president trump. be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts, and tweets. >> it is ordered that donald john trump is hereby acquitted of the charge in said article. ♪ host: with that vote former president donald trump acquitted of the one article of impeachment. the 50-43 vote the most bipartisan in history since the 1868 impeachment of andrew johnson, but just shy of the two thirds needed to convict. it is sunday, february 14,

2021. happy valentine's day. we will spend the morning hearing from you about yesterday's vote. if you are republican, the line is (202)-748-8001. democrats is (202)-748-8000. independents and others, (202)-748-8002. if you would like to send a text, (202)-748-8003 and make sure you include your name and where you are texting from. on twitter we are @c-spanwj and facebook at facebook/c-span. the final vote on the floor interrupted by consideration early of whether they would hear witnesses. we will get into that a bit more shortly. we heard reaction from the former president and from joe

biden. this was the statement issued by the officer former president trump saying, this is been yet another phase of the greatest witchhunt. no president has ever gone through anything like it and it continues to be -- continued because our opponents cannot forget the 75 million people who voted for us just a few months ago. our beautiful movement to make america great again has only just begun. in the months ahead, i have much to share with you and i look forward to continuing our incredible journey to achieve american greatness for all of our people. and from president joe biden who is in camp david saying this, this sad chapter in history has reminded us democracy is fragile. that must always be defended. that we must be ever vigilant. that violence and extremism has

no place in america and each of us has a duty and responsibility as americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and defeat the lies. that is how we end up in this un civil war and heal our nation. that is a task we must undertake together as the united states of america. your reaction and thoughts. (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8000 for democrats. the wall street journal, trump's impeachment trial sharpens republican divide. they write the dramatic conclusion of former president trump's second impeachment laid bare the divide between republicans, as gop senators split over the future of their party and mr. trump's role in it.

that leader is mitch mcconnell, now the minority leader. this is part of his statement yesterday on the senate floor after the vote. [video clip] >> as the justice explained the senate, upon conviction, is bound to enter a judgment of removal from office. removal is mandatory upon conviction. clearly, he explained, that mandatory sentence cannot be applied to somebody who has left office. the entire process revolves around removal. if removal becomes impossible, conviction becomes -- it seems

counterintuitive that a senator can elude removal. but this underscores impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for american justice. never meant to be the final forum for american justice. impeachment, conviction, and removal are a specific intergovernmental safety valve. it is not the criminal justice system or individual accountability as the paramount goal. indeed, the justice reminded while former officials were not

eligible for impeachment or conviction, they were -- and this is extremely important -- still liable to be tried and punished in the ordinary tribunals of justice. put another way, in the language of today, president trump is still liable for everything he did while in office. as an ordinary citizen unless the statute of limitations is wrong. didn't get away with anything yet, yet. we have a criminal justice system in this country. we have civil litigation and former presidents are not immune by being accountable by either one. i believe the senate was right not to grab power the

constitution does not give us and the senate was right not to entertain some lightspeed sham process to outrun the law of jurisdiction. host: more from the session in a bit. morning headline from the washington post, senate acquits trump again. the 57-43 tally falls short of the two thirds vote to incite donald trump. let us hear from anna in new castle, delaware, republican line. caller: this trial, i think the hateful bunch, the democrats, can now get a special investigator to investigate joe biden on the vice president and going to china and taking barack obama and john kerry and the two

sons and the granddaughter. went to china and got $1.5 billion from the oligarchs and they got that from china. host: larry in alexandria, virginia, independent line. caller: good morning. i thought about what aoc said yesterday. then i thought about omar in senior leader positions and her hatred of jewish people. i thought about jamie raskin as he stood on the floor, who is jewish, and the energy he used for the hatred of donald trump. i thought maybe he needs to fear omar and talib. the democrats need to look at their own hatred in the party. shame on 535 members. they are not there to be

friends. they need to do their job and get together. host: we hear from justin next. caller: thank you for c-span and happy valentine's day. i would like to make two comments. one that looks back in yesterday and one that looks forward. i am a democrat but was a lifelong republican prior to donald trump's presidency. the house was right to hold trump accountable even if the impeachment was dead on arrival. as an attorney myself i believe the trial strategy the house managers used was flawed from the beginning. they were either going to develop a case witnesses and facts while was in the house, take testimony and depositions, and introduce evidence and then bring a fully developed record to the senate or they were not. instead what i saw yesterday was them trying to walk a tight rope where they could bring some evidence in but not too much to

slow down the new administration's progress in the first 100 days. that is a flawed strategy and i feel if they had actually developed the evidence at the trial level in the house then they have been able to peel off extra representatives. whether that would be successful or not is unknown. but many republicans thought it was necessary to impeach this president. second, where do we go from here? it is critical we come together. the first two callers, the division in this country is so deep. if we do not try to bring everybody together for a common purpose, we are doomed. that is sad to say on a sunday like this, but really we are at a breaking point and we need to find what unites us, not what divides us, and i believe it starts today. thank you. host: justin in florida, some of

that division reflected in the comments of the leader of the house, speaker of the house nancy pelosi in speaking yesterday with the house managers and reacting to some of what we showed you from mitch mcconnell. here is the speaker. [video clip] >> for mitch mcconnell, who created the situation where it could not be heard before the 20th or even begun before the 20th in the senate to say all the things he said, oh, my gosh, about donald trump and how horrible he was and is and then say, but, that is the time the house chose -- we did not choose. you chose not to receive it. i think that is really important. again, it does not matter. as jamie and others have told us

you can have the case after the person is out of office. it is elementary discussion. the senate rules in that way in honoring precedent on this. it did not matter except it was not the reason that he voted the way he did. it was the excuse he used. host: house speaker nancy pelosi yesterday with a news conference joining house managers. it was a 57-43 vote meaning seven republicans joined the democrats in voting for conviction. they needed two thirds, they needed 67. the seven republicans were susan collins, lisa murkowski, mitt romney, ben sasse, pat toomey, bill cassidy, and richard burr,

who is serving out his term of north carolina. he is retiring after this term. here's the headline from louisiana, bill cassidy's vote draws swift, harsh backlash from louisiana republicans. they write the blowback from republicans back home was swift and dramatic. the state took the remarkable step of censuring the republican hours after his vote to convict. several republican elected officials condemned the senator who was a reliable conservative vote during the first term that began in 2014, voting with trump 89% of the time. secretary of the lagop hopes the legislature will revamp the election system to hold close primaries, which he believes this will result in more reliable republican votes. charleston, south carolina on the republican line.

steve, welcome. caller: how are you doing? host: fine thanks. caller: mcconnell has the same thoughts i have had from the beginning. i am not a big trump fan but i am a republican. listen, this to me was about preserving the constitution as written and moving on with charging him with several charges if federal authorities might have a case and i think they might. i don't care. go for it. but don't trash the constitution to keep the man running from for office. are you then going to limit the press and media? this is a very dangerous road we go down. it is just the way i am. i am a big believer in the

constitution. if nancy pelosi was to walk over to the senate chambers and point-blank shot mcconnell in the head and killed him, and authorities came and took a statement from her without reading her miranda rights, i would be the first guy to say too bad, you've got to go the way it is. we had a guy that showed up down here and he called out to the press and people that he was going to kill white people. that is his right to say that. we have got to preserve the constitution and move on and that federal parties do their job. host: do you think coming out of this the constitution, in your

opinion, the constitution is strengthened out of this debate? caller: yes, i do. i think people will be careful how they approach these things. i would like right now to impeach many. we cannot do that. that is just not constitutional. host: we appreciate to hear from you steve. we go to ken. caller: hello? you had an identified who it was who was speaking. host: i apologize. go ahead. caller: impeachment is a civil proceeding and has no criminal trial overtones. it is civil. donald trump was supposed to

preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the united states. he never, throughout his presidency, did that, not for a moment. that is why people are, oh, he was hounded and vilified since the day he took office. well, because he never acted to the benefit to putting the nation first, never, never. that has shown up time after time. so, when he did his misdeeds with ukraine that was, you know, he was called to task. he was identified as somebody who was, you know, not following

the interests of the united states. he was only following his interests. when the second impeachment came up it was because he was not acting in the best interest of the nation. host: we will hear from robert in worcester, massachusetts. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i would like to know, where is mike pence? mike pence is in hiding because he fears for his life. when we took the citizens united case -- we have got to admit one thing. there was a mob on the white house. the head of the mob was donald trump. like the mobsters in the old days.

when you take somebody like josh hawley and taylor green, the money the donald trump had as the head of the monster -- they are like lieutenants like mike lee. host: to the question of where is mike pence, we have not seen a statement from the former vice president. we will keep our eyes open for that. we go to rockland, maine to carl on the democrats line. caller: i watched of the insurrection on tv and some of the people donald trump pardoned, i saw them on a clip-on channel 6 news before the rally and they were with

some people who actually walked into the capitol. when i turned on the tv this morning after i watched the impeachment yesterday i saw that when they went to go to impeach mr. trump, the ex president while he was still president, they went to senator mcconnell and they asked him to hold the trial. he informed them at the time that the senate was in recess already and it says the request was denied. how can a president that we all know that i watched on tv commit the crime, if he did this he is found guilty, but now they're trying to say because mitch mcconnell denied them access to how -- host: do you think the outcome

would have been that much different had they started earlier? caller: i don't think the outcome would have changed, but what gets me is if an american citizen sees a guy on tv arguing, no judge, i did not steal the car. when they show the video and they show the guy stealing the car then all of a sudden the whole courtroom says, you look at the guy and he says, you got me now. but when an american person watches politics you have to go through -- my other question is why didn't the house team, if they knew this would be a reason a lot of them voting not to impeach him because of the constitutional legality, why did they bring up at the trial that

the democrats brought to mitch mcconnell and told him he wanted to have the trial. i saw this on the news yesterday. host: let's get to the republican line to rhonda in iowa. go ahead. caller: yes, i don't think trump won the trial. there was no trial to begin with. he was innocent. he was the best president we ever had in the united states other than jfk. i used to be democrat. they are not like what they used to be. he is the number one and i hope you votes again in four years because my family will vote for him. my great uncle, great great uncle, was speaker of the house for two years. host: speaker of the u.s. house? caller: he was a republican, david henderson. my mother was always for the democrats and her relatives -- i

tell you what, i quit being a democrat. trump is the best we ever had and what they did to him while he has been in four years never stopped. it was like a hate crime. host: thank you, rhonda. some comments on twitter and text. this from ashley in massachusetts, i am a democrat but more of a republican the last few years. i agree with him being acquitted. finding him guilty would have been dangerous as there have been several others on both political parties, for example vice president harris. kent in virginia, how could it be fair when judge and jurors were victims of the violent riot? he needs to be tried in court of law, not the political impeachment process which was corrupted by the vengeance of those involved. the 43 republican senators have betrayed our constitution.

these senators have become traders to the country and bow before dictator trump says mike in orlando. catherine on twitter, i enjoy the ultimate exasperation of speaker pelosi's voice claiming it was patriotism for president's day, which is tomorrow. garland must deliver justice to the american people and prosecute trump says parkstorm. in some fundamental sense much of the gop is no longer functioning as an actor in a democracy from george. i want to show you a tweet from former tennessee senator bob corker yesterday. seven republicans joining the democratic caucus, i applaud the seven republican senators voted to convict for their courage today. john cornyn said the january 6 attack was horrific and

appalling. those who plan to participate should be prosecuted to the full 610 of the law. i agree with speaker pelosi, a 9/11 investigation is called for to prevent this from happening again. but here's what the majority leader chuck schumer had to say about republicans who voted to acquit. [video clip] >> january 6 will live is a day of infamy in the history of the united states of america. the failure to convict donald trump will land as a vote of infamy in the history of the united states senate. five years ago republican senators lamented what might become of their party if donald trump became the nominee. look at what happened. look at what republicans have been forced to defend. look at what republicans have

chosen to forgive. the former president tried to overturn the results of a legitimate election and provoked an assault on our own government and well over half the senate republican conference decided to condone it. the most despicable act any president has ever committed and the majority of republicans cannot summon the courage or the morality to condemn it. this trial wasn't about choosing country over party. this was about choosing country over donald trump and 43 republican members shows trump. they chose trump. it should be a weight on their conscience today and it shall be a weight on their conscience in the future. asked sad as that fact is, as condemning as the decision

was, it is still true the final vote on conviction was the largest and most bipartisan vote of any presidential impeachment trial in american history. i salute those republican patriots who did the right thing. it wasn't easy, we know that. let their vote be a message to the american people. my fellow americans, if this nation is going to long endure, we as a people cannot sanction the former president's congress because of lying about the results of an election is acceptable, if instigating a mob about the government is permissible, encouraging political violence becomes the norm, it will be open season, open season on our democracy. everything will be up for grabs by whoever has the biggest clubs, the sharpest spears, the most powerful guns.

by not recognizing the heinous crime that donald trump committed against the constitution republican senators have not only risked, but potentially invited, the same danger that was just visited upon us. host: that was majority leader after the vote yesterday. seven republicans joined democrats in voting to convict the president on the one article of impeachment. susan collins, lisa murkowski, mitt romney, ben sasse, richard burr who is retiring after this term, bill cassidy, and pat toomey. politico said, makowski readies face impeachment fallout. they write president trump won alaska by 10 points in 2020. many will be upset about the vote, but makowski's strength is

durable and she won a campaign to serve with joe miller. the reaction from pro-trump activists could be volcanic given she is the only republican with immediate risks that convicted trump. she said she is "sure there are many alaskans that are very dissatisfied with my vote and i'm sure there are many alaskans that are proud of my vote. " we are getting your thoughts in reaction to the acquittal vote yesterday. this is james in manhattan, kansas, democrat line. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. you are on air. caller: i think it is real obvious now that this acquittal is going to divide the country even more and i think we are

going to have worse problems ahead. thank you. host: john is next in phoenix. go ahead on the republican line. caller: good morning. i watched a lot of it and kind of knew the outcome before it started because of the voting members. i didn't know whether anybody was going to get -- change their mind, but the other morning you had alan dershowitz on as a guest. i did not get to see the interview but i read about it on newsletter called open outcry on sub stack.com. he was talking about some interesting things. in the constitution they talk about the president alan dershowitz said. it had to be the sitting president at the time of the trial. he pointed that out. the word the founding fathers --

they chose them for that reason. he also talked about inviting versus inciting. he said, the president said's, we are going to go down there peacefully and some people chose to go home, some people chose to go. out of those that chose to go to the capitol some chose to break in, some chose to stay out. he said of the people that went in some chose to be violent, some didn't. he was bringing up a really interesting point i thought. i didn't actually hear daniel russo on open cry. he talked about what dershowitz said and i find dershowitz fascinating, very interesting to listen to. i am glad i was able to catch

most of it. i tried to catch as much as i could and i thought it was great to watch. host: glad you caught that. thank you for calling in. this is the headline in phoenix, the arizona sun, trump acquitted of charge of inciting insurrection. kyrsten sinema and mark kelly vote to convict. independent line. caller: good morning. how are you? host: good. caller: how much i love c-span, i want to thank you kelly for screening the call. the caller before me, if you want to see the alan dershowitz interview on c-span go to c-span.com and look up the date. i think that may have been the 11th? help me out here. host: i will correct to

slightly. it is c-span.org. caller: sorry. host: that is all right. caller: two housekeeping notes and then i will get into the question. callers, when you hear the beep on your phone, you are on air. c-span, you cannot let these guys ramble on. jesse was having a tough time yesterday to guests coming to heal when he tried to -- two guests to come to heel. it is civility versus incivility, love versus hatred. callers, ask yourself is it constructive or deconstructive?

that will make it more relevant to this political conversation or to the impeachment. 57 to 43 impeachment vote, they already knew that deal. majority of the people have no idea what is going on. they are living their lives -- [indiscernible] -- they know how hard it is to live outside the united states. host: tavaris, do you think this prosecution was an act of futility or one of necessity? caller: it was an act of futility and the reason why is they already knew that it was

not going to be to convict someone. it was an intent to give the left some red meat that we are going to hold former president donald trump accountable, but they thought they were going to convict. but the senators, like i have said in the past, are all motivated by -- they know they're going to get back lash. host: we want to get to a lot of calls this morning and show you the highlights including the closing arguments including michael van -- michael vanderveen, who argued a good bit of the case.

he argues there is a double standard when it comes to political violence. [video clip] >> for months, our federal courthouse in portland was placed under seizure by violent and archivists who attacked law enforcement officers daily and repeatedly and tried to set fire to the building. speaker pelosi did not call the violent siege an insurrection. she called the federal agents protecting the courthouse stormtroopers. the white house complex was be sieged that threw rocks, bottles, and breached the security fence. when the administration sent in the national guard to secure the

capitol democrat leaders demanded that the forces be withdrawn. the washington, d.c. mayor said the presence of the national guard was an affront to the safety of the district. it must be fully investigated whether political leadership and washington, d.c. took an in adequate and irresponsible force posture january 6 because of their commitment to the false narrative of what happened last june. hopefully we can all agree that the administration acted properly by taking action to stop a mob, establishing an appropriate security perimeter, and prevent the white house from potentially being overrun. the house managers argued this week that the alleged brief delay in issuing a statement from mr. trump was

evidence he committed incitement or supported the violence. yet for months last year, joe biden, vice president harris, and countless democrats repeatedly refused to condemn the extremism as riots as businesses were being ramshackled, as neighborhoods were being burned, as bombs were exploding. they repeatedly refused to tell their violent supporters to stand down. some even suggested the mob's actions were justified. vice president harris literally urged her followers to donate money to a fund to bail out the violent, extreme rioters so they could get out and continue to do it over and over again. host: washington times following

up with the seven senators who voted with democrats on conviction in the impeachment trial. headline, seven gop senators who voted to convict trump explained their decision writing the seven senators, broke with their party and convicted former president trump of the riot. our constitution is more important, said bill cassidy. he is guilty. richard burr said, president trump promoted unfounded conspiracy theories and cast out on the integrity of a free and fair election because he did not like the result. pat toomey said it was the right call but declined to comment further. he is not running for reelection in 2022. to your calls and helen in fulton, california. caller: good morning and it is a good morning for all americans. mr. trump's attorneys did not

side against impeachment of him. they fought for all of us. i'm going to bring up a name and shame on americans if they do not recognize the same, ethel lothenberg. the congress convinced the american public the federal government had a right to kick a housewife raising her kids in a one bedroom apartment and execute for treason. she was innocent. this is what the pelosi democrats were doing. they were not weeding out communists who were a threat to the united states. they sent a message with her death that they can persecute, incarcerate, and silence anyone who challenges their personal, political agenda for the united states.

the pelosi democrats in congress when after trump not so much to get him, they knew they would not get him, but they wanted to send a message. they wanted to succeed because they wanted to tell the rest of us republicans and democrats, anyone in the united states, you can be persecuted, possibly incarcerated, and silenced by them. this is a win for our republic and our republicans in congress should not ever feel intimidated by these scare tactic, by these horrific attempts led by democrats. i am suggesting vote out these people. i do not believe history repeats itself. it is just evil waits and this is what happened and that is what happened to ethel rosenberg. we need to protect our republic from democrats who are unscrupulous, from republicans who are unscrupulous. this is a victory for us.

i am celebrating today. thanks to c-span and our republic, not a democracy. we are a republic and it must be protected. they must never feel intimidated by any other force within that entity. i am celebrating today and we should celebrate in the name of ethel rosenberg. thank you for taking my call. host: next is karen, wilmington, delaware. caller: my question is, first of all, you should have put this in layman's terms. do you believe in a violent overthrow of the government? do you believe in a dictatorship? if so, you want some buddy like trump. if not, you want free and fair elections. also, as my sister in south carolina who wrote to the two senators, they are walking medical miracles. they walk up right without a spine. thank you. host: jacksonville, texas, bob in texas, democrat line.

caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: yes i can, sir. go ahead. caller: i'm celebrating this morning too, but not for the same reasons. i came into this world 86 years ago today. host: happy birthday, bob. caller: thank you. i feel good about that. i am still kicking. but i have never been so ashamed of my government and all my life and i gave the government, i gave our country four years in the u.s. navy. 1952 to 1956, served two years in korea, and i have never been so ashamed on both sides, but i'm so happy to see donald trump go down the road. i can't hardly stand it. the lady from california she, hey, we have got to clean this whole place out and that is the

only way we will get on the right road. we missed a golden opportunity by not electing bernie sanders to the white house. i guess that is about all i have got to say except, you know, if everybody put all of the stuff aside and try to get along, i think we would be better off. thank you for taking my call. host: love having you on and enjoy your birthday. caller: thank you. i have been watching c-span for, since 1982. host: that is great. great to have you with us on your birthday morning. here's a piece from the new york times, peter baker's analysis, escape not exoneration. a picture of the house managers after the vote yesterday. he writes, the president, who emerged from last year's impeachment trial feeling emboldened and used his office to take revenge against those he

blamed for the charges against him, emerges from this defeated after one term and secluded behind closed doors in florida with no government power and an uncertain political and legal future. he forced most republican senators stick with them in the trial, but few defended his actions citing constitutional reasons for their votes. no one condemned him and more forceful terms on saturday then one of those who voted to acquit him, senator mitch mcconnell, republican leader who, for four years, held his tongue and worked in tandem with mr. trump, but has since washed his hands of him. mr. mcconnell accused mr. trump of a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty in trying to overturn the election and setting a mob loose on congress to glut the formalization of his defeat. he demolished the former president's case.

host: brian in louisiana. caller: it is almost congress. congress is self-serving. we are not represented. we are not being represented. for one, this country is being bankrupt by a bunch of rich people that don't even know how to balance a checkbook. i mean, they just destroy this country. we are having more things happen to us right now than what the king did in 1775, or wherever i was, when we had to overthrow our government for us to become the free nation we are today.

the things that happened like the lawyers said, they had riots. there was no problem. but because we the people were back in the capitol where we the people belong and the politicians got scared of the millions of us, they didn't like it. but that is the reality of today. people have had enough of congress destroying this great country by their self-serving, elitist attitude. they think they are untouchable. guess what? they got touched. host: laura in massachusetts, go ahead, independent line. caller: hi. good morning. host: good morning. caller: i wanted to say a couple of things. first of all, i think what

happened january 6 was probably the saddest day that we have seen ever in my time. what is sad about all of this is that people seem to just lack basic conscience of what is right and wrong. it is sad that even though you are republican you cannot stand up and say this man is wrong and that what trump has been doing all along, banging the drum of hate, banging the drum of fall selections, banging the drum of lies, is condoned by them still. when i hear a lot of your republican callers still stand by him it is just unbelievable and it is sad. it is almost as if they have lost their way. they just cannot see what is

wrong anymore. no matter what they are going to stay with him and he said that. he said they will stand by me no matter what i do. secondly, i wanted to say, mcconnell, that was the most schizophrenic speech anyone could listen to. to vote to acquit in? on and on about how -- to vote to acquit but still go on and on about how not to acquit. he's a cowardly man who just wants it both ways. he wants to continue to stay in politics, he wants to continue to get the base, but yet not be concerned with the fact he just acquitted somebody who incited a horrible, horrible mess that day january 6. it is just a very sad time in

this country. thank you. host: republican line, steve in maryland. caller: good morning. just one thing on the vote i would like to point out. people are calling this a bipartisan vote. to me a bipartisan vote would be democrats going onto the republican side. you see the bipartisanship on the republican side. they saw the democrats' point of view. not a single democrat in the senate or house saw this as a first amendment, freedom of speech argument. that bothers me. but the record will show that it was the democrats and the republicans reached to the other side of the line, the other side of the aisle. as far as hate, yeah, a lot of president trump's rhetoric is

fiery for sure, but a lot of the rhetoric we heard over the summer and lack of condemnation of black lives matter, who is a marxist organization -- nobody points that out -- and antifa is an anarchistic organization has to be addressed as well. the proud boys re: militia group, a domestic terrorist, and i hate to say it because i feel bad for the slavery thing, but we really need an honest conversation. i used to be a democrat and i am ashamed at what the democrats did. not a single one could say yes, this is first amendment. thank you. host: on some of steve's points it was noticed -- this was made by the attorneys for the former president -- the protest during the summer is irrelevant, says lee.

there was no interruption of the peaceful transfer of power. nobody attempted a coup. he says when an attempted coup of the government is not grounds for impeachment than the impeachment clause has no meaning. all the votes yesterday, ryan points this out to some history of impeachment votes, senator susan collins of maine is the only senator in history devoted to acquit a member of the opposite party, then president clinton, and convict a member of her own party, president trump. part of the seven who voted along with democrats. one of the house managers from colorado in his closing arguments appealed to the senators' sense of history [video clip] . [video clip] >> i know what this body is capable of. i read about in history books. i have seen the c-span footage.

sometimes i watched them for hours. the history of our country in those books and tapes, the history of this country has been defined right here on this floor. the 13th amendment, the amendment abolishing slavery was passed in this very room, this very room. not figuratively, literally where you all sit and where i stand. in 1964, this body, with the help of senators like john sherman cooper and so many others, this body secured passage of the civil rights act. we made the decision to enter world war ii from this chamber. we have certainly had our struggles but we have always risen to the occasion when it mattered most.

not by ignoring injustice or cowering to pulleys and threats, but by doing the right thing. that is why so many nations around the world aspired to be like america. they stand up to dictators and autocrats and tyrants because america is a guiding light for them, a northstar. they do so, they look to us because we have been a guiding light, a north star in these moments. because the people who sat in your chairs, when confronted with choices that define us, rose to the occasion. i want to offer one more example of a decision made in this room by this body that resonated with me. the first day i stood up in this trial i mentioned i was the son of immigrants like many of you and many senators approached me

after my presentation and asked where my parents were from. i told those who asked my folks were from east africa. in 1986, 1986, this body considered a bill to override president reagan's veto of legislation imposing sanctions on south africa during apartheid. two senators who sit in this room, one democrat and one republican, voted to override that veto. that vote was not about gaining political favor. in fact, it was made despite potentially losing political favor and i have to imagine that vote was cast like the decisions before it because there are moments that transcend party politics and require us to put country above party because the consequences of not doing so are

just too great. host: back to your calls. donnie on the democrat line, indiana, hello. caller: it is bonnie. host: go ahead, bonnie. caller: does anybody remember there were five attorneys who would not even take this case? i think you should have somebody on that talks about mental illness for people elected officials. thank you. host: missoula, michigan, todd, democrats line. caller: good morning. all these distractions, distractions, distractions. when is the media going to start -- people are starving. they want their $1400 check.

this is just the beginning, these riots. people are fed up with the inaction of congress and you know what? all these guys are just protecting their own jobs. how do you get a job making a few hundred thousand dollars a year and walkout millionaires? they are all corrupt. as far as i am concerned they should all be shot. host: pennsylvania is next. greg on the republican line. caller: yes, mr. scanlon, i agree with the caller three or four back from maryland. this is ridiculous what is going on. the same people, including the congressman you had a clip on from the house impeachment team, was one of the mob that condemned everybody who worked the founding fathers. they are all racist, racism, take down the statues, change

the names of forts in the south, they are all racist. now all of a sudden they are ok. but no one, including c-span, talks about the hypocrisy. no one. there is a cancel culture going on. people are saying i want you to do this right now and tomorrow i want you to do something different and the logic is completely different, but do what i tell you to do. this is a scary moment. the rest of the world, like the congressman said, wants to come here. we must be doing more right than wrong. why did those people in the house continue to say we are on the path to hell? c-span just continues to not question that.

yesterday mr. holland was doing what he normally does. i think c-span needs to say, look, we will question everybody. you say what you say, explain it or don't question anybody. just do caller after caller after caller and decide it will be 30 seconds, 45 seconds. but you cannot participate in cancel culture and that is what c-span is doing. host: we tried to give everybody an open forum as much as possible including you. if we do sometimes let people go on, it is part of what we do is listen to what they have to say. we question everybody and their comments, that is not our role. we are moderators of discussion and facilitators of a conversation between you and the rest of the folks watching this program. we appreciate you calling in this morning.

kenneth on the independent line, go ahead. caller: the only thing i can agree with with the gentleman who just called from pennsylvania is the perception that you are asking the people questions. sometimes pedro will come back with a question or opinion for them to explain themselves. like i said, i am a veteran. i served i everybodied and for that person to say racism, all of them were. but if it comes to anything, i'd like to know that when people call in and say it's ok for what has happened, what if -- we hate the words "what if," what if those rioters and tourists and people were

wearing obama hats and flags, what if? would they feel the same? what if they were all blacks or muslims or people they assumed were illegal immigrants? would they still be supporting it's ok that that's what happened on january 6? i'm sure everyone that thinks is ok during january 6 will be jumping off the top of the white house right now. host: kenneth in florida. two more hours on the program as we hear from you, your thoughts, calls and comments about yesterday's action in the u.s. senate. the senate impeachment trial of former president donald trump comes to a close with a 57-43 vote acquiting the former president of the one article of impeachment, the incrime -- incitement of insurrection. seven republicans break with former president in second

impeachment. inside the jump page of the print edition, they write this, as we open up our phone lines here for the house managers were able to introduce a statement from the republican congresswoman jamie herrera butler in what she was told about a profanity laden telephone call that was had with president during the attack. mr. mccarthy he told her when he pleaded with the president on the call, mr. trump seemed to side with the rioters, upsetting the count ratifying his vote. these people are much more upset than you are he told the house republican leader in the telling. our phone lines, 202-748-8001 for republicans, 202-748-8000 for democrats and independents, 202-748-8002. back to your calls momentarily here on c-span's "washington journal." but the day yesterday, the

saturday in the senate was expected to be and eventually did turn out to be the final day of the impeachment trial but not without a bit of a twist in the introduction or call for the introduction of witnesses. here's the lead manager, the house manager, jamie raskin of maryland. mr. as kin: over the last several days we presented overwhelming evidence that establishes the charges in the article of impeachment. we've shown you how president trump created a powder keg, lit a match and then continued his incitement even as he failed to defend us from the ensuing violence. we supported our position with images, videos, affidavits, documents and tweets and other evidence leashing no doubt that the senate should convict. we believe we've proven our case but last night congresswoman jamie herrera butler of washington state issued a statement confirming that in the middle of the insurrection when house

minority leader kevin mccarthy called the president to beg for help, president trump responded, and i quote, well, kevin, i guess these people are more upset about the election than you are. needless to say, this is an additional piece of crab rating evidence further confirming the charges before you as well as the president's willful dereliction and desertion of duty as commander and chief of the united states, his state of mind and further incitement of the insurrection on january 6. for that reason and paw this is the proper time to do so under the resolution the senate adopted to set the rules for the trial, we would like the opportunity to subpoena congresswoman herrera regarding her communications with house minority leader kevin mccarthy and to subpoena her contemporaneous notes that she made regarding what president

trump told kevin mccarthy in the middle of the insurrection and would proceed by a zoom depp position of an hour or -- deposition of an hour or less as soon as the congresswoman is available and then proceed to the next phase of the trial including the introduction of that testimony shortly thereafter. congresswoman butler further stated she hopes other witnesses to this part of the story, other patriots, as she put it, would come forward and if that happens we would seek the opportunity to take their depositions via zoom also for less than an hour or to subpoena other relevant documents as well. host: the "san francisco chronicle" with a more detailed story about the call for evidence, how mccarthy's call for trump nearly derailed the impeachment trial and we'll hear from the defense attorneys on that issue in just a bit. but let's get back to your calls. james is in memphis on the democrats' line. james: good morning.

and thank you for taking my call. i'm just depletely confused about this whole thing. i'm kind of saddened that after this verdict we're back in our own little corners. let me say one quick thing. one thing about this verdict, it ain't about how you feel about president trump or how you feel about the democrats or republicans, it is about how you do your job. some folks have to do their job on capitol hill. the president had a job to do. he vowed his oath and that's what they were prosecuting him for. let me say one more thing. in comparison, the black live matters and what happened january 6. the two differences about those two situations is it's tough no matter how you do it but one protest was built on a lie and

one protest was built on criminal justice. those are the two differences. we went through the course of criminal justice and they were let off, we went through the peaceful project and let him off and that's because black folks -- i know some black folks are saddened about how they compare black lives matter to this because we only seeking criminal justice. and if this protest was about votes and if somebody stole my vote and went through the court system and that was the evidence it was, i would go to the courthouse myself so don't compare the two, one was built on a lie and one built on trying to do what's right. host: lou is next up on the republican line in tampa, florida. lou: good morning, c-span, thank you for letting me speak. you know, i'm glad this is over. i'm glad the president was acquitted. can you hear me? host: sure, we got you, lou. continue.

caller: i think if he had been convicted, it would have led to more bad stuff, but anyway, i want to say president trump stood up for americans against some self-serving interests in america and he fixed some of the trade deals and nafta and the tariffs against china that was just bleeding america. and he put the embassy in jerusalem and he wanted peace in the korean peninsula. and you don't have this guy in north korea testing missiles. and i'm sorry for what we're going through in america. we have to get along with each other for goodness sakes, and god bless america and thank you, bill. host: a couple comments on text and twitter. b.c. texts this, acquittal does not mean innocence, let's be

clear about that. this vote demonstrates where it has infill rated our branches. and out come already in place to placate a traitor. another one, what an absolute shame, i hope their political careers get eviscerated. shirley in north carolina, i'm pleased with the outcome the dems want him out since he was voted in. maybe if nancy and chuck and other has been more reasonable in helpful, events might not have happened. nancy p tearing the state of union address was hateful and spiteful to the united states of america. and from mlb, it's time to move past the last occupant of the oval office and get to work on the pandemic, economy, environment, postal service and a plethora of other issues. we're so strong and when we work together he made us forget that. it's time to remember that again. back to yesterday, early yesterday, and the effort by the democratic managers to

introduce witnesses. the response here from michael vanderveen for that effort yesterday in the impeachment trial. >> nancy pelosi's deposition needs to be taken. vice president harris' deposition. absolutely needs to be taken. and not by zoom. none of these depositions should be done by zoom. we didn't do this hearing by zoom. these depositions should be done in person in my office in philadelphia. that's where they should be done. [laughter] >> i don't know how many civil lawyers are here but that's the way it works, folks. when you want somebody's deposition, you send a notice of deposition, and they appear at the place where the notice says. that's civil process. i don't know why you're

laughing. it is civil process. that is the way lawyers do it. we send notices of deposition -- >> i radio remind everybody that we will have order in the chamber. during these proceedings. >> i haven't laughed at any of you. host: michael vanderveen one of mr. president's former attorneys and in front of time.com, their story, trump faces uncertain road despite acquittal. the photos of a couple attorneys michael vanderveen and one of the other attorneys. in bristol, connecticut, steve is next up, independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i don't know too many people know it but when we were attacked by pearl harbor that's

when the fence went up on the white house and now january 6 we've been attacked by terrorists and we'll see that fence permanently around the capitol. this was an attack and the republican party and trump represent terrorists now. that's a fact right there. and that's my comment. host: in delaware, next up, republican line. ray, hello there. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: c-span you do a pretty good job of letting everybody get their word in. my big thing is this is nothing but a power struggle, ok. until we get some kind of term limits in here to limit the amount of time they're in office, republican or democrat, we're never going to get this under control. that's all this is is a power struggle. trump had this country humming like a machine. he's a businessman. that's what he does. the other ones are all politics

and it's just what am i getting out of it? it's for them, it's not for us. we pay their wages. this whole thing is a cluster. host: how specifically would term limits help this? keep in mind part of this -- i'm trying to calculate the nine who were on the house manager's team. certainly some of them like joe naguse, madeleine dean were first and second term members and certainly a number of members in the u.s. senate were newly elected republicans, big hagerty from tennessee and tommy tuberville from alabama. so you did have some new members coming in there. how specifically would have term limits prevented something

like this? caller: because we wouldn't even be having this if it wasn't for the control, the power control in the senate and in the house causing this to happen. it's all about power. that's what the whole thing is. they don't like it that trump came in and took away some of their power and he was going in the direction putting america first and they don't like that. they're giving money to other countries when we've got people that need the money here. why send our tax dollars overseas when the people here need the money? host: ray, thanks for the call. i had a caller earlier have we heard from mike pence? we've not seen a statement from the former vice president yet in his hometown paper "the indianapolis star," their headline, what you need to know about mike pence since he's no longer president, they say the former vice president has been

a popular topic of conversation lately and they write he and his wife karen are currently living in west virginia where he has opened a transition office and outgoing presidents are allowed six months of services to complete any official business but no exact location has been given, while no exact locations have been given, pence plans to return to his home state of indiana this summer according to the indy star. he made a quick trip to speak with hoosiers in columbus on january 20. in west palm beach, florida, good morning. caller: hi, good morning. so first, i'd like to say it's really disappointing to see the level of separation that's going on in the country. we're so divided. and i would just like to say from a principaled position what we should be fighting for is what is in the best interest of the american people and shouldn't be so partisan we defend a politician because they're republican or because

they're democrat. that's dangerous. we're all opportunity -- subject to the rules of law and should be abiding by those rules. and i'll say that people who say that president trump was just attacked through his presidency, yes, it's unusual but president trump literally daily just said things and does things to get people all inflamed and that's one of the reasons why it seems like the media was always on him. he really made the institution worse. and then the other thing is that something i'll say to white americans, as a black person, the system relates to black people and systemic races and so on, it's designed so you as a white american who you go to work and take care of your family and do everything right, you do that and you have no understanding of the issues that affect people of color. you can't relate to it. your experiences are completely

different. the system is designed so that you stay in that space and disenfranchises people of color. if you look at, for example, housing, the federal government and our government designed the system so white people are in nice neighborhoods and black people live in these get as. look at the history. read the book "the color of law" and it explains the extent of it. doing stuff like that has consequences that we feel today. why do you think our schools are all in these white neighbors and schools failing are all in these get as and poor communities. it's because the system was designed that way. let us talk about how do we have structured reform so there's real equity for everyone and people have an opportunity to succeed and they pull themselves up by their bootstraps. nobody in this country pulls themselves up by the bootstraps. host: to alex in erie, pennsylvania, go ahead on the democrats line. caller: god help mitch

mcconnell if he thinks the speech will be a solve him. and he's just doing it to cover his butt. trump did everything mcconnell didn't have the guts to do himself. remember the smile he had on his face when trump was elected ear to big ear like he was standing next to the messiah. people don't worry about trump running again. we beat him once and we will beat him again. thank you very much. host: politico writing this morning about the republican leader's future, mitch mcconnell's next chapter headline, guiding the post-trump g.o.p. your reaction to the vote yesterday in the impeachment trial of former president donald trump. we'll go to julie in dayton, ohio, our republican line. hi there. caller: i just wanted to let you know that this is just the

beginning. i'm a retired attorney and i think that as a moderate, trump is not out of the fire. i'm not a trumper, and i just wanted to bring up the point that mcconnell set trump up for personal, criminal and civil liability. he acquitted him in the senate trial because trump would not suffer any consequence because the only remedy in the senate trial is removal from office. and trump's already out of office. so therefore, mcconnell was setting trump up with his speech after the acquittal to have accountability through the criminal and civil justice system, but both sides, both the dems and the republicans need to be wary about what they do next. because if they do go after him in the civil or criminal

justice system, discovery is going to be par for the course. both sides i think have a lot of secrets that they need to hide. but this may be an opportunity for all those things that trump said about the election before and after can come to light finally. and then also the democrats will have to go under deposition and be asked about the preparation before january 6, if they were aware, when was nancy pelosi and the d.c. mayor aware of this domestic terrorist plot? host: thanks for that. there is legislation introduced in the senate i think from tim kaine of virginia on censure of

the former president and the speaker of the house was asked about it yesterday and our capitol hill producer craig kaplan tweeted this, pelosi on censoring trurm on the acquittal. censure is a slap in the face of the constitution and lets everybody off the hook. we censure people for using stationary for the wrong purpose but not censure people for inciting insurrection for killing people in the capitol. this is aubry on the democrats line in hudson, florida. caller: hi, good morning. i just wanted to mention we've all watched trump in his candidacy and presidency and i don't think there is anyone out there except for maybe the most ardent supporters who don't realize that this man is not fit to be a leader, consider even during the pandemic which we're not mentioning so much that he was not able to help

the country get through that in any way, shape, or form. he didn't even want to step up to the plate in most instances. and now when you see what he did about the election, it makes you cringe, at least i cringe when i see grown men, politicians, whom i very much respect, that both sides, republicans and democrats, kind of always turning into -- running offo mar-a-lago to kiss the ring and try to make trump think they were so loyal. my main thing today is i wish they would remember that there is strength in numbers. right now when they individually try to stand up for trump, they're getting censured by their local constituency, or they're getting a blowback. but if they really see what is going on, and i think we all

do, know that this horrible incident that just happened at the capitol and the militias probably are not going away. and if you give trump any room at all to revise this in any way, we're probably in for another world of hurt. so if these republicans just remember, if they all stood up together and said look, this is enough and they do no more of bowing to trump, he, too, would have to get the message and then would so many of his followers if they thought -- it's a political decision, i know a lot of what they're doing because they want his base maybe to run for themselves. but unless you get rid of this very dark creature in the closet that's hiding out at mar-a-lago right now, i don't think we ever get back to where we have to be.

i want us to be back to where we argue policy again, you know. let's just argue policy. let's not be caught up in all these very more social than it is anything about policy right now. everybody is arguing about guns and the racism and misogyny and all sorts of things that are fringe elements. let's talk about policy about the economy and schools and how we get things moving but we're never going to do that if we have a bunch of elected officials too afraid to stand up to not only trump but all his supporters. host: audrey in florida, appreciate that. the arguments yesterday on witnesses. there's some background from "the washington post" how that developed and actually started friday evening. here's some of the writing in "the post" this morning and they said the final push towards witnesses when it started friday evening when several republican senators telegraphed their concern about

trump's conduct as the rioters tore through the capitol particularly as it pertained to pence, during a question and answer period, friday, senator mitt romney and susan collins asked if trump was aware pence was rushed to safety for attacking pence to not have the, quote, courage to do what should have been done. later bill cassidy of louisiana asked about trump and pence, had trump been, quote, tolerant of the intimidation. the trump lawyer dodged those questions, challenging the manager's evidence and telling cassidy the basis for his question was, quote, somebody who had hearsay they heard the night before at a bar somewhere. he made that acclaim that raised eyebrows on both sides of the aisle, i'm sure mr. trump is very concerned, much as concerned and was concerned for the safety and well-being of mr. pence and everybody else that was there. republicans, write the post, including cassidy knew plainly

that wasn't true. trump not only tweeted his attack on pence that day but also widely reported that at no point that day or since had he called to check on pence's welfare. even as some of his supporters attacking the capitol were chanting "hang mike pence." and in his arguments yesterday, one of the house managers responded to the trump lawyers' allegations that the president never was informed about mike pence, the vice president. here's what he had to say. >> from 2/12 to 2/24 the house recessed and speaker nancy pelosi was rushed off the floor and the capitol police announced a breach and lockdown and the insurrectionist mop began chanting "hang mike pence." it was unfolding on live tv in front of the entire world. so again, let me ask you, does it strike you as credible that nobody, not a single person

informed the president that his vice president had been evacuated or that the president didn't glance at the television or his twitter account and learn about the events that were happening. remember, this was the day of the electoral college. rerp his obsession with stopping the certification. just not credible that the president at no point knew his vice president was in this building and was in real danger. senators, i submit to you these facts, this time line is undisputed. at 2:24 p.m. after rioters breached the barriers, after calls for assistance, after rioters stormed the building, after vice president pence was rushed from the senate floor and just before vice president pence was further evacuated for his safety, president trump decided to attack his own vice president on twitter. the undisputed facts confirm that not only must president

trump have been aware of the vice president's danger, but he still sent out a tweet attacking him. further inciting the very mob that was in just a few feet of him inside of this very building. the vice president was there with his family who is in danger for his life. they were chanting "hang mike pence." and they had erected a noose outside. and as we've shown, the mob responded to president trump's attack instantly. the tweet was read allowed on a bull horn if you remember that video. insurrectionists began chanting again about mike pence. and in those critical moments we see president trump engaging in a dereliction of his duty by put inciting the mob in real time to target the vice president with knowledge that the insurrection was ongoing, and that's of course included in the conduct charged in this

article of impeachment. the former president's down sell's suggestion otherwise is completely wrong. his further incrime is -- incitement is impeachable conduct that continued during the course of this assault itself and is part of the constitutional crime and was entirely and completely a part of had us indefensible failure to protect the congress. host: let's check comments on social media. one of the trump's attorneys is clueless when it comes to an impeachment trial, no, he can't depose witnesses in his office in philadelphia. that's why the senators laughed. i'm embarrassed to be an attorney. al fred said might as well eliminate the impeachment clauses in the constitution and hold those responsible in court. no sense having a trial with the party in control of the senate determines the outcough the trial like it happened this

week. and on facebook, corrupt g.o.p., thank god there are a handful of decent truly conservative republicans who respect the constitution. the majority are loyal to trump first and foremost and set a dangerous precedent that trump and his followers get away with anything. and also from al fred, this so-called impeachment trial was such a coordinated effort to acquit on the part of both parties that schumer and mcconnell had their speeches ready to go. in sleepy eye, minnesota, this is joe ann on the independent line. caller: yes, good morning. host: good morning. caller: i have about four quick comments that i would like to make. first of all, it is amazing how differently we all think. i'm an independent, i have voted both parties. i watch all cable news of different channels so i get an accurate view of what's going on. one, i would like to say, you

know, the russians and different countries have said that we will destroy ourself from within. they won't have to do a thing. they can just sit back and watch us. and it seems that we're kind of going along that train of thought. two, everybody talks about trump inciting these groups. the militia and poor boys and the white stream cysts and neo-nazis and an tearfula have been around a long time and would love nothing more than to see our government destroyed. they've been trying to do things like this and i think the riots and all the unanswered crime this summer emboldened them. i don't like how trump talks a lot of times but he did do a lot of good for this country. we talk about unity and

diversity, and when you think about our history, it used to be sometimes one party would win or the other party and then they would work together for the good of this country. and i've really noticed the last four years and maybe before but now when one party wins, they don't bother to work with the other side. they try to destroy everything that that has done. we need to get back to working together. and i think this time, you know, they say trump is so divisive. well, he has been in his language but who kind of started the divisiveness? the democrats that have started impeaching 16 minutes afterwards. they didn't attend the inauguration and any time trump did try to get things together, they resisted. they had the sign vote no. we can't give him any wins.

well, who cares who brought up good legislation? if it's good for this country, imagine how great we could be if we all work together? i do think there needs to be term limits. i think a lot of this has been fueled by hate on both sides. but i do have to say the media and the liberals have treated trump subhuman. i have never seen treatment like this of a president or even an ordinary human being. and i guess i wish we had term limits and we would all learn how to be a little nicer and work together and praise somebody when they do good things. every side has both things they want to do for the country and we need to work together instead of tear one another apart. host: thank for you your call,

joe ann. to michael in mexico, maine, independent line. caller: yes, hello. thank you for taking my all call. i did vote for obama twice and in the other election i did vote for trump because i thought washington was corrupt and did think he was going to basically be a force for good in the long run because i thought he was for the people and breaks my heart to see nobody is defending logic and reason now as far as the perspective of the 75 million to 80 million people that voted for trump and they believe the election really was stolen and if you look at the six swing states, there is a lot of evidence for fraud. i looked into it and the media covers it up and says it's a conspiracy theory. but all these republican congressman won unexpectantly and when you vote, you vote down the line and trump won overwhelmingly in county after county, mathematician after

mathematician who looks at the statistics says there no way biden could have won. you have to give the other side a break. they shifted back to the corn he by media and big tech and the hatred of trump which is insane, i've never seen anything like it and i've voted democrat all my life until trump. i try to be objective but this is insane the division but nobody is sticking up to the 80 million people that are patriotic and voted for trump because they know he's for them and not for the washington establishment and the globalists that are bankrupting our country. host: bark in pennsylvania, mark on the republican line. caller: good morning. i think this solidifies the fact we're living in a post constitutional america when 57 senators cannot agree on what the constitution says and say they're standing up for it is pretty pathetic. i said the word "the president" and "removal" is so complicated to them and can't see it's unconstitutional to do it to

someone that's not president and can't be removed from office. it's a sad day for our country. the problem is here is that people think that they're so righteous, especially the seven senators that voted like murkowski, collins, all these other ones, one minute they're for the constitution and next minute they're not. it's really interesting how they do that. i prefer, and all the democrats on the left decided the constitution didn't matter. i don't think there would be one person in this country that would want to be tried the way the president was tried with no due process, with jurors that were biased and witnesses and had to sit through hours and hours of inciteful videos to get them to make a decision the way they want it. this is not america and not how we hold trials in america. we are about freedom, fairness and the rule of law. this was not what happened in that senate chamber the other day. i wouldn't even consider it a trial, more of an inquisition. it's a real sad day because the founding fathers when they put that clause into the constitution, there was no term

limits for presidents. ok, the reason they added the president in there is because they had to have a reason, a way to get rid of the president if for some reason he became terribly corrupt. the 22nd amendment eliminated that need in the constitution because they said there are term limits now for the president. they are abusing that tool of the constitution for a power grab. that's all they're doing with this. there's no legal basis for doing this. he was out of office and would have been out of office even if he got re-elected in four years. the whole thing is they want to use this as a weapon. the constitution wasn't there to empower the democrats to bludgeon the opposition party. it was there to suppress their power and to hold them accountable for their actions so they couldn't get too much power but the exact opposite of what is happening. our constitution is being shredded, destroyed and trampled on and there's very few supporters. we had 44 supporters of the constitution. i don't care if you think donald trump is guilty or not. i would not want to be tried like they tried donald trump, i can tell you.

i don't think anybody listening would have either regardless if you hate donald trump and think he's guilty of everything they said he was. host: ultimately the proceedings yesterday, they agreed to take the statement from representative jamie herrera butler on what she heard about the conversation between the republican leader, kevin mccarthy, and the phone call between kevin mccarthy and the former president -- then president donald trump. here's bruce castor, the former president's attorneys talking about that. >> donald john trump by his counsel is prepared to stipulate that if representative herrera butler were to testify under oath as part of these proceedings, her testimony would be consistent with the statement she issued february 12, 2021 and the former president's counsel is agreeable to the admission of that public statement into evidence at this time. >> thank you, mr. castor.

mr. raskin? mr. raskin: thank you, mr. president. the managers are prepared to enter into the agreement. i will now read the statement. is a statement of congresswoman jamie herrera butler, february 12, 2021. in my january 12 statement in support of the articles of impeachment i referenced a conversation house minority leader kevin mccarthy relayed to me he'd had with president trump while the january 6 attack was ongoing. here are the details. when mccarthy finally reached the president on january 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully call off the riot, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was an tearfula -- antifa which breached the capitol and mccarthy refuted that and told the president these were trump supporters. that's when, according to mccarthy, the president said, well, kevin, i guess these

people are more upset about the election than you are. since i publicly announced my decision to vote for impeachment, i've shared these details with countless conversations with constituents and colleagues and multiple times through the media and other public forums. i told it to the daily news of long view on the 17th and shared it with republican executive board members as well as other constituents who asked me to explain my vote. i shared it with thousands of recent dnts on my telephone town hall on february 8. mr. president i now move the senate admit the statement into evidence. >> then without objection the statement will be admitted intoive. and -- into evidence. does either party wish to make any further motions related to witnesses or documents at this time? >> mr. president, the

president's counsel have no further motions. and mr. president, we have no further motions either. >> excuse me. then the chair would note that neither party wishes to make further motions under section 6 of senate resolution 47. therefore the next question is on admission of the evidence submitted by both parties pursuant to section 8 of the resolution. the majority leader is recognized. >> now as we move to another matter, i'm advised the house managers have no objection to the admission of evidence proposed to be admitted by the former president's counsel under the provisions of section 8 of senate resolution 47. and that the president's counsel have no objections to the evidence proposed to be admitted into ef6ed by the house managers.

pursuant to section 8 of the resolution as agreed to by leader mcconnell and myself a few days ago, both parties have made timely filings of this evidence with the secretary of the senate and have provided copies to each other. i therefore ask unanimous consent the senate dispense with the provisions of senate 8-a of senate resolution 47 and that the materials submitted by both parties be submitted into evidence subject to the provisions of sense 8-c of that resolution which provides that the admission of this evidence does not constitute a concession by either party as to the truth of the matters asserted by the other party and that each senator shall decide for him or herself the weight to be given such evidence. this request has the approval of both parties and the republican leader. >> without objection, so ordered. host: with that the statement of jamie herrera butler entered into the record of the impeachment trial of former president donald trump, the vote 57-43 acquiting the former president of the one article of

impeachment, incitement of insurrection. back to calls and aubry is in richmond, virginia, democrats line. caller: good morning. i got a couple comments. one, a preliminary comment and then gets to the impeachment trial. you know, the defendant of donald trump and a lot of callers have brought up this issue of a parallel between the assault on the capitol and from the violence -- black lives matter protests and seem to forget that later on, investigations showed that a lot of the violence that took place during the black lives matter protests were by right wing and provocateurs from the

proud boys and all, that kind of thing. that was one of the miss -- i call it a lie that the defenders of donald trump brought up. now to get to the meat and potatoes of the trial, i thought it was a mistake for leader schumer to get played by mitch mcconnell again by having the trial when they did. what they should have done is gone forward with president biden's agenda, got his relief agenda passed first and then taking the time to give the american people a thorough examination of what transpired in donald trump's role in it as well as having witnesses and taking the time to bring

witnesses like the congresswoman from washington state who witnessed that statement between mccarthy and i think it was -- a phone call. host: phone call. caller: and others. look, it was clear what donald trump and what right wing media did was prepare and program their followers to do what they did. what did donald trump do? he invited them on the very day that the final count of the electoral votes were taking place. then is wasn't just the statements he made. i watched donald trump's speeches as much as i find him to be an atrocious human being, the statements giuliani made and brooks made and donald trump's son made, all of that was -- plus the parlor, plus

right wing media, you know, brightbart, all of that. they got people lit up and ready to go and all donald trump had to do was push the button and aim. that's what happens. host: take yourself back to that day and watching it january 6, did you think something like that would happen, though, a violent attack of the actual capitol, did you think that would happen? >> caller: oh, yeah. i saw it as a likelihood of something along those lines happening. did i think it was going to be as massive as it turned out to be? not quite. i thought maybe -- and to be quite honest with you, i thought that the capitol police would have been a lot more prepared. but here's what occurred to me. as i watched this thing proceed and even later as i got a chance to play it back and

watch in more detail. there are a lot of police members all around the country, including in the capitol police that were sympathetic to these people. so even with the numbers they had, they could have stopped those people at the doorways. in other words, say i've got 8-15 police officers in a doorway that's eight foot wide. i can make that into a strong point long enough to get forces where i need them. host: ok. to tina, kansas city, missouri, also on the democrats line. caller: hi. host: hey there. caller: i felt the house managers laid it out perfectly and give them a standing ovation. they went through it methodically. and i thought they already had enough evidence.

i didn't think they needed to tell us no more. most americans saw it. we were horrified and couldn't believe it. so they were just telling us, taking us through the day. some information was new, but we knew it. we saw it. we heard it. i watched it and heard it. so he did incite. and i just think on the interruption like mike lee and everything standing up and objecting to different conversation, this is why you don't need extra witnesses. because they get on there and once you have the witnesses, they never, ever tell you what -- add anything new or they stick to the plan, so they're never going to say what really happened. they go back on what was said

or deny it. i thought the house managers deserved a standing ovation and i know the senators, the republican senators know it. they didn't do their job. host: the vote was 57-43, the surprising one, corget to the news observer in raleigh was richard but who the headline says burr votes guilty second impeachment trial and tillis' vote not guilty. they write senator richard burr was the surprising vote and was critical january 6 but voted earlier the trial was unconstitutional and in a statement he wrote, when this process started, i believed it was unconstitutional to impeach a president who is no longer in office. i still believe that to be the case. however, the senate is an institution based on precedent and given the majority in the senate voted to proceed with this trial, the question of constitutionality is now a

established precedent. as an impartial juror, he said, my role is now to determine whether house managers have sufficiently made the case for the article of impeachment against president trump. i have licensed to the arguments presented by both sides and consider the facts. the facts are clear. in florida, good morning to sandra, independent line. caller: hi, good morning. thank you for taking my call. boy, what a show we had yesterday. i agree with you 100%, your caller prior in pennsylvania, i believe. he couldn't have said it better than i. i've been a democrat most of my life. and then recently i'd say within the last 10 years i changed to independent. and you know, whether -- i don't think the democrats realized, looking at it from an objective point of view, that they're giving mr. trump more

power than -- they're giving him more credit. they're giving -- they're blaming everything on him with this breach of the capitol. yes, it was a terrible, terrible event. but people have to be responsible for their own actions. they can't blame it on a leader. and i sexned his sfeach. his speech has nothing -- i examined his speech. his speech has nothing to do with violence. if that was the case, then everybody up there in the white house would have crimes and misdemeanors against them. but i believe that once again the democrats are giving -- they're feeding into it and making trump more and more powerful. it was a sad day but the law is the law. and as far as mr. mcconnell goes, he may not like trump, which is fine, nobody has to like trump and his personality,

but bottom line, the law is the law. host: congressman joe, one of the nine house managers countered the argument made by some on the president's team the president now was a private citizen. here he is. [video clip] >> they said things like president trump is now a private citizen so the criminal justice system can deal with him or we haven't set a clear statistic for incitement and talked about due process and all politicians say words like "fight." i'd like to take a minute to explain why each of those distractions are precisely that, distractions and why why they do not prevent in any way the senate of convicting president trump. number one, every president is one day a private citizen again. so the argument that because president trump has left office

, he shouldn't be impeached for conduct committed while he was in office doesn't make sense. i mean, why would the constitution include the impeachment power at all if the criminal justice system serves as a suitable alternative once the president leaves office. it wouldn't. impeachment is a remedy separate and apart from the criminal justice system. and for good reason. the presidency, it comes with special powers, extraordinary powers, not bestowed on ordinary citizens. and if those powers are abused, they can cause great damage to our country. and they have to be dealt with in a separate forum. this forum. and it would be unwise to suggest that going forward the only appropriate response to

constitutional offenses committed by a president are criminal charges when the president returns to private life. that's not the kind of political system any of us want. and it's not the kind of constitutional system the framers intended. second, it is true, we have incited criminal statutes establishing elements of incitement because again, this isn't a criminal trial. it's not a criminal case. president trump is charged with a constitutional offense. and you are tasked with determining whether or not he committed that high crime as understood by our framers. so the relevant question, which president trump's lawyers would have you ignore is would our framers have considered a president inciting a violent mob to attack our government

while seeking to stop the certification of our elections? would they have considered that an impeachable offense? who among us, who among us really thinks the answer to that question is no? host: the senate yesterday did get to a vote on whether to consider witnesses and writing about that in -- we'll show you the article in a moment and we'll take a phone call first from cottage grove, wisconsin. this is trent. go ahead. caller: hello. thanks for having me. host: you bet. caller: i want to just bring it back to the beginning of the summer when you talk about incitement. on the impeachment part is when george floyd was murdered, this is where all the black lives matters started and you see seattle and police departments burn up in minneapolis and the

riots and the burnings and all the other stuff and then you see your mayors, your congressmen and any given politician i cannot quote their names. there was some stuff out there where if you were actually going to put some incitement out there you probably should have started right away early summer. i mean, these people let it go as chop and chaz and any given spaghetti fest where there's other people that should be responsible for some of the stuff that's all brewing. you should have worried about the covid. i lost two family members because of covid. host: next, in california. democrats line. caller: you know the republicans have a tendency to want to blame the democrats. i blame the republicans. and i blame trump. mr. trump went up there on that

stage from the beginning and he back slapped every republican on the stage in such a demeaning, unprofessional, aggressive manner, including ms. ferina and ted cruz's dad helping to murder mr. kennedy. he talked about mr. bush's wife. you know, coming down the stairs in the trump tower, that was a beautiful photo of his wife in her $20,000 outfit and him in his expensive suit and all the gold. but that's not where it started. it started on the stage. and for the electoral college to put him in office after he put full display his mental and emotional instability, i blame our government. that electoral college had no right to put him in office after he was on the stage. he set the pace. he balled up his fists and

socked every opponent. he didn't debate them. he verbally assaulted every republican opponent on the stage. host: on yesterday's debate and vote on witnesses after that -- or during that vote, i should point out, the hill had some reporting on a bit of an argument between two senators, johnson confronts romney after a vote on witnesses is their headline, two republican senators, ron johnson of wisconsin and mitt romney of utah got into a confrontation on the senate floor saturday after romney voted with the democrats to allow witnesses in the impeachment trial of president trump. reporters in the gallery saw a visibly upset johnson turn to romney and point to him after the vote. the two men then got in a back and forth when senator dan sullivan of alaska trying to play referee. that's from the hill.com. elizabeth is next in charlottesville, virginia, republican line. go ahead. caller: hi.

good morning. host: good morning. caller: i have a few things to say. number one, the man who called from richmond, which is just right up the road from me said that representative of washington state witnessed the call with president trump and leader mccarthy. and that is not true. it was like a hearsay thing. and leader mccarthy came out and said it was not true. so, you know, i watched all of your coverage on c-span. the whole week. host: great. caller: and they just -- the house just made up stuff. i mean, just continually made up stuff and kept saying we proved our case. president trump didn't incite

any violence. he has always been about peace and he's always about treating police officers with respect. i mean, the democrats are the ones that want to defund the police. they want to get rid of the police. they that is not what president trump is about. he has never been about violence. this was preplanned. they broke the barricades at 11:00. host: we are going to continue to take your calls and comments on the historic impeachment trial of donald trump. we are going to ask you in the next hour to look ahead. what is the future of former president trump in gop politics?

continue with the lines. we will be right back with your calls and comments. ♪ >> on thursday, the house financial services committee hearing on the recent volatility in the stock price of gamestop and decision by some companies to restrict trading of the stock. witnesses include robin hood ceo , reddit ceo, and financial analyst. watch live thursday beginning at noon eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app.

>> monday night, long time amazon executives talk about their book working backwards. >> how is it that an e-commerce company is going to become a hollywood producer of movie and tv shows? it is how we created considerable value and why the kindle, e-book business, prime video businesses are so popular today because they are a suite of devices to enable people to wash -- watch and read and award-winning content as well. >> we are excited to talk about what we think will be an enduring legacy of amazon.

how to build and operate customer focused long-term thinking organizations that take pride in operational excellence. >> watch the communicators monday night on c-span 2. >> listen to c-span's podcast the weekly. the use -- a look at foreign policy and nato. he talks about the role today and the idea of a piece dividend -- peace dividend. >> at the end of the cold war, there was this piece dividend -- peace dividend. there was no existential threat anymore. there was this waywardness about what is the role of nato? does the u.s. need to maintain

troops in europe anymore? the conclusion was no. a significant number of bases were closed or consolidated and a number of troops were brought down significantly. >> find weekly where you get your podcasts. >> washington journal continues. host: with a 50-43 vote, former president donald trump acquitted. what is ahead? the future, what is former president trump's future in gop politics? republican callers -- democrats -- for all others -- the former president released a statement shortly after the verdict yesterday. the headline -- trump on

acquittal, maga has only just begun. his political movement had only just begun and he would have more to share in the near future. he was banned from twitter days after the capitol riots and has been quiet since leaving office. but his influence hangs over his party. the seven republicans who voted to convict him sent the signal it is time to move on. the vast majority of republicans did not for a range of reasons that includes trump's power within the party. from the detroit news, trump remains dominant force in gop following acquittal. the ap, a republican party still belongs to donald trump.

after he incited a deadly riot last month, the gop considered purging the norm shattering former president but in the en , -- four trump loyalists, the acquittal offers a vindication of sorts. for his gop antagonist, it marks another alarming sign that the party is lurching further in a dangerous direction with little desire to reconnect with the moderates, women, and college-educated voters. independent line, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am an old 71-year-old trump supporter and what i understand that there are several cases pending that are going before the supreme court on friday and

-- regarding the voter fraud and the dominion machines. what would happen if they find there was voter fraud and if the election gets overturned? is this why they tried doing the impeachment? host: at this point, the election cannot be overturned. caller: good morning. two issues i have. number one on the impeachment farce, these democrats should be held in contempt and they should be tried immediately for the evidence they showed that was a lie. they embellished several -- a lot more where they embellished their so-called evidence.

that is number one. number two, going forward with our great president donald j. trump, they have poked the bear. this man is going to come out against pelosi and all of these people and that is what he came out and said last night. also, why was pelosi and kamala harris afraid to testify? amazing how the democrats wanted witnesses and all of a sudden, they dropped that issue. it is something to think about. that was my call. host: do you want him to run for president? caller: i do not think m elania wants him to run. do i want him to run?

absolutely. but i do not think that will happen. she does not want him to run. i hope one of his children do. host: flat rock, indiana, democrats line. caller: good morning. how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: i would like to say that figuratively speaking only, i would like to see the republican party burn to the ground with the exception of the seven senators that voted to impeach trump yesterday. like the phoenix that rises from the ashes, i would dearly love to see the republican party rise up and have integrity, respect for the rule of law, respect for the constitution, and to get back to the important basic rules of the republican party. i would also like for trump to

send a message to putin. america will never have a dictator. thank you very much for listening. host: a comment via text. this is from william in connecticut. former president trumps future with apollo -- with the party -- he will need his own political party. no way he can commandeer all the republicans. he will further divide our nation and the republican party to the benefit of the democrats. he released the statement yesterday after the verdict was read. " this has been yet another phase of the greatest witchhunt in the history of our country. no president has ever gone through anything like it and it continues because our opponents cannot forget that 75 million

people, the highest number ever for a sitting president, who voted for us. in the months ahead, i have much to share with you and i look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve american greatness for all of our people." in new york, republican line, marty. caller: hello. my question -- i think any citizen has the right to vote. i want to make another point. cause and effect -- the cause was the election and the effect was the riots. why can't the senate have a standard for voting where anybody who is running for congress or senate or president should be one voting system in

america? they have had for years for the senate to come -- four years for the senate to come up with a solution. if we get a standard, we will not have this problem. host: john is in washington -- oregon. democrats went. -- line. caller: i would like to see donald trump slowly disappear. if he continues to have a large influence in the gop party, the divisiveness in our country will continue. both parties need to focus on the constitution and the common good for everyone. let's discuss policies and procedures. let's get away from attacking each other, which i believe

donald trump trafficked in. let's get it to where we are listening to each other and we are coming up with solutions from everyone. thank you so much. host: hackensack, new jersey, bill is on the independent line. caller: thank you, sir. in morning. i believe -- good morning. president trump's future will be bright and his voice will be stronger because of this vindication of this unnecessary kangaroo court. the democrats and the hate filled fake news media, they are hurting themselves with their anger and vindictiveness. he will be stronger because of his accomplishments, which includes veterans choice.

getting jobs back to our country , for americans of every race and nationality. number three, importantly also, president trump has supported our police as opposed to the other party, which is unsupportive and wants to defund them or as mr. biden puts it, redirect money from police, which is not a common sense thing and it is dangerous. his future is bright and god, justice has been served. there is still justice in our country and this kangaroo court was unnecessary, waste of time, and it has shown clear vindictiveness. in the incidence of fairness, i think you should mention that

the sources you report, the new york times and washington post, have been unfair or push the russian collusion life of the past several years. please quote some other fair new sources. host: we are spending the last hour asking you about the political future for president trump following the acquittal yesterday. 57-43 according him of the article of impeachment -- acquitting him of the article of impeachment. donald trump was acquitted in a second impeachment trial. what comes next for the 45th president is anybody's guess, but looms over every aspect of the former presidents post impeachment political future. from the causes he will embrace to his level of influence inside the gop to the possibility you could face criminal charges or

seed diminished voter -- or seed diminished voter appetite for a comeback bid. trump hinted that something was on the horizon but there were a few details about what it would be. for many republicans, the uncertainty about his future is equal part harrowing, provocative. he has promised to help the gop retake the house but wants revenge against 10 house republicans who voted to impeach him. it is assumed he will reserve similar animus for the senators who voted for his impeachment saturday. new port richey, florida, republican line. caller: yes, i just want to say that the republicans that voted

against donald trump should be not reelected in 2022 if they are running. they should be behind the president. i hope he does run again in 2024 because he will beat the democrats. the democrats have been after him ever since he got into office. they do not want to let up. i hope that pelosi and schumer, they do not get voted in again. but california, you never know what they are going to do. the president needs to run in 2024 and get joe biden out of the white house. he is going to kill us. he will let the illegals in and everything else like that. i am hoping donald trump does run again. host: republican line in pleasant valley, north carolina -- new york, i have my states

confused today caller:. good morning. i have been watching this stuff for the last six years on your station. i watched all the hearings. i have never seen a more vicious group of people as the democrat party. from the beginning of the impeachment, the false russian collusion, the fbi being involved in the cia, this guy was behind the eight ball from day one and it was because he was going to come in and expose what has been going on in washington, d.c., for my entire life. host: frank is in ashburn, virginia, independent line. caller: good morning. it looks like he incited the

acts. he definitely tried to incite

. he -- it must always be defended we must be ever vigilant. each of us has a duty and responsibility as americans and leaders to defend the truth. that is how we end this uncivil war. it is a task we must undertake together as the u.s.

that is from president biden. >> it is ordered that donald j. trump is hereby acquitted of the charge of said article. host: we will go to paul calling us from england. caller: i do not think donald

trump should come back to the office again. host: can you give us your take on the vote yesterday in the senate. caller: he should be convicted. host: viewers -- are british viewers listening to us, we appreciate you dialing in this morning. caller: how are you doing?

happy valentine's day. hope everybody has someone to love at home. as far as trump goes, it has to do with how biden does as president. we are covering donald trump like he is still around. if biden does a good, trouble disappear. i think it is time to let donald trump go play golf. thank you and happy valentine's day. host: his pub -- his policies

will dominate the gop. i believe the former president will not run for president. he will remain an important figure in highlighting the mag ga movement. carmine says he will win again in 2024. mark says, i do not think you will run again. trump's problems have just started. he has no loyal backers left if he had any to begin with. georgetown, massachusetts, we hear from francine on the republican line. caller: i just want to say, i don't understand why all these people have such hate in their heart for one man.

obviously, i have never seen so much hate. they had it in for him the very first night. she said she was going to impeach the mf. from day one, they were going to impeach him. every time, every time they try, it always blows up in their faces and they always look like a bunch of hateful, spiteful -- asses. excuse my language. why they have so much hate is because donald trump is the first president that has ever put the american people first. i have never seen any other president do that, not to mention he donated his salary --

no other president ever did that either. host: nebraska on the democrats line. caller: good morning. thank you very much. i love c-span. i have been an avid listener and watcher since the 1980's. one thing i will say -- i am a registered democrat. i have gone back and forth between independent and democrat for years. i do appreciate what trump did to expose some of the flaws in our system and i hope we can address some of these flaws and correct some things. host: here is a headline from bloomberg this morning highlighting mitch mcconnell's speech on the senate floor. here is some of what the

minority leader had to say. >> the senate upon conviction is bound in all cases to enter a judgment of removal from office. removal is mandatory upon conviction. clearly, that mandatory senate cannot be applied to someone who has left office. the entire process revolves around removal. if removal becomes impossible, conviction becomes insensible. in one light, -- this

underscores that impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for american justice. never meant to be the final forum for american justice. impeachment, conviction, and removal. a specific intergovernmental safety valve. it is not the criminal justice system for individual accountability -- where individual accountability is the paramount goal. indeed, while former defendants were not eligible for impeachment or conviction, they

were still liable to be tried and punished in the ordinary tribunals of justice. put another way, in the language of today, president trump is liable for everything he did while in office. as an ordinary citizen. unless the statute of limitations is run, still liable for everything he did while in office. did not get away with anything yet. yet. we have a criminal justice system. we have civil litigation. former presidents are not immune from being accountable i either want. -- by either one. i believe the senate was right not to grab power the constitution does not give us. the senate was right not to --

host: fox news reporting on his speech. mcconnell rips trump saying actions were unconscionable. on social media,, in texas says, little future for the republican party. trump has done what he set out to do, destroy the republican party. i am thrilled trump was acquitted. his future in politics is done. the gop will go another direction. the impeachment trial managers claim president trump caused the right. the unrest of the people was caused by five years of trump bashing. mr. trump will not run again but

will influence candidates. that is mike in florida. new castle, pennsylvania, this is surely on the republican line -- shirley on the republican line. caller: i am 82 years old and president trump is the best president this country has ever had. reason being, he was all about peace. he was trying to bring peace all around the world and that is so important. fighting and fighting does not get you anywhere. he knew how to make things happen and one thing i will say, whether that's -- whatever he said was the truth. you could take it to the bank. that is the thing i appreciated most about him. we better pray that if we don't get them back, we get another

person like him that will run this country properly. i voted for bush twice. i am so sorry. he took us into a war that we are still fighting 20 years later. how many american lives were lost because of him? we always need to pray first and go to the polls and vote for the person that will do right by the american people. thank you so much. god bless you. host: frank in new york, independent line. caller: thank you for allowing me to speak. i am a former elected official in putnam county, new york. if you listen carefully to mitch mcconnell, isn't it sad what he was doing? they deliberately wanted to make sure he would not succeed. trump was exposing the greed,

the country club activities of the establishment. that includes the republicans as well, the rinos. he was exposing that. he had 75 million people vote for him. how vote -- how dare mcconnell hold trump responsible? he knows darn well that trump was exposing him, his china connection, his prophets and all the other establishments who have been living cozy in washington for so many years. i hope trump comes back in 2024. he was exposing this and is not even partly done. just listen to the vitriolic and hatred that is being expressed in these various activities. they know darn well they have been trying to bury trump.

mcconnell, romney, burr, you name them -- they deliberately worked with the democrats. being a former elected official, trump would have won on november 3. because the republicans behind the scenes joint with the democrats, that is why he was not successful. they stopped all of the reform in the states to make sure it was not done properly. shame on mcconnell, he is a disgrace to the party. he lost his majority and his extra pay and he tried to blame trump for losing georgia. he is lost. trump will come back and i hope he does because the american people need a person who works for them.

country clubs, not for all of the other activities that these frauds do and never represent the people. host: tj ducklo resigning after threatening a reporter. the press secretary saying we have accepted the resignation. that is as of yesterday. reported abusive remarks against a reporter from the politico organization. caller: thank you for taking my call. the immediate future of donald trump's he will be a thorn in the side of the current administration from day one. he will find ways to undercut

and take down the whole country in the process. the republicans who -- have probably under been steve bannon's watch in terms of getting dirt on them and using that against them. look at lindsey graham. look how much he has aged. he cannot afford to say anything. lastly, i would like c-span to do a split screen of the black lives matter protest as far as the police beating on the people. what led to the protests? and then do the protests, riot from january 6 led by a cartoon character by the name of captain caveman.

doing inhumane stuff on the floors. they were without to kill people. it was preplanned. trump was part of the preplanning. he told bob woodward, i rule by fear. he did it to his own people to keep it in check and kudos to the courageous people beyond the fear who stood up and said -- the bar to remove and impeach is too high. 67%. that was a victory for this country that 57 out of the 100

voted to remove him. host: senator lindsey graham, his possible future and his talks with the former president. to meet with trump to talk about the future of the gop and there we go. senator graham says he will be meeting with former president trump in the coming weeks to talk about the future of the republican party. the south carolina republican told reporters friday evening that he plans to encourage trump to work with republicans. louisiana, republican line. caller: i want to say that for everyone who lives in louisiana, what about the democrats who incited all of the burning and stuff? they should be impeached.

look at cuomo killing all of the old people in new york. if we do not get republicans in, this world will be destroyed. the u.s. will be destroyed. they will bring all of the illegals over. it is a crying shame the democrats have no morals and they kill babies. host: the caller from the louisiana mentioned bill cassidy. the headline, bill cassidy's vote to convict trump draws swift backlash from louisiana republicans. sioux falls, south dakota, democrats in. caller: i don't know why all of these republicans think trump was a good president. the people who study presidents have him ranked the third worst president of all time. he is a pile of garbage.

all of these people who keep talking about 74 million who voted for trump -- how about the 81 million people who voted for biden? quite a bit of a difference. that is a landslide victory. since biden has become president, we have not had anything bad happen. we have not had russian bombings put -- bounties put on the soldiers. we have not had a lot of racial problems with police brutality. as far as those senate republicans who voted to convict, i call them the magnificent seven. they will go down in history as the greatest republicans ever. he was still in office when they impeached him. this happened on january 6.

when you impeach somebody, the crime had to have occurred while in office, whether it was the first year or last year. any time before or after that, you cannot impeach somebody. this was totally legal. it was totally constitutional. it was a crime that was committed while he was in office. it was all legal and everything was good. as far as the future of the republican party, if i am a republican, i am going with those seven republicans who voted to get trump out of the picture. otherwise, you will keep losing by a lot. host: mitch mcconnell's comments, nancy pelosi -- she called mcconnell pathetic after he said he would not vote to

convict trump. here is some of what the house speaker had to say. speaker pelosi: for mitch mcconnell to create -- who created a situation where could not of been heard before the 20th, to say all the things he said. my gosh, about donald trump and how horrible he was and is, and then say but the time the house shows to bring it -- we did not choose. you chose not to receive it. it does not matter. as jamie and others have told us. you can have the case after the person is out of office. the senate rules in that way --

it did not matter except it was not the reason that he voted the way he did. it was the excuse he used. host: reporting on that, fox news and their headline on the speaker's comments, pelosi blasts mcdonald's and cowardly -- mcconnell and cowardly group of republican senators. all of our coverage is that c-span.org. if you go to c-span.org/impeachment, you will see each of the days proceedings and prior impeachment coverage as well. a couple of comments on twitter. he does not have a future in politics. he is an opportunistic grifter. he was once a democrat palling

around with elites in the party and then he became a member of the reform party and now he is a goper, now he wants to create one. i do not think he has one. i think he is full of hot air. i think he is -- he is 74, will be 78, i foresee him fizzling out. tony on the independent line. caller: good morning. i would wish that every single american would read the declaration of independence, the constitution -- [indiscernible] host: you are breaking up big time. sorry about that. we will go to vanessa in

clearwater, florida, republican line. caller: hello? host: you're on the air. caller: i am very concerned about our country and the people around the world, whether they are black or white. i am concerned about my brothers and sisters of all races because they are all god's children. to see what we all had seen on the trial and what we heard before the trial, before whatever happened to that capitol, we could interpret it. everybody interpreted the truth. pride can get in the way. i am not trying to judge those

who followed. nobody else could speak to these people. no matter what the word of god said, he became as a prophet to them. nobody could bring them out of that be which meant. -- bewitchment. the republicans -- and i am 1 -- but i feel so much love -- how can a leader, a religious leader, any religious leader, concerned about your people? this is -- you can't push -- i do not agree with abortion but i

understand that spirit. even with homosexuality, i do not support it. but i have to show them love. how else can i draw them to christ unless i show the love of god? host: new jersey to be a from linda on the democrats line. caller: i am a democrat. i think we should all save our money. instead of a library for trump, let's do a presidential present. stick them all in their and we can all walk by and throw peanuts and call it a day. 81 million people voted for president biden.

president biden will lead this country and hopefully unite it. we will get rid of trump and he will go into the swamps of florida. host: maggie is next, republican line. caller: thank you for c-span. i do not know where to begin. i do not know what you would ever want to be a part of politics -- he would want to be part of politics again. he should go back to his good life and be left alone. i feel sorry for them. i really do. i think he was good for us. host: do you think he wants to be part of headlines for the next 20 years? do you think he wants to be back in the put a freight? -- back in the fray?

caller: i am not sure he will be taking sides anymore. i think he will let it go. i don't know. i could be wrong. host: ok. new york, democrats line. caller: good morning. i want to say happy valentine's day. happy black history month. regarding the future of trump and politics, we are living in two different realities. the right wing media sources are saying some things. they both cannot be true. i have a question for you. have you ever met anybody who

belongs in antifa? because i never have. host: me personally? i am not. caller: can you name one child that was a victim of qanon? host: no, i can't. caller: all these people who believe in bigfoot. those people who have anger toward black lives matter, white? -- why? they need to do some self reflection. if they cannot say black lives matter. the i -- the guy who said the only good democrat is a dead democrat and trump liked that tweet. i don't know if the trump people

ever tried to put themselves in the minds of biden supporters. i appreciate your time. host: rodney on the republican line in indiana. caller: thank you for taking my call this morning. i listen to you guys for a while. a lot of people call in and they don't like trump. a lot of people don't like joe biden. that is the way life is. the fact of the matter of it, ex-president trumps future in the gop is going to be -- i think he will try to push the old rinos out of office that have kept him from keeping america great, making america

great again. he is halfway there. if the election had not been stolen, if people think joe biden got 80 million votes, keep drinking the kool-aid. i would like to thank everybody for the time. host: this is from virginia. trump will continue to protest the biden administration through surrogates and rallies. he has constitutional protection and legitimacy to do so. i look forward to continued pressure on elected officials and rational america first policies. juxtaposition between biden and trump will continue to serve the interests of the silent majority. caller: good morning.

i want to thank everyone for calling in. this has been a good discussion. regarding maga, make america groan again. it is unfortunate the way these things have played out. trump could win again in 2024. it is not impossible. to the man who said melania would have a problem with it, trump has no loyalty to anyone. he showed us that regarding mike pence. trump could win. his platform will be totally bashing biden. he has a real rocky four years. happy valentine's day. host: michael on the democrats

line. caller: good morning. i do believe that the caller that mentioned there should not be a library and there should be a prison, let's take it one step further. there should be a state for republicans where they can worship trump and nothing else. the maga is nearing an end. in time, we will see that the election was not stolen. the way it ended up is the way it ended up. host: that is michael in texas. this is the new york times.

will a trump made me do it defense work? many of the rioters believe that they were answering mr. trump's call on january 6. some pro-trump extremist groups concerned about fraud and election may have conspired to plan the instruction. if this was a conspiracy, trump was the leader, said jonathan zucker. he was the one calling the shots. newly unearthed evidence brings continual reminders of the right, mr. trump may suffer at further harm to his battered reputation, locating any post presidential ventures -- complicating any post presidential ventures.

we hear from dennis in colorado on the republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for your program. i listen to it every day. the democrats have been totally duped by the leaders of the democratic party, including nancy and chuck schumer. they portray -- they have portrayed trump by use of their platforms like cnn news and msnbc. all of those are way left, left, left. they have portrayed trump as an anti-somatic -- anti-semitic. he is the first present to make jerusalem the capital of israel. they have portrayed trump as anti-black. he has done so many things to

help black people. they have made trump responsible for police beatings. if the democrats -- democratic leadership can obtain most of the black vote, as obama did, they have it in the bag. that is all they care about. they will say whatever they want to say in order to portray trump the way that it is. the truth is they cannot accept the truth. just like the jack nicholson movie. host: the house managers arguing to convict trump, less was more.

they have learned a few lessons from their immediate predecessors. perhaps the most important, sometimes less is more. the nine house democrats spoke for nine hours and eight minutes. that was less than sitting for six -- 6% time allotted to them. adam schiff spoke for nine hours himself. they spoke for almost 23 hours. while democrats praised the team, republicans paraded -- berated at the long speeches about complex allegations that trump withheld.

all of the data collected is available in our video library, c-span.org is where you will find it. c-span.org/impeachment. we will get one more call from charlotte in alabama. caller: good morning, c-span. looking at mr. trump's activities during his tenure in the white house, i have come to the conclusion that when he had all of the postal services put a stop to mostly black voting. this man is only for himself and a very select few. he would throw anything under the bus. heut