eastern. you can also watch on c-span.org or listen with the free c-span radio app. >> on tuesday, a day before the inauguration, watch confirmation hearings for two incoming biden administration nominees. at 10:00 eastern, the finance committee hearing for janet yellen to be secretary of the treasury. janet yellen previously served as chair of the federal reserve. at 3:00, the senate armed services confirmation hearing for lloyd austin to be defense secretary. if confirmed, retired four sta t general austin will be the first african-american secretary of defense. watch on c-span, c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. host: scott of "the hill"

newspaper to talk about the next steps. take us through the steps of how this works from transmission of the articles to what we know about the timing of the senate trial. guest: there had been some debate about how that nancy pele democrats would transmit the article of impeachment. that single article, incitement of insurrection. james clyburn has advocated to try to delay until joe biden could establish his administration. also, get his top officials confirmed through the senate. the consensus now among democrats seems to be to do this as quickly as possible. i'm hearing the article could be transmitted in the coming days, perhaps even today even.

democrats huddled last night in nancy pelosi's office. the nine impeachment managers. it seems like they want to move this as quickly as possible. they want to send this to the senate. impeachment managers will be working through the weekend to develop their game plan. there is still a number of outstanding questions. it looks like things will be moving very quickly. host: what do we know at this point of the count on the republican side, how many republicans do we expect to cross the aisle with 10 in the house? will it be that number or more in the senate? guest: hard to say at this point. the most significant development that happened last night was mitch mcconnell -- according to the new york times, mitch mcconnell is leaning towards convicting the president.

he sent a letter to his republican colleagues yesterday after the house impeach the president saying he has not made up his mind. he is leaving that door open to convicting the president. if mcconnell votes to convict the president or signal fact to his republican conference, that will provide cover for the rest of the republicans to vote for conviction. they would need is 17 republican votes in order to convict, at a minimum. that is a pretty high bar. we only saw a few vote for conviction including mitt romney, the republican from utah. this is a different scenario. the capital itself in the united states editors themselves were

under attack in this siege. the representative said it was incited by the president's words before the rally at the white house. this is a very personal act of violence against members of congress. each of them it was on the floor that day. they had to flee for safety. they understood what was at stake. they understood the process they were engaged in. that they were certifying under the constitutional duty, certifying the election of joe biden. for many of these senators, it is very personal. it hits very close to home. host: it would take 17 republicans to convict with that two thirds majority needed. that is if all 50 democrats vote to convict as well. has there been any indication

that any democrats might not vote for conviction, especially like moderates like joe mansion -- joe manchin. guest: we will have to watch him very closely. he has a lot of power in this 50-50 split senate with this georgia democrats that will be sworn and pretty soon. we don't know. that's why i said at least 17. that is a pretty high bar for people to break with their party. anything is possible at -- as we have seen in this past week. there are a number of questions out there. mitch mcconnell said yesterday that they will not come back into session until january 19. despite democrats wanted to push this process forward as quickly as possible, mitch mcconnell and the senate will not come back

until january 19. that is donald trump's last full day in office as president. tom cotton of arkansas has raised a constitutional question about whether you could even impeach a former sitting president? that is a legal question that senators will beat wrestling with in the coming days. as this process charges forward. host: any other interesting senators that viewers should watch the story lines that are planning out in the background of this second impeachment? guest: right around the inauguration will be critical. joe biden and his incoming administration want to hit the ground running. especially in light of how bad

the coronavirus situation is with a record number of debts happening every single day. there is a concern among many democrats that the first week of his administration will be consumed by impeachment. it was just one year ago we were in the same situation. it was a much simpler time. there's a concern impeachment could bog down his agenda, his 100 day agenda. his government as they try to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. chuck schumer, nancy pelosi, and joe biden -- how they could expedite that trial. some people, some democrats have argued you don't need witnesses in this case because there is so much video evidence of what has

transpired. we all know what happened. we saw what the president said. we saw how minutes later the capitol was attacked. that is all you really need. you young need to go through a lengthy trial. these are some of the questions and debates that will be happening in the coming days. host: overlooking the senate park, we can see the controls of national guards, troops armed with weapons and they patrol around the fence. that is the view from up here. take us inside the building. we showed some of the videos you took of the capitol police officers. one has it been like for you as a reporter these past seven days? guest: it has been extremely

trying. as i wrote in the piece yesterday on the hill.com. the capitol is a community. we spent countless hours there. trying to interview and get information from lawmakers during key moments in terms of legislation moving forward this past year when it was coronavirus relief legislation. everyone from police officers, food workers to the people who clean the building every day. it really is a community. as i talked to a lot of people in the building, it wasn't just an attack on democracy on january 6. it wasn't just an attack on the legislative branch.

it was an attack on this community that exists. that really holds that building in high esteem at high respect. it was a pretty jarring scene yesterday to see. thousands of national guard troops staked out in that building. preparing for any sort of potential violent threat in the future. there were troops you saw from pictures sleeping on the floor. tried to get any sort of rest that they could. as i was walking up from the capital yesterday, they were trying to get a strategy in real time. they were informing some of the troops, this is where you should be station. i will move some other personnel over here on this corner. this has really been

unprecedented. it was quite a sight to see yesterday. host: before we let you go and start your day, what do we know about when these investigations into the breakdowns that happened on january 6, when will those take place? guest: i think they are already underway. there will be numerous investigations. there all -- already doj, fbi investigations happening. we have seen dozens of arrests across the country. people that have not only broken into the building but had stolen materials. they could've stolen mail, laptops, raw weapons into the building. another point i would make is there are multiple letters of investigation.

we have now democrats controlling the house and senate . you can anticipate there will be rigorous investigations. they are trying to sort out at the moment which committees will hold jurisdiction. there are some calls for a 9/11 style look back at how we got here. that will be a more comprehensive in-depth investigation. there's cultural democrats including mikey cheryl from new jersey about whether any of these rioters had been corresponding with republican lawmakers themselves in the days leading up to january 6. there seems to be some suggestion that there were towards being given by members of congress or staff for these

rioters -- would be rioters the day in advance of the attack. that is something mikey cheryl has sent a letter to the top security officials were -- requesting some kind of investigation. there will be tons of video surveillance in the capital itself of the people not only who are there on january 6 but also of any visitors that might have been coming through the capital in the days in advance. towards have been completely closed during the pandemic. it would be pretty easy to see who had access to the building. host: scott is a group -- congressional reporter, thanks for being so good to us and our viewers throughout all of this and all the time you have name