate so that we can bring

back the normalcy that this country has enjoyed with reference to the transfer of power. that has got to take place and can only take place if there is a trial in the senate. the impeachment will only ignite a trial in the senate is the thing that will restore confidence in our country. there are those that say if you do this, it will rip the country apart. you cannot prevent injustice -- you cannot let injustice prevent you from doing what is just. host: on the biden administration, are you concerned about a senate trial undercutting the early days of the bonded administration, efforts to pass legislation that joe biden has promised to do to confirm his nominees and get them in a position where they can enact his policies? guest: many people have said we

should walk and, the same time -- walk and chew gum at the same time. i believe there is a way to accomplish it. impeachment does not mean the trial goes -- case goes to trial immediately. we have had trials in our country where persons have been indicted for years, and finally, they go to trial. in texas, we have such a case right now with a person who hold public office. the point is, there does not have to be something that starts on day one, but if we got it out of the way, i think it would be beneficial if we took care of it quickly. i don't think we can get around doing that which is just. i would preferred that it be done before, the trials start before mr. biden takes the presidency. we should leave him out of it. i think he has work to do. i think this is the business of

the house and the senate. the president should continue his work and we should prove -- support the legislation and pose it as he presents it. host: dolores, tennessee. you are next. caller: good morning to both of you. i have some quick comments. representative green, it all first started when trump got up there and knew about this virus and wouldn't tell us the truth. trump lied and people died. he lied about the selection. they went over and over. he went up in the senate and the congress, everybody knew what this man was doing. he hates to lose, but he don't care about human lives. we all saw what happened with the people. and then, we find out they

destroyed the building. i will say it in a nice way, with feces, food and everything else. what decent human being would do something like that? guest: i am as appalled as you are. i think that is why we are here today, a day that will live in infamy, not a day for us to celebrate. this is not a time for us to be proud that somehow, the president is leaving office. it is something we should regret, but something we know we have to do. there are times in life when that which might be done is not the thing that you would want to have done, but the thing that you must do. we must do this for posterity, for those who are unborn, so that we can protect them and let other would-be trump's know what

their fate can be if they should stoop to such dastardly pains as have been done. host: to richard in west virginia. line for republicans. caller: good morning. i miss to the introduction to this segment with congressman green. i just have to say if it was not mentioned that congressman green was calling for trump's impeachment no sooner than he took office area early in his term, that you are fraudulently presenting him as some judge is whether or not he should be impeached. i doubt north his behavior arrives to that level, but unless we have a real hearing with evidence, the on the whole thing is fraudulent. let me just say quickly because i know that as a typical democrat, i resent the on behalf

of my two black rain children that the race card is being played. not by this congressman, but by biden and harris. it is going to make it more difficult for my grandchildren to grow up in a peaceful world and i resent that. guest: thank you for your call, and i do not present -- perceive you to be a racist. i think people are entitled to their opinions. my hope is that your grandchildren will grow up in a world where they won't have to suffer the kind of indignations and humiliations this president has caused to be visited upon certain members of society. i think that for all of the persons the hold your position, this is what i would say to you. there are some people who

perceive life from a different perch. they are as fearful and concerned about their families as you are. the truth is, those people and you have much more in common than you think. i believe that at some point, on the infinite continuum that we call time, they would be a uniting of people from various classes, as they are called, who are suffering. when the suffering ultimately unite, i believe this country is going to be a better place because that means we will pay more attention to those that are suffering. my best wishes to you and your family, and if i have given you reason to think that i think you are racist, you have my apologies because i was wrong to do that. i would not want people to think that persons who supported mr. trump in general are racist. i don't believe that.

host: time for one more call. i know you have to get to work in a couple of minutes. conner, go ahead. caller: i appreciate everything you have done for civil rights. i want to ask you what makes the c should different -- the capital siege different than stonewall. what would you say to those that try to make a comparison between what happened on january 6 to those civil rights movements? guest: i just want to correct the record, i'm not a reverend, but my grandfather was. people think so because i wear this pen that says "god is good all the time." i am just a believer, still a sinner, but a believer. how is this difference from other -- different from other

circumstances where people were protesting? here is how it differs. the people at stonewall were protesting injustice being perpetrated upon them. this circumstance emanates from a president who has fanned the flames of confusion. he has fanned the flames of confusion with hate. he used inside of language -- incitive language to call them to go to the capitol and decide, for whatever reasons, that they were going to take over the building. at stonewall, people were not tying -- trying to take over a federal facility. people at stonewall were

responding in a defensive position. this was an awful action to take over a building, the capital of the united states of america. pushing against an officer who was trapped and pleading. and then, there was a "heave, ho ." this was an insurrection. it was something that we have not seen before and is not in any way comparable to what happened at stonewall, not in any way comparable to what happened at the march on washington when dr. king gave the great "i have a dream" speech, not in any way comparable to what john lewis did when he was crossing the bridge in 1965 on bloody sunday. this is anti the movements that was there for justice for all. this was about a fued, a lot of

people who gathered and decided they were going to do something to interrupt the peaceful transition of power. those are the circumstances -- those other circumstances were not about that and about trying to take a presidency from people who had been advertised and legitimized as the persons who won the election. i thank you for letting me say those words because i think c-span is a place where voices can be heard that may not be heard in other places. god bless you and i thank you. host: and we thank you for your time today on a very busy day. we will let you get back to work. guest: thank you. host: we will stay with your phone calls this morning talking about the houseboat today to impeach president trump for a second time. phone lines to join the conversation, one for democrats, one for republicans, one for

independents. as you are calling in, here is how it will go down today on the house floor. the house is set to meet at 9:00 a.m. eastern today. c-span's capitol hill producer takes us through what will be happening via his tweets. the house will first debate the rule for one hour, followed by two procedural votes with members voting in groups under covid-19 safety guidelines and with proxy voting allowed. the house will then debate the resolution for two hours. that is the impeachment resolution. incitement of insurrection is the charge. following that will be the final vote. we are expecting the final vote somewhere around 3:00 to 4:00. you should stay with c-span all day to watch what is happening gavel-to-gavel on the house floor. one more tweet from craig kaplan

taking a look at the republican wit count. as of this morning, five republicans have announced they will vote to impeach president trump. liz cheney being the highest profile name on that list, john katko, adam kinzinger, fred upton and jamie herrera butler. this is the story on liz cheney and her statement yesterday announcing her support of impeachment. it is the lead story in "politico." "i day before the house is set to charge trump with willful interaction, the republican party threatened to transform the party into a bipartisan vote. liz cheney punctuated the defections tuesday night with a statement announcing her support for impeachment. there has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the united states of his oath to the united states constitution." that story leading "politico."

we are getting our reaction to all of it on the "washington journal." we are ending in just about an hour as the house is ready to come in. steve, kansas, go ahead. caller: no problem waiting. i have waited for about an hour, and that is no problem. i can't see why they don't pursue the 25th amendment section four, which has never been done before. howard baker considered using it against ronald reagan when he showed early signs of alzheimer's. that is what i think they ought to be doing. i guess whether they sit around and wait for eviction, i am thinking these are two separate things, article 25 and the amendment to remove -- will they pursue section four of the 20 but

amendment -- the tournament amendment. host: that is what the house called mike pence to do. caller: there was one sentence in section four, which was mentioned that a committee can be formed -- looking at mike pence's statement, he left open in my mind an independent body that can be doctors and use them instead. that is my point. look deep into section four. there is one line in there. he can do that now. the vote will be sitting and waiting. the 25th amendment and the impeachment are different articles. host: take a look at yesterday's washington journal. it was in our last segment yesterday, so 9:00 a.m. hour.

we had a wry and on, a law professor from michigan state university. he wrote a book on section four of the 20 fed amendment. he addressed -- of the 25th amendment. that resolution passing yesterday, calling on the house to invoke the amendment. -- the 25th amendment. as they were debating and voting on -- mike pence released a letter to nancy pelosi saying that he would not invoke the 10th amendment. this is what the letter said. with just eight days left in the president's term, you and the caucus are urging that i am both each when amendment. i do not believe that this is in the best interest of our nation or consistent with our constitution. i urge you and every member of congress to avoid action that

would further divide and inflame passions at the moment. i pledge to you that i will continue to do my part to work in good faith with the incoming administration to ensure an orderly transition of party -- of power. republican, go ahead, you are next. caller: good morning everybody. i want to call in as somebody who was in washington on january 5. i was a participant of the trump rally. there is a lot of misconception. a lot of people have misspoken. host: -- caller: the thing that is frustrating is that i keep hearing about how donald trump and cited an insurrection. i have a phd in medicine.

secondly, i am an articulate individual that cannot be led by a man. i am sure that the many others down there are what donald trump said and i quote, from his speech that day, we are going to walk down the street and we are going to cheer. we are going to cheer on our brave congressman and women. maybe we will not cheer for some so much. if cheering and walking is violent -- it was freezing cold, the songs that they were playing, they were innocent. we were singing hallelujah. it was a church service. host: did you walk into the capitol after the rally? caller: the trump supporters that were there because they were frustrated at not hearing -- having their voice heard.

if you thought the world was in a nest now, we are only opening pandora's box and greatly furthering this divide. when this very program last week had joe biden saying -- that is race baiting, driving the nail in the coffin. host: can i ask you a question? caller: absolutely. host: did you come to capitol hill after the rally. caller: donald trump did not come out to speak until 12:15 p.m.. there were hundreds of thousands of people still in the ellipse, all the way back until the washington monument. donald trump did not conclude his speech for an hour and 35 minutes. what transpired prior to that, i am skeptical to say was trump supporters.

host: did you come to capitol hill? caller: i never made it that far. never made it that far. host: what did you make of the violence inside the building and the protesters who went inside the building who made it that far as far as the house and senate chamber? caller: let me back up a little bit. i do not condone that. i do not agree with it. can i speak to what transpired inside the building? i cannot, i was not there. there was a mass of people outside and the people who were surrounded on the outside that i observed, that i can speak intelligently on, they were chanting stop the steel, we lost trump. what went on inside the building, i do not know, i was not there. what went on outside was simply

the public wanting to be heard. the citizens of this great nation showing solidarity and support for their belief. host: did you see the gallows and the noose that was erected outside the building? caller: no, i did not. but, that does not mean, back to the issue at hand, we want to impeach donald trump because he incited a riot. if i say to you, i want to do three cartwheels and a handspring, you are insulting my intelligence to say that i am not a freethinker enough to know right from wrong. this is the problem. the people are not being given the credit that they deserve. we can disagree, but you imply that this man is causing a divide in the nation and this

morning, the first lag secretary of defense is being appointed. i do not know where his political beliefs lie. i know he is black. this is the problem. why can't he just be a qualified person for the job? donald trump repeatedly is being called out for and citing this. if we are such sheep and following everything we heard, don't you think there is hypocrisy here? host: this is on joe biden's appointments and the confirmations being scheduled. here is some of the news, including about the incoming, if he is concerned -- confirmed, -- his hearing would be january 19, the day before the inauguration. that is coming from the senate armed services committee. treasury secretary janet yellen

will test -- that at 10:00 a.m.. one more secretary of state nominee, tony blinken will testify at his foreign relations committee at 2:00 p.m. on tuesday the 19th. a busy day, the day before the president-elect joe inauguration takes place on capitol hill. in richmond, virginia, democrat, you are next. caller: good morning, america and good morning, sir. i would like to set the record straight about the voting and the democrats. what happened was, i got two letters in the mail to vote with. i took those letters to the county and voted in person the first week and a lot of other democrats voted early and by mail because we did not want to be subjected to what happened at the capital on the steps.

we see who donald trump is. he is not for the people. he is for russia. all of those people -- i would like -- that lady before you read all the announcements. it is not fair that we are treated like we are not citizens just like everybody else. we got up, we go to work, we put in our time, 30 years of service, and we retire. or some of us keep on working. we just want to be treated fairly. we do not want to be treated like we are not included. my husband is white, i love him dearly. i love our family and you have to realize that there are a lot of people out there like me that do not want that mess. we want to be treated -- our white house like it is the place for all the people not just for

some. thank you, thank you for letting me get that off my chest. one more thing, the nra issue, on ak-47s and a handgun, all of this stuff would cease. host: this is connie out of illinois, republicans, good morning. caller: good morning i keep hearing everyone talking about what happened at charlottesville. but they only say the first part of donald trump's sentence, they are good people on both sides. i disavow white supremacist and the kkk and they leave that part out. the washington journal is good at playing clips good i wish he would play -- i wish you would

play a cap of that. -- a clip of that. are they going to impeach the whole bunch of democrats that called for riots and everything else all summer long? i do not think so. one democrat lies and swears that it is the gospel a republican democrat speaks and there will be four or five republicans jumped in and want to be better than that. host: that is connie in illinois. a second impeachment of president trump. a reminder about the first impeachment. 13 months ago, that impeachment vote coming in december of 2019 in the house. he will remember that the first article was the abuse of power, the second article, obstruction

of congress. mostly party line votes. democrats voting no. collin peterson succeeded in the election. jeff andrews, now republican, the other democrat who voted no on the obstruction count, one independent in the house voting yes. justin amash of michigan, you will remember the impeachment went to the senate trial, this in a trial taking place on february 5 of 2020. the senate deciding that donald trump is not guilty on the charge of abuse of power by a vote of 38-52. mitt romney joining that vote. the senate judging donald trump not guilty of the charge of obstruction of congress, a vote of 47-53. that new york times website a wrap up of the votes from the

first impeachment of donald trump. you can check that out on their website. we are showing you scenes from outside the capital throughout the morning. here is one scene from inside the capital. this is from rita. they found hundreds of national guard troops napping and lining up in the capitol visitor center as streets are largely blocked. many are cuddling their firearms. riot gear in neat piles. that is the picture nathaniel reed posted on his twitter account. back to your phone calls. rob in eastern carolina. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. give me a couple of minutes and i will be through. in 2020 -- in 2016, it was expected that hillary clinton would be appointed president. she was secretary of state under mr. obama.

mr. clinton and chelsea, they were getting six-figure salaries for speeches. let me finish. it was interrupted, so the democrats that wanted to impeach mr. trump, i believe that the impeachment -- the first day after mr. biden is inaugurated, i have to say this as an independent registered unaffiliated, -- he threatened that ukrainians that my jets will take off at 6:00 -- his son and his son's buddy or getting $187,000 a month. that was through an eastern european bank -- he committed

extortion and blackmail when he was sitting vice president, and he said, if you do not believe me, call mr. obama. that makes mr. obama a co-conspirator in extortion and blackmail with taxpayer funds. mr. biden has nothing to talk about. when is the impeachment of mr. biden going to get started? he admitted it in front of a think tank in washington admitting that he did this. his son went to china -- to bring back a nephew. host: this is jeff in pennsylvania, democrat. good morning. caller: this will be a true quote. -- a true call. what i am concerned about is

that this is violence. are we going to give the people what they want? they want their president or death. they are not getting their president. how many people will die before this is left in the mud. as far as the impeachment, donald trump wants to be first in everything he does. he will be the first one that was impeached twice. the first one to be removed. thank you. host: deborah, west chester ohio. republican. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. to all fellow citizens on washington journal, i appreciate everyone's opinion. at this point, i hope that we can all say, regardless of impeachment, let us put violence aside and recognize that our boys, and even calling our representatives, is the best way

forward. focus on our policies, not our differences, where we can come together. impeachment will do nothing but divide us. yesterday, the fbi held a news conference and talked about the intelligence that they gave the capital police and they indicated serious concerns and what they said was that there was a group of people that would be coming to the capital saying, give us our president or there will be war. everybody is speculating and jumping the gun. we do not know enough yet. that is my problem with so much of what we discussed. people jump the gun, speculate, i am not appreciative of pinning black against white. that will divide us as many of your callers have said. we want policy differences and people like trump, simply because he is focused on

politics, we need border security, we do not believe that abortion is acceptable and people do not want to be called a basket of deplorable is because they believe and does. i hope we can put the violence aside, all of the politics and political theater aside and say, let us get through the next month or two and focus on the policies and let our voices be heard in a calm manner to our representatives. host: eldon, jacksonville, florida. independents. in morning. -- good morning. caller: the danger that the -- i am talking to you, america. freedom of speech. it has been assaulted by the corporate media.

look at the power that they have given us. they are going to censor you next. i asked this question to black america. i am a black man. the question is, under censorship, we push the envelope in our hip-hop music to talk about things -- how many black boys have been killed by the music? some of it criminal in s intent. -- in its intent. back to the 25th, -- if so, under the fourth section, mr.

biden might be called up in this. let us not do this because we may find out that our new president may have some setbacks himself. host: this is jenny's in southern maryland. republican, good morning. caller: good morning, good morning. first, i wanted -- i want it to be known that i am a republican and the reason why i registered as such is because in the midterm elections in my state, they are closed. independents cannot vote in the midterm. i registered as a republican. i do not agree that the republican party, i want to make that known. second of all, i am hearing a lot of these people calling on the republican line, -- keeps

comparing what happened last wednesday's insurrection as domestic terrorists, that stormed the capitol, to protesters, the black lives matter's protesters that -- it was a mixture of people for the black lives matter. i'm hearing, why did not the police and politicians stop them when they righted and did so and so. why don't you do your research before you call in? a lot of them who build -- burned down buildings, they were arrested and charged. let us go back to the capital, domestic terrorist events. there were pipe bombs found at

the capitol. there were pipe bombs at the rnc. there were pipe bombs at the dnc had courted. ok. what we saw last wednesday was plain and simple white supremacy. host: on the issue of people who have been charged in these cases, it was yesterday that the acting u.s. attorney for the district of columbia talked about some of the 170 subject files that were open on more than 70 people as a result of their participation in the attack on the capitol. here is some of that press conference yesterday. >> when criminal conduct occurs, we try to charge people as soon as possible. the way we are looking at the federal system, we will do that via terminal complaints. when these actors not the capital, these individuals, the impetus of marching orders was

to find, these individuals as fast as possible. the prosecutors look for it the most simple charge we can file as quick as possible. the initial charge, a lot of them were misdemeanors. trespass cases. those cases were opened on those initial charges. we have several firearms charges. we have several felony charges, assault and battery, illegal possession of weapons. i want to clarify misconceptions. this is only the beginning. after these charges are filed via criminal complaints, that allows us, law enforcement across the united states, to arrest people from dallas, to nashville, to jacksonville, that is what happened over the past several days. it is incredible. now, after those charges are filed, we have the ability -- on more significant charges.

that is what happened. yesterday, only days after the event happened, we had the grand jury and in the district of columbia. it was booked throughout the entire day and for several hours upon hours, prosecutors in our office presented federally cases, significant felony cases related to civil disorder, related to the possession of destructive devices, related to the possession of semi automatic weapons that are illegal to possess in the district. i want to clarify that. the initial charges that we are filing, some of these misdemeanors, these are only the beginnings, not the end. host: the acting u.s. attorney for the district of columbia yesterday. 8:25 eastern this morning, here is where we are. taking your phone calls for a few more minutes before we are expected to be joined by john curtis, a republican from utah. we will have him for half an hour until 9:00 eastern. that is when the house will come

in. we will take you there live for gaveled to gavel coverage. the house will vote first on the rules governing the impeachment resolution, one article of impeachment, excitement of answer. the house after that will begin to debate on the impeachment resolution as self. two hours have been granted under that rule, then we are expecting a final vote around 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. today. stay with us on c-span. back to your phone calls. david, clearwater, florida. independent. caller: good morning. i am afraid that the events from the past four years are seeking areas for impeachment. with the recent, last night,

trying to get mike pence to invoke the event amendment to remove our president from office is setting a dangerous precedent. right now, what we are having with the impeachment once again, my fear is that this is a test run to remove biden from office. and have kamala harris become president because of an in capability or a possible dementia findings. host: a test run by democrats? caller: yes, a test run by democrats to have the procedures in place already to find him and capable of carrying out his duties because of mental health or any other health reason and that is dangerous in my view.

i do not know what the other folks will think about that. host: that is david in florida this morning. aaron with this tweet from a while ago. a new poll shows 84 percent of republicans do not think that president trump should be impeached or resigned. three quarters of them, 64% of all republicans say that is because he did nothing wrong. a few more tweets for you. this is from fox news, keeping track of those numbers of those republicans who might vote for impeachment. he quoting, republican of south carolina, you will see a dozen or so republicans will vote to impeach. chad program's tweet. he will vote to impeach. the congress must hold president

trump to account and sent a message that our country will not tolerate any effort by any president to impede that peaceful transition of power. plus, -- they are sending their strong opposition. diana harshbarger, who put out her statement yesterday saying, i am posed as opposed invoking the president after the atrocities. the calls for impeachment are at odds with joe biden's calls for unity and will only further divide. a few of the comments this morning. this tweet from a while ago. white house lawyers and legislative affairs staff are suspending the president on impeachment. the west wing is empty. one campaign advisor is pushing,

arguing that it will not be possible. kushner said that it is unnecessary. the president is asking lindsey graham to call senators. some of the reporting that is happening. keeping track of all of it for you. this is john in pennsylvania, democrat, good morning. caller: i am democrat, but i voted for donald trump. i think that is -- that this is a sad day for america. we woke up in a red communist china. your channel, cnn, you cannot report that hunter biden and his laptop, there was russian disinformation. after the election, it was found to be true. democrats got there, -- summer of love. did you see that, sir?

did you see businesses burning down? and the guy from ms -- ms at nbc -- this hotel is about trying to raise -- to erase the whole thing with the voting thing. you see them coming out from beneath the desk. he saw him at the urinal saying that it was a water main break. if you say stop the skill on facebook, you are blacklisted. host: why do you still consider yourself a democrat? caller: i am a democrat in name only. host: why would you want to be a democrat in name only at this point, john? caller: i could register republican, but they are

gutless. they have no spine. i am a man without a party. you know why? the democrat party has been hijacked and they are in love with china. that is why they keep saying russia, russia. they do not want you to think that this is state run media. they stole the election. host: that is john in pennsylvania. our last caller, we will be joined by john curtis, republican of utah as we continue to discuss today's impeachment vote. we will be right back. >> saturday at 9:00 p.m. eastern, heritage foundation senior fellow mike gonzales on his book, the plot to change america, which argues that identity politics is dividing america appeared on sunday, at 9:00 eastern, adam gentles and,

deputy chief of staff for harry reid of nevada talks about his book kill switch. he is interviewed by wall street journal congressional reporter. watch on c-span two. >> washington journal continues. host: john curtis joins us now. congressman, can you start by telling us where you were a week ago today and how you and your staff are doing a week later? guest: it is amazing. it feels like a lifetime ago. i was in my office. as you know, a lot of us were encouraged not to be on the floor because of covid. i was in my office with my staff. we were all comfortable and did

not feel in jeopardy at all. host: does president trump bear any responsibility for what happened? guest: it is clear that he has some responsibility. there is a lack of details and a shortage of time. we do not know if the extent of that. there are so many unanswered question. host: how will you vote on impeachment today? guest: i will not vote on impeachment. i do not understand the rush to judgment in one of the bedrock's of our judicial system. fairchild trial, and a sense until proven guilty. -- in a sense until proven guilty. we are robbing the 7 billion people -- 7 million people to do this so quickly. there are a number of options. i would be happy to vote for and

impeachment inquiry. we were robbed of that. we did not have the opportunity. there is no justification for speed. there is nothing that speed accomplishments -- speed accomplishes. we need more time to get more facts and an impeachment process that last with hearings, witnesses, why are we precluding all of that? host: every hour that this president remains in office, it is said that he is a danger to the country. guest: it is laughable because everybody knows that impeachment will not be concluded by the time the inauguration rolls around. that is not a valid argument. host: republican of utah with us this morning. until the house comes in, expecting the gavel at 9:00 a.m. eastern.

taking your phone calls. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, and a number. -- independents, (202) 748-8002. chad program of fox news quoting one of your republican colleagues saying that she thinks there will be a doesn't republicans who vote for impeachment today. what is your take on the mood of the republican conference right now? how divided is it? guest: i do not think divided is the right word. the word is frustrated. some are concerned about what happened. we are all concerned about the president's role. we do not have near enough details. let me give you one detail. the whole impeachment is based

on the president and citing the group to come and riot. we are starting to learn that the riot was premeditated. people came to washington with the equipment and the knowledge and the plan to do the raid. if that is true, there is more to it than the speech. what was the involvement of other people? why was the house left unguarded? there are questions i have for nancy. host: eric is up first in washington, d.c.. a democrat. good morning. caller: i do not even know how to start this. why are people thinking that it is ok to rush the capitol.

if people are trying to justify and comparing this to black lives matter. when you do things wrong, wrong is wrong. i was washington born and raised. all i have heard throughout the country, the protests, some people did riot, burned, i hear all the time, protests about blue eyes matter. do not bring this stuff to washington. this is where i live. this is where i was born and raised. people keep telling me, they want to talk about kumbaya. it was not kumbaya. it was not kumbaya when with -- when these innocent people were killed. i have never seen in my life -- i care less what they do with donald trump. one think, he should never have been president.

guest: i think you represent a lot of people. i think one of the important points is, that is why we have elections. this hotel is something that the american people get to decide. -- this is something that the american people get to decide. host: the caller brings up the comparison to black lives matter's protest. what do make of that? guest: i think we want things in nice little compartments and all of this to make sense. the reality is, there are layered's and letters of complication. i think it is a mistake -- there are players -- host: republican, good morning. caller: thank you for asking questions.

thank you for staying with the president. i am so upset with our representatives. he said that he is going to vote for an impeachment. i am upset with him. i am glad that you are asking questions. i think it was a staged event. guest: what is unfortunate is that you will not get answers. we are going to rush to judgment, we will take 48 hours to do something that takes more time and the american people deserve these answers. president trump deserves the answers. host: two descriptions from the caller, she described you as staying with the president. is that how would you is -- is that how you would put it? guest: i am staying with my principles, i am staying with the constitution.

a week ago, we saw this question about certifying the election. the constitution is clear. where we get lost is when we dedicate ourselves to a person rather than principles. as it turns out, my principles probably side with donald trump here and giving him a fair trial. how in the world do we justify no fair trial? how do we justify the president not having a chance to defend himself? how do we justify making a decision in the heat of the moment where everybody is so worked up and we do not have facts? host: to houston, texas. independents. caller: good morning. how are you doing? i have to say a couple of things. first of all, i watched all the

media. a lot of the media are divided. one says, impeachment is wrong. the other one is, -- here is my take on this. we are not trump nation. we are a democracy. we have our own convictions. we have democracy. mega people kept chanting, let us fight for john, let us fight for trump. they should have said, let us fight for democracy. one think that trump did wrong is that this election is wrong. none of us are dumb. we went and voted and what he has been doing is lying to the people about him winning. it was not true. they went and took it to the judge. they all said no, this is not

happening. and so, biden one. -- and so, biden won. biden did not tell anybody to go and riot in february. that was people who were upset with black people being killed. it is not right or a group of persons to say, trump said that it is like a gang mentality, he said, let us go and march. that is a gang leader. guest: let me lick -- let me make a point and thank you for your thoughts. many people were upset and rightly so because they felt like you. the lie was that we could change the electoral college in d.c. if we just protested enough.

i feel the problem is that a week later, it is the same thing. the american people are being lied to. the lie is different this time. the lie is that we can get resolution to this if we just impeach the president. the reality is, just like last week, we need to dig deeper into the truth. people just cannot trust the truth, did they do not know where to turn for the truth. host: george on twitter watching this morning, let us know what you think about president trump pardoning himself. guest: i do not know the constitutionality of that word i did not know the answer of that -- that. i do not know the answer to that. i do not know if it is a pardon or not. let us plot a course to get past this. the only way you will do that is to diss -- to de-escalate the

anger. if president trump were to do that, the anger would escalate. host: alexandria, virginia, virginia. good morning. caller: thank you so much. i have a question for you. how many people should have to die for you to decide -- i wanted to say, please bear with me, most people who want a trial, without inferiority, there is no superiority. guest: can you help me repeat that question? host: the first point, she said,

how many people have to die for you to decide, i believe? guest: well, zero. do i have the facts? host: marianne out of lakewood, new jersey. republican. caller: good morning. i am a trump supporter 100%. for four years, we heard nothing but came -- name-calling. to trump and myself as a trump supporter. the people say, how many people have to die before, but how many people died during the summer. the police department in themselves had to leave their posts and moved to other places because they were being burned down. there were police stations where

police were inside the building and they were burning them down. how many people? they took over cities, blocks and blocks. the democrats did absolutely nothing. host: congressman curtis. guest: this is a good example of why the speed at which we are doing this is a tremendous mistake. people like this caller need time. they need time for this to unfold. this is what happened. they will not accept the result of something we decided in 48 hours. those 70 million people who voted for donald trump deserve the time to let this unfold and see the facts. they will not be convinced until they see the facts. host: in time, i wonder what you think will happen when it comes to the leadership of the republican congress on capitol hill in the wake of the number three in house republicans, liz cheney, coming out with a statement that reads in part, the president of the united states summoned this mop, assembled the mob, with the

flames of this attack. everything that followed was his doing. none of this would have happened without the president. do you think she will continue to be the number three in the house conference? guest: i do not know. it is hard to know how my colleagues will respond to this. host: are you responding to that? guest: it is hard on me because it is a snap to judgment. i would like to see more. i think there is enough to be critical. we do not know exactly what that means and what decisions we should be making because we do not have enough information. this is a time for leaders to emerge. i think we will likely see emerge through this, not just with republicans in congress, but with republicans across the country. it is a time when we may be surprised on who shows themselves as a leader.

host: is liz cheney showing leadership there? guest: some leaders think she is. i have received emails saying, why can't she be like liz cheney. -- why can't you be like liz cheney. we are in the heat of the moment. that is never a good time to make decisions. we have this email that we wrote , and this time gives us a new perspective. that is what is important, trying to get a different perspective than we have right now. host: 10 minutes left in our time with john curtis, republican of utah, taking your phone calls. the house will come in at 9:00 a.m. eastern and we will take you there live for gavel to gavel coverage on c-span. you can stay with us all day long and the house considers the second impeachment of president donald trump.

minnesota, independence. -- minnesota, independents. caller: i was calling mr. curtis . i appreciate your bringing up the facts that we do not have the facts and who started this. i have a couple of comments i would like to make. one, most of the trump supporters are usually peaceable. two, when you brought up the fact that the fbi notified congress and that the day before, there was going to be some problems with the protest march, that it was not -- this impeachment, which i feel is wrong, they say that trump incited these people to attack that capitol. no, he did not. this was planned ahead of time.

how can they impeach him for something that people -- the people that attacked the capitol, they are horrible. i do not know which groups they were for, or if they were radical trump supporters. they are wrong. trump cannot control what they did. i think, as you said, we need to find out more facts, who started this, why it was started, why it got so violent? in that kavanaugh hearing, there were many people who went through the senate who said we have to protect the people. the only thing is, they did not kill anybody and they did not destroy any property. host: congressman curtis. guest: there are questions and why are we going so quick? why

the rush to judgment? we will not get answers if we move this quickly. if we move past this, we will not know the answers to her question. that will be unfortunate. host: on the issue of protecting congress. house members now screened for weapons when entering the chamber. can you talk us through that helpline and what that meant for you doing your job? guest: i showed up last night to vote. i had issues, they had a little metal in them, belt buckle, those set off the magnetometer as i walk through. there i was in front of my peers, it was an embarrassing moment for me. a lot of my colleagues are frustrated and many say, i will not go through this. you cannot do that. the question is, why are we worried about congressman we are not worried about them hurting each other.

the threat is on the outside. let us put our attention to the outside. host: how much heads up were you given? who gets to decide that being instituted? guest: we were told on a phone call about security several hours before we went over to vote. we were told that it was a decision, i do not know if it was the sergeant at arms or the temporary chief, but it was not speaker pelosi in that. they believe the rules should be made by members and not by an outside body. most of us strongly believe that nancy pelosi was behind it and supported it. let us have that discussion, let us have that out in the open and give our members a chance to weigh in. host: is there a sense of how long this will last? guest: nobody knows. i can tell you this, last

wednesday, as the riots were unfolding, i knew in my heart, much like 9/11, we will never be the same at the capitol. security would never be the same. it breaks my heart. i'm not sure it will ever be the same for kids who visit the capital. those who enjoy access to the capitol. i do not know how you make this play secure. i do not know how you put thousands of tourists. those are hard questions and i am worried that the answer will not fall -- a student next time you do one of those towards with schoolkids, what you told them about the events of january 6. guest: i am going to look them in the eye of -- eye, and say protect democracy. you cannot take anything for granted.

a couple -- host: south carolina, democrat. good morning. caller: i have been on hold for so long. it is worth it. i am a democrat 100%. i have been watching some of these videos and i am wondering if the election it was really stolen? i do not feel comfortable right now. is there any way to find out right now that there were people who voted who were not supposed to vote. i do not trust my own party this time. i do not know if joe biden won. i am confused. why can't we stop and find out if this happened? i do not want to be a winner if i am not a winner. guest: if you look at my colleagues, lastly, who wanted to object. i was not one of those. they had the same question. why can't we get answers?

if i was president biden for a day, i would put together a commission to bring those answers to the american people. here is one of his own party members questioning that it is in his best interest. like impeachment, we do not need to move so quick and miss facts. we can put together a bipartisan commission, that would be comforting to many people, even in his own party. host: out of texas, a republican. the morning -- good morning. caller: it biden put together a commission to check on -- why doesn't he do it?

guest: the caller points out the lack of trust in politicians, lack of trust in the media, and the only way we get back is to start telling the truth. i mentioned earlier in the program, that starts right now with the fact that a 48 hour impingement as a sham. -- is a an. it isn't misleading them to think that democrats can bring a conclusion to this while the president is still in office. i'm not just pointing at the democrats, republicans, the media, everybody needs to tell the truth if we are going to restore the confidence in the american people. host: as we wait for the gavel -- the debate two hours on the impeachment resolution. do you know if you will have a chance to talk on it?

guest: nothing has been explained to us. this rush of 48 hours, we do not even get to think about our votes. normally on a vote, i would have quiet time, reflection time, time to meet and speak with my constituents, time to understand what the thoughts of the district are. that is rob of us by the 48 hour impingement. host: how many constituents have you heard from you in the past seven days? guest: many of my constituents reached out to me. i need to hear on the one that do not reach out frequently. you are getting a distorted picture if you only reach out to the ones who reach out. i need to talk to more people. i would not have that opportunity. host: when you do that, when you call a constituent who has not reached out, what do you say when they pick up the phone?

guest: a lot of these phone calls have been to the rural parts of my district. they are the one that most often feel voiceless and not represented. i say, look, i want to make sure you are represented. tell me how you are doing. we want to know how they are dealing with this. i wish i had more time to do that. host: may one more phone call in. this is tom this -- this is tom is out of indiana, democrat. caller: i am concerned about the news media and why everybody is not getting the truth. there was an article that came out december the third from the columbia journal review that there is a company called next are that over the last 15 years has accumulated 970,000 local television stations and when

they get that station, they get to manage their affiliate stations, which is nbc, abc, and so forth. they now control over 63% of the nation's media. they have bought major newspapers. host: i want to give the congressman a chance to respond. guest: i want to weigh in on the ability for social data -- that should bother republicans, democrats, everybody should be concerned about that. as we turned the corner, one of the things that congress needs to address immediately as how we deal with that and how do we give the american people access to sources that can be trusted. host: that will do it for us on the washington journal. i want to thank john curtis, republican of utah, for your time. i will let you get to a busy day on capitol hill.