weather starts. >> not a good way to start december. >> no, very true, but it is december. thanks, dara. a good morning to all of you, i'm alex witt at new york at mississippi world headquarters, 7:00 a.m. in the east, 4:00 a.m. out west. welcome to weekends with alex witt. it is day 69 of the impeachment inquiry, it's been a very busy 24 hours. let's bring you up to date. >> this coming week the investigation into the president enters a new phase as the impeachment spotlight turning to the judiciary committee and that committee will hold its first hearing on wednesday. >> in letters to the president the committee's chairman has invited president trump and his legal team to participate in those proceedings. congressman jerry nadler said in a statement the president has a choice to make, he can take this opportunity to be represented in the impeachment hearings or he can stop complaining about the process. >> nadler saying the president has until sunday to let the committee know whether he will send one of his attorneys to that wednesday hearing, and then until friday to decide if he

would like to call any of his own witnesses. >> at the same time we have heard from house republicans on that committee and one thing they are asking for is an expansion of the witnesses on wednesday, asking for more witnesses who would be academics who would be talking about the grounds for constitutional determinations about impeachment. >> overnight the house intelligent committee announcing it will vote tuesday on chairman adam schiff's impeachment report which will make a case for the removal of president trump. intel committee members will be able to see a draft of that report as soon as monday. from the impeachment inquiry to the nation's first big blast of wintry weather, we will cover it all for you this hour with our team of reporters and analysts. let's begin with the latest on the impeachment process. the house intelligence committee set to vote tuesday on chairman schiff's impeachment report which lays the case for the congressional removal of president trump. that vote happening just one day ahead of the scheduled hearings by the house judiciary

committee. joining me now scott wong report from the hill. good morning, scott. let's get to what house democrats are doing which is going on a pretty fast moving pace here. walk us through what's happening. do they get ahold of this tomorrow night, those on the intel committee and others to look through it and then pass it along? >> that's what it looks like at this point, intelligence committee aides are saying that the members themselves will get their first look at this report that adam schiff and his team have been compiling and working on throughout this thanksgiving recess. members will get the first look on monday night, they will then have 24 hours to review it, perhaps suggest changes to it and then the committee will vote on it on tuesday evening as lawmakers return from this thanksgiving recess. at that point that is the official handoff from the intelligence committee to jerry

nadler and the judiciary committee who will then have the first of what we expect will be of several hearings in the judiciary committee on wednesday. >> okay. so this is an official process that's happening here, but this house intel report given all that we've seen in the hearings, we've seen the hearings, why is the report significant? what's in it? >> well, it's simply compiling all of the evidence and information that they've gathered, the democrats have gathered from these fact witnesses that they've taken these depositions from behind closed doors. we saw some of that come out in the two weeks of public hearings led by adam schiff and the intelligence committee. so this will be a report, a comprehensive report, that the american public will be able to have access to, will be able to read. it is democrats' best case for why the president should be impeached related to his actions involving ukraine. >> all right. so it's putting it -- it's

compiling everything, putting it succinctly into a report and compacting everything we heard in those hearings. >> exactly. >> timing-wise the president is taking aim at all of this. he criticized the proceedings in a tweet yesterday. he noted, hey, i'm going to be in london that day. does this at all signal that the white house will not send a representative for that hearing? because we know today is the deadline to make that decision. >> right. today is the deadline to make the decision for the wednesday hearing. at the end of the week is another deadline for whether the president or his counsel will participate in any of these hearings. i think it still remains to be seen whether we are going to see any participation from the white house or the white house counsel. certainly the president has very able allies in the republican congressional republicans who will be serving on this judiciary committee, including people like matt gates and jim

jordan and andy bigs the freedom caucus chairman. these are some of the president's staunchest and most vocal defenders, some of them who served on the intelligence committee that we saw earlier. >> right. >> so the president will have representation through at least through the congressional allies on capitol hill if not through his counsel who will be sitting in on some of these hearings. >> but, scott, the president has clamored that it's been unfair, they haven't been involved in this process. does the fact that the intel committee and judiciary committee, we've got this report, judiciary now saying, hey, you can be involved. does that blunt his argument that he has been excluded from things and that it's all not fair? i mean, does he have to participate in order to get rid of that defense? >> well, what the president has said is he thinks this is an entirely unfair process and a sham impeachment investigation to begin with, so i think there's thought from some republican circles that if you

choose to engage and defend yourself and try to call witnesses that you are, in fact, validating the entire democratic impeachment inquiry. so i think there is a debate happening right now within the white house of whether to engage or not. certainly the president has his own bully pulpit in the form of twitter and he will be overseas at the nato conference perhaps tweeting and live tweeting and certainly watching this first hearing as it moves into the judiciary committee, but that is a conversation and a debate that is happening right now within the white house. >> right. okay. scott wong, i will have a few more questions for you in a little bit. don't go anywhere. this is breaking news this morning, there is a winter storm sweeping across the country on one of this the busiest days of the travel season during this holiday season. several inches of snow fell on roads in missoula, montana, on

saturday, parts of south dakota were hit with more than a foot of snow. now the northeast is bracing for winter weather. there are millions of people traveling home after the thanksgiving weekend today, so today with us nbc's janessa webb to let us know how much snow we could see, how long this is going to last and the kind of mess we are in for, so take it away. >> alex, we have this storm system already making its way across the midwest and impacting portions of the northeast. the problem is this morning you can see that dividing line, temperatures are very cool for upstate new york to interior northeast, and that's why you're seeing pink currently on the radar. we never like to see that because that is precipitation in the form of freezing rain to sleet, so expect things to really get sloppy here very quickly. the backside of this system still impacting chicago into green bay where they have already seen about two to three inches and more accumulation throughout the day. so icing, it will be minimal, but driving conditions very

treacherous and if you're trying to get out of major airports really going to be a problem for delays early this morning into midafternoon before this storm system transitions over to widespread snow. so this is the long awaited forecast. look at these snow totals, we've pretty much -- models have become in agreement. new york city now forecasting two to four inches. the timing is very important on this. we will start to see the transition from noon until noon tomorrow where we will see widespread snow, even for northern new england from syracuse 8 to 12 inches. so parts of interior northeast going to be dealing with over a foot of snow. now, again, this is the busiest travel day of the year as people are returning back home and it's a huge problem for all airports from boston, new york city, to philadelphia where we are expecting cancellations already this morning, delays of about 30 minutes and that will continue

to be widespread. i think, alex, this is going to last all the way into tuesday afternoon. now, if you're hitting the roadways, once again, even train stations from cleveland to new york city expect this widespread snow. and the problem is that temperatures start to drop, then you deal with that icing over and i haven't even discussed the black ice portion of this. so this will be our first official snowfall for new york city and parts of philadelphia and, alex, kids are looking forward to a snow day, but this is very treacherous conditions we're going to be dealing with. >> this is one time i'm glad i'm working on a holiday weekend, didn't want to get involved in that. we will be relying on you all day to bring us updates. thank you. let's go to the latest on the terror attack on london bridge, a new fallout as british prime minister boris johnson is called to account for failures leading up to friday's attack. the british media is also paying tribute to one of the victims identified as jack merit, a 25-year-old graduate of the university of cambridge, his dad

describing him as a beautiful spirit who took the side of the underdog. merit was helping to organize the prisoner reform conference where the stabbings began. police have yet to confirm his identity saying they are awaiting a coroner's report and forensics teams are collecting evidence from the scene. let's go to erin mclaughlin joining us from london. yesterday you were out there right at the site of that attack. i know brits are demanding answers. bring us up to date on what's going on there. >> that's right, alex. this morning on the bbc british prime minister boris johnson was grilled about the london bridge suspect, specifically about why he was out of prison. keep in mind the general election is 12 days away and it's a critical election with brexit hanging in the balance the future of this country is at stake and the fallout from the london bridge attack has quickly become political. at issue, the recent release of convicted terrorist usman khan, he only served half of his

sentence, allowed out on early release in the uk. he had been previously convicted of plotting to bomb a number of targets including the london stock exchange and u.s. embassy. this morning on the andrew mar show boris johnson conceded that khan should not have been out of prison, he blamed the laws bend over ten years ago under the opposition government. take a listen to the tense exchange. >> let's talk about your record. >> that is what we're going to do. i absolutely deplore the fact that this man was out on the streets. i think it is -- i think it is absolutely repulsive and we are going to take action. >> that repulsive thing happened under the conservatives. it was conservative legislation and the conservative reg mean -- >> i would -- >> would you like to apologize to the people. >> i will repeat to you that his release was necessary under the law. >> johnson noted that over 70 other convicted criminals have been allowed out in similar circumstances. he acknowledged that is a concern saying those cases are being looked at vowing if he is

reelected there will be tougher sentences. all of this ahead of a big week for london, security is a key concern. next week the capital hosts the nato summit, president trump and other leaders are expected in response to this attack they're increasing the number of police officers on the streets. they insist, though, that's to assuage people's fears. authorities say they believe khan acted alone and poses no further threat to the public. alex? >> okay. erin mclaughlin, thank you for the latest from london on this. a new phase for the impeachment inquiry as the investigation changes hands this week. the questions looming over impeachment as congress gets back to work. plus, gridlock on the hill. why hundreds of bills passed by house democrats are now caught in limbo after hitting road blocks in the senate. blksoc in the senate about being a scientist at 3m is that i'm part of a community of problem solvers. we make ideas grow. from an everyday solution... to one that can take on a bigger challenge.

from packaging tape... to tape that can bond materials to buildings... and planes. one idea can unlock a breadth of solutions. at 3m, we are solving problems that improve lives. the best of pressure cooking and air frying now in one pot, and with tendercrisp technology, you can cook foods that are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. the ninja foodi pressure cooker, the pressure cooker that crisps.

with tough food, your dentures may slip and fall. fixodent ultra-max hold gives you the strongest hold ever to lock your dentures. so now you can eat tough food without worry. fixodent and forget it. fixodent and forget it. beyond the routine checkups. beyond the not-so-routine cases. comcast business is helping doctors provide care in whole new ways. all working with a new generation of technologies

powered by our gig-speed network. because beyond technology... there is human ingenuity. every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected. to do the extraordinary. take your business beyond.

house democrats are gearing up for another busy week why the impeachment inquiry and the intelligence committee prepares to pass the investigation on to the judiciary committee. there are several questions still looming over what is to come in the impeachment process. joining me now two mississippi legal analysts, attorney katie phang and glenn kirschner. always good to get into it with you. let's start with you, katie. what do you think the charges are that will be brought against president trump? >> so we are going to be really ex act in terms of how we want to refer to this, we will call them articles of impeachment. >> okay. >> it is a political process not

a criminal one. because of that i think we will see at a minimum abuse of power generally you're going to see things like bribery, extortion could be included in abuse of power, in addition i'd see obstruction of congress, alex. it is no secret that donald trump and his administration have put up major obstacles to hear from key witnesses as well as the receipt of documents by congress to be able to fully evaluate the claims that have been made against donald trump. i also would expect to perhaps see the mueller report included. obstruction of justice. we know that the mueller report in its 400 odd pages included ten discrete examples of o.j. simpson. but the real question ends up being -- and glen probably agrees with me as he and i are both former prosecutors, you don't want to overcharge in an indictment, you don't want to overpromise and under deliver. the key question is will the house judiciary committee when they're drafting these articles of impeachment will they try to do everything or focusly narrow

just on the ukrainian scandal. i think you're probably going to see a little bit of both when we end up reading the articles of impeachment. >> katie, if you were to pick just one, would it be abuse of power since doesn't that have a fairly wide umbrella to it? >> it's very appealing and that's a great question, alex, because abuse of power is so general it can include several subset examples. we have a very tough time with people being really tight on the critical language of bribery and extortion so i think abuse of power will be a great catchall for exactly the reason. >> glenn, katie thought you would agree with her. do you? >> i do, alex. it will be interesting to see once this report is delivered to the judiciary committee it's going to be interesting to see the next phase of this process because we know we're going to hear from a bunch of academic witnesses, people who will come in and give the american people a little bit of a history lesson, a little bit of a civics lesson and a little bit of a legal lesson about what it means when the founding fathers put in

high crimes and misdemeanors as the standard to remove potentially criminal or abusive presidents. so i think the american people will welcome a robust debate on whether, for example, the president should be allowed to reach out to foreign leaders and ask them to gin up fake dirt on his political opponents for his personal advantage and i think we welcome a robust debate on whether it's okay for a president to order witnesses, witnesses with relevant and potentially incriminating information, to refuse to comply with lawfully issued congressional subpoenas. >> look, that is something that would come under the blanket of obstruction. there are a lot of people who made that connection there. but the timing, glenn, is the timing right for this? first of all, the pacing, are you at all concerned about that? there is -- there are thoughts that they want to get this wrapped up by christmas.

does dragging it on help? does that help? this time of year, the busy time of year, will people focus on it? what do you think about what's happening right now? >> that's a great question, alex. i think let's do it right, let's not just do it quickly. keeping with some kind of an artificial timeline. we just got an opinion from judge jackson of the federal district court in d.c. that said, for example, don mcgahn had no lawful basis to refuse to comply with a congressional subpoena to come in and testify, and who was it that ordered him not to testify? it was the president. so now that this opinion is out there it seems to me the house should pause and should consider subpoenaing other witnesses who similarly will have no lawful basis to refuse to come in and testify. the pompeos, the mulvaneys, the boltons and of course the mcgahns. let's not keep to an artificial timeline and decline to develop

the record fully. >> so, bakatie, you made the pot that impeachment is a legal process. americans are essentially split down the middle on whether or not to impeach and remove the president even after two weeks of public hearings. give me some advice for the lawmakers how to make a case that wins over not only jurors, but the public. >> so when i was trying cases even now when i teach as an adjunct professor the bottom line is you always want to of a strong theme to your case. if i am the democrats in congress i want to pick a theme that resonates, that's compelling. i want to have a hook. you know, the idea of making it quid pro quo or something like that, that doesn't work. it has to be something that the american public is going to hear and it will continue throughout this process. we're heavily procedurally leaning on how this whole

process runs along right now but ultimately we will have a trial in the senate, there won't be a motion to dismiss the articles of impeachment, it won't happen, it would never survive. so you're going to have a trial and just like any trial civil or criminal you're going to have a theme that people understand and that people find to be compelling and if that's what it's going to take to get trump out of office that's what you're going to have to do. i need to see what the intelligence committee report says and i ultimately need to see what the articles end up being. once you know what those actual and we will call them charges now, when you look at the articles and see what those are then i will have a better idea of what your theme should be, but that's how you win this in the senate. there is no applicable standard, alex. glenn and i have talked about this a lot. the bottom line is there is no burden of proof to be able to impeach, it's ultimately what each senator feels in his or her conscience is the right thing to do. in the absence of the burden it ends up being will you do the right thing if you are a member of the gop. >> i'm curious, glenn, as we go into this week of judiciary

hearings do you have a burning question, something that you did not have answered or that you want to see picked up on and furthered in judiciary? >> you know, i sure would like to hear from more of the fact witnesses, i'm afraid we are not going to get that. here is, i think, the big ticket question that we're confronting right now, will the president sit on the sidelines or will he have his lawyers participate in this next round of hearings? it tells me, alex, if he chooses to sit on the sidelines and tweet rather than setting foot on the playing field and having his lawyers defend his conduct, that screams he has no legitimate defense, so let's see if he sits foot on the playing field. >> we shall see. katie and glenn, thank you so much for your help. good to see you both. on the 2020 campaign trail, how pete buttigieg today will try to connect with african-american voters, but can he eventually win their support? and president trump access

house democrats of not getting anything done. well, we're going to show you why it's actually congressional republicans putting the brakes on legislation. republicans putts on legislation ♪oh there's no place like home for the holidays.♪

♪'cause no matter how far away you roam.♪ ♪when you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze.♪ ♪for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.♪ the united states postal service goes the extra mile to bring your holidays home. there's a company that's talked than me: jd power.people 448,134 to be exact. they answered 410 questions in 8 categories about vehicle quality. and when they were done, chevy earned more j.d. power quality awards across cars, trucks and suvs than any other brand over the last four years. so on behalf of chevrolet, i want to say

"thank you, real people." you're welcome. we're gonna need a bigger room. most people think of verizon as a reliable phone company. (woman) but to businesses, we're a reliable partner. we keep companies ready for what's next. (man) we weave security into their business. virtualize their operations. (woman) and build ai customer experiences. we also keep them ready for the next big opportunity. like 5g. almost all the fortune 500 partner with us. (woman) when it comes to digital transformation... verizon keeps business ready. ♪

27 past now. the morning headlines. this breaking news out of new orleans where people say ten people have been shot. it occurred early this morning on canal street in the french quarter. we are told there are no fatalities at this point. police have detained a person of interest in that shooting. there is another breaking story, more rain, snow and strong winds expected today as millions of people are trying to get home after the long thanksgiving weekend. in fact, more than 45 million people are coast to coast under winter weather alerts. north dakota transportation officials issued no travel advisories across the state saturday due to severe weather -- actually, they issued a few. forecasters predict the storm to shift to the northeast today, new england will get the most of the wintry mix of snow and rain. boston might get as much as eight inches by tuesday morning. and thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators taking to the streets on friday renewing pressure on the hong kong government, many of them waving american flags and holding make

hong kong great again signs. they're thanking president trump for approving legislation that would sanction officials for any human rights abuses. protests which began back in june have at times forced the shutdown of government offices, businesses and transportation. let's go to 2020 now and many of the candidates out on the trail this holiday weekend and today mare i don't remember pete buttigieg will be making some stops in both north and south carolina. first up, north carolina and a church service in golds borrow. that's where nbc's shaq brewster is also this morning for us. good sunday morning to you, my friend. what are you expecting from mayor buttigieg today? >> reporter: good morning, alex. a more pete will be worshipping at this church behind me, green leaf christian church which is led by dr. reverend which will cram barber, an influential activist here in north carolina and mayor pete is not going to be speaking at that church service but will be speaking and

having a round table discussion right after talking about poverty which is what the campaign says they want the focus to be on today. he's going to engage with the worshippers, have those conversations with church members. all this have comes of course as mayor pete is rising and surging in the polls, that's especially true when you look at those early states, iowa and new hampshire, but also look nationally, you're seeing that quinnipiac university poll that came out earlier last week that shows mayor pete rising and surging, that surge coming at the expense of senator elizabeth warren. rooted in college educated white voters. here in north carolina and then later in south carolina mayor pete is going to be focusing on the group of voters that he needs to expand and improve upon which are black voters, campaign very clear, very up front about wanting to do better among black voters and are hoping that this worship service and the discussion afterwards hoping that contributes to his numbers. he is up with radio ads already, his campaign officials are saying he will be up with television ads later this week. you know this campaign is very focused on expanding their

support among black voters, hoping that will then continue mayor pete's rise among all voters, alex. >> shaq, i know that he's been lagging behind in the polls in both the african-american community and the latino community. is there a specific reason? there something that folks are pointing to saying that he has lacked doing thus far? >> reporter: when he's asked about that he says that he understands he is a relative newcomer on the scene. he needs to build trust among african-american voters, among latino voters. he's saying that he's putting in the work and that's what he's hoping to show today at this church service here, but something that you've been seeing especially in this past week, alex, is that mayor pete as his numbers have been rising he's starting to receive that glare of a front runner. he's starting to receive the pressure that you normally see with front runners. he's had to defend some positions he's had, a comment that he made back in 2011 dealing with minority and poor communities and education.

there was a strongly-worded op-ed in the african-american online magazine about that and he went and called the author of that defending his positions. he's now receiving the glare of a front runner and the pressure of a front runner and is using events like this to respond to them. >> shaq brewster, thank you so much from north carolina. and joining me now julia manchester reporter for the hill and scott wong who is returning to join us. we will go ladies first with you, julia, here. pete buttigieg as you see he does appear to be struggling with african-american voters, certainly critical to winning the democratic nomination particularly in north and south carolina. why do you think that is? what is it that you think he needs to change? >> well, i think right now, a x alex, the buttigieg campaign is scrambling to set up an infrastructure in north and south carolina. we just -- nbc news reported earlier this week that pete buttigieg is just airing his first televised ads in south carolina and north carolina, but

in terms of, you know, lagging behind in the states, like you said before, this is because he has struggled with african-american voters and i think part of this is that he's not very well known in the african-american community to begin with, so he needs to start sitting down and talking with these different communities and really trying to get to know them. we've soon he has started to do that within the last week. but another part of this is that he struggled with this community in the past. his campaign has gotten quite a bit of flak over the campaign cycle for not having enough african-american staff or not attracting enough african-americans or diverse crowds to campaign events and rallies and then of course he got a lot of backlash for his handling of the killing of an unarmed black man in south bend when he was mayor earlier this year. this is a continuing problem for pete buttigieg and his campaign has spent so much time on iowa and new hampshire, but it seems like with this particular part of the electorate they're just hitting a wall in the south. >> well, then we will see if today helps him make a difference, he will be at

churches and speaking with religious leaders as well in the community. let's talk about senator kamala harris who was on the campaign trail yesterday following several ned testify headlines surrounding her campaign. here is a little bit of what she had to say. take a listen. >> so here is how that conversation goes. well, i don't know if america is ready for a woman, a woman of color, to be president of the united states. >> we have heard that refrain before. she is fighting on, scott. can her campaign turn things around? >> well, anything is possible, but as we know from that damning "new york times" report that there is infighting within her own campaign organization, there were layoffs, there has been finger pointing, there was a resignation letter from a key staffer that leaked to the media that identified numerous

problems within the organization based in baltimore, saying that this was one of the most mismanaged campaigns this individual has ever worked for. there's complaints about the involvement of kamala harris' sister maya. the list goes on and on. it's very difficult at this point to see her bouncing back. i will say anything is possible. i remember i was in phoenix, arizona, in 2007 when mccain's campaign was on the outs, it looked like it was failing, and i saw the senator carrying his own bag through the airport without any staff flying coach on southwest and lo and behold he bounced back and went on to win the nomination. so anything is possible, but i will say that things look pretty bad right now for kamala harris. >> do you think it's all about issues in the campaign, julia? i mean, within her staffing and the like, is that enough to take down someone who was formally a top tier candidate, just having

perhaps lack of organization a or infighting among staffers, i mean, can that do it? >> i think it's definitely part of it but i think that really has to do a broader perfect storm for kamala harris' campaign. her campaign when it launched in january, i believe on martin luther king jr. day weekend, then her campaign plateaued, they described it as a sugar high during one of the first democratic debates over the summer when she went after former vice president joe biden for his stances on desegregation and busing, that was a high point for her campaign, however, i think a lot of this has to do with the fact that this is already a very crowded field and there's so many different factors really playing into it. she's going up against a former vice president, there's, you know, obviously bernie sanders, a former democratic presidential candidate with high name recognition, elizabeth warren has been able to climb through

the polls and rile up the progressive wing of the party and you're also seeing pete buttigieg who is positioning himself as a centrist against biden. so i think a lot of this has to do with the fact that kamala harris doesn't necessarily have her own lane at this point. so the staffing issues, the fact that she is a woman of color and there are many struggles that go along with that and the fact that this is already a very big campaign field, this is just the perfect storm for her campaign and the fact that it just isn't doing as well as it used to. >> julia manchester, scott wong, thanks, guys. coming up at the top of the hour "up" with david gura. david will tell us what he has in store for us this morning. >> going to pick up from what you were talking about with shaq, pete buttigieg still struggling, trying to get support from black voters, also criticized for some comments he made about a decade ago about minorities and education. this morning mayor pete at the reverend william barber's church in north carolina and before morning worship and a conversation with the candidate reverend barber is going to join

us on "up." looking forward to having that conversation. also an update from one of the billionaires in the race, we can use the plural now, tom steyer will join us from nevada where he has been campaigning. alex. >> busy couple hours ahead. thank you for that. so the president calls the democrats do nothing. a new article crunches the numbers and shows the reality that refutes the president's claims. we made usaa insurance for members like martin.

an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it - with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa

through the at&t network, edge-to-edge intelligence gives you the power to see every corner of your growing business. from finding out what's selling best... to managing your fleet... to collaborating remotely with your teams. giving you a nice big edge over your competition. that's the power of edge-to-edge intelligence. (make-a-wish child) i got this for you. (vo) when you share the love, you change lives. over twenty-two hundred wishes granted. more than fifty seven thousand pets supported. over one hundred national parks protected. over two million meals provided. through the subaru share the love event, subaru will have proudly donated over one hundred seventy million

dollars to national and hometown charities over twelve years. (shelter attendant) thank you. (grandfather) thank you. (senior) thank you. (make-a-wish child) thank you. are you currently using a whitening toothpaste, but not seeing results? try crest 3d whitestrips. its enamel-safe formula lifts and removes stains to provide 100% noticeably whiter teeth or your money back. try crest 3d whitestrips. since the impeachment

inquiry began the president has claimed repeatedly it's a waste of time, tweeting regularly about the do nothing democrats pointing to other issues that he says need attention, however, a new vox article says democrats indeed have been doing work and that the president and the republicans are just ignoring them. joining me now is the writer of that article, ella nelson a politics reporter at vox. stunning statistics that you have throughout this article. we will go through some of these numbers right now, thanks for joining me. you found that the democratic-controlled house has passed 400 bills this year, just 70 of those were actually passed into law and you do the numbers, that means 80% hit a snag in the republican-controlled senate. why is this happening? >> so, alex, as i pointed out in my article this is a dynamic that has been playing out well before the impeachment inquiry started and this is something that president trump has been

complaining about way back after democrats reclaimed the majority in january. kind of tagging them as do nothing democrats from the beginning. and the numbers show that that is simply not the case. house speaker nancy pelosi has been passing bills under her control bills have been passing the house at a really rapid rate. bills ranging from gun control legislation, universal background checks, bills lowering prescription drugs, immigration bills, but the reality of divided congress and divided government in washington means that these are not going anywhere in the senate, in fact, the vast majority of them are not being taken up at all. they are not going to the floor of the senate. >> so tell me does it appear to you that mitch mcconnell cannot walk and chew gum at the same time? because he is focusing on one thing, but it is not passing legislation. talk about that. >> right. so mitch mcconnell is focused on judicial nominations.

if you talk to most people in the senate, and both democrats and republicans, i think, have expressed some frustration that the senate these days is not really a place for legislating. one political expert recently put it to me it's a great place to be in you you like judicial nominations. the power of the senate as a body it's resting a lot with leadership these days and when mitch mcconnell says no we're not going to take that up that means no. so i think that what you have seen you've seen, you know, judicial nominations are happening also at a very rapid clip in the senate. i think that mcconnell and the senate has confirmed around 150 of trump's picks for the federal judiciary. so that is the progress that the senate is making, but that's something that they can do without the house. >> mitch mcconnell clearly working on his personal legacy instead of that of the entire country with legislation. these numbers absolutely stunning. 2019 about 70 bills have been

passed. let's go back to the two prior years or recent years, rather, 300 to 500 bills have been passed. go all the way back to the 1970s and '80s according to your article, 700 to 800 bills would get passed. these are pretty damning numbers. >> i think that these numbers show the increased polarization of congress and it shows that certainly especially when there is divided government it really slows things down. i think that there has been frustration even among some republican senators that they can't come to the table with democrats on things like universal background checks. as you noted, you know, at the top of the hour there was another shooting in new orleans. >> yeah. >> just recently. i think that these are certainly for universal background checks this is bipartisan legislation, over 80% of the american people want something like this done and mcconnell has basically said if the president doesn't support it i am not going to bring it to

the senate. and i think that there is frustration including with members of his own party that the senate is supposed to be a body that makes laws, not defers to the president. >> ella nielsen, come see us again. great reporting. now to the trouble down on the farm, many dairy farmers are struggling to survive. taking a very sad painful toll. vaughn hillyard traveled to beaver dam, wisconsin, to see how farmers are determined to hold on. >> reporter: for dale peeper farming is in his blood, a fourth generation dairy farmer, peeper and his father work land in beaver dam, wisconsin, that's been in the family more than a century. farming has always been tough, peeper says, but never as tough as it is now. >> guys have been going out, there's less and less dairymen every year in the city of wisconsin. >> reporter: milk prices have plummeted 40% in recent years prompting a surge in dairy farm bankruptcies and contributing to a rise in farmer suicides.

amid this backdrop u.s. agriculture secretary sonny purdue sparked outrage this fall when he suggested it was up to small farms to grow or struggle to survivor. in an audio recorded interview perdue told an agriculture reporter. >> in america, the big get bigger and the small go out. it's very difficult. >> do you think he understands the dairy industry? >> maybe. not -- he is not here. he's a little removed, i think, from the dairy industry. getting bigger is not always better. you can invest, you can borrow, but you still have got to have the income on the other end to bring it back in and it's not there. >> the solution, stay small. they have 70 cows and keep debt low, it's the only way they say to ride out the current storm. just down the road the peepers' neighbor laurie conik did invest

in technology to grow her 160 cow farm. she said human labor was getting harder to find and keep. now three robots do the milking but at a price, $220,000 each. laurie says it will take her at least 20 years to pay it all off. >> when you invested what does that cost look like? >> millions. it costs millions. >> laurie said she can't afford to grow her farm any bigger. her message to the agriculture chief, offer realistic solutions to farmers. >> it costs more to make the milk than you're getting for the milk. we don't need any more milk just to make a blanket statement let's all get bigger and all have produce more milk is not the answer. >> reporter: laurie and dale both hope to have farms to pass on to future generations. two of america's small farms facing unprecedented challenges and an uncertain future. vaughn hillyard, beaver dam,

wisconsin. he's about to be surrounded by world leaders yet may find himself isolated. the expectations for this week's nato meeting next. this week's nato meeting next. hi honey, we got in early. yeah, and we brought steve and mark. ♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. until i found out what itst it actually was.ed me. dust mite droppings! eeeeeww! dead skin cells! gross! so now, i grab my swiffer sweeper and heavy-duty dusters. duster extends to three feet to get all that gross stuff gotcha! and for that nasty dust on my floors, my sweeper's on it. the textured cloths grab and hold dirt and hair

no matter where dust bunnies hide. no more heebie jeebies. phew. glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. o♪ ozempic®! ♪ oh! oh! (announcer) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7 and maintained it. oh! under 7? (announcer) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (announcer) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk? (announcer) ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck,

severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase the risk for low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. i discovered the potential with ozempic®. ♪ oh! oh! oh! ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) if eligible, you may pay as little as $25 per prescription. ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®.

i need all the breaks, that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

president trump is protesting impeachment hearings that will coincide with this week's nato summit. he tweeted, i will be representing our country at nato while the democrats are holding the most ridiculous impeachment hearings in history. so let's take a look at what's happening with nato. in the wake of the president who essentially blew things up last year complaining that the united states was paying way more than its fair share, i think the u.s. was paying, what, 22%. we have dropped town to 16%, equaling that of germany. but he called on every other country to increase what they were donating, 2% of each country's gross gdp. has that happened? have people capitulated to his demands? >> to clarify, this is part of the trump rhetoric that gets pretty confusing. the commitment that is expected of each nato member, including

the united states, is the cup's military budget will be 2% of gdp. now, president trump, as well as his predecessor, president obama, have all complained that not enough of nato's members, especially governments in europe, western europe, have reached that 2% figure. but the way president trump articulated is this idea that there is more and more european gold pouring into the coffers of nato. indeed, they have yet to make the commitments. they are taking steps. those are in part because of trump's relentless request of this. let's go to the collapse of the nuclear treaty. russia threatened to put missiles close to america if

they deploy more nuclear missiles in europe. is there going to be a putin shadow over this. . >> nato was a military enterprise that emerged in the cold war. in many ways, it is viewed by its critics as a cold war mack nism. because that he acts favorable in various ways. >> yeah. >> there's that. but that is not the only shadow hovering of the summit. >> macron said this whole thing is brain dead because we are focusing on these issues study of new issues. does his point get any traction? >> the french president gave an interview not long ago specifically calling out the

cause of the nato alliance that commits those to the defense of their partners, the most important tenet of the nato alliance. that's in part because he was talking about the turkish invasion of syria and saying plausibly why should we ever be in a situation where we feel committed. that has led to a lot of sparring between him and the turkish president erdogan. there is, as you said, a lot of ambivalence about russia across the continent. then of course you have this awkward scenario where britain is hosting the summit. >> right. >> in the shadow of the upcoming election next week. . >> multipronged approaches. thank you so much. reverend william barber joins david gura on "up" to talk about pete buttigieg. and that's next. tigieg and that's next. 1 in 5 people you meet wear dentures. yeah. that many! but right now, is not the time to talk about it.

so when you're ready, search 'my denture care'. poligrip and polident. fixed. fresh. and just between us.

that's it for this hour. stay where you are. it's time for "up" with david gura. >> this is "up". i'm david gura with new details this morning on impeachment. members of the house intelligence committee will review a draft version of the committee's report tomorrow. they're going to vote on it on tuesday night. and the intelligence committee will pass the baton to the