robert: articles of impeachment head to the floor.>> he third time in a little over a century and a half, the house judiciary committee has voted articles of impeachment against the president for abuse of power and obstruction of congress. >> aye. robert: bate lines arerawn. >> the evidence is overwhelming and uncontested. >> this is a travesty. >> to use the power of impeachment on this nonsense is an embarrassment to this country. robert: and republicans turn the spotlight to the justice department inspector general report. next. ♪ announcer: this is "washington week." funding is provid by -- >> before we talk about your investments, what's new? >> well, audre.s expecti

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by the ku and patricia yuen. committed to bridging cultural dierences in o communities. the corporation for public contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once againromashington. moderator, robert costa. robert: goo evening. history unfolded at the capital this week. andartisan rancor it narrated our times. republicans and democrats sparring ove o articlesf impeachment. and the inspector general's report about the justice department's conduct d the russia investigation. yet amid this bare-knuckle politics and marathon hearings, the week was punctuated by a d partisl on trade.d resident trump announced progress on a trade agreement with china. but the road to this friday night was paved with fury.

>> you're going to try to overturn the result of an election with unelected people -- >> the gentleman will suspend. >> gentleman has been warned before. tt cannot simply yell out and disrupt the com. >> this is the problem. this is why people don't like us. this is why people are having such a terrible opinion of congress. >> the president committed the highest crime against the constitution by abusing his office. cheating in an election, inving foreign interference. robert: fights continue on the campaign trail and i traveled to hershey, pennsylvania as he rallied thousands in that battleground state. >> now that the russiaarrative is dead, a big disgusting fraud. the congressional democrats are pushing the impeachment witch hunt having to do with ukraine. >> [crowd boos]

president trump: you saw their so-called articlesf impeachment today? people are saying, they're not even a crime. >> for reporters and the nation itas often head-spinning. itas also important and the seriousness of this moment cannot b overstated. joining us tonight. peter bakee cheesm white house correspondent for e "new york times" and co-author of "i and karoun demirjian from "the washington post." jake sherman, senior editor of polico. co-author of "the hill to die on." and darlene superville, the white house reporter for the "associated press." the house passed two articles of impeachment on a 23-17 vote alongarty lines. a floor vote in the house is now expected next week. jake, what does that floor votey look like whe look ahead to next week's speaker pelosi, is

she whipping hbe m? do we eect defections? >> we're certain no republicans are going vote to impeach the president. we believe a handful of democrats will vote with republicans against impeachmentc pelosi says she's not whipping. this is a matter of conscious. she's aware who's voting where, what problem she has. and republicans are whipping. they're trying to keep thr troops in line against these charges. and it's going to be very charged. it's goinggo be everyth that the president, as everybody here can attest to, watch v closely. at the end of the day, politics are what they are. but the president's going to be impeached by a house of representatives. and that's a certainty.at egin a whole new phase which is the senate trial. robert: whyid the democrats decide to do abuse of power and obstruction of congress? what happened toriry?

what happened to looking at the mueller probe? ed>> they set on the two articles, seems like they were the bestegal charge. abuse of power covering what happened in ukraine and the obstruction of eingress his refusal to let anybody come to testify or provide any documentary evident. everybody that came to testify did so brushing off those orders. they feel they have a pattern that can hold that up if you start to get into bribery, which nancy pelosi used the word, adam schiff used the word, it gets squishy because y could get meyered in the argument about dictionaryit defns. and to do obstruction of justice which congress didnvestigate: the president has declared oneration which is not the text of the mueller report which

would have been a more difficult trial try. they decide to stick with obstruction of congress, not going to bribery, b talk about the acts that they use in their rhett rect and call itf abuse -- rhetoric and cailt abuse of power. as you heardd you pla clip of the charges that these aren't imes. you could hle anything f under abuse of power. obstruction of congrs. republicans disagree over what hand. 's leading them. v robert: thee is pretty much set? the house of representatives. so at the white house when you're talking to ur sources there, are they already looking ahead to a senate trial? and what do they want t see from the majority leader mitch mcconnell? >> they're definitely looking ahead to a senate trail because the senate is more friendly terrain. it's controlled by republicans. the house where the whole process started is controlled by

the democrats and we know howey feel about trump pretty much. they're looking ahead to the trial. the president says he wants atr l. he's going to get one when lawmakers get back. we don't t know what is going to look like. but there seems be ailonsensus ng around something that's quick, maybe two weeks, three weeks. the president wants to call witnesses. it's unclear whether he'll be unable to call the whistleblower for example or joe biden or hunter biden it seems unlikely. >> jaketays t the house democrats are letting this be a conscious vote. what about the white house? are they whipping republicans senators? are they worried about cracks? >> i don't think so because republicans have been pretty much moving in lockstep wit president on -- on this issue. they've been, you know,re ating his line that he's done nothing wrong. the call was good. and it seems unlikely tha anybody would break from the g.o.p. and vote against him. youea nevery know until the

vote happens. robert: peter, t headline "for trump impeachment may be a political plus, but also a humiliation." take me inside the oval they have a strategy as they that look the senate. but what about this president who cares so much about his brand and his image. what has it been at the white house this week? h the president has come to the recognition thas going to lose this vote in the house. it's going to to the senate. but it doesn't mean that it's it doesn't mean it was a stinging moment. it one for president clinton he could say, it's partisan. it's illegitimate. have in his history page in the book, theas terisk. he's toggled back and forth between self pity and s we'ven

even in rallies in hershey and this cbative more energized version of himself. his mood is described by aides ting a little better the last couple of weeks because he does see republicans coming to hi defense and they're being aggressive in the way he wants them to be. they're not trying to say well, he did wrong but it's not impooch impeachment. what you guys are being bad actors. robert: that's the case he's making. we covered these hearings. did the democrats break through in the house judiciary committee hearings? when you talk to members, do theyeel like theountry heard them in the same way the whole country watched theatgate hearings or are there still gaps? >> i think they feel there are still gaps. this is a lot more difficult to explhan bill clinton's impeachment. this dealsith complex foreign aid and different people. why are we even giving noun

ukraine? eci think ites -- there's a lot of moving piece where is the clinton impeachme was relatively cut and dry. you've seen thisic in pu opinion polls that has not moved hrough last four or five weeks. that's frustrating for democratsments that's part of th reason they want to handle this before the christmas holiday because aot of them want to move on and move to more comfortable ground. >> there's a mentum issue here too which is the most exciting exhilarating partsf this whole process that played out in public, are when youed thathe hearings the witnesses. people watching ivanovic. there was thehock potential factor when you heard bill taylor laying out a cronology of all the things that trump is accused of doing-. you have to do all of those things, right? but the public has been watching so much of this. and it was so much more gripping before that it almost feels like

it's slowing to a close at this point. the judiciary -- the democrats and judiciary had a hder time breaking through that wall of grabbing americans' attention did. the intelligenceommittee but that wasn't close to of the line wn they did that. robert: how will the housecr des make their case when they're the managers? >> you'll see variety of different democrats making that case they're going to choose they're most perasive argueers. robert: will we see adam schiff there? >> i don't t we would be surprised as they consider b themselves t the stars since they do know this case the best. but that has yet to be finalized. at that point, though, they will not be making the case in t vacuum. they've had the whole stage for thlast several weeks of this andre not telling the heprocess. story right now. they're arguing over the constitutionality and the legalistics of it. and that's fundamentality less

exhilarating for eyeballs and ears for hours on end. robert they're competing with a torrentof news. you had the um -- usmca come to an. agreeme president trump and house democratic aides. was that a concession bthe white house or democrats? what explains the -- this deal emerging amid peach zment >> that -- impeachment? >> v that's ay good question. nancy pelosi announced the impeachmt and then anour later, they said hey, we have a deal on usmca which is the president's biggest lprislative rity this year and it's something that he's wanted for a ong, long time. it's a product a lot of pelosi and democrats and the trade director litehizer.

it cues you. >> fortuitous. [laughter] robert: you see the president turng to the stock market saying he's moving board to on a phase one deal. when you couple usmca and this ne china, what do you see from this white house? >> china deal may or may not be as signi as he would like us to think it is. it's a first phase, quote, quote, the chinese haveot been as specific publicly. but it does send a signal. his best argument for re-election is the economy is doing well. if he can solve some of these trade disputes, the concern that people have that things might turn south that works in h favor. the thing that got bill clinton through it partly was a strong economy. the thing that has beenen pres trump's biggest selling car has been don't rock the boat. i might be a jerk. but your 401k's are great.

you have to vote for me you might lose your job or your cousin or your wife might lose their job. >> but i would add to that if the economy is doing wel plus, he doesn't get into these ancillary issues that he tends to dive intll the time, these distractions. mill colge joh harris wrote a come thralm basically said most presidents with this economic climate would be a favorite t wi re-election. so there's some element and people in the white househi realizeof self-sabotage and republicans wish, pray for him to just talk abouton the y and leave the other issues to the side. >> and one of the things the present can do, he's got a rally. and he can go into that rally and said, look, i've got usmca and this china deal. and his base will just eat that up. those are things they've been talk about for a long -- talking

about for a long time. look, what i've done while allt democrats want to do is impeachment. bert: or house democrats can make t ce and say, we're not just focused on impeachment, we also did usmca with president trump. was that part ofak s posi moving through this deal? >> her three things his investigate, and - >> litigate? >> there's an element of that that they are doing business withhe president while holding his feet to the fire. the democrats were largely responsible for getting this in shape. nancy pelosi negotiated with bob lie heiser. >> she's been talking abou walking and chewing gum at the

same time. he's not doing that trade deal, which means she'sua got j to make the case, we're not doingh anytng. here's the president's trade deal, pass i. robert: but this republican party they mite not like a protectionist trade deal on usmca, but they're still with this president politically. >> they really are. there are no science of any cracks. even among republicans would assume that another republican would be president. it's striking. nixon did. clinton dhan't. but was the big danger for them is you lose your own pear. e other party will always be against you. the danger is -- trump is not losing his. robert: on that point astut y, when you look at this, you'veth co-s the latest book on impeachment, republicans ke saying this isifferent this time that it's -- it's too fast. it's too narrow. what makes this different if at

all? this entire experience? >> it's funny watching thehi hearings week, meetings this week where the house judiciary committee hadeheir de bait -- debate. if you close your eyes i literally hear everything i heard 20 years ago. you have no fact witnesses. you're in a rush to judgment. it's a railroad. you're out to get him because you hate him no, it's about rule of law. it's about very serious constitutional -- everything was said 21 years ago. but there are things that are different. one thing that is different, the pears are more in lockstep than they were backonhen. the day the house judiciary voted in 1998, lindsey graham tried to broker deal for censure. e president came out and made a televised apology in the middle of their meeting. they stopped the meeting. he didn't go far enough as far as the republicans were concerned. the republicans said, that was it. it.idn't do and six, to seven minutes later,

they impeached him robert: lindsey graham probing that long-awaitedeport by the justice department inspector general. as karoun report, i.g. michael horowi the a.g. was justified but he said he could not n. vindicate the bureau's former leaders because of other major errors. here's part of his testimony. >> former f.b.i. director james comey said that your reports vindicates him. is that a fair assessment of your report? >> i think theie activ we fod here, don't vindicate anybody who touch this.>> hen you look at what the i.g. found, no political bias but many major errors. do you expect fisa i refor the sur surveillance of this country? >> we've been talking about the

reform forever. they're necessarily the ones cheering that report right now. there's been a little bit of a dosey dough. and they're calling for fisa reform because this ended up being, you know, the -- because of the carter page element and how connected he is to trump. i they democrats are trying to say they'rere vindicated because there was no proof of political bias and the president has been beating the drumn ey were just out t get me the wholtime because they didn't ke m and they're biase against me. but it is pretty damning when you come to the question of confirmati bias. and basically the f.b. tossing aside exculpatory evident when they were going to apply for the warrant conductinghe warra on carter page. any vacuum, if we weren't not this political environment, that is frankly, an argument for ople being concerned about what the deep state is doing. but we are inor a where

trump has made it all about politics where he's accusedhe d.o.j. and the f.b.i. having this big deep political bias. but the core issue is how is the f.b.i. through a secretive pro-stheas we don't know going about and, you know, looking at and surveilling pottially civilians. robert: and the i.g. report isn't the only report you have attorney general bill bar he's conducting his own alongside prosecutor john durham. and he sat down with pete willia of nbc news. >> the greatest danger to our free system is that the incumbent government use the apparatus of the state, principally the law enforcement and the intelligence agencies t bo spy on political opponents but also to use them in a way that cou affect the outcome of the election. as far as i'm awarehe this is first time in history that this has been done tore adential campaign. >> so the i.g. had a conclusion,

jake but you have house minority leader kevin mccarthy who you cover every day calling what he all? this report a coup. is that the language you're hearing from your republican d sourcepite what the i.g. has concluded? >> everybody found something that ty like, republicans said the f.b.i. in a way that's so stunning and so unfair to ericans and democrats say, listen, the f.b.i. did not the start investigating trump under false pretenses. so there's something for everybody in this report. lindsey graham had horowitz up there after real fresh the trump align to do more toind of conduct theses. investigati and the durham report which we assume will be coming out pt sont in this torrent of news over the next couple of months is being early awaited to the people like mark meadows and jim jordan who believe this man john durham of concticut is the person who isoing to

finally put people in handcuffs. that's what a lot of trump aligned republicans say that this is the person who is going to charge people. robe: so that's what some republicans want. but the bigger picture is where stees truth? there's the durham report, the i.g. report? where is the truth? >> there is no single truth i mean, there is. karoun said as jake said. n and there are different ways of looking that report. and everybody's going to pull it out if you listen to fox or msnbc. even this week, you heard very starkly different versions of reality. listen to the president talk. what he says at times has very little bearing on, you know, the facts set f that you wouldre the democrats. and getting them on the same spage really, really -- the probably imnoble this day and age. we're so atomized, we're so polarized. not just in our politics but our social interactions that we live

in these separate universes and they don't meet. >> president trump w hosting rudy giuliani. what does that tell you? are they going t have their own report on ukraine to counter what's happening in the house of representatives >> i quite possible. the president has said that help giulianiar from rudy and what really rudy discovered on thisecent trip to ukraine. there's still very much wholed clot into the idea that ukraine had something to do with the 2016 electio it doesn't appear they're going let it go. robert:ha u.s. official testified that f.b.i. director chris rice says there's n evidence to back that up. >> he prettyuch said don't listen to the president. >> that's what's getting lost. lindsey graham nodded to it. he made the ninet russia interfered and n ukraine.

he made the point that it was legitimate to be concerned at the time they started this. but that's not beingy echoed b everybody across the party. robert: that's all the time we have. ank you for joining us. make sure to watch our "washington week"ra. we will discuss all the trade news. you can find it on ourl soc media accounts and on our website tonight and all weekend long. i'm robert costa. good night . ♪ announcer: corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> all right, richard, this might be the only way to clear your'same. >> the a bomb in centennial park. you have 30 minutes.y >>son is not the bomber. he saved people's lives. >> i do wanto help y'all.

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