♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." >> i'm errol barnett, and we've got a lot more to tell you about this morning, including, of course, the impeachment hearings. this is just the fourth time in u.s. history that congress has considered removing a president from office. last time was when the house of representatives impeached president bill clinton. nancy cordes compares the two inquiries. >> reporter: partisan divide is certainly similar with president clinton, republicans had the majority in the house and they were moving forward with an

impeachment inquiry into a democrat in the white house. and just like today, the minority party argued that the majority had been trying to take a president down for years. >> i did not have sexual relations with that woman. ms. lewinsky. >> reporter: president clinton lied under oath about his affair with a white house intern, triggering an impeachment inquiry in the republican-led house. then, like now, the parties were split over whether the president's actions represented what the constitution refers to as high crimes and misdemeanors. california democrat zoe lofgren. >> he lied about sex, not an admiral thing, but really not an activity that shook the foundations of the constitution and the democracy. >> reporter: wisconsin republican jim sensenbrenner. >> the president of the united states should be held to the

highest standard of anybody in the country. >> reporter: both lawmakers sit on the house judiciary committee, which handles impeachment. they were there in 1998 too. what stands out to you about that time? >> it was a heck of a lot of work. the judiciary committee got all the starr's evidence dumped on us with a few days' notice. >> reporter: in this case there is no special prosecutor like kenneth starr to gather all that evidence. >> my role today is to discuss our referral and the underlying investigation. >> reporter: so the intelligence committee has been investigating instead with a series of closed door depositions. >> this is not a joyful experience for anyone engaged in it, but it's an obligation that we have given the facts that have been discovered so far. >> reporter: president clinton famously said the process was beyond his control. >> it's not in my hands. it is in the hands of congress and the people of this country.

ultimately, in the hands of god. >> reporter: president trump has mounted a more direct defense. >> we had a totally appropriate, i even say perfect conversation. >> reporter: in the end, the house voted to impeach president clinton on two charges, but he was acquitted by the senate less than two months later with some republicans crossing party lines. >> william jefferson clinton hereby is acquit to have had charges in the said articles. >> reporter: sensenbrenner predicts acquittal for president trump too. >> the president is not going to be removed from office. i think everybody realizes that. >> reporter: the split here in congress is reflective of the divide in the country. according to the latest cbs news poll, 53% of americans approve of the inquiry into president trump while 47% disapprove. not that far off from 1998 when 53% of americans said they would be satisfied if no action were

taken against president clinton and the entire matter were dropped. history was made this week when montgomery, alabama swore in its first african american mayor. his name is steven reed, and he is now leading a city that was the first capital of the confederacy prior to the civil war. montgomery was also ground zero of the civil rights movement. dr. martin luther king jr.'s march from selma ended with a rally on the steps of the state capitol there back in 1965. jericka duncan joined reed on a tour of his city to see how far montgomery has come. >> ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the 57th mayor of the great city of montgomery, alabama. >> thank you. >> reporter: it's been a long time coming. >> because our hearts and our actions, i stand here in a position that many of those who were sold on the banks of the alabama river just a few feet from here could only have imagined. this is the culmination of those distant dreams. >> reporter: 45-year-old steven

reed made history tuesday, becoming the first african american mayor in a city marred by an ugly history of racial injustice. >> we must be a city for everyone. we must not just talk about equality. we must act in the interest of equity. >> reporter: 63-year-old cheyenne webb attended the packed inauguration ceremony. she was just 8 when she marched alongside dr. martin luther king jr. from selma to montgomery in 1965 to support voting rights for african americans. she was even there on bloody sunday when state and local lawmen brutally beat and injured more than 50 peaceful marchers. >> i have had the opportunity since being that little girl to see the first african american mayor in selma, the first african american president, and today the first african american mayor. >> so help me god. >> congratulations.

>> steven reed is a man who has really set the tone in the cradle of the confederacy here in montgomery. >> reporter: reed's story began in montgomery, alabama where he was born and raised. his father joe l. reed -- >> some folks say politics is dirty. politics is a noble pox. it's poli-tricks is unfair. >> reporter: was a long-time chairman of the alabama democratic conference. did you always know you wanted to be mayor of this city? >> no, no way. definitely did not know that i wanted to be mayor and didn't plan on it. >> reporter: so what happened? what changed? >> engine for me, i grew frustrated with the lack of initiative in some of our political leaders and the lack of political courage. >> reporter: some of the most courageous actions taken that catapulted the civil rights movement into the national spotlight happened right here in montgomery. >> thank you for all the support. i appreciate it. >> they just said on the radio you'll be sworn in tomorrow. >> at 10:00 a.m. >> reporter: the day before

being sworn in, then mayor-elect reed took ounce a tour. >> as we're walking closer and closer to this plaque memorializing rosa parks, this is significant. this is arguably where it all started. >> yes. protesting and change has always i think been in the dna of people here. >> reporter: we stood on the steps of the capitol where dr. king spoke of a time when injustice would no longer prevail. >> hlong? not long. because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. >> it's a great sense of honor to be able to lead a city with such significance, with such a history like montgomery. >> reporter: for a nation still at times embroiled in conflicts over confederate monuments and race, it appears motion is making strides thanks in part to the people who could see this moment well before it was realized. what do you think dr. king is

saying right now as you're standing in the same place that he stood many hsproud. it took too long to rewind the history of this country. sitcom plex. it is complicated. but it's one that is ongoing. and so i'm just a person that's kind of carrying the baton right now and hopefully i'll be bassing it on to a new generation with a little more progress being made than we are where we stand today. >> mayor reed certainly has his work cut out for him. we wish him the best. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. nyquil severe gives you powerful relief for your worst cold and flu symptoms, on sunday night and every night. nyquil severe.

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a decade of mismanagement and corruption has left the national grid close to collapse, regularly plunging much of the nation into darkness. increasingly, renewable energy is being seen as the answer to the problem. one thing south africa has a lot of is sunshine. 2,500 hours a year on average according to the weather bureau, and that makes it ideal for the country's solar power revolution, a revolution led by a younger generation who has no allegiance to old ways of doing things. >> for our generation, climate change is obvious. we not only experience it but we're not threatened by what it means in terms of changing the ways of doing business in order to respond to that. >> reporter: she is a co-founder of a company committed to building renewable energy plants across river. their plant near cape town

contributes enough power to power 36,000 households. it's cheap, it's clean, and unlike coal, an endless supply. >> i think it's time. it's history. and perhaps it's also an opportunity for us to finally get on a development path that is sustainable as the african continent. >> reporter: they have given the residents here a 5% stake in their company and it also provides electricity to this local school. most of the kids here have grown up only knowing solar energy. it not only powers their school, but provides them with hidden educational benefits. they've cut their electricity bill by half, a huge saving for a school servicing an impoverished community. >> it's not only good for the school, but it's -- and cheaper, but it's also clean, right? >> it's really clean electricity, no pollution. and it really only uses the sun.

>> reporter: can you see nigeria? >> it is pretty mind-blowing because it looks like just windows, but it's actually like just a generator. it makes its own power from the sun. >> reporter: and it's that power that could ensure the survival of south africa's internationally renowned wine country. here in french hook, the switch to solar has been born out of necessity. on the back of more than three years of drought, the constant power outages have had a dire effect on the farming industry. this 300-year-old fruit farm uses only renewable energy. >> can i taste it? >> reporter: they say it was cheaper to build this floating solar farm, a continental first than plant more orchards. >> we have taken so much from this earth. i think it's time that we give something back. >> reporter: giving back in a way that's good for business and good for planet earth.

so there is a county in missouri that has a posse of 17 new sheriff's deputies. we should call them honorary sheriff's deputies. take a look at this photo, because it shows more then a dozen members of the same sheriff's department posing with their babies, all of them less than a year old. now their dads work for the jefferson county sheriff's office just south of st. louis. meg oliver is there with the story of how this county's baby boom was born. >> reporter: a bundle of joy can bring parents together, but with this sheriff's department welcoming 17 newborns, they might need to call in reinforcements. you have to wonder if something is in the water in jefferson county. 17 infants within one sheriff's department born in the same year. >> i think no one realized how

many babies there were until we showed up that day for the picture. and then it was kind of an awe factor, just seeing them all. >> yeah, buddy. >> reporter: meet connor, the first born on january 10th. then last month little micah and cade became number 16 and 17 born only hours apart. it turns out this baby boom may be thanks to a financial boon for the county's deputies. >> it was a huge help. obviously having kids is expensive. >> reporter: the theory the kids all came from a proposition, be maybe not the kind you're thinking. in april of 2018, jefferson county residents voted to pass proposition p, a property tax increase that raised salaries in the sheriff's office. something these officers haven't seen for over 30 years. >> when you go from 37, 38,000 starting pay to $50,000, that's life-changing for family. i think prop d definitely helped. there is help starting a family

when more money is coming in. >> reporter: the prop d babies as they're known have competition around the country from nine babies at the rancho cucamonga fire department, the maine medical center and the 36 nurses from the kansas city children's hospital all having babies so far in 2019. jefferson county boasts one of the largest booms at one time with their 17 bundles of joy. and now these 17 families have something else to feel fortunate about, each other. >> there is a lot of parenting tips going around the office right now. so we're always joking and asking how each othes children are doing. and you see one of the guys coming in looking pretty tired, and you're not sure if they were on a call all night or up with their newborn all night. >> i think that means raises for everybody, right? all right that is the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you, the news continues. for other, check back with us a bit later for the morning news and of course "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center here

in new york city, i'm errol barnett. it's thursday, november 14th, 2019. this is the "cbs morning news." revealing testimony. impeachment witnesses shed new light on the scope of president trump's pressure campaign against ukraine. the key takeaways. two miles away from the hearings, president trump played host to turkish president erdogan at the white house. why some of the president's allies raised concerns involving russia during that meeting. and duval patrick for president? the former massachusetts governor is reportedly considering joining the crowded democratic field. democratic field. ♪ captioning funded by cbs good morning from the studio 57 newsroom at cbs headquarters heren