attacks on her late husband, congressman john dingell. "andrea mitchell reports" starts right now. hey, andrea. >> thank you so much. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," what now? following the historic impeachment of donald trump, the speaker of the house engages in political ju-jitsu, withholding the articles of impeachment to delay a senate trial that would almost certainly acquit him. >> i myself want to say i have a spring in my step because of the moral courage of our caucus. trial balloon. mitch mcconnell strikes back at the house speaker, calling the impeachment process rigged and rushed, while accusing democrats of being too afraid to send the articles of impeachment to the senate. >> it looks like the prosecutors are getting cold feet in front of the entire country. and sound and fury. as he was being impeached, president trump taking aim at a michigan legend, the late

congressman john dingell and his wife congresswoman debbie dingell. >> she calls me up, it's the nicest thing that's ever happened, thank you so much, john would be so thrilled, he's looking down, he would be so thrilled, thank you so much, sir. i said, that's okay, don't worry about it. maybe he's looking up, i don't know. [ audience reacts ] >> coming up, john dingell's wife and political successor, congresswoman debbie dingell, joins me here. and good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington where house speaker naps todncy pelosy is making it clear she will not appoint house managers to proceed with a senate trial until mitch mcconnell negotiates with chuck schumer on procedures for that trial. >> our founders when they wrote the constitution, they suspected that there could be a rogue president. i don't think they suspected that we would have a rogue president and a rogue leader in

the senate at the same time. >> pelosi's surprise move caught leader mcconnell off-guard. >> speaker pelosi suggested house democrats may be too afraid, too afraid to even transmit their shoddy work product to the senate. >> joining me now is nbc's kristen welker who is at the white house. nbc's geoff bennett on capitol hill. and susan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today." kristen, first of all, the president's reaction. and geoff bennett, obviously we saw a big play on the hill today. kristen, you take it first. >> president trump, andrea, has been defiant. his anger has been on display. yesterday at the white house he was privately fuming while all of this was going down, tweeting in all caps. but then once he hit the campaign trail he put his anger on display. of course we all witnessed that remarkable split screen, president trump campaigning in battleground michigan as that

impeachment vote was unfolding and he became the third u.s. president in history to be impeached. president trump taking sharp aim at democrats, saying it doesn't feel like we're being impeached, and trying to energize his base. based on my conversations with aides and allies, they also acknowledge this is bothering president trump. he deeply detests the fact that this is going to be on an asterisk on his name in history. andrea, a little bit of news here, based on conversations with a senior administration official, another source familiar with the matter, we have just confirmed that representative jeff van drew, one of the two democrats to vote no on impeachment, will be meeting with president trump here at the white house today. we don't have any specifics on timing yet. of course this is significant because president trump is going to point to these types of defections to make the case that while republicans held firm, democrats did not, that there were a few democratic defections. now, of course we reported over

the weekend that van drew has signaled he will be switching parties. that hasn't happened yet. still, president trump is going to aim to claim victory around his no vote, andrea. >> that's a tough claim to make with all the huge headlines, "impeached," just to say, geoff bennett, right now nancy pelosi and mitch mcconnell, competing news conferences this morning. nancy pelosi pointing out that they held firm, all those endangered moderate democrats, just about all of them, held firm. they lost two democrats on article i and three on article ii. >> you're right about that. and jeff van drew and collin peterson are the outliers. democrats say the real story are those dozens of front line democrats who voted for impeachment even though it wasn't in their political best interests. now, the news that we're tracking today of course is what

comes next in this process. and to clarify this for people because these rules between the house and the senate, it's arcane, it can be confusing. look, there were two additional steps that house democrats had to do in order to tee up a senate trial. one was that the house speaker had to name the house impeachment managers, that group of house lawmakers who will basically act as prosecutors on the senate floor. the other thing they had to do was transmit the articles of impeachment. but after the vote the house speaker gave that press conference last night where it seemed as if she was saying that she wasn't going to commit to a timeline for doing either of those things. and it seemed as if she was making a ploy to build more leverage, to say in effect to mitch mcconnell, look, unless or until you commit to offering us a fair trial and having a trial on terms favorable to democrats, we are not going to set this up for you, we're not going to send you the things you would need to kick off this trial, which on its face seems like a risky and curious strategy, because how do you build leverage with someone

by denying them the thing they've never wanted, right? well, today, in that press conference, and you're seeing video of it right now, the house speaker clarified things. what she said was is that yes, she intends to name the house managers but what she said was, it's the naming of the house managers that triggers the transmission of the articles of impeachment from the house to the senate, and that she could not do that unless she knew precisely what the process was in the senate, so she knew how many house managers she would need and just who those people are. so if you think about it, it sounds logical, right? but the thing we don't know yet is when she will know what that senate process looks like. today we're told that senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and senate democratic leader chuck schumer are meeting behind closed doors to hash this out. one hopes by the end of the week we'll know what we're going to see when we come back that first full week of january when most people had expected that senate

trial to start. we don't even if it will start that week or a week after. but if this thing slips to the end of january or early february, then you're up against the 2020 presidential calendar with those first key states with those big votes in early february. >> indeed. and susan page, you've been covering nancy pelosi, i know you're doing a book on nancy pelosi. she seems to be right in her moment, and particularly, as we saw her gesturing to the caucus not to be cheering, let's play a little bit of her declaring the vote and then the gesture, if you look closely as how she was gesturing them to calm down and not be jubilant about something this serious. >> on this vote, the yeas are 230. the nays are 197. present is 1. article i is adopted. on this vote, the yeas are 229,

the nays are 198, present is 1. article ii is adopted. >> she made it very clear, su n susan, she is the leader with the iron hand. that is the tone she has tried throughout. she was reluctant to this process, back when maxine waters was calling for impeachment, elizabeth warren, among the 2020 candidates, nancy pelosi was still saying don't use that word, not until after ukraine happened, of course. >> that's right. nancy pelosi was reluctant to impeach. she was standing against the most liberal members in her caucus after the mueller report came out, saying no, let's not impeach him on accusations of obstruction of justice. she had reasons why she thought that wasn't the wise thing to do. once that ukraine call became known, she changed her mind, put some of her members at risk, 31

house democrats were elected from districts that donald trump carried. but it was remarkable last night that we saw 28 of them vote for both articles of impeachment, one more voted for one of the articles of impeachment. you wouldn't have predicted that kind of solidarity at the beginning of this process. and that look that she gave after gaveling the first article of impeachment passage, that is a look that every mother in america is familiar with, when you're talking with your kids in the back seat telling them to cut it out. and boy, did they pay attention to it, they stopped instantly. the second time around there was only one person who made a cheering kind of sound and he was hushed by his colleagues. >> indeed. and i just want to point out that 25 years ago, trent lott and daschle, tom daschle and trent lott worked together, and there was a 100-senator vote agreeing to the procedures. so she does -- and chuck schumer

does have some precedent here in terms of modern history, since we didn't have a senate trial in the nixon case, he resigned before he was actually impeached. there is senate history here for them working together and establishing the procedures so she would know, geoff bennett, who to appoint. >> you're right, and she spoke about that precedent in the press conference today. i think the thing that democrats realize is that such that they have any leverage in a senate trial, it really is at the beginning, and that once the trial kicks off, their leverage, their influence dissipates. that's one of the reasons why you saw the senate democratic leader chuck schumer try to get everything he wants up front, and of course mcconnell pushing back, andrea. >> geoff bennett, kristen welker, and of course susan page, thanks to all. as the house was voting last night to impeach the president, the president was in michigan, attacking one of the state's iconic political families, the nation's longest serving member

of the house, in fact, the late john dippingell who died this y. his wife debbie dingell succeeded him in my. >> do you know dingell, did you ever hear, from michigan? debbie dingell, that's a real beauty. so she calls me up like eight months ago, her husband was there a long time. but i didn't give him the "b" treatment, i didn't give him the "c" or the "d." i could have. i could ha i gave them everything, took down the flags. she calls me up, that's the nicest thing that's ever happened, thank you so much, john would be so thrilled. he's looking down, he would be so thrilled, thank you so much, sir. i said, that's okay, don't worry

about it. maybe he's looking up, i don't know. [ audience reacts ] >> debbie dingell responded on twitter, writing, mr. president, let's set politics aside. my husband earned all his accolades after a lifetime of service. i'm preparing for the first holiday season without the man i love. you brought me down in a way you can never imagine and your hurtful words made my healing much harder. she also posted a thank-you to nancy pelosi for her strong leadership and, quote, an empathetic hand. joining me now is democratic congresswoman from michigan, debbie dingell. congresswoman, thank you very much and thanks for joining us at a time that's very difficult, the holiday season was not going to be easy in any case. how did you heard when you heard about the president's comments? >> i sort of had a hard time even understanding what was being said. unfortunately the first person who got to me, asked me what i thought about the president saying my husband was in hell.

so a little more context came later. and it hurt. you know, i loved my husband, as you know, i loved my husband as most never have. people forget that members of congress are human just like them. we go through some real hard times. >> you know, i frankly started covering your husband back in the '70s when i was the energy correspondent for nbc news. of course he was legendary at energy and commerce, rising up to be the chair, the long-time chair. he should have been honored for his service as the longest serving member of congress in the history of the united states. you shouldn't have been asking the president for any favors in honoring john dingell's life and service. >> so, you know, i sort of feel i don't want to get into the weeds, because i don't want to go where he was. but the reality is, he was a

world war ii veteran, and was buried at arlington, which is the only thing he ever asked me for, because he served in world war ii, defending this country. he was the longest serving member. he was not, contrary to what the president said here last evening in the rotunda. the speaker had asked me if i wanted him to be here at the capitol and i did not because i did not want him to get anything special that other former members did not get. what i wanted for him was that our church, where we had been married, that i had taught sunday school when in college, and when we happened to be in washington on a sunday, went to mass. so he did lower the flags. and by the way, he called me. and i appreciated that call. he was very empathetic on that call. his kindness meant a lot. and i was grateful and still to this day even after the remarks last night, kindness meant a lot at a difficult time.

>> nancy pelosi spoke about it this morning, she was asked about it at her news conference, i wanted to share that with our viewers. >> let us pray for the president. the president clearly is insecure when it comes to statespersons, whether it was john mccain. think of what he said about john mccain and his supporters just overlooked that. now john dingell. what the president misunderstands is that cruelty is not wit. just because he gets a laugh for saying the cruel things that he says doesn't mean he's funny. >> he seems to play to the crowds at these rallies and he said a similar thing about john mccain whose family was deeply hurt by that. what is it about the way he behaves in front of these crowds? >> you know, i don't know. it makes me sad.

i do know, having watched more of these clips than i wanted to, what he said last night, he got a very mixed reaction. and i just think people sometimes need to remember that we're all human. i don't like the tone of the rhetoric in this country right now. i've said it many times, it's been one of the things i've worked on for many years. social media, instead of being a tool that brought us together more, people think bullying and vitriolic comments and this whole tone of just divisiveness. i think we need to get back to a time of civility and that you can disagree but do it agreea e agreeably. i don't know why he decided to do what he did last night but to say it didn't hurt would not be the truth. >> i note your friend, fred upton, michigan congressman, tweeted last night, i've always looked up to john dingell, my

good friend and a great michigan legend, there was no reason to dis him in a crass political way, most unfortunate and an apology is due. do you agree that an apology is due from the president? >> he said what he said. i would like to say every one of my republican colleagues from michigan, and many more, a very real diversity, and people that people would never expect, but the michigan members have been incredibly supportive, and loving. fred is not the only person that has made strong comments. several of them have also said that they won't go to the white house and they won't speak to him. i don't want to get into that. i'm not -- you know, he said what he said and it hurt and i'll leave it at that. one of the republican members said today that john dingell is still up there working.

on a day that people might have felt awkward or the floor might not have been as it is, people were community on the floor. people from liz cheney, louis gohmert, there were 20 republicans of all kinds of backgrounds, geographical, dealings that they had with him, came up to hug me and told me that they were disturbed and that we all have to pull together and work together. and so if it takes something like this, hurting somebody, then -- and it pulls us together, then i guess john would tell me, toughen up, woman, handle it, and let's get people working together. >> a fine message to think about going into the end of the year and the holiday season. that's the congress that i remember covering and loving so much. thanks to you and obviously we honor your husband. >> thank you. thanks, andrea. >> thank you, debbie dingell.

coming up, what a card. speaking of being bipartisan, president trump sends his yearly holiday greeting, a greeting card to all senators and house members but he put in a little side message, that six-page letter slamming nancy pelosi written on official white house letterhead, no less. senator chris murphy, one of the recipients of that letter and that card, sharing his reaction to the holiday package from the white house, next. stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. it's finally time for... geico sequels! classic geico heroes, starring in six new commercials, with jaw-dropping savings. vote for your favorites at: geico.com/sequels ahhh, which way do i go?! i don't know, i'm voting for our sequels. with geico, the savings keep on going to a screen near you. not the leg! you dang woodchucks! geico sequels. vote and enter to win today!

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, helping pass background check laws and defeat nra backed politicians across this country, beat big coal, helping shut down hundreds of polluting plants 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.

happy holiday from the white house this year. on the same day the impeachment vote was taking place, the president sent an early gift to lawmakers, a christmas card, along with a copy of his six-page impeachment diatribe tearing apart speaker nancy pelosi. joining me now, one of the recipients of that pre-holiday package, senator chris murphy, democrat of connecticut and a member of the foreign relations committee. senator, thanks very much. what's your reaction, what is the reaction of your colleagues to getting that letter, to the letter itself and having it enclosed in a happy christmas, happy new year, merry christmas card? >> i think it was a white house staffer who was working all day to package together the giant oversized white house christmas card and that scathing, incoherent letter. listen, it was weird. but i don't know that it was any weirder than anything else that

happens in this white house on a daily basis. that letter had been emailed to us the day it was released to the public so we all had plenty of opportunity to read it, i'm not sure we all needed a hard copy delivered along with the christmas card. it obviously was a side story to a day that is much more solemn and much more serious. >> maybe you can read it to the children in front of the fireplace on christmas eve instead of dickens' "a christmas carol." >> maybe next year. >> i wanted to ask you about speaker pelosi holding back the articles of impeachment, she says because she needs to know what the procedures would be by what should be mutual agreement between chuck schumer and the majority leader mitch mcconnell, so she knows who to name as managers. is she looking for leverage, does she get leverage? dick durbin was quoted by politico as saying he doesn't see how that gives her leverage. what do you think of this tactic? >> it's obviously her decision

when to send the articles over. i would hope she sends them over sooner rather than later. we have to come to a decision in the senate as to how we're going to structure this trial. and i think that's really a decision that the senate has to come to. i understand the house may want to have impact on that decision, but it ultimately is our constitutional responsibility. i hope that mitch mcconnell agrees to run a fair trial where we make factfinding the centerpiece of our work. but i've listened to some house democrats suggest that they don't ever want to send the articles over. i certainly think that would be a terrible idea. i would rather have them in front of us sooner rather than later. >> what do you think about the vulnerable republican senators up for reelection who might be trying to show those independent voters they're not just lockstep with the president of the united states? might one or another or more of them come over and help force witnesses to be called? >> i would hope that there's a

number of republicans considering assuring we have a fair trial. this is not a criminal trial, but we certainly do look to what happens in other trial contexts to make decisions about how we proceed. in normal trials, you have interviews of witnesses, and they come and present their version of the story to the jurors so the jurors can hear it firsthand. that would be a reasonable way for us to deal with this set of facts. if i'm the president and i believe that i'm innocent, then i don't know what there is to be worried about. mick mulvaney's testimony or the disclosure of emails. i suspect that in fact those emails and that testimony would be further confirmation of corruption and would make it harder for republican senators to vote against removal. and so i think that's the reason why mcconnell right now is trying to short-circuit witnesses and documents and try to move to a verdict as quickly

as possible. >> what do you think about mitch mcconnell, lindsey graham, and several others saying they've already reached their conclusion, indicating there won't be witnesses, that it will be very speedy and they've made up their minds? >> so i think this is a really tricky question. so i haven't been shy to disclose my feelings about whether the president's conduct warrants removal. i think what he's done deserves impeachment and i think it certainly rises to the level of having him removed from office. but i'm willing, frankly eager, to hear exculpatory evidence from the president. i'm willing to change my mind in this trial if he presents evidence that contradicts in a serious and significant way the facts that have been presented by the house. and so i don't begrudge mitch mcconnell or lindsey graham from having an opinion. i think all of us, whether we share it or not, have an opinion as to whether what the president did is worthy of removal. what i don't like is that they are telegraphing that they aren't open to running a fair trial, that they're going to run a trial only in accordance with the president's wishes.

that's not my desire. my desire is to run a trial that's all about the facts. and i remain open to changing my mind if there is evidence that the president didn't do what it seems pretty clear by the evidence thus far that he did. >> senator chris murphy, thanks for being with us today. coming up, reality bites. president trump says he does not feel like he's being impeached, just as the house was voting to impeach him. you heard that right. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. when you shop with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one. for small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more. shop everything home at wayfair.com

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the question is on the adoption of article ii. those in favor, say aye. those opposed, nay. the ayes have it. >> by the way, it doesn't really feel like we're being impeached. the country is doing better than ever before. we did nothing wrong. we did nothing wrong. >> it was history in the making. a split screen moment. for only the third time in 243 years, the president of the united states is impeached.

instead of remorse from the president, though, defiance. joining me now, jonathan capehart of "the washington post," ruth marcus, "washington post" columnist, and nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss. ruth is of course the author of "supreme ambition," let's not forget to mention that. >> thank you so much. >> ruth, first to you. the complete dissonance between the moment that was happening in the house chamber and the president's reaction. he does, from all reporting, though, seem to be very angry in his defiance. >> it's just a "removed from reality" moment not just on the part of the president but the completely dissonant views adopted by the democrats in the house and senate and the

republicans in the house and senate. the president may say he doesn't feel like he's being impeached, but number one, actual fact, not alternative fact, he has been impeached and he will be tried in the senate and that does not feel good even if you're donald trump. >> michael, as our resident historian, you can tell us not only how rare this is, we know that numerically how rare it is, but just the toxicity of the moment, this divide, and also the remorse that bill clinton showed 25 years ago. he gave a speech of apology. >> bill clinton did. and certainly he showed that he knew that he felt that he was being impeached. but it is a toxic moment. you look to history for guidance and you can't look very far, because as you said, andrea, there are only three times now that this has happened in history. one thing, however, is true,

that impeachments have happened at toxic moments that are toxic for other reasons as well. >> and jonathan, what lessons should people draw from the way the house debate divided last night? it wasn't a debate in the classic sense that people were talking to each other and reacting to each other's comments. it was just everyone with their own talking points. >> right. actually everyone on the republican side, they had the president's talking points. on the democratic side, they had the caucus' talking points. i would argue the democrats were talking to the american people. the republicans were talking to the president. they used all the words that the president has used over these last three years or so, slamming the democrats, slamming the investigations into him. and i think what we're seeing now or what we saw last night, you're right, they weren't talking to each other. this was not your classic debate

that we have grown accustomed to in the movies. this was the two sides just sort of over and over and over again, the republicans and the democrats, no matter who the member was, basically ended up saying the same thing. and i think in the end, you can say the democrats were saying that the president is not above the law and the republicans were saying that this whole thing is a sham. to ruth's point about the dissonance in these two realities here, one is reality and one is fantasyland. it's only going to get worse from here. >> michael beschloss, you said earlier, and ruth said, i guess, there's going to be a trial. is there going to be a trial? because what if the house sits on the articles of impeachment, if nancy pelosi does not appoint managers and he remains impeached but doesn't have the opportunity to be acquitted as we would expect he would be? >> well, the constitution says there has to be a trial of some kind, so that will happen at

some point. what we haven't seen is this kind of work between the house and senate on what the senate trial will look like. for instance, in the time of bill clinton you had negotiations between trent lott and tom daschle that were actually fairly quick. and by 2019 standards, almost congenial. >> it was a voice vote, 100 senators approved those procedures. >> right. >> if you had told any of us back in the day when we were covering that impeachment that we would look back on it as some golden age of bipartisan shim and comity, we would have told you you're smoking something. >> remember, ken starr was giving news conferences throughout. we talked about no leaks from mueller. ken starr was updating all the time. and then dumped that unedited document, the book. i mean, i remember some of our most esteemed colleagues, bob schieffer on cbs and others on

the hill, reading aloud things that you could not say on television. >> indeed. i spent some time last weekend reading through the transcript of the house debate on the clinton impeachment. and some things were very similar. there was talk about coups. there was talk about witch hu s hunts. >> 31 democrats voted to impeach him in the house. >> but there was also a lot of conversation not just from those democrats but from others about how deplorable and unacceptable the president's behavior had been. and there was zero reflection of that from republicans in the debate yesterday. >> jonathan, i hear you, speaking of your assent on that, we all lived through it and it was pretty horrible. >> yes. and that's a great point that ruth brought up about last night, the fact that no republican, despite mouthing words that the president has said all the time, no republican

condemned his -- or talked about his behavior. that's what i think is the big difference. the other thing that was said last night on msnbc, i can't remember if it was gene robinson or chris hayes, but here is a president who has been looking for approval his entire life, especially when he was here in new york. and since becoming president, still trying to get the approval of the elites, of the powers that be. whether it was chris or gene, whoever made this point, it was a very good point. the president will do anything in this election to win if only to clear his name. and that's why i think we have only seen the beginning of what we're about to go through. >> jonathan capehart, ruth marcus, michael beschloss, thanks, all, to you. coming up, full bloom. billionaire michael bloomberg says vice president joe biden doesn't have the experience to be president. really? stephanie ruhle's exclusive

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seaonly abreva cany to help sget rid of it in... ...as little as 2 1/2 days when used at the first sign. abreva starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. abreva acts on it. so you can too. tonight, fresh off the impeachment vote, the final democratic debate for the year with the field now winnowed down to just seven qualifying candidates. notably, the least diverse of any of these debates. senator cory booker failed to make the democratic party's cut. also missing from the stage, former mayor of new york city

billionaire mike bloomberg who is refusing to accept campaign donations, and so is foregoing all the primary debates. bloomberg is confident he has what it takes to defeat president trump. he sat down for an exclusive interview with my colleague stephanie ruhle and asserted he's even more qualified that the former vice president, frontrunner joe biden. >> you told me in august that any of the candidates running in the democratic field would do a better job than donald trump. >> i think that's probably true. >> then why not just vote for one of them? >> because you said better than donald trump. that's not the standard. we need somebody that can give us results. >> so they can't do that? >> i don't think that any of them have the experience to do it. >> joe biden doesn't have the experience? >> he's never been a manager of an organization. he's never run a school system. his wife actually is an educator

and has good experience there. but no, i don't think any of them -- the presidency shouldn't be a training job. >> stephanie, i was speechless when i saw that. >> i was too. but that was a challenge because i had to ask the next question. it was definitely shocking to hear mike bloomberg, mayor mike bloomberg, say that. but from his perspective, he said in august, all of those candidates would be better than president trump. but clearly what he's now saying is they might be better at the job but they can't win. the question is, then, andrea, if they can't win, why wouldn't mike bloomberg put his massive machine of resources behind one of those candidates and go full throttle? because as far as connecting with the american people, inspiring them, you have been to an elizabeth warren event, one of president trump's events. they've created a movement. can mayor mike bloomberg, who has a ton of experience as a

business professional, as a mayor, who can lead organizations better than most people we can point to, can he create a movement in a way that other candidates have. >> that's the question. where is the emotion, where is the passion? he's got the money, and certainly spending more than $100 million already on paid ads. but isn't he vulnerable to the bernie sanders, the billionaires, we don't want the billionaires to take over? that is not a popular position to be in, in a democratic primary race. >> he is, he argues that much like a bernie sanders or an elizabeth warren, he's not beholden to anyone because he's not taking donations from anyone. big corporations and small. but if you're not even taking small donations, then we don't have anyone invested. you don't have people saying it's pouring rain outside but still i'm going to go vote for you. but for anyone out there who says he's late to the race, where has he been, don't forget, it was mike bloomberg who gave a tremendous amount of resources to those 2018 midterms.

the midterms that flipped the house. it was steve bannon two days ago who said it was bloomberg who flipped the house. to say he's coming out of nowhere, he's not coming out of nowhere, but he has to find some heart to inspire the american people. >> stephanie ruhle, not surprised you got the big interview. >> i do know mike bloomberg very well, i worked for bloomberg news for five years before i came here. >> but also to say that you know what you're talking about when you talk about new york city and the mayor and what he did in the past and his whole experience base. thank you so much for sharing, and i know we can all see stephanie's entire interview with former mayor mike bloomberg tomorrow morning at 9:00 eastern right here on msnbc. coming up, next steps. nancy pelosi is not going to name house managers for a senate trial or send the articles of impeachment to the senate. so what is her strategy?

i'll talk to house justice and intelligence committee member democratic eric swalwell here next. stay with us. outback is making your holidays even better!

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him. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz xr, a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis or active psoriatic arthritis for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. it can reduce pain, swelling, and significantly improve physical function. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections like tb; don't start xeljanz if you have an infection. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra can increase risk of death. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened.

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standoff with senamajority lead mitch mcconnell, she will not send over the articles of impeachmentth until mcconnell agrees to democratic witness requests. who has more leverage, joining me from capitol hill, congressman eric swalwell on the intelligence and judiciary committees. congressman, what is the play here? would nancy pelosi hold up the articles of impeachment and naming managers indefinitely if mitch mcconnell doesn't cave in? >> good afternoon. the play so to speak, the americanto people and the president deserve a fair trial. the president abused his power of the p presidency to ask a foreign government to cheat an election. he should be held accountable for that. the majority leader is telegraphing he is not going to allow witnesses or documents. the opposite of what he said 20 yearswh ago. i saw an interview on another

network he was saying in 1999 on the clinton impeachment trial there should be witnesses there, and so he should follow the advice he was giving then, it was right then and it's right now. >> what if there were no trial? senator chris murphy, your colleague, just said earlier on this program that it should be sentis over, they have a constitutional right to a senate trial and it should go over sooner rather than later? is there a scenario where the house s democrats would hold itp indefinitely and have him be impeached without the chance to be acquitted? >> i don't think the speaker is suggesting that. what i heard her say this morning and last night, the president was just impeached which is a serious act that the house took, and now she is seeking from the senate majority leaderat assurances there will a fair a trial, which is not unusual to ask. she doesua not want to name managers ort send over article

if it's just going to be a rigged jury. she has a right to ask that. again the president deserves thatag and the american people deserve that. >> congressman, you think there is going to be a senate trial? perhaps not january 6th, but at some point? >> i hope so. there's an urgency here because the president has invoked the upcoming election, which is affecting our national security and the integrity of the ballot box, but the president has refused to allow witnesses and documents to come forward. i saw a poll 70% of americans believe he should allow those witnesses to come forward. most americans believe that at trials, witnesses testify and the president and mitch mcconnell seem to just want to have a rigged outcome. >> what i was hearing from chris murphy just to point out, was this o historic division betwee senate and house, basically saying this is our prerogative, not up to the house to tell us what our rules are. >> yeah.

i respect that and again, the speaker is saying we have done the work of the initial investigation, put forward powerful evidence the president allowed no witnesses of the 14 people we asked him to provide to come forward. he sent zero documents. we provided overwhelming evidence he abused his office, but if we're going to send these articles over and our managers we o need to know what rules ar and the american people should have who he's blocked in the senate. >> t we understand senator schur is meeting with mitch mcconnell this afternoon. what leverage does he have? >> the american people want a fair trial and he will be defying the 70% of americans who said that witnesses should be testifying at a trial. >> congressman eric swalwell f we don't see you, happy holidays to you and your y family. thank you for being with y us today. >> thank you. >> with that, we'll take a quick

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thanks for being with us. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow on-line on facebook and twitter. here is ali velshi. >> have yourself a great afternoon. hello, thursday december 19th. coming up this hour on "velshi and ruhle" congress is split down party lines in the

impeachment standoff. what could happen next as democrats and republicans negotiate the terms of the senate trial and what's in store for president trump. any moment now, the house is set to vote on a major trade deal. we're going to break down what it means for american workers and the products we buy like cars, meat and milk. we're going to speak to a republican lawmaker, roger marshall, from kansas. >> your phone is tracking where you go and who you meet. a shocking report hououtlines h the data is being sold and used against you. this is a must watch. right now, an impeachment standoff is under way in washington. house speaker nancy pelosi withholding the articles of impeachment until mitch mcconnell lays out a plan for a trial in the senate. this is part of a historic 24 hours in our nation's capital as president donald trump is now the third sitting u.s. president to be impeached. this morning, the president tweeting in part, quote, i got impeached last night without one republican vote being cast