and we will have h the latest. 286 days to go until election day. we will count it down. we'll have the latest on that and the schumer schiff sham show. let not your heart be troubled. here's laura. >> laura: i'm laura ingraham, this is "the ingraham angle" from washington tonight. we have a big exclusive for you. email exchanges we got our hands on from state department officials that could alter the course of president trump's impeachment. we are going to expose what the obama administration knew about hunter biden and burisma and reveal how it all ties back to the person some have floated as the whistle-blower. our exclusive investigation comes later in the hour. but first the impeachment managers just wrapped their case, it was just a few moments earlier today that set the tone. the democrats tried convincing an impeachment where a nation

that the case against the president is open and shut, because they lack essential facts to prove impeachable offenses, they had to resort to the usual. lies.ro that's something the president called out this morning. >> i think the other side has a soul lied, i watch the lies from adam schiff, he's a liar and a fraud. >> laura: he's right about that, let's walk through the biggest whoppers today from adam schiff. here schiff is trying to convince all of us that he's a mesmerizing force when it comes to history. that russiaies systemically interfered in our election to help elect donald trump, the campaign understood that and they willfully made use of that help. >> laura: here's what the mueller report actually said. "the investigation did not establish that members of the

trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the russian government in election interference activities." can you read? second, schiff is putting words in the mouth of ukraine's president. >> president zelensky clearly understood the quid pro quo for the white house meeting on july 25th. >> laura: if zelensky clearly understood that he has a funny way of showing it. >> we had a good phone call, it was normal, nobody pushed me. >> laura: it's all normal. third, schiff's tall tale about the white house chief of staff mick mulvaney. >> mulvaney didn't just admit the president withheld crucial aid appropriated by congress to apply pressure on the ukraine to do the president's dirty work. he also said we should just get over it.

>> laura: that is alive.>> mulvaney wasn't admitting to corruption, he was talking about the president's right to conduct foreign policy and negotiate with foreign leaders. when he said "get over it" he was mocking all the liberals left aghast by the very idea that trump as president of the united states can differ on policy with career bureaucratsts on the seventh floor of the state department. schiff has taken what mulvaney said out of context and he's doing it to smear the president and bolster the sham impeachment, it's shameless. why isn't any other outlet calling these lies out to? it was actually more than just a lie. this was one moment of all the moments today that really got my goat. schiff confirmed today what we have been telling you for the last three years. democrats don't really like the idea that you, the american people, get to pick our

president. this whole democracy thing, representative democracy, it'sop had its day, they don't like it anymore. they don't trust you, the american voters.ti >> the president's misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box, we cannot be assured that the vote would be t fairly won. >> laura: you see what he's doing, if trump wins in november, they are going to say it's ukrainian meddling. forget russian meddling, it will be something but they do not trust the people. that came through undisputedly today, it was disgusting. joining me now is congressman doug collins, member of trump's impeachment defense team and ranking member on the judiciary committee. congressman, they tried in my view to disenfranchise american voters with the local russia case which he repeated today and now they moved ony to this because they can't stand the

idea that trump could beat any of their shining stars from bernie to biden in november. they can't take it and i've really come to the conclusion that if their people don't win, they have to say it's rigged. end of story. >> they have to, think about this. adam schiff and jerry nadler in particular who went on a giant tirade last night talking about the senate, what they are trying to do is do two things. they want to see if they don't do something now, the election is rigged and everyone needs to be aware of that. they are saying if the senate doesn't do what they want them to do, then the senate is corrupt. for everybody who has watched the democratic primary field, that clown car can't win. compared to the president to actually have something to run on from a trade deals, a economy that is booming, foreign policy that works, they know they can't win on the facts so they are trying to do everything they can to undermine a president who is doing everything he said he

would do which is unique in politics, he's reached out to millions of americans who have been cut out of the system. african-americans, hispanics, it's the lowest unemploymentca rate in years. all the democrats have done is use them as political pawns. this is why you are seeing what you are seeing on the floor, a rehash of tall tales, lies, and dishonesty when they know they can't have candidates who can beat him att the ballot box. you disenfranchise people ands tell them they can't do it. >> laura: i was over there today, i decided to torture myself and go over to the senate chamber,>> i have my own thoughs and i have a story about what what happened later on the show -- it was something to watch. it's this moment we areat goingo play next that again shows the american people what they couldn't prove in the house was a quid pro quo.t they will restate in the senate trial as if they have proven it,

watch. >> witness testimony, text messages, the call record itself confirm a corrupt quid pro quo for the white house meeting. the president and his allies have offered no explanation for this effort except the president can abuse his office all he likes and there's nothing you can do about it. >> laura: where was the bribery article of impeachment then if there was a quid pro quo? why did theyar drop it? >> they don't have it. they have no case in the house, they went to two of the weakest impeachment articles and a member been written, this abuse of power nonsense is saying we'll just say whatever we wantd to say and call it abuse of power. obstruction of congress is simply adam schiff and jerry nadler pitching a temper tantrum and now they are going to the senate to say we didn't want to do our job so you do it for us. yesterday when adam schiff said we didn't call john bolton

because he said he would take it to court and then we just backed off. that's just saying you either give into my demands are i'm going to say you're corruptf anyway. they can't prove their case now, they repeat it enough times, they are hoping beyond hope that it's actually true. the problem is nobody is listening to them anymore, they are saying the samee things we'e already disproven. not only are they missing on the process which they so destroyed in the house but they are losing on the facts because this president did nothing wrong, end of story. a quit, move on. >> laura: great to see you tonight. senator tom cotton just sat through all of what i attended for maybe an hour and a half, the senate proceedings -- i was watching you in the gallery, i was watching you and i was thinking if i am this board, how can these people sit through

can these people sit through this for these many hours? it was unbelievable. it seemed like an exercise largely rooted -- in built-up fury and anger that trump actually gets to choose the foreign policy and dictate foreign policy for the united states, they hate that. they want the statey department to determine it. >> if you sat through an hour and a half of it you heard the entirety of the democrats argument. they repeated themselves and if they had genuine evidence of wrongdoing by this president, you would think they would stand on this evidence and let it stand but rather,de they kept repeating themselves time and time again because they did not prove their case in the house of representatives. what this gets back to his anger that the president won in 2016 and the frustration that the

elected president gets to direct foreign policy of the united states. >> laura: i just mentioned this, democrats tried to make this case with the following clip.. from the former ambassador yovanovitch, watch. >> she said there was great concern at the seventh floor, there was great concern, they were worried, she wanted to give me a heads up about this and things seem to be going on. she wanted to give me a heads up. >> laura: senator cotton, who cares? isn't it the president's prerogative to determine w foren policy and frankly if he wants to fire every ambassador in the ambassadorial ranks, he can do that whether it's good policy or not, it's his article one power to do so, correct? >> no building, anyone else not elected by the american people

makes foreign policy, the president makes foreign policy. advisors advise presidents decide, he's free to listen to their advice and reject their advice as well. if the democrats don't like that, they should run someone on the ballot who can beat him this fall rather than trying to impeach him for a policy difference. >> laura: this reminds me of bureaucracy fights back, the swamp monsters come back because they are thinking you came in saying you are going to drain the swamp, the state department is filled with swamp monsters and they want to determine a more globalist foreign policy, they want to go back to the good old days and trump doesn't want to take us there.st that is the tension that has existed in the state department since i was working in the reagan administration. it is always that tension and there is another moment which i know with your military experience you will love to tee off on. this is adam schiff actually saying that ukrainians died because of president trump's decision, watch.

>> this military aid which has long enjoyed bipartisan support was designed to help ukraine defend itself from the kremlin's aggression. more than 15,000 ukrainians have died fighting russian t forces d their proxies, 15,000. president trump use the powers of the presidency in a manner that compromised national security of the united states. >> laura: two questions, number one -- is u.s. national security really imperiled because of ada being delayed for a couple of weeks to ukraine? >> i'm really amazed at all these democrats who think that it's a grievous risk to our national security and the lives of ukrainian soldiers that president trump decided to pause aid for six or seven weeks. i didn't hear many of them complaining when barack obama refused to provide that aid for over three years. barack obama sent them cash,

donald trump sent missiles. in ukraine, barack obama sent meals ready to eat in blankets, donald trump sent hellfire missiles. >> laura: the implication and his comment was also with 15,000 ukrainians dying due to what he says was russian aggression, some blood is implicit in this -- it has to be on the hands of the president, is there any proof for that? >> there is no proof for that, the funding was released in early september was for the next year, there is no evidence that any soldiers in ukraine on the front lines were running short of supplies. maybe it inconvenienced some bureaucrats in kiev who are trying to plan for the next year's budget but there is no evidence that any soldiersre didn't get the supplies they need and let's remember it's because of donald trump that they have things like antitank missiles whereas barack obama

only sent the meals ready-to-eat and blankets. >> laura: the impeachment managers routinely will say president trump was trying to hurt his political opponent, in other words inferring subjective intent which the whitehe house counsel just brilliantly destroyed the idea that you could infer intent, and negative or criminal intent -- and i want to play something from just a few years back from barack obama speaking to dmitry medvedev, then the president of russia. >> after my election i have more flexibility. >> i will transmit this information to vladimir. can we infer from thatdi that president obama was keeping key information from the american people, saying one thing during the 2012 election cycle and planning to do another?

is that not fraud and abuse of power under their definition? you could drive a truck through what they are describing is abuse of power. >> i think you could infer barack obama's policy toward russia was one of appeasement and weakness, donald trump's policy has been firmness. it has also as the white house lawyer said yesterday, it's reasonable for a president to look at the gross obvious conflict of interest that run ukrained to policy for the obama administration at a time when his son is receiving 50 or $80,000 a month from one of the most corrupt companies in ukraine as well. that is always a legitimate inquiry for the united states before we send money to a government for which corruption can be endemic. >> laura: you did have milk today, that brought you in a glass of milk, no cookies but you did have milk? >> i could've put some vodka in it, that would've beene a white russian.

i think adam schiff might've accused me of collusiont if i would've had a white russian. >> laura: the milk killed me, i saw that. good luck, i hopee we see you later in the week. let's bring in our panel of legal eagles to break down day to trim of the impeachment trial. we underline in boldface that. john eastman, claremont sr. fellow and constitutional scholar. it's something we heard from the senators today was that these arguments do democrats end up hurting themselves by using that process last night with the rules to make their arguments? it did seem like a heck of a lot of repetition today. >> that was the danger, while i thought it was a good tactical move last night, the danger is that people are going to say enough is enough.

i will say they did i thought, particularly schiff, a skillful job of integrating their arguments with audiovisual aids and schiff from what i understand was a pretty good assistant u.s. attorney for six years, i will give them credit for that on scorekeeping. i think it's a real danger, people are going to say we get it, we've gotten it from the beginning, let's make a decision.a >> laura: let's go to john eastman. the sudden love of the founders by the democrats, they are all for tearing down statues and all those old white guys, what did they know, suddenly they are dressed up as betsy ross and they need a fife and drum corps. >> it's what we call law office of regionalism, you've got a point to make and find some snippet of a founder that said that, you take it completely out of context and pretend that's a regionalism.

-- original-ism. the reference is to hamilton was particularly interesting because hamilton actually worried about on impeachment process that has nothing to do with impeachment proper but was used for partisan ends,nt one faction against another. if they want to quote hamilton, they ought to quote the full measure of that speech rather than the snippet they think proves the point they are making. t it's mind-numbingly dull and dishonest, i don't even know how you got through an hour and a half. >> laura: we have a story about what happened to me on capitol hill. i wish you were there, we could've had more fun. adam schiff now says he has discovered what isis really motivating trumps actions. >> when a president wields power in ways it is inappropriate and seeks to extinguish the rights

of congress, he exceeds the power of his constitutional authority and violates the limits placed on his conduct. obstruction of a separate and coequal branch of government for the purposes of covering up and abuse of power whichn implies corrupt intent. >> laura: we are implying corrupt intent becausemp the president use the system of checks and balances and his own article one powers to say we are not giving you those documents are these witnesses, make us do it in court. now that is obstruction of congress and abuse of power? you can impeach a lot of presidents if that is inappropriate conduct a standard that's it. >> i would like to go back and look at how adam schiff performed as an assistant u.s. attorney with this sort ofey standard where you tell a defendant, if you don't give us the material on which we can convict you, we are going to add a count in the indictment for obstruction of justice.

that is the standard he uses and whether it's an illegal context as a u.s. attorney or a political context and the challenge between two branches asserting their legitimate authority, it's an appropriate -- an appropriate and in this context, it ought to be stricken and left out of the senate on a motion to dismiss or summary judgment. >> laura: there was a funny moment today, we are desperate for humor. when i think of humor, i think of solol wisenberg. >> just call me chuckie. >> laura: the president today is overseas and he does this press conference because he knows the impeachment is about to kickoff, watch. >> when that be great? i would love to sit right in the front row in the stare in corrupt faces. >> that's not the way it works,

presidents don't do that. >> laura: the president this showboating, i would love to stare down schiff -- there is nothing that would prevent him from going but it would not be advisable, jay sekulow said. >> i thought it was waiting for a quote from sekulow. the president needs to be careful about what he says during the impeachment process. that kindd of thing has gotten him in trouble before and i'm particularly concerned that he might say something criticalte f chief justice roberts which i think might really turn some people and some citizens against him. i think he needs to be careful. >> laura: he's just having fun, he likes to stare them down. i think people are desperate -- if they're going to make this a show with clips and video, trumps attorneys are going to do

that this week, they're going to have their own clip -- >> what i would do if i were the president's tea is i would have an evidentiary objection for everything that schiff has saidw you're not allowed to say things and opening argument at trial that you don't have evidence to back up. i would go through everything that he said for which there is no evidence to back it up, i would move objections for every bit of evidence thats has been introduced into the record that has been based on hearsay, the ability to object to hearsay evidence was protected in the resolution and i would spend the first part of my time cleaning out the crap in the record and say here's what we have left and that clearly doesn't rise to the standard to. let's be done with it.

i wouldn't take their full 24 hours, they don't want to be is mind-numbingly dull on their side as schiff and company have been. >> laura: i would like check them on a whole bunch of issues and move on.ra to the objections. great to see all of you tonight. we just learned what's to come in the coming days, let's go to fox news congressional correspondent chad pergram. having not slept at all last night. >> i got a few hours, they are done earlier tonight. done earlier tonight. they just adjourned to the trial for the day, there are 16 more hours in the prosecution of the democratic impeachment managers have, we expect them to take up the bulk of their time and wrap up their case on friday. on saturday, that's when the white house defense counsel pat cipollone and his legal team starts to present their case. one thing i noticed inside the senate chamber, you talk about the cliporama.ar when they play the clips everybody turns, that is making -- that is something a lot of people were paying particular attention to.

the other thing that was brought up was john kennedy, republican senator from louisiana indicated earlier tonight that he was t learning things in this process. he said as a senator, it's hard to keep up with what the house has been doing and sitting there listening hour after hour even though sometimes it can be rather sonorous, he was learning something and he was asked if it could sway his opinion. he said i'm not going to go there yet, i have to hear the entire body of evidence. >> laura: get some sleep, we will see you back tomorrow. you have to admit it is fun for you. correct? you are having fun. >> it can be a little tiring sometimes but you eat right and get some exercise and you look back in a few years and say wow we are here for that. >> laura: say hi to benjamin franklin, that beautiful alabaster, when you walk out the

gallery, he's right there. >> i never forget all the statues. >> laura: a rumor was going around that senators were hashing out a deal to let bolton testify in exchange for hunter biden, today senators shot that down.in >> this isn't like some fantasy football trade as i said yesterday, this isn't we will offer you this if you will give us that, we will offer you a witness that is irrelevant and immaterial. >> i think that's off the table, the republicans have a right to bring in any witness they want, they haven't wanted to and that trade is not on the table. >> laura: they haven't wanted to? hunter biden. here now with reaction are two senators who just walked off the floor, senator scott, let's start with you. does schiff control the senate democrats?

what was that? >> first off, it's boring, they aren't saying anything new. they show up and show the same video, i think they have lost everybody including the public on this. but we are going to have a fair trial.t i don't know if we will have witnesses, if we do we ought to hear from hunter biden. for sure. >> laura: senator kennedy said he learned new things at the trial, could that mean the doors open to witnesses of he learned some new things? i don't know what he was doing for the last couple of months but he learns new things, we could hear from witnesses? >> i think he was probably just stressing his impartiality, we get asked about that all the time. i agree with rick, what we have seen so far -- and i did pay attention to it because they do a lot of this and you've got to be on the ball because you get asked about it all the time. you had the audiovisual aids, the same information and it's

also in a vacuum to where we haven't seen the defense. that's the dynamic changer. >> laura: i want to talk about what is happening in that room because i was watching all of you, it's fun to watch -- it looks like someone was on their phone but i guess they weren't. it seems to me that this is an exercise in futility. i don't know what people are learning. when you heard adam schiff at about our 2, i did notice he was repeating the same claims he was making within the hour of today. >> it's trying to stay awake. this is really boring.g. >> laura: i was almost -- i'll tell that story later. i don't know how you do it. what they are saying is republicans can say this is boring but let's make it more exciting than bringing witnesses. >> it was their job, the houses

job, they rushed through this, they could have subpoenaed bolton, they didn't do that. they could have done all these things, they decided not to do it, then they had to slow it down. when i came to the conclusion today on nancy pelosi, she slowed it down so they could get their audio and visual -- >> laura: that binder that schiff has come of that three punch binder, that was like war and peace. it was like this thick, he read the entire thing. >> for each one of them, you come out here and see the 2-inch thick binder and they are flipping through it so methodically and it was something yesterday. >> laura: claire mccaskill, former senator, she made a pretty bold predictions today about what this is going to do to you all in the majority next year.ay watch. >> the vote will be shut it down or go on and consider witnesses and documents. that vote that will be the vote

that history revolves around, even if they vote to acquit. if they refuse to allow witnesses and documents at this point, i think they are in big trouble. i think chuck schumer is the leader of the senate next january. >> i don't think so, we've got great candidates and we are raising the money and we are on the better side of this spirit we are working hard to solve problems and the democrats are known for doing nothing. >> laura: they are targeting collins and gardner and martha mcsally, joni ernst. there are tough races, you all but thatconfident arizona race -- >> that will be tough and iowa will be tough, maine will be tough but in general, you've got to remember about t a month anda half ago, she was really panicking becauseou remember the marquette pole? -- n poll? the firehouse poll?

had not only showed people turning against impeachment but trump was winning outside the t margin of error and i think that is stillll in place. >> laura: you know what i think people want to see? they want to see some fighting for them. if you're a democrat, you're watching schiff -- they want republicans to do more of that and less of "i'm in a tough race." do the right thing for the country. >> always do the right thing. >> laura: i think this perpetual hamlet routine that a lot of these republicans -- the democrats always stick together, the republicans shoot each other in the stomach.s and then in the head. i don't like s it. >> we all stuck together yesterday. >> laura: send collins and all the rest a king cake. >> kavanaugh is a good example and we each went through races. in 2018, when you are out there, trump won by 19 points in indiana so i was not afraid to talk about what he could do and what the agenda is doing, we'llw get to that after he gets acquitted. >> laura: wait until cipollonene and company get up to make their

case. >> they will do a good job and it will be a big change. i like how you took the tie off. what if you showed up in a t-shirt and jeans? we are going to get comfortable. to see you, thanks for being with us and we have a huge exclusive tonight. "the ingraham angle" got our hands on the email exchanges from state department officials that could alter the course of president trump's impeachment. they involve the whistle-blower and hunter biden's shady burisma arrangement, you don't want to miss it. velihood. ♪ rock music >> man: so i'm not taking any chances when something happens to it. so when my windshield cracked... my friend recommended safelite autoglass. >> tech: hi, i'm adrian. >> man: thanks for coming. >> tech: oh, no problem. >> tech: check it out. >> man: yeah. they came right to me, with expert service

where i needed it. that's service i can trust... no matter what i'm hauling. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ robinwithout the commission fees. so, you can start investing today wherever you are - even hanging with your dog. so, what are you waiting for? download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood. are you sick and andtfeeling heavy?g probioslim promotes healthy digestion and helps you lose weight. patented probiotics ease constipation, gas, and bloating, while powerful egcg burns fat and calories. unleash your potential with probioslim. available at retailers nationwide.

♪ >> this is a fox news alert, and i am in new york. a very fast story out of wild fire ravaged. three americans are dead after their c-130 hercules plane crashed while battling the flames and australia, southern south wales. firefighters from the u.s. arrived in australia earlier this month. the house battled those day those devastating fires. this has video of the firefighters working the scene. more than 1700 volunteers and personnel are out in full force trying to stop the threat of wildfire out there.

five fires are being described as emergency warning levels, strong winds, high temperatures causing conditions there and timber to deteriorate. some of the people in the towns to seek shelter immediately. once again, tragically australia this morning, three americans who were in australia said help in this battle to aid to australians to battle unprecedented wildfire is. they have passed away. they were on board a firefighting plane when it crashed in new south wales state and we don't have word at this hour what caused the plane crash. you will want to stay with fox news with fox news with mom to story. now back to the the ingraham angle in process.

>> the subjects discussed efforts within the united states government to support prosecution in ukraine and the united kingdom of holdings. concerns that hunter biden's position with the company could complicate such efforts. on may 1st, state department officials kate schilling forwarded to elizabeth santos and george canned. remember him? he was one of the all-star impeachment witnesses. according to the email, kent previously has been a source for vocal. i wonder how many times. i was thinking about that today but i digress. the conversation ending on may 3rd when the state department eventually declined to comment. we at "the ingraham angle" were able to corroborate details about the january 2016 meeting. we did this using archived obama white house visitor logs, they aren't going to tell us, we have to go to the logs.

you can see them on the screen, they showed that the person who many believe to be the whistle-blower checked in numerous ukrainian officials into the white house on january 19th 2016, the day vogel claimed there was a meeting on the burisma biden. also at the meeting were ukraine's lead anticorruption prosecutor and the head of the anticorruption bureau, both of whom were there to discuss the complications of hunter biden's sweetheart gig. what happened to the meeting? it was never published, we asked ken vogel why nothing ever came of it but he didn't respond.hi "the new york times" director communications did that refusing to answer our questions about why the story never ran, instead noting that his request for comment was consistent with their newsgathering process.

got it, nothing to see here. the timing of their request and the subsequent squashing of the story are very interesting. let me explain why. biden announced his candidacy on april 25th 2019. the exchanges we laid out here occur the following week. now we have some questions. number one trend, why wasn't the whistle-blower concerned about joe bidener overseeing ukraine policy while his son was cashing in, was it only troubling that trump tried to get this thing investigated? number 2, why didn't this story ever run? did biden's team managed to put it down, fearing blowback from his son hunter's dirty dealings? there's a reason adam schiff and now chuck schumer fumed tonight over the very idea of hunter

biden testifying. they know in their heart of hearts that ukrainian corruption reached back all the way to the obama administration and they did nothing. his testimony would also force the democrats to admit that there are 2020 front runner oversaw u.s. policy in ukraine while his own son was bilking their system for 50k a month. we need more documentation u on this, we want all the emails come all the text messages, we want to see exactly what was happening inside that state department last year and in the white house on january 2016 when these meetings were taking place and won the effort to respond to this "new york times" reporter was playing out. there was a lot more to uncover and we hope maybe some of our friends in the media will actually start thinking this ism as big a story as it is. joining me now is kim strassel, "wall street journal" editorial board member and lee smith investigative journalist and

author of the plot against the president. you say these revelations get to the heart of the democrats impeachment argument, explain. >> they are immensely important because the heart of that argument is that donald trump acted corruptly in asking about biden and burisma and you heard adam schiff today say a thousand companies out there he asked about this one. in fact the white house has consistently made the claim that the question, the broad question of corruption was a legitimate one. if we now have evidence of the obama administration wasit withholding meetings about this -- we already know, burisma was not just mom and pop pop corner shop store. this was a company started by the former ukrainian president, run by a prominent former ukrainian official, on the radar screen ofr international law enforcement and solicited prominent american political figures to sit on the board -- it was a big deal and therefore

it does raise the question of how legitimate the target it was to ask about. >> laura: i'm looking at this email, this is from elizabeth santos state department kate schilling, george kent who is one of the star witnesses and the subject was the head of burisma holdings and u.s. government anticorruption efforts. "thanks very much for the info, at this point i think it's best that i not respond. although let me know if you are, the european desk thinks differently, thanks very much. they were scrambling, they were scrambling on this. ken vogel was hot on the story until he was not. i want to know why he stopped, how big is this? >> i think it's an enormous story, we aree k just finding what's behind the impeachment, what is the push back ons that, we are also getting back to different sources with this insane russia gate operation that actually began around that

time congressman devin nunes has said it begins around early 2016, late 2015, this is one of the sources of it and we see it's in the white house. >> laura: when you look at this visitor log all ukrainian names, individuals from the ukrainian government, now the reporter saying wewe are looking into this meeting where hunter biden was discussed, it's a potential conflict of interest with the vice president overseeing this policy, there are the names right there. the head of the anticorruption unit in kiev, this is a story that you would think a reporter like ken vogel -- he's a pretty serious reporter, he would've been on like a dog on a bone and we get this response from "the new york times" tonight saying it just shows our newsgathering prowess. >> this was a story that most

reporters were on like a dog on a bone right up until the point which the democrats decided to make it into an impeachment issue.a you go back and you mentioned that the ken vogel story where he talked about the ukrainian's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, we had endless numbers of stories and media reporters about biden and his conflict and the problems of the obama administration was facing. stories about the former obama energies are who went to biden aids and said this looks like a conflict and went to biden w himself, these are people, within the administration they said it seems to be real concern in real scrambling. it's only now that it has gone down the memory hole because no one wants to talk about it, they just want to talk aboutcr donald trump.s >> laura: we see the name who love the men, who checked the men, who called the meeting and the person who is listed, we aren't going to use his name but

a lot of people believe is the whistle-blower. when you think about this story and you hear adam schiff today, all day long talk about the conspiracy theory, it looks like the obama administration was trying to deal with this issue or sweep it under the rug, how much of a conspiracy theory was at? >> there's no conspiracy theory at all, this was a real thing. that ken vogel story, may have been the last count of it. since then, they have buried this episode and it's not just because joe biden is now running for president. there's something deeper, it wasn't joe biden who named joe biden the point man on ukraine. this touches other people in the obama administration. john kerry certainly, his stepson was a partner of hunter

biden's. there are many people who have their fingers in what appears to be bad ukraine issues. >> laura: andre was also listed in the visitor log in that original story in 2017. we are going to stay on this story and we think we will have a lot more. coming up, former attorney general jeff sessions, raymond arroyo, byron york, and tom bevan -- that is next. >> laura: republicans have

looking to get your business off to a fast start in the new year? it's go time! switch to comcast business and get fast internet on the nation's largest gig-speed network. plus, complete reliability with 4g lte backup. and, cloud-based security to help protect the devices on your network. greenlight your business in 2020 with fast internet and voice for $64.90 per month. switch now and get a $100 prepaid card when you add comcast business securityedge. call today. comcast business. beyond fast.

♪ >> laura: republicans have been remarkably unified during the senate trial, only senator susan collins brokeg ranks and voted in favor of one out of the 11 amendments proposed by chuck schumer. jeff sessions observed with mitch mcconnell for nearly two decades and is also former attorney general.

senator, do expect republicans to stay unified on this issue of witnesses going forward? >> i would expect if so, i think mitch has done a really good job. only one vote out of 550 or 60 votes and republicans prevailed every time. i think partisanship, the excessive obvious partisanship in this impeachment has hardened the republicans, i feel good about it right now. >> laura: chuck schumer spokeca out today and he had some less charitable things to say about senator mcconnell, watch. >> how much coordination are you having with the manager? >> not very much, we aren't like mcconnell, we aren't secretive and close to the vest, we decided what amendments we wanted to ask for yesterday. we are seeking the truth the american people want the truth. we would be derelict in our responsibilities if we didn'the

ask for these votes. >> laura: don't you wonder if those glasses are going to fall off one night? is that true, mcconnell is secretive and they are the pinnacles of transparency on the democratic party? >> they're maneuvering to an incredible degree, they have coordinated and a delayed the presentation of this in hopes of gaining further partisan advantage. impeachment is baseless, it does not have the gravitas anyway close to justifying on impeachment of the president of the united states and it's always some other witness, some other person, some other evidence, somewhere. this has been going on three years. mueller, the ig, the committees in congress have all investigated and investigated, promised disastrous testimony and evidence, not produced. i think this is a dangerous thing for the country.

>> laura: now exerting your rightful check and balance over another branch and of trying to preserve as president your executive power as the trump team has done and they did on witnesses and documents, this is what obama did the whole time you were in the senate on fast and furious, on the irs issue, how many times can one person claim the fifth? should they have all been impeached because they resisted, turning over documents? i guess they could have been this theory. >> you are making the right point. there is constant tension between executive and legislative come i served in both branches, i felt it very deeply, often times one branch gets upset with the other deeply but you don't turn to impeachment every time you have a disagreement. the house did not take the case to the course like they could have over these witnesses so i think it's much ado about

nothing, nothing that justifies -- let me tell you, the democrats are afraid of donald trump. he has appealed to a broad base of people, people who don't feel either party represents them. >> laura: i have a question, what are you going to do to get his endorsement? >> i'm going to do what i think is right and what i have done from the beginning is to be in accordance with his views, i was advocating them before he was nominated, i supported him and i expect i continue to do so. >> laura: we appreciate it and democrats spent a goodct part of the day whining about rules andt the rules that mitch mcconnell set for the senate trial. >> this resembles nothing like the clinton proceedings. all of the documents were provided before the trial, more than 90,000 of them. >> this mcconnell resolution directly contravenes the rules followed in the clinton impeachment trial.

>> this is another massive departure because during the senate impeachment and there had already been a lot of witnesses and a lot of depositions taken, lots of evidencebe produced. >> laura: joining me now byron york and raymond arroyo, both fox news contributor's and tomdu bevan cofounder of real clear politics. >> you get the idea that bill clinton helpfully gave all of his material to the house republicans were trying to remove him from office. the 90,0000 figure came from a clinton rebuttal to the starr report that said in the previous four and a half years, there were a bunch of grand jury subpoenas and clinton did turn over material to the prosecutor, ken starr because of those grand jury subpoenas. >> laura: it was a fight. >> he fought like a tiger all thera time. >> laura: cnn's legal analysts are drooling all over schiff's performance today. >> i thought it was dazzling, it

was the second-best courtroom address, since it's like a courtroom that i have ever heard. it's very hard to imagine that they will think the democrats and the house managers are just making this up. >> i watched the first four hours today, schiff was masterful because he was stringing together a narrative based on nothing but innuendo, fox and friends clipsps and if u press gaggle's ofnn the preside, trying to turn that into a conviction. we were all there in 1999 whenes they prosecuted clinton, it was vastly different from this. there was a grand jury, special counsel, there were facts to impeach him on. here there is no underlying crime, this is a crystal ball conviction with the president would have to see into the future and know that joe biden was going to be his opponent a year ago to crafted this entire moving board, this is madness. the audience is running to judge judy and a jeopardy, this

is tdm on television. >> laura: tom bevan, you're looking at all the polls, real clear politics is tracking everything, is it moving the needle?ed or are people focusing on the economy and getting their kids to the school year? >> i think they are not, we know it's preordained in the senate, it's a bit of the background noise now. they have shown that the numbers have hardly moved, the public still opposes removal of this president 48-47, pretty evenly split but morneau then yes.va -- more no then yes. >> laura: chris matthews spoke out tonight but i thought for a comedic interlude we needed to watch it. >> clever mitch mcconnell who's so much a bugs bunny character, we know he will get away with it. we know he will get away with something he did wrong just like bugs bunny. >> laura: wewe are down to the roadrunner, bugs bunny. >> i wish for bugs bunny.

>> if it weren't for president trump, mitch mcconnell would be the greatest villain in this whole story but so far he has held his people together. >> laura: i was there today. >> how did you survive? >> laura: the capitol police and the ushers who are sure you to your seat up in the gallery -- it was a very comfortable seat. those of velveteen. >> did they give you milk, was it warm? >> laura: i was in the back corner which i loved and this nice osher said you can't sleep in here. i fell asleep, tom bevan i promise i fell asleep. >> you on broadway go to sleep, i've been next to you. you were literally snoring. >> laura: it was only james gandolfini's last appearance on broadway. i fell asleep, i admit it, we will talk to you throughout the

week, thanks so much for joining us, sorry it was so short. shannon: we begin with a fox news alert. another marathon day in the senate impeachment trial and the gloves are off, donald trump slamming democratic impeachment leaders calling one of the sleazebag threatening to sit in on the trial threatening to make them look them in the case is the argument case. we will look at their strategy and hunter biden's testimony now critical in the impeachment trial, senator ted cruz says it is an democrats -- can thank adam schiff for