consistency of our purpose. both have now been opened to question. >> with that, that is our broadcast for this tuesday night. thank you so much for being here with us. goodnight from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. ♪ mr. president, do you take any responsibility for the fact that you're about to be impeached? >> no, i don't take any -- zero, to put it mildly. >> president trump as defiant as ever as the house closes in on a historic vote to decide whether to impeach him. >> we're going to tell you how that vote is expected to play out and what house speaker nancy pelosi is saying about the letter she received from the president that many are calling unhinged. and senators will take an oath to the impartial impeachment as it arrives in their court.

mitch mcconnell flat out says it's an oath he doesn't intend to honor. good morning, everyone. it is wes, dense 18th. i would say probably a day that will go down in history if everything goes as expected. absolutely, i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. we begin with house resolution 755, from the 116th congress. impeaching donald john trump, president of the united states for high crimes and misdemeanors, abuse of power and obstruction of congress. "the new york times," "washington post" and the ap all report that democrats do in fact have the votes, meaning by the end of the day, trump will make history as only the third u.s. president to be impeached, coming one day short of the 21st anniversary of the house vote to impeach bill clinton. now, the house is scheduled to gavel in just a few hours from now, around 9:00 a.m., to adopt

the rules which call for six hours of debate split evenly between the parties before members vote on the two articles of impeachment. speaker nancy pelosi is urging members to join her on the floor this morning when the house convenes. the president claims he will not be watching the proceedings. he is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in michigan this evening. at the same time, the house will be voting on whether to impeach him. >> meanwhile, the president's last stand, last words, shall we say, came in the form of an angry six-page letter to nancy pelosi described by most as a rambling diatribe of tweets filled with bad grammar and personal attacks. the president falsely claimed that the impeachment is illegal and invalid. he says the house speaker has, quote, cheapened the importance of the ugly word impeachment. and that, quote, more due process was afforded those accused in the salem witch

trials. yesterday, pelosi said she did not read the full letter and called the letter ridiculous and really sick. and how nbc news has learned that president trump came up with the idea last week and drafted by white house aides including steven miller. we're told that the white house counsel was not involved in the drafting but did offer words some of which were accepted. house republicans are insisting that democrats are acting out of hatred for trump and not for protection of the constitution. >> tomorrow's impeachment vote will be a stain on nancy pelosi's legacy as speaker. from the very beginning you could see this was more about settling a political score. a personal vendetta against president trump. >> in less than 24 hours, house democrats will officially push through the weakest, thinnest and fastest impeachment in american history.

their entire majority, the legacy of the 116th congress will be defined by their hatred for president trump. this will be their legacy. but will not be a legacy that we will want to have repeated. alexander hamilton warned us of this day. unfortunately, this day has come. >> a number of vulnerable front line democrats who represent districts that president trump won in 2016 announced that they plan to vote for trump's impeachment. according to nbc news, 42 front line democrats say they plan to back today's impeachment vote. ben mcadams of utah, new jersey's nicki share little and haley stevens of michigan who wrote in a statement, quote, with an open mind and after careful review of the evidence unearthed by the impeachment inquiry, i intend to vote in favor of the articles of impeachment. the facts are clear that president trump abused the

powers of his high office and deliberately obstructed the congressional investigation into this abuse. however, jared golden told us had plans to vote yes on abuse of power but no on obstruction of congress. joining us here a good friend, danny cevallos here on msnbc. danny, let's talk about what we expect today. walk us through how this plays out. obviously, the articles have been drafted. is there going to be a lot of debate? could anything derail this in the last minute besides the vote actually somewhere. >> we've seen over the last few weeks, republicans will do just about anything, even arguing over bathroom breaks during a session. so, you can expect republicans will do some of the same. a lot of it will echo the arguments that we've already heard over the last few weeks. essentially that the process is flawed that they not be given the opportunities that they

think they're entitled to. but we can expect the same opposition from republicans in the house. >> also from washington, congressional report from daily beast sam brody, sam, what do you make of the letter's letter to speaker pelosi in which he says more due process was afforded to those accused in the salem witch trials? >> i mean, it's classic, right. and there's an element of this to speaker nancy pelosi and the president and speaker probably have the most relationship than anybody in washington. but, look, i think this is interesting in the lines of senate republicans are about to take up this impeachment process. and determine the parameters for the trial. and we know that a lot of them are uncomfortable with the president's rhetoric. and a few of them have even said that, you know, the president's conduct, with respect to ukraine was, you know, wrong but not impeachable. so, this is an interesting message to go out on in the house, when, you know,

technically, there's a pool of republican senators who haven't made up their mind. and certainly there are a few of them who could vote to convict trump on one or two of these charges. >> danny, is there any way, or possibility, anything in this letter, any of the substance in this letter, things that the president said can actually be used against him? >> i don't think so because at this stage, he's already said everything in that letter before, including, for example, the call was perfect. and that's already been refuted by the republicans' own constitutional scholar john turley, it's anything but perfect. other than that, it's what the president excels at, these vague generalities, you're assaulting democracy. that kind of rhetoric that we know president trump for. knack, he's accomplished something that's very bizarre in which he said a level of behavior that none of us are

really surprised by the tone or words in this letter. i am, i am so curious how this letter was drafted. yes, of course, he dictated it but was there a discussion of should this be in all caps or an exclamation point here. this was a group project. >> i think at the very end, he signs it sincerely yours. >> that's the best. >> that's always the debate, what do you put at the end, right? i hate you, comma, the president. >> and let me get your words on what the house -- not defending, defending the president on today's impeachment vote? >> sure. it's been pretty consistent here and they've coalesced over those opinions. i'm sure they read with speaker nancy pelosi and found themselves nodding along. this is a group that staunchly defended the president at every

step of his process. and it's likely that neither one of them are going to vote to impeach this president. that's remarkable, we saw people during the clinton impeachment, for example, cross party lines. and it looks like every single republican is going to back the president. in the face of all of this, in the face of this letter, i didn't think that would change any minds but it's just a testament of the left of authority he demands in the house. >> it's just interesting if you juxtapose the letter that the president sent to speaker pelosi, versus the letter that speaker pelosi put out before today's vote and what she talks about on such a historic day. >> danny cevallos, thank you. yesterday, the house approved a $1.4 trillion spending package to fund the government for the rest of the year avoiding a government shutdown. a pair of bills, appealing

obama-era taxes increasing the age requirement to 21 to buy tobacco products, help for retired coal miners and $1.4 trillion for the border wall. the senate is expected to approve the package by the end of the week and the white house has indicated that trump will sign the measure. former trump campaign manager rick gates is facing jail time. plus, a new conservative super pac has formed to fight president trump's re-election and punish republicans who they say have, quote, enabled the president. those stories and a check of the weather with bill karins when we come back. ♪oh there's no place like home for the holidays.♪

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welcome back. the former deputy campaign manager for the president rick gates was sentenced yesterday to 45 days in jail and three years' probation. gates was an ex-business partner of paul manafort and had testified against him as a

prosecution witness during his trial. gates had also testified against a longtime friend of the president, roger stone. gates and manafort were among the first of the president's associates to be charged by special counsel bob mueller, both were charged with financial crimes relating to their consulting work with pro-russia politicians in ukraine. at the time, gates had pleaded guilty and was a key in the contacts with russian officials. prosecutors had informed the judge that gates had provided, quote, extraordinary assistance and had, quote, worked ernestly to provide the government with everything that's asked of him. while gates' lawyer requested no jail time, the judge sentenced him to 45 days and said he could serve it intermittently on weekends. and paul manafort who is currently serving a seven-year hospital sentence has been hospitalized. his client has been in the hospital since last thursday but they say, quote, still don't have a full understanding of his

medical condition. manafort is considered to be stable. his lawyer expressed frustration on lack of detail, stating the bureau refused to provide any information to him or manafort's family about the 70-year-old's condition or whereabouts, apart from saying he was, quote, safe. the bureau of prisons declined to comment with any information due to safety and privacy reasons. manafort was charged in two cases by robert mueller found guilty of bank fraud, tax evasion. he also pleaded guilty of conspearing against the u.s. to obstruct justice. it's not always like this, amidst the heaviness of the day, let's go to our shining light, nbc meteorologist -- >> all right, bill. >> i'm glad i'm not important in your life, not ayman. >> she's speaking for herself. obviously it was one of those travel days in the northeast and a pain in the southeast we had to deal with the rain and aftermath of that

tornado outbreak. that deadly storm system is heading out to sea finally. just a little snow left in areas of maine and nova scotia. we have an arctic air mass rushing through the great lakes right now and it's only going to clip, say, minnesota to wisconsin, michigan to the northeast. it's not pushing much farther south. but it will be very windy this afternoon so we still could see additional problems with delays. as far as temperatures with the arctic blast, marquette, michigan, negative 19 windchill. minneapolis, negative 12. those windchills are in the teens, detroit, pittsburgh, that cold air is going to head into the northeast. tomorrow morning, by the way, it will be 4 in new york city, negative 5 in boston. big changes coming our way. of course this time of year, you're going to get problems near the great lakes because they're still pretty warm. there's not a lot of ice. so we have a lot of snow equ

squalls, that's where we will see reduced visibility. that's only the snow and travel problems we'll have out there. otherwise, if you're in south florida, you have rain and thunderstorms coming through. miami is one of the lone warm spots in the east. 80 today. that's where you'll trigger some of the showers and storms. we even have some around naples but through texas to areas like atlanta, it's a beautiful winter-type day. lots of sunshine. cool morning. atlanta still chilly at 46. denver not bad at all, 53. there is a new storm system coming into the west but unlike the last couple it's not going to go cross-country. the pacific northwest is going to stay kind of stormy. but everyone from the rockies eastward up through the upcoming weekend, a very tranquil weather pattern. it's about time, one storm after another, a good time to get your holiday stuff done. look how cold, new york city at

26. boston right around 23 degrees. >> that's cold. >> yeah, it's a blast of cold air. i was just looking -- i mentioned it yesterday, too. all the way to christmas, there's no big storms coming. there's a big warmup in the middle of the country. >> no white christmas. >> yeah. >> you sound like that's good news? >> people have to travel and get stuff done. >> you can travel in the snow. >> i know. you have your snowshoes and skis and everything else. >> thanks, bill. >> take it away. still ahead, new claims from the president's penal attorney rudy giuliani who plans to present his ukraine findings to the department of justice. we're going to tell you what he's saying about ukraine ambassador marie yovanovitch. ♪oh there's no place like home for the holidays.♪

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and beat big tobacco, helping pass laws to save the next generation from addiction. all against big odds you can beat him. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. rudy giuliani said that ousted ambassador marie yovanovitch was an obstacle, and took to twitter caming, quote, yovanovitch needed to be removed for many reasons most critical she was denying visa to ukrainians who wanted to come to u.s. and explain dem corruption, dem being short for democratic, i assume. she obstructed justice and that's not the only thing she was doing. she minimum enabled ukrainian collusion. and rudy giuliani repeated the assertion that yovanovitch was impeding his attempts to

investigate the claims about the democrats and bidens. he said he plans to present his report but cannot comment on it. and giuliani did not respond to requests by nbc news asking if he planned to comply with the report. >> rudy giuliani's associate lev parnas will be allowed to be out on bail while facing charges of violating laws. parnas could remain on house arrest giet federal prosecutors arguing that parnas with paul manafort and is a flight risk. an attorney for parnas told nbc on monday that the money wired from russia was a loan given to parnas' wife. however, prosecutors argued that the fund were sent by an

attorney for a ukrainian oligarch, who has tied to russian crimes and facing extradition to the u.s., and accused of bribing officials to secure a lucrative mining deal. parenter in and another associate igor furman have pled guilty in a scheme to buy political influence. >> nbc news is arguing that bill taylor who testified at the house impeachment inquiry will be leaving his post at the end of this year. taylor was previously the ambassador to ukraine under president george w. bush. taylor had voiced concern over the president withholding nearly $400 million of military aid to ukraine. saying in a text to gordon sondland, u.s. ambassador to the european union, quote, i think it's crazy to withhold military

assistance for the campaign. at the moment, it's unclear who replaces taylor who now turns over his position to the current deputy chief of commission to ukraine. >> some of president trump's fiercest conservative critics have launched a new super pac to punish republicans who say have enabled the president. the pac known as the lincoln project represents a single step forward. it's led by a former john mccain adviser steve schmidt and george conway. according to a "the new york times" op-ed written by the group, the pac's commission is to defeat president trump at the ballot box and to elect those patriots who will hold the line. organizers say the group plans to purchase television and digital ads starting in january and several battleground state. and president trump often appeals towards american troops as pat of his base but he's

losing support among active service members in the military times and syracuse university poll, donald trump has a 42% favorability among active duty troops. 50% have an unfarchable opinion of trump. trump's numbers are still stronger than president obama's among service members before he left office. troops had a 36% favorable opinion and 52% unfavorable opinion of obama. we're looking at the two presidents. president trump's most controversial military decisions, troops overwhelmingly disagree. only 27% of active duty troops approve of president trump's decision to withdraw from syria. 58% disapprove. 34% approve of red trump's decision to use military money for the southern border wall. a majority, 59%, disapprove. >> when you look at those numbers, in a bit of a slide there. and you can't help but think

troops understand the importance of having allied forces on the ground. >> right. and it could get back to shaping their views. >> exactly. still ahead, more on the latest ahead of today's historic vote in the house. as donald trump is poised just the third u.s. president to be impeached. plus, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell rejects offers to testify in the impeachment trial admitting he would not be impartial as a juror. we're back in a moment. attempt to free itself, it only becomes more entangled. unaware that an exhilarating escape is just within reach. defy the laws of human nature. at the season of audi sales event.

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welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. in just a couple hours the house of representatives will convene to begin the final process of impeaching the president. this follows a day of deliberation by the house rules committee. setting the guidelines for today's historic vote. judiciary committee chairman jerry nadler who had been expected to testify missed the meeting because of an unspecified family emergency. in his place, democratic congressman jamie raskin presented the committee's findings. >> the president's aggressive and unprecedented resistance to congressional subpoenas for witnesses and documents is blatantly and dangerously unconstitutional. the president's continuing course of conduct constitute a clear and present danger to democracy in america. we cannot allow this misconduct to pass. it would be a sellout of our

constitution, our foreign policy, our national security, and our democracy. >> raskin also pointed to a "new yorker" article this week that reveals an admission by trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani who said he needed former ukraine ambassador marie yovanovitch out of the way. >> we present you not just with high crimes and misdemeanors, but a constitutional crime in progress, up to this very minute, mayor giuliani, the president's private lawyer, fresh from his overseas travel looking to rehabilitate once again the discredited conspiracy theories at the heart of the president's defense admitted that he participated directly in the smear campaign to oust ambassador yovanovitch from her job. >> there's a lot of discussion about crimes, but they couldn't find it in themselves to charge one. if you read the majority's report, it is well written.

it is some of the best work you'll see, frankly, in some ways of fictional accounts of what this actually is, but it actually talks about it. the problem here is a majority bent on finding something for this president. this is not a court of law, because, believe me, this would have been a long time ago. we wouldn't have gotten to this place. the rules have allowed to get to this place because majority rules in this place. >> in 11 months, the american people are going to vote on the next president of the united states. why then are we plunging the country into this kind of turmoil and this kind of trauma now. and the voters themselves will resolve the matter one way or another. >> and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell rejected chuck schumer's call to recall john bolton and mick mulvaney as witnesses to testify in the senate impeachment trial. >> we don't make impeachments over here, mr. president. we judge them. the house chose this road, it's

their duty to investigate. it's the fact that our colleagues are desperate to sign up the senate for new fact-finding which house democrats themselves were too impatient to see through, well, that suggests something to me. it suggests that even democrats who do not like this president are beginning to realize how dramatically insufficient the house's rushed process has been. >> and suchumer went on to shea th -- say -- >> leader mereditcconnell, come this microphone and explain why mulvaney or bolton or blair or griffin shouldn't testify. why is the republican leader so afraid to have these witnesses come testify? they're members of the president's own staff, shouldn't these four aides be able to

defend president trump under oath in a senate trial? >> now, speaking to msnbc's chris hayes last night, schumer said he would push for a senate vote to include key witnesses in a trial. >> i'm allowed to ask the votes -- i will ask during the impeachment proceeding for a vote on whether mulvaney should testify? and whether bolton should testify and whether casey should testify and whether griffin should testify. and many of my republican colleagues will be in a real dilemma. >> and senator mitch mcconnell also admitted yesterday that in a senate impeachment trial it wouhe would not be an impartial juror. >> this is a political process. there is nothing impartial about it. impeachment is a political decision. the house made a political decision to impeach. i will anticipate we will have a largely partisan outcome in the senate. i'm not impartial about this at

all. >> joining us danny cevallos and congressional reporter for "the daily beast" sam brody. danny, i want to start there, what we heard from the leader there, he does have to take an oath to be impartial here. i want to take a look at what that looks like 20 years ago from chief justice rehnquist during the impeachment trial. >> at this time, i will administer the oath to all senators in the chamber in conformance with article 3, clause 6. will all senators stand and raise your right hand, will do you solemnly swear in all things relating to the impeachment trial of president clinton now pending you will do everything in the constitution to the laws so help you god. the clerk will call the names.

>> impartial justice according to the constitution and laws. then you also have leader mcconnell there saying -- admitting he will not be impartial. and this is actually a political process. is there any concern, danny for the rule of law here? >> i can see a concern for the rule of law. on the other hand, impartial justice doesn't necessarily mean that the juror, him or herself, will be free of all partiality. it's not the same as the judicial process but that does give reason for concern for the rule of law. at the same time, i think that will be the republicans' response, that impartial justice is different for each individual senator being impartial and they're clearly not. i've been saying this for a long time that as jurors in our judicial system we vet jurors during voir dire, to make sure even though they may have biases, the biases do not affect their ability to judge fairly. and that's very different from what the senate trial looking like because our senators are elegislated for their biases.

they're elected because their constituents chose them for their opinions and views on the record. >> so to that point, senator mcconnell has also rejected witnesses, specifically, mick mulvaney, john bolton, to appear before the senate. he keeps saying this is a political process but is there a risk for mitch mcconnell that if he does not at least have witnesses, that the exoneration of president trump will be somewhat fallible, given the fact that it's going to come down to numbers and not the actual exoneration? >> my advise to mitch mcconnell, get this over as fast as you can. >> looks that's where he's headed. >> yes. actually, technically, they can do it on a motion to dismiss on the first day without any witnesses, without anything at all, technically, they have the sole power within the senate to set their own rules. but this is a faster trial, a better trial for republicans. there's an argument that it's a better thing for democrats as well. strategically, they want to avoid a longer trial, go to

shorter trial. >> sam, you think about elissa slotkin, a moderate democrat, making a declaration that, in fact, she will vote to impeach the president. talk about individuals like elisa slotkin in these districts? >> right, i think it boils down to a couple things, one of them, these folks got elected to congress saying they were going to hold the president accountable. they feel they're comfortable in a position of telling voters, look, this is what i feel is right. you may disagree with me but i'm standing up for my principles here. it's really rare to see members of congress say, look, if i lose my seat over this vote, so be it but that's what people like congresswoman slotkin have been saying over the last few weeks. i think these members being honest with their constituents is going to give them sort of

credibility at the ballot box next november. i do think there is sort of the raw politics here. certainly, a lot of democratic and republican organizations are in the field here trying to figure out how voters in these battleground districts feel about impeachment. but a couple weeks ago, the trump campaign released a poll of the battleground district in oklahoma, democrat kendra horns. but 45% supported impeachment which is a pretty high number. >> sam, give us a quick preview of the arguments we'll expect to hear from both sides leading up to the senate trial. >> sure. well, i think the clips from congressman raskin and collins wind up pretty well. you'll see democrats coalesce over this is an ongoing crime. it's not something that is over. to ensure that it stops happening and protect the

integrity of the 2020 elections which are so close. this is why they're not waiting. you know, leader mcconnell said this is rushed. people like raskin will continue to move quickly because this is a crime that is happening in realtime. again, i think the republicans are going to really lean on this argument that this is rushed, that the democrats haven't done their homework and it's flimsy, with both collins and mcconnell said yesterday. >> danny cevallos here on set, thank you so much to you. >> sam brody in d.c. appreciate it. still ahead, the president claims joe biden has lost a step. we're going to tell you what the former vice president's doctor is saying. your "first look" and "morning joe" is back in a moment.

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this according to biden. biden's doctor released a report, kevin connor, during the obama at statiodministration. the summary showed biden was being treated for several conditions including an irregular heartbeat, acid reflux and seasonal allergies. and since the biden campaign released 49 pages of records back in 2008. even though biden survived two aneurysms in the late '80s, the report says there's no serious threats to his health. let's go to bill karins. hey, bill. >> finally getting rid of the storm system. we're adding up the numbers, the three people that died from tornadoes just from car accidents, midwest to northeast, 11 fatalities just from that storm system alone. yesterday, at one point in areas of connecticut it was a mess. i mean, we had sleet and then

freezing rain on top of it. i-95 southbound was closed for a while because of two tractor trailers that hit each other and just caused like a chain reaction accident. today will be better but there is still black ice out there. what's left of that storm system is now finally pushing through south florida. it's a little rainy morning for you, west pauch all the way through ft. lauderdale eventually to miami. further north is where we have snow kicking in. and this is lake-effect snow because of a cold blast coming through the great lakes but it's kind of like a quick burst of snow. and some of this may wake it all the way to new york city to connecticut later in the afternoon. from cleveland to erie, driving the throughway, there's enough snow out there south of buffalo to do a little shoveling out there, not a lot, two or three inches. new york state, just an inch or two. windchill in marquette is

negative 22 so this is some of the coldest air of the season for a few spots. windchill of 6 in chicago. and now that cold air is going to start filtering into the northeast. it already feels colder than yesterday because yesterday we didn't have the winds in the northeast. there's still ice on the trees in southern new jersey and pennsylvania, and if the ice hasn't melted off the trees which it probably won't, we could get power down. and boston this time of morning, your windchill is negative 5. new york city, it's 3. that's a shock to the system considering it hasn't been that cold for a while. but i mentioned the good news, guys. here it comes, as we go through the weekend, the big warmup in middle of the country, 50s in chicago, and all of that warm air should head to the east coast by the time we get to christmas. >> thank you, bill. >> thanks, big. still ahead, new reporting 0 on how the president plans to offer counterprogramming to this

evening's impeachment proceed proceedi proceedings. and new vaping study on the long-term issue. next. ♪oh there's no place like home for the holidays.♪ ♪for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.♪ we go the extra mile to bring your holidays home. ♪

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welcome back. new studies on vaping out this week revealing a series of long-term health effects on users. on monday, a study by the american journal of preventive medicine found that people who used e-cigarettes were 30% more likely to develop a chronic lung

disease including asthma, emphysema and the nicotine formula used by juul vaping devices is nearly identical to this morning by the national institute of health found that teenagers are continuing to vape at a high rate. more than 26% of high school seniors said they vape nicotine in the past month. >> pretty astounding and pretty disturbing as well. that brings us to the spending bill approved by the house yesterday. along with avoiding a government shutdown, that bill also raises the legal age to buy tobacco products to 21-year-old. what else is included in this spending bill? >> $1.4 trillion spending bill. it removes the possibility of a repeat of the shutdown we had

just one year ago, you remember around christmastime the u.s. saw the longest ever shutdown. in addition to what he just mentioned regarding raising the legal tobacco age, other measures include a military and civilian federal worker pay raise to the tune of 3.1% particularly for military personnel, about $425 million in federal funding for election security grants, $25 million for gun research and a repeal of three health care taxes designed to help pay for the affordable health care tax. this is exactly in line with what was pencilled in for last year. the president has been demanding more, but it seems like that number is going to stay. this paves the way for it to pass the senate and eventually be signed into legislation by the president. i just want to take you to one company that's been under a lot of focus in the last couple of years. that is pg&e, the pacific gas and electric company.

the stock was up 12% yesterday in trading. this after reaching a $1.7 billion settlement with the california regulators over the deadly wildfires back in 017 and 2018 that was started by pg&e equipment. you may remember that, and obviously this company has come under a lot of pressure recently. they filed for bankruptcy back in january, but it is a second hurdle for them that has been reduced. several weeks ago they also reach a $30 billion settlement with some of the victims of the wildfires. the stock has reacted quite well. >> so much loss in so many of those wildfires which were devastating to watch as they progressed in many of those towns in california. boeing has had quite a week. yesterday announcing that they were stopping the production of the 737 max airplanes. now they are launching a new space taxi for astronauts this coming friday. what can you tell us about this? >> yeah, probably some welcome

relief for them from a pr perspective that they can now shift gears a little bit. they are launching a new spaceship called the cst 100 star liner, and that spaceship is going to be launched into orbit this friday amidst a united launch rocket. no people will be riding inside it. it's being sent out to space to prove to nasa it's safe. the star liner liftoff around 30 6:30 in the morning and return to earth back on december 27th. it's a short trip. it's just to prove they pass the space regulations. neither spacex nor boeing has approved a spaceship -- have sent spaceships out that have been approved by nasa that are deemed appropriate and safe for people to fly in. >> thank you. coming up next, everybody, a look at the 1 big thing from "axios," and coming up on "morning joe," months of

investigations and partisan rhetoric over impeachment comes to a head today when the house votes on whether to impeach the 45th president of the united states, donald j. trump. >> joining the conversation, the chairman of the house intelligence committee adam schiff to members of the house leadership, jim clyburn and akeem jeffries. plus, democratic congress won elissa slotkin on her risky decision to get behind impeachment. >> and presidential historian, michael beschloss, a special edition to "morning joe" is just moments away. early gum disease, and killing up to 99.9% of germs. try listerine®. need stocking stuffers? try listerine® ready! tabs™. the ones that make a truebeen difference in people's lives. and mike's won them, which is important right this minute, because if he could beat america's biggest gun lobby,

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joining us from washington, d.c. with a look at "axios" a.m., political reporter for "axios" alexi mcka monday. great to have you with us today. it may be presumptive of me, but what is the "axios" 1 big thing today? >> yes, there's something happening today, a historic vote, i don't know. yes, it is about impeachment and

one house democratic member from a trump won district told "axios" that instructions from house democratic leaders today was to not cheer but to keep it solemn, and that's because house democratic leaders are really laser focused on making it clear to voters, to republicans, to the rest of the caucus that this isn't a happy day for them in which they are set to vote to impeach the 45th president of the united states. they want it to be solemn, they don't want members to burst out into applause or cheer when the vote totals are announced because they know that the republicans are already trying to turn this into a partisan game and just claim that this is a political witch hunt against the president. >> probably wouldn't be good optics if they rolled some beer out onto the house floor after it all went through. >> i can't help but think about how fast this has moved from that first whistle-blower account started putting this on everyone's radar. >> incredibly fast, which is part of the republicans' defense in all of this. talk to us about what "axios"

knows with regards to the president's tick tock of the day, and exactly what he's going to be doing while this vote takes place. >> we know that president trump can't let anything go unanswered, so we are sure to receive a tweet or some sort of response from him on the vote today, but what's interesting according to our reporting is that the president is really trying to roll out this counter programming to impeachment. he'll be joined by vice president mike pence in battle creek, michigan, later tonight hosting what they're calling a merry christmas rally, and he's going to use that as a way to gin up support and energy from his supporters, those base group of folks who love him no matter what happens with impeachment. they're going to be rolling out various online videos that are talking about how house democrats have been hypocrites on this issue, and they've been working to impeach the president since the day that he got elected is the argument they'll be pushing. they'll also be continuing a fund-raising push that we all talked about yesterday and we've seen from weeks on end around impeachment. as the trump re-election

campaign and rnc have been working for months to figure out a strategy to sort of counter program what is happening on this side with impeachment as democrats are moving toward impeaching him today. >> live in d.c. for us, thank you very much. you can sign up for the news letter at signup@"axios".com. >> i'm yasmin vossoughian along side ayman mohyeldin, morning starts right now. i donald john trump do solemnly swear. >> i would recommend that they start an investigation into the bidens. >> that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states. >> china should start an information into the bidens. >> and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend. >> i think you might want to listen. there's nothing wrong with listening. >> the constitution of the united states. >> it's not an interference. they have information. i think i'd take it. >>