by impeaching him. he's just the third president ever in the history of the united states to be impeached and notably the only president to be impeached for damaging american national security by soliciting foreign interference in a u.s. election. trump is essentially in worse shape than even richard nixon who resigned before the stain of impeachment could be slapped on to his already tainted legacy. no matter how trump or his supporters try to diminish the gravity of impeachment or use it as a re-election ploy, make no mistake, the blow to donald trump's legacy is both real and irreversible. the term impotus may trend for a day but decades from now when kids open their history book, trump stealing migrant kids from their parents and locking them up in cages and shutting down the government an immoral border wall will be listed after impeachment. impeachment, the shame of it and

particularly the cause of it, trump's eagerness, frankly his need to get foreign help a second time to get elected and the fact that he got caught trying to help -- trying to get that kind of foreign help a second time that is going to be central to the donald j. trump story forever and despite trump's attempts to claim that it's all just a hoax, signs point to him being in what can only be described as a total meltdown. signified perhaps most perfectly by this six-page angry rambling, frankly weird letter that he sent to nancy pelosi on the eve of his impeachment day. now speaker pelosi and mitch*connell are at a standoff on what will happen next which is supposed to be a trial for which mcconnell and the other unprecedented thing that kids will heroin about has promised to instead turn into a sick

display over loyalty and obedience to donald trump. joining me now is the staff writer at the new yorker who was one of 700 historians who have signed a letter calling for trump's impeachment. always e great to talk to you. >> good to see you. >> we were talking a little in the break but nothing kind of signifies donald trump's state of mind like this letter. it is long, it is weird, it is rambling. you know, i could read from it because it would be quite dramatic but it is a signifier about how he feels about this stain on his legacy. >> the emotional compose sure of a person who's just been broken up with. >> right. >> and i think it is weird. it's strange and then it kind of -- in a certain way is appropriate because it matches the tenor of what we've seen with the presidency has been, the campaign that preceded it has been and so the tragic comic part of it is the idea that this

is a document aimed at history. because usually when people write something that they know will be a landmark that future administrations, future historians, journalists, people will look back and say, well, this is an important assessment of this particular moment, they strive for the high ground. >> yep. >> this was mean spirited. it was petty, it was almost -- it was in full sentences but it was somehow another still twitter like kind f eexclamatio points and so on. it's a very interesting kind of idea that this is going to be a statement about the seriousness or the gravity of this moment. >> meant for historians and he states this is for historians to refer to this rambling sort of manic letter. but i want you to sort of deal with the reality of what it means to have this president not

just be impeached, but be impeached for the -- it's similar to what nixon did which is that he cheated to win even though he was going to win anyway which is the weird thing about what nixon did but in the case of donald trump, the fact that he needs foreign help to get elected and not only needed it once but needs it again and is pursuing it, what does that mean from a historical point of view? >> i think the thing with nixon is important because even the idea of him cheating when people anticipated him winning was the fact that it was more of a reflection of his personal insecurities. and when you go back to nixon's letters, it's almost shakespeareian. you can kind of read the documents associated with him, what that psychology was. a profoundly fragile and insecure man who was also simultaneously the most powerful man in the world. i think that that metaphorically applies to the moment that we're in right now. no one else in this country has control of the nuclear arsenal and no one else in the country

problem bring has an equally vivid easily displayed understandable set of kind of narcissistic insecurities aside from the person who's occupying the white house right now. >> and i mean the interesting thing about nixon is there were fears among the people around him that he would do something crazy. they were afraid of what he might do. with trump -- your thoughts? >> no, so here's the thing that concerns me about this which is that the attempts to hold him accountable have tended to 'em bolden him. one of the things that people have pointed to is the fact that he had this conversation right on the heels of the mueller report. >> yeah, the next day. >> but what does it mean if this person then has a rigged senate trial in which really fundamentally people have said they don't intend to be impartial jurors in this. what does that then say? what statement does that send to him? what kind of impunity will he behive with on the other side of

that? and so i think that's one of the aspects that is concerning. it had to be done signing that document with 2,000 scholars and historians say this is really a textbook example of what the founders were talking about when thaw were worried about the leaders of this country using the power of his office in order to pursue personal gain in particular ways that they understood to be detrimental to the republic. that's pretty much -- i don't think you get a better example of that aside from what we're looking at right now. what happens on the other side of it, that's another question. >> it's an interesting point you make because you think of countries and other parties in other countries, minority countries that needed foreign help including sometimes help from the united states to stay in power because they were -- you now have a republican party that gathered around a man who is specifically impeached for

defying their own body. so what does it mean to then have a party that says it is actually not a problem for the president of the united states to seek foreign help to get elected because that's how we retain power and it's fine with us but it's also okay for the president to defy us, to defy congress. >> right. it's creating an elected monarch. that's the kind of behavior that the republican part of congress seems to be okay with. there's one historical note on this i think is important to think about. in his farewell address george washington gives the country two warnings. two things that he's really concerned about. one is that he wants the united states to stay out of foreign conflicts. and he was like, we don't need to be entrenched. europe is always going to war. we need to develop on our own and so on. the other thing that he warns about is the danger of what he calls faction and he calls it faction because it wasn't a word that you know, we would use now which is partisanship.

and so he said that, you know, faxalism could undermine the democracy that we have now. i don't think that for their foresight in certain matters as it relates to this, certainly their foresight into the nature of tyranny and oligarchy and governmental abuse i don't think the founders recognized the extent partisanship could undermine democracy in the way that it has now. >> let's put donald trump in the bigger picture with andrew johnson, with bill clinton, with richard nixon. in nixon you have somebody whose crime was an attempt to cheat to win an election. in the case of clinton i find it funny when they say this is the first politically motivated impeachment. republicans wanted him excised from the history books. they were just hunting for

something for years until they found a sexual scandal. in the case though of andrew johnson there are i feel like a lot of parallels with donald trump. what the party has gone towards is the sense they cannot win elections through democratic means and so everything is on the table whether it's stopping people from voting altogether, using the census from rid people from the census so it's all about trying to just win know down to only the people they allow in. is it sort of natural that foreign help just is the next thing they want? >> sure. i mean, i think that one of the things that we have to look at i think is the kind of guiding light or guiding star, understanding what's happening, i think future generations will probably look back and say this was all about demography. the thing that's tying the civil rights issues of voter suppression and voter access to what's happening on the border to the kind of unbelievable

tolerance for taking children away from their parents to the rabid anti muslim politics that we've seen, all of these things are tied to a fundamental anxiety about the demography of this country. so if you were a person who lost by 3 million votes in the popular -- 3 million popular votes and won only by grace of the electoral college and you know that you're staring down the kind of demographic dead end for where these politics could lead you, sure, it would -- would it seem that unusual? would it seem that far out of the realm of possibility that you would seek to strong arm an ally into becoming part of the electoral process? snot really. >> yeah, and then which takes us back to andrew johnson whose impeachment was all about wanting to disallow black enslaved people from joining the electorate as sitsons.

>> when you look at the scale of these things, even we look at what nixon did and when we talk -- there was one kind of asterisk on nixon is that we have talked about johnson, clinton and trump as being impeechl vi impeached and because nixon wasn't technically impeached we have not included him but we should include him because the process still achieved the end that it was supposed to achieve. that congress was going to impeach him and that he likely would have been convicted and so he stepped aside, which was the process working in a different kind of way. but when we look at the kind of gravity of this, the only thing that compares is johnson. you go straight from johnson to trump with johnson trying to undermine reconstruction and the fundamental bull work of reconstruction which was to allow black citizenship and now we have this issue which is trying to undermine an american election. so it's there between 1868 and 2019. >> i agree. trump is the closest to andrew johnson of any of these people

and he just doesn't have the sense of sort of dignity of nixon who had least had the decency to resign. i don't think he'll do that. always good to talk to you. >> good to talk to you. >> coming up, moscow mitch ups his shell game. there's always a turtle analogy. more a.m. joy after the break. cologuard: colon cancer screening for people 50 and older at average risk. i've heard a lot of excuses to avoid screening for colon cancer. i'm not worried. it doesn't run in my family. i can do it next year. no rush. cologuard is the noninvasive option that finds 92% of colon cancers. you just get the kit in the mail, go to the bathroom, collect your sample, then ship it to the lab. there's no excuse for waiting. get screened. ask your doctor if cologuard is right for you. covered by medicare and most major insurers. does scrubbing grease feel like a workout? scrub less with dawn ultra. it's superior grease-cleaning formula gets to work faster. making easy work of tough messes.

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a fair process just as we would hope they would honor the constitution. by the way, i saw some i didn't see it but i heard some of what mitch*connell said today and it reminded me that our founders when they wrote the constitution, they suspected that there could be a rogue president. i don't think they suspected that we could have a rogue president and a rogue leader in the senate at the same time. >> the self-proclaimed grim reaper of the senate has made it clear that he's not interested in a fair trial. after all the senate is where house bills go to die so why not impeachments of republican presidents? speaker pelosi who is really good at this job has a few chess moves of her own. >> we have legislation approved by the rules committee that will enable us to decide how we will send over the articles of impeachment. we cannot name managers until we see what the process is on the senate side. >> so you would with hold -- you would wait to send the articles until you understand what the

senate is going to do. >> >> we'll make a decision as a group as we always have as we go along. >> joining me now is honk khan hou -- house majority whip. >> thanks for having me. >> great to talk with you. i'm going to play you a couple of the things that mitch mcconnell has said about the speaker's sort of game plan in senning the articles over to the senate. here is his first take on why he thinks that she might delay. take a listen. >> speaker pelosi suggested that house democrats may be too afraid, too afraid to even transmit their shoddy work product to the senate. mr. president it look like the prosecutors are getting cold feet. >> there's at lot of sneering think be senator mcconnell. your thoughts on his thoughts? >> nancy pelosi reminds me of all the women that i've had in

my life respectful of everybody, fearful of nobody. nancy is not fearful of this process. she is fearful of some of the things that's come from the lips of mitch mcconnell when he's made it very, very clear that he is not interested in having a fair trial. he's interested in rigging a system, and going through a process that will eventually acquit this president, and he's not going to call witnesses. some of them said i think my colleague from south carolina says he's not interested in hearing the facts. now, if anybody can see all the smoke that has been surrounding this president especially in recent weeks in securing our foreign relationships, they would know there are some facts that ought to be looked at and we ought to be bringing some witnesses forward who have been

party to some of this stuff. so we're not going to be a part of a rigged system if we can help it. >> and in fact, according to a political article, speaker pelosi said i'm never afraid and i'm rarely surprised. she said fear is not a word used with me. you should know right away i'm never afraid. that's her take on it. and you mentioned your colleague from south carolina, senator lindsey graham who has made it very clear that he is not impartial, that oath they're going to take means nothing to him that he's going to hold a show trial of the bidens in the committee. in the state of south carolina is that something that lindsey graham is going to suffer for? is that what they want their senator to be doing or will he have repercussions. >> >> jamie as you know as announced that he's going to

challenge senator graham and from the response that he's gathering from all over south carolina i think that people are chomping at the bit, looking for an opportunity to demonstrate to senator graham that they want a higher standard for their representative in washington. all of us ought to be interested in the process all of us ought to be interested in gathering facts about anything and all of us ought to be interested in giving a real honest assessment of any kind of issue that comes before our respective bodies, so jamie harrison has been taking very close watch of all of this. there are a lot of republican women that i've talked to who tell me that they are embarrassed by some of what's been going on recently. they are organizing for jamie harrison. i think we are going to find out very soon exactly what the majority of south carolina i don't knows feel about this kind

of representation, i hope that will give honor to good proper service in the united states congress. >> what about the very quiet senator tim scott? where is he on all this? senator schumer said they only need four senators to side with them to force mitch mcconnell to have a real trial. is there any chance that tim scott might be willing to step up and be one of those four? >> i don't know. i have not talked to tim. i have not heard him say anything publicly about this. i have not read of anything. maybe he has, but i know tim. i know his background. and i think that tim is an honorable person. i think he will listen to the facts and i think he will vote his conscience and i open his conscience is one that will maintain the integrity of the constitution of the united states of america which is what we're here to do. we swear on the -- with an oath

to defend this constitution and we also swear under god so help me god is what we say. and i would hope that we will honor that when we start assessing the facts and i think that tim scott will. >> let me play you one more sound byte from mitch mcconnell about the idea of whether or not the speaker has leverage in these negotiations coming up. take a listen. >> i admit i'm not sewer what leverage there is in retraining from sending us something we do not want. meanwhile other house democrats seem to be suggesting they'd prefer never to transmit the articles. fine with me. >> similar kamala harris would be one of the juries in theory, she wrote that mcconnell doesn't

want a trial. mcconnell appears more interested in covering up the president's misconduct than pursuing truth and fairness. he's trying to limit the impeachment trial and he has all but announced a verdict in doing so. he's actually seems to be agreeing with sflath tor harris saying he'd rather not have a trial at all. what do you think are the chank chances there would be no trial at all and that donald trump will be left impeached and untried? >> i think that the senator harris has it exactly right. i don't think that mitch mcconnell wants to have a trial. he knows full well to have a trial you will swear in witnesses, he will bring them to testify, but what it is they know and when they found it out, he does not want that. he wants a kangaroo court. it's not a trial. that is just a process that you go through to legitimize what you know to be unfair and in

some instances illegal treatment. i'm embarrassed he will get out in front of this process and say it to the american people i'm not interested at all in being fair, all i want to do is go through a process knowing full well for the end is going to be. that was my earlier life. i've been on trial for processes and i can tell you when you went through a process found guilty of trespassing, when you couldn't buy a hamburger in a store at the same store that you could buy all the school supplies you want to buy but you've trespassing if you buy a hamburger, those kinds of -- well, those processes, kangaroo courts was accepted in this country, never were really legal and i would hope it would not be acceptable to the american people today. the majority of the american people need to speck speak up about this process and let

mcconnell know that he is a public servant to carry out the man dates of the united states of america, not his personal preferences whatever they may be. >> the trials of people who were accused, white citizens who were accused of crimes against black people tended to have courts right along with, you know, the kind of trial that much mcconnell is saying the predetermined outcome in which the person walks regardless of apparent guilt in this case, self-declared guilt. before i let you go, we are running out of time but i want you to dement on a couple of bills out of the bills that are sitting in the house. the house has passed 400 bills fearly that mcconnell is refusing to bring to the floor. just tell me a couple of the bills that are sitting lying dead essentially at the doorstep of mitch mcconnell.

the one that the fifth circuit court of appeals recently declared that the affordable care act is constitutional. it says that the individual mandate is not. we have sent a bill to the senate to make it clear what the affordable care act is all about and what it would do for the vast majority of american people in need of health care. if mitch mcconnell will let that bill go forward we will be addressing what this court just told us we need to address. mitch mcconnell really ought to be ashamed of himself. we fix the health care hr 4 is passed, hr 3 reducing the price of prescription drugs, that's passed. all that is sitting in the senate and mitch mcconnell

refuses to bring it to the floor. if he brings these things to the floor, i think the majority of the senators will pass it and the american people will be very, very pleased with what we're doing in the congress. so it's not the congress. it's the senate that's doing all of this. >> indeed. congressman, one of the leaders of the house of representatives. thanks very much. really appreciate your time. >> thank you for having me. >> and coming up, trump wants a quickie trial in the senate so he can claim exoneration but speaker pelosi is slowing the process to a tortoise's pace. that's next. tortoise's pace that's next. yeah! i'm a magic cat. i love it. and now for the icing on the cake. [ hiss ]

the senate exists for moments like this. that's why this body has the ultimate say in impeachment. the framers knew the house would be too vulnerable to transient passions and violent factionalism. they needed a body that would consider legal questions about what has been proven, and political questions about what

the common good of our nation requires. >> you know, there are few members of the republican party more brazenly partisan, more fixated on accumulating maximum partisan power or more allergic to irony than mitch mcconnell. mcconnell, the guy who bragged about saying this to the duly elected president of the united states barack obama who will i remind you had been elected with a 10 million vote margin and re-elected with a 5 million vote margin. >> one of my proudest moments is when i looked ahtyba rack obama and i said you will not fill this supreme court vacancy. >> that guy. mcconnell. who blocked so many of president obama's judicial appointments that then senate majority leader had to kill the fill buster to allow president obama to seat

any judges at all but who now is brazenly, boastfully packing the federal courts, having already jammed through 187 judges ferried from the federal society ice wish list to donald trump to the senate. a total that amounts to one fifth of the federal bench including seven judges who have been deemed not qualified by their peers. president obama for the record nominated zero unqualified judges. so the guy who calls himself the grim reaper because of the efficient way that he's let some 350 past bills pass by the house die in the senate, but on thursday had the nerve to accuse democrats of pursuing impeachment instead of legislation, that guy took to the senate floor on thursday to ex- pound about alexander hamilton and the constitution about how it's democrats who are destroying the norms of the senate by let's see, checks notes, utilizing the constituti

constitutional remedy of impeachment who abuses hi power and refuses to submit to congressional oversight. >> a political faction in the house of representatives has succumbed to a partisan rage. they have fulfilled hamilton's philosophy that impeachment will, quote, connect itself with the preexisting factions, enlist all their animosities and there will always be the greatest danger that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. alexander hamilton. >> that mitch mcconnell is now lecturing the speaker of the house, accusing the house of pulling a merritt garland on donald trump by finding him guilty without hearing from

witnesses, witnesses who trump himself has prevented from testifying and smearing the speaker that she is trying to destroy the senate by sending articles of impeachment against donald trump, you know, sendsing the articles to the senate like it says in the constitution. per fek. what we come back. a former republican will have an answer for moscow mitch. will han answer for moscow mitch. any comments doug?

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do believe with the second

trump term and a continued senate republican majority we can transform the courts even further. we would certainly confirm a new justice if we had that opportunity. and we're going to continue obviously to fill the circuit, district court vacancies as they occur right up until the end of next year. my motto for the remainder of this congress is leave no vacancy behind. >> donald trump is impeached and the senate is supposed to conduct a trial but mitch mcconnell still has his eyes on the judicial prize. joining me now is a former republican, tom nichols. and tom, thank you so much for being here and i'm going to start right there on this issue of judges. 187 and counting mitch mcconnell having thrown out the rule saying he will continue to put judges on the federal bench right up until the election day of next year where he said you couldn't do that as far as the supreme court when it came to president obama. is that really what this boils

down to, that all of this, all of this trump cig fancy is about owning the federal binge? >> i think it's about power and money and the courts are a port of that. i don't think the senate majority leader really cares one way or another about this because if you look at his early career he was actually somewhat more of a liberal republican but he's figured out -- he's a survivor and i think what senator mcconnell is interested in is being the senate majority leader and whatever it takes to get there is what he's going to do and if that means packing the courts that's fine. i think what most of the senate majority is about is staying in the senate. they like being senators and whatever it takes to make the base happy is what they're going to do and i think that, you know, as other people this morning pointed out, packing the courts is a way of admitting that there are simply things that we cannot convince that we conservatives cannot convince

the american people to do. conservatives were once the people who claimed to be outraged by liberals trying to pack judges on to courts and you know, now they're the chief practitioners of it. >> and to that very point the complaint about judicial activism which used to be things that conservatives would complain about was the idea that liberals were using the court to force through liberal changes they couldn't get through the ballot box so that things like integration, things like abortion rights, things they felt liberals already forcing that on to society using the courts and they're like now it's our turn but the things they want to force are things like unlimited corporate personhood where the very wealthy and wealthy corporations can about as superpeople and supercitizens, ideas like taking away the rights of lgbt people, not letting black and brown people to vote. it does feel it's a piece of trying to hold on to the country when the country is majority

moderate on social issues and soon to be majority nonwhite. >> conservatives would tell you that their judges by definition can't be act virss because all they're doing is stopping things. and you know, there's a certain element of truth to that but on the other hand, reaction and being reactionary is a kind of activism that, you know, if the country has reached as clearly it has on some kind of a consensus that abortion is going to stay legal, how limited, how unlimited, what -- that -- those are arguments that americans in good faith are going to have for a long time, but to say my only litmus test for a judge is hostility to row v wade, that is a form of activism. as you say unlimited corporatehood, that is a form of activism. this is not something that you know, you can divine from the originalist text and the idea that conservative judges don't have an interest in being active and turning things backward

is -- is just a myth that conservatives tell themselves. >> yeah, speaking of survivors, you talked about mitch mcconnell being the ultimate survivor, lindsey graham is even a better example of it. i want to play you the two lindsey gram grahams there was the graham in 1999 and the lindsey graham of today. this is on the question of whether or not witnesses should testify in the impeachment trial. take a listen. >> the idea of not being able to call witnesses is crucial. how would you like to do this show without guests? what if you sat here and read transcripts based on questions you asked? your ratings would go down. >> if there's a witness request by anybody, i'm going to say no. i want this to end quickly. i am going to make my decision based on the trial record established in the house. >> the constitution never envisioned the house being able to impeach the president and

dictate the terms of the trial in the senate and hold them back at a time of their choosing. that does create a constitutional extortion mechanism that's dangerous for the country. i don't know what's driving this idea. my speculation is that there's buyer's remorse, that the foundation of impeachment is shaky. >> i mean, there is probably no better example of pure flip 180 hypocrisy of lindsey graham. the witnesses that would have been called would have been about a sexual affair so people would have been testifying about sexual exploits on the floor of the senate. now the witnesses are literal first person witnesses to the potential extortion of a foreign country to help donald trump win an election. very different but you explain if you can. >> beats me. i think both in -- even among conservatives even though it

might be whispered i think everyone is saying what is going on with lindsey graham? i think the answer with graham as it is with so many in the majority is -- can probably be boiled down to one sentence. i like being a senator and i want to keep being a senator and i don't want to face a primary challenge and to some extent this is now the republicans paying the piper for creating immensely disciplined -- an immensely disciplined party base. they now can't go home and say look, i need to make a good faith argument to you about why i must observe the constitution. because their primaries and certainly in the house, their districts are controlled by their fringe and so you know, if they want to go back and say look, i need to be a principled constitutional conservative here they can't get that out of their mouths before the lock her up chantss begin and they've decided i'd rather be a senator

than be principle. if this is what it takes, i'm just shocked that people who have been in the senate for so long, people that have had long records of public service are really willing to abase themselves this way. i mean, it's cringe worthy to watch, but i -- and it's mystifying on several levels but i think it always boils down to i like being a senator. >> i have to squeeze one more thing in with you. you've had the republican party, you know, refuse to use -- include the words white nationalism in a bill that is designed to root right nationalism to the far, far right but then you've got inside the administration people who have called themselves alt right and then you've got steven miller who is a strange figure in every way. yet 25 jewish lawmakers have

asked donald trump to fire him because white nationalist comments and things that he was circulating at bright bart. this goes all the way back to when he was in high school that he's had this weird fixation an immigration and here he is talking about his boss donald trump. >> the democratic party of today traffics and lies hatred and yes, racism. donald trump is the anti racist president. they frankly care more today about helping illegal aliens and foreign citizens than their own constituents including those that have been left behind. >> he's scary, but can you explain this guy to me? >> you know, there's a bunch of guys in this movement and close to trump that are just these kind of sad angry little boys that you know, didn't have any friends in college or something, that there is this kind of

creepiness, but i think the more amazing thing is that we've just gotten used to it. there was once a time in this country where somebody like stephen miller after the first thing he'd said or written, even before the election would never have been allowed to walk the halls of the white house. there were limits in this country and now we shrug and say what are you going to do? it says something about us as a country that he still works in the white house. >> thank you. really appreciate your time. and don't go anywhere. we will have more a.m. joy after the break. we will have more a.m. joy after the break. they're walking into a trap. your orders are to deliver a message calling off tomorrow morning's attack. if you fail, we will lose sixteen hundred men. if we're not clever about this... no one will get to your brother. i will.

someone is handling being impeached and spoiler alert -- he's not taking it well. more "am joy" after the break. .

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your reaction to the president's letter? >> no reaction. >> reporter: you have no reaction. why not? >> i haven't fully read it. we've been working. i've seen the essence of it, though, and it's really sick. good morning. welcome back to "am joy." from the moment donald trump took office almost three years ago he's exemplified a pattern of behavior that could be called odd. some of the ways he beheaves are really weird. let me show you one recent example. >> we have a situation where we're looking very strongly and sinks and showers and other elements of bathrooms where you

turn the faucet on and in areas where there's tremendous amounts of water, where the water rushes out to sea because you could never handle it, and you don't get any water. people are flushing toilets ten times, 15 times as opposed to once. >> flushing the -- that's weird. right? that's weird. but being impeached has seemed to exacerbate the oddness triggering acts some people might seem to think it's unhinged. case in point. impeachment, donald trump couldn't avoid. his favorite tv channel had to cover it. he did a rare thing. sent a rambling bizarre six-page letter to nancy pelosi and comparing the constitutionally mandated congressional oversight to the salem witch trial.

the next night as ma jofjority trump's fate was sealing it, trump did his favorite think. proving he's taking impeachment all in stride. it's all good. what better way to project serenity and calm than to attack a dead war hero and his wife? seriously. trump was so angry he had been impeached and congresswoman debbie dingell voted for impeachment he went after the congresswoman and joked her late husband a world war ii veteran who served in congress nearly 60er y60 years very popular in the state trump was rallying in was burning in hell. seriously. take a listen. >> debbie dingell. that's a real beauty. so she calls me up like eight months ago. her husband was here a long time, but i didn't give him the b. treatment or the c. or the d. i could have.

nobody would have. i gave the a.-plus treatment. she calms me us, it's the nicest thing that's ever happened. thank you so much. john would be so thrilled. he's looking down, he'd be so thrilled. thank you so much, sir. and so that's okay. don't worry about it. maybe he's looking up. i don't know. >> and that is the man some republicans have actually likened to jesus. jesus. this is all fine. perfectly normal. joining me now, maya wily professor and also director under donald trump and leadership strategist and contributor for ann curry and sam nunberg former trump campaign adviser. three trump whisperers here and you'll serve as my armchair psychologist. it's weird. donald trump always strange. you guys have all worked with him in various ways one way or

another. but he seems even stranger now after impeachment. the thought was always that impeachment would embolden him, make him happy, help in the election. when he hears things like speaker pelosi saying, he just got impeached. he will be impeached forever. no matter what the senate does he's impeached forever because he violated the constitution. if i did nothing else he saw the power of the gavel here and when he hears that, the response from politico going crazy over his legacy. a quote from politico. a reality that tormented past presidents who faced impeachment. the day from-of-before his resignation president nixon confessed to secretary of state henry kissinger watergate would consume his legacy. it has. and going around and start with you, sam. donald trump doesn't seem to be a guy who thinks about history or reads history books but he

understand this is now his legacy. >> he understands historical figures and views himself as one. around in 2013 and 2014 trying to build up his base within the conservative party, criticizing republicans back then for not, taking impeachment off the table on barack obama. saying that do you think bill clinton liked it? i've talked to bill clinton about it. he hates it. ultimately he was never going to like being impeached. speaker pelosi was saying that. but here's the but. the "but." either an asterisk or writtant on his tombstone and it makes him more focused to get re-elected. for me it means actual substantive work when he gets to the debates and a lot more fund-raising. things like that. >> he's fund-raising often. right? look at the text messages, trying to fund raze off it and a., still an asterisk.

bill clinton most popular president to that point before president obama came along, it still lingers over his legacy. nothing you can do about that. and a story with jelani cobb earlier. it's there. trump has to understand that. based on your dealings with him, does he seem to be handling it with a plumb or using it? >> plumb is a graceful word. he views this to me as a prism of privilege. he said anything that goes against my favor is unfair. whether the election was rigged, whether it was how they treated justice kavanaugh through his process. that was unfair. anything that doesn't go for me is unfair and plays directly to his base of white grievance politics. to say as the system becomes more balanced, as more voices come to the table, as you have to compete harder on the global stage, it, therefore, becomes unfair and, therefore, it's

rigged. that prism of privilege you see trump viewing this through, he's now part of the dirty rotten scoundrels club. nixon, johnson, clinton, trump. where does he fall in that scandal? for me he's xon droscoundrel nu one. >> and he believes he is the state. a lot of his followers think he is the state. a monarchist kind of attitude. you said, what's bad for trump, the key is america. he's got to view it like even in sort of a megalomaniacal manner? >> talk about republicans for a second. they are allowing this. end of the day, he completely broke the law. go through the different categories. look at the facts. joy, haven't seen the primary witness testimony. those four people whether mulvaney, bolton, giuliani, pompeo, if they have to testify under oath he has to leave. so there's four senators that need to be moved to allow for a

full and fair trial. if that happens, scoundrel number one. he'll leave before that testimony. >> you think resign? >> no way he can handle the heat of that testimony. >> wow. >> by the way -- by the way -- the people that work with him know he's amoral and lawless. back to what john kelly said. hire a yes person you'll get yourself impeached. john kelly would have never let that six-page letter get out. >> are you sure? john kelly let a lot of bad things happen. didn't seem to be very brave when there? >> put that letter in the paper shredder and the letter written to erdogan, looked like written with a -- >> that is a black magic marker, sir. excuse me. let me play -- >> didn't look it like me. like a letter from kindergarten. >> and lindsey graham became one of the president's chief si 's

sycophant. >> i just left president trump. mad as hell they would do this to him and now deny him his day in court. the reason they're denying his day in court is because they know their case sucks. >> here comes the challenge for the lindsey grahaming of the world whose chief job is to be a sycophant to president trump. the other one, mitch mcconnell said i don't want a trial. touch says, i want a trial. mitch mcconnell -- lindsey graham has to say, he wants a trial. but mitch mcconnell says, i don't want a trial. who wins in the battle of the wreaks? >> ooh. that's -- >> i'm sorry. too soon? >> bringing it -- >> too soon? >> blame scaramucci. >> the short answer is mitch mcconnell. yes, lindsey graham has a tough time of it. mitch mcconnell is the one to worry about in the sense he's the one caught in the middle, because thanks to speaker pelosi, who literally made sure

to put him there, that he is now in a situation where he's trying to manage some level of, not fair, but some level of politically controlled process that doesn't seem completely ridiculous and he's got lindsey graham who's got to try to fipger hfipg fipg fipger -- figure how to thread that needle. end of the day, lindsey graham still the spokesperson for the donald trump perspective in general. which is to say, perfect call. nothing wrong. it's the democrats who screwed the process and were unfair. and just try to deflect, deflect, deflect, while mcconnell has to deal with the fact he's got pressure from both sides now, because the brilliance of the house move is, it's not just the house pushing for witnesses. >> yeah. >> donald trump is someone they were trying to hold back. right? mitch mcconnell's like we're not going there whip you. we're not doing that. they understand exactly, completely agree, a real problem if there are witnesses who are actual fact witnesses as opposed

to distractors. so here we go. >> sort of -- it's a comeback to you on this, and it is a point that it would be amazing tv for rudy giuliani to testify. i think we all are rooting fully for that to happen, but not good for under oath good for trump and bad also for all of these guys to take the fifth. had john bolton get up and take the fifth. people doing that. the trial that trump wants is a television show. right? go back around on this. the tv show wouldn't be good? >> right. 52% impeach and remove, latest poll. the guys out there, going over 60% and he's gone. it's not 19 or 20 senators. it's 4 republican senators that believe in the constitution and the rule of law, and we can end this national nightmare. >> i don't know if there are four. and donald trump wants a tv show in which he is acquitted. >> agree. i want to challenge scaramucci and say that -- resignation requires humility. it requires a sense of self that

says i've done wrong. i don't want to be shamed, or at least a sense of shame. if you don't have a sense of shame, don't have a sense of what my legacy will be staying by, you're not going to resign until people literally force you out. i think that -- >> go the full impeachment and voted out of office? >> hell and high water before he ever leaves the office. >> tiebreaker. >> impeached. make them impeach him, sure. >> he's already impeached. >> indicted -- >> say to the republican senators, you better vote me out and then i'm going to take you down with me. you have no idea what i will do to you. >> and create a -- >> and what happens within the republican party? right? the point is, if we're really honest, there are a ton of senators who actually know this is bad, wrong, dirty, and are hanging with the politics of it, which is what seems to be protectionist, but what happens if there's more, he won't resign and some are like now you've got to go? then it's not that he will

resign but what happens within the republican party? >> and right on the facts and trump's behavior, but if you look at the underlying lawlessness of trump and criminal activity about to be exposed whether here in new york city or in the united states -- >> he'll resign. quickly like this letter he hid from attorneys, made sure cipollone didn't know about the letter, compartmentalize. i assume he'll agree to whatever mcconnell and grak sham say. >> no witnesses? >> and on twitter coming to get the state in a trial. >> what about the live tweet? >> he would be a live tweet. >> i've been through this -- not this, but say, sure, sure, okay. he'll agree to the premise and you find out somehow something's amok. >> walk into the senate and

speak? >> do something for the cameras and completely -- feel vindicated. >> and the witness -- >> it's the red way. >> what would it look like if he did testify? donald trump clearly thinks he's the smartest. this letter is bananas, but in his mind this was a historic document that historians should take and use forever. right? in his own mind he's the best. does he -- does he end up doing what you just heard said? >> if he testifies under oath you wind up with a jack nicklaus moment of -- code red. >> read the statement. >> the legal issue, constitutional issue which the supreme court has not resolved is, can congress then force him to answer questions -- once he's opened his mouth? then you've got chief justice roberts sitting up there and then you've got the democrats demanding that he's testifying. we get to ask him questions now. roberts doesn't want to be in that position. i agree. i think that's what he'll do and then i think we just see things

we have never seen before. >> and then just walk off. >> a question -- >> tax returns. >> a whole other thing. >> winter is coming. >> winter is coming. that is a red herring. >> sam and i know if those tax returns get out, look out. >> and they are coming. >> my assumption, no republican senators willing to vote on impeach innocent. three or none. think about a cory gardner in trouble anyway for re-elect. i lived in colorado. group up there. 2u6 to get reelected in a state like that. >> susan collins. >> think about her. think about arizona, ma congresswoman mcsally, has to try to win the seat. three or none? >> feels like none. but should be 50. >> mitt romney is rich. trump can't hurt him, but -- >> the situation here, i don't get the whole thing with mitt. he gave the speech.

knows about the lawless activity and the aid morality. probe didn't vote tore trump and sitting there -- i don't understand. >> what is he afraid of? >> kennedy said, thinnest, no courage there. >> three or none? >> i think three, but essentially i think it goes back to the scuttlebutt many senators said, if your name could be removed i would vote for. >> could be an anonymous ballot. >> as of now i say none and jones in alabama and perhaps manchin because of everything west virginia gets from trump, they may actually vote -- >> because of their own politics. tiebreaker. there isn't a tie. three or none. >> i'm going to remain an optimist on rules. on rules. which changes the game. >> and st. patrick's and praying for europe. >> going with you. one last thing i'll say. trump is still in trouble, because the investigations are ongoing.

rudy giuliani be indicted. the question, when? and there will be more. >> he'll pardon him. >> and roger stone, rot in jail for lying -- >> and manafort? get pardoned? >> the only one who should be pardoned, logic, is roger. solely went to jail for lying in protecting -- >> but manafort went to jail for the very conspiracy theory trump believes in. the real cull chit is ukraine. that's his obsession. might pardon him. we could speculate. >> and cares about himself. >> and news search, trump, not usa. remember that. >> talk about that later. follow you to church. thank you all for joining me. we have to reassemble this team. coming up, one christian magazine does not believe donald trump is the chosen one from god. we discuss. the review from an evangelical publication of the impeached

president, next. mike bloomberg's never been afraid of tough fights,

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a lot of my conservative friends they continue to support him for those reasons saying we don't like his behavior or morals but doing good things. doing the balancing thing. it's my judgment in the last weeks that balancing no longer works. >> christianity today today editor-in-chief mark galli

published a scathing op-ed in the prominent magazine founded by the late billy graham calling for donald trump's removal from office. the evangelical community far and away the most loyal part of trump's base but galli argues his immorality has simply become impossible to take. "he himself admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women about which he remains proud. his twitter feed alone with its habitual string of mischaracterizations lies and slanderses is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused." wow. joining me now is reverend jackie lewis. senior minister at middle collegiate church and reverend jim wallace, founder of sojourners in christ. and reverend, start with you. donald trump had to admit that his charity was being abused and a charity supposed to be giving money to things like children

with cancer but using it as a slush fund. >> right. >> that happened, went away. a story people don't toke about. h talk about anymore. and the university, took their money. why now do we see one christian magazine trigger to say this is finally enough? >> a mass of evidence saying this is a criminally corrupt person. that donald trump is not fit for office and isn't really a christian person. i'm not talking about judging something like harshly. i'm talking basic, christian stuff. he's a liar. he's a cheat. he defaults on his bills, misuses women and bracked about it. i think finally part of his base has come to understand, joy, that they can be sort of pro-guns. they can be anti-abortion, and they can be pro-life, but they

can be anti-trump, because he actually isn't the savior that they wanted to pretend he was. >> and looking at this to try to find, a different tweet, but use the one we have here. from my team. i guess the magazine "christianity today" is looking for elizabeth warren or bernie sanders to guard their, their tweet, guard their religion. how about sleepy joe? no president has ever done what i have done for evangelicals or religion itself. struck me about that tweet is the phrase "their religion." donald trump unlike when you listen to president obama talk, he would talk about we as sinners, we as christians. george w. bush, talk about "we," "us," talk about as being among the christians sinners. and donald trump doesn't. a different way of thinking about it. imposed as their leader. >> he's not an evangelical christian himself. but jackie is right.

what broke this now was finally what they called in "christianity today" grossly moral -- immoral character. the gross immoral character donald trump. so this is a big crack in the wall of white evangelical support. there already were cracks in the wall among white evangelical women, white evangelical young people. and let's be clear, this is about white evangelicals. evangelical of color have been overwhelmingly against donald trump from the beginning. and the central gospel immorality of donald trump is his use of racial bigotry and division as his primary vision for the future. and white, young evangelicals don't like that. the impact of christians of color on young, white christians is a big part of this crack in the wall, but the editorial is really saying the trade-off, the bargain, just give us our

judges. that's breaking, no longer working. >> it always struck me. i grew up in the methodist tradition with a robe but catholic community where i grew up in denver the thing that struck me about christians in all of tf of sens fixation on being kind to the immigrant. district of colorado a lot of migrant workers. a large discussion in our church and catholic churches about the immigrant. how important to christianity itself. donald trump's treatment of immigrants has been so obnoxious and cruel and almost ostentatiously cruel. surprises me that didn't break christians love for him, white christians love for him? 's white evangelicals? >> central to our faith is the story of an immigrant baby. this brown, likely brown jewish immigrant baby we only have a christianity because egypt let him come in. >> right. >> where we are now, ask ourselves, all who are christians, joy, what does it

mean to be christian? do we want to follow in the way of jesus or do we want to follow in the way of trump. >> do we want to trade our christianity for judges that will be -- supporting our policies or support the teachers of the gospel? love god, love neighbor, love self. that's what really matters. what kind of nation do we want to be answer we think about our christian faith? >> yes. i want to read, reverend wallace, something you wrote. an article that you wrote about the op-ed. important to acknowledge when the media refers to or speaks about american evangelicals usually speaking only about white evangelicals particularly discussing strong support trump enjoys from white evangelical voter, you said. most of color have never supported trump. said that earlier. indeed racial bigotry a deal-breaker for the got pell and painful white evangelicals ignored that. on the question of judges, a lot argue the reason they've ignored that and ignored the rest because in their mind having the

judges means stopping abortion. it means stopping something they see as a pernicious evil more important than anything else even racism and everything else, or a sense of some that not letting certain christian churches get tax breaks. they've got a justification they say is more important. judges are the most important thing. how do you answer? >> the good news, joy, that argument isn't working out there in the country. >> right. >> i just came back from 27 cities on this christ in crisis book tour. it's being raised. didn't jesus say, as you treat the stranger, the immigrant, that's how you treat me? didn't jesus say, you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free? so i see people, what if evangelicals, white evangelicals came back to jesus? this would be a wonderful thing. i'm seeing it all over the country. we're talking about jesus. what did he say? what did he do? what did he mean and did he mean it? i'm hearing all over the country

that he did mean this and the politics of jesus are antithetical to the politics of trump. they're antithetical. >> quickly, when you first -- i want to have the reverend answer this. franklin graham founder of the son of the magazine come out and chosen trump over his dad's magazine and he said that graham founded christianity today but would not agree with their piece. he would be disappointed. your thoughts? >> i know billy graham, i knew billy graham and billy graham would not in his sense of the gospel, his tone and style would note have been in agreement with the harsh reductionist ethic of this. not supportive of that. i like billy graham and wish we had billy graham now today who i think would have a very different view than his son franklin graham. >> do you anticipate the 93% donald trump has from evangelicals at least in the

last rpi poll change? >> i think it does. i think things are changing. a movenment across the country people are speaking the truth about what trump is and isn't. i think we understand that we disagree, joy, on some of the issues but do agree that love is the ethic of jesus. especially this time of year just ask ourselves what does it really marine to follow in that way? we know we have to indict what is happening in the white house. have to indict those values and have to stand up for love. >> yes. green chutes this week, some people professing to evangelical christy actu christianity appalled republicans were comparing donald trump to jesus. >> not having that. >> and this advent season, advent is waiting for christ. ip s i see this as a great time to talk about it. we're waiting for christ and for white evangelical to start talking about jesus. >> let us hope.

>> let us hope. it's a hopeful time. >> and hopeful season. thank you both. merry christmas. thank you both very much for being here. >> thank you for this conversation. more "am joy" after the break. am joy" after the break. ♪ do you recall, not long ago ♪ we would walk on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ all around the wind blows ♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪

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we have an update on the aled white supremacist hand gesture spotted at last week's army/navy football game. students caught on camera making the upside-down okay sign which in the present era eerg inned as a symbol for white power. wmp wp. officials at west point claim t students were playing a circle game. making a circle with their hands holds it against their waist and gets a person to look and then punches the person for looking. okay. we know racism is a serious concern in the armed forces. a 2017 military times poll nearly 25% of american service members said they encountered white nationalists within their ranks. it's especially curious per reporting by huff post and cnn the republican-controlled senate removed the phrase "white nationalists" from a provision in the latest military funding big intended to explicitly

screen for, wait for it, white nationalism in the military. more on all of this tomorrow when two of our favorite guests navy veterans malcolm nance and nmplt nabeeb najoli join us. stay with us. in us. stay with us. thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer,

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if you want to have medicare, we see significant in drugs, deductibles et cetera

made by underwriting the plan to a tune of about $750 billion, and making sure that we're able to cover everyone who is in fact able to be covered. put your hand down for a second, bernie. okay? >> just waving to you, joe. >> i know. i know. >> saying hello. >> the first debate since donald trump's impeachment the 2020 democratic candidates focused and issues including health care, campaign financing and the economy. joining me is columnist and business insider, and executive director of protect our care and president of business for medicare for all. thank you very much for being here. coming to you first, lynette. it was a very white stage other than andrew yang. >> it was white woo. >> it was white. the polls and fund-raising produced? right? we are where we are. focus on the women. a lot of diversity, no women.

here is elizabeth warren, best moment of the night. talking about the age question. >> senator warren, you would be oldest president. weigh in. >> also the youngest woman ever inaugurated. >> so quite a moment for her. play the other woman who made a big splash according to the "post" polls. amy klobuchar. former prosecutor turned senator. here she is having a go at mayor pete buttigieg. take a listen. >> i know you ran to chair the democratic national committee. that's not something i wanted to do. i want to be president of the united states, and the point is, we should have someone heading up this ticket that has actually won. >> senator i know if you just go by vote totals, maybe what goes on in my city seems small to you. if you want to talk about the capacity to win, try putting together a coalition to bring you back to office with 80% of

the vote as a gay dude in mike pence the indiana. >> where, if you -- if you had won in indiana that would be one thing. you tried and you lost by 20 points. >> oh, snap. okay. so -- those, that was defines moments for the two women in my opinion. i want to note a tweet, quite true. tweeting, basically to the effect that had kamala harris showed the same kind of, you know, stick it to 'em kind of attitude klobuchar did there, kamala harris couldn't have gone at anyone on the stage as klobuchar did without getting an angry stereotype black women have been called. throw that in there. >> called angry before. fine with it. the clips are a good representation who amy is and who senator elizabeth warren is.

elizabeth warren is talking about the historicness of her campaign and talking about taking advantage of a moment in history to do something major. amy klobuchar is talking about winning. both of these things are extremely important and having both conversations onstage, they're both valid, but i think in a lot of viewers, they have their hearts tugging in one way or another. right? if you just care about winning, electability, yeah, amy klobuchar is san interesting candidate for you, but there is something about what elizabeth warren is saying, about being the first woman. about changing the face of america. tackling corruption that just gets me really excited. i think it gets a lot of americans excited. the question, can we have both? have a winner and somebody who is able of thinking about changing the party and changing the country? that's what i hope we can find in these debates. >> brad, putting your democratic strategist hat on, one. things seems to drive even a lot of the very white-look and white

male look top of the ticket is fear. right? even among black voters saying, nope. if only a white man can win, give me biden. we know him. a lot of caution in the electorate. how is that playing out for the warren versus klobuchar thing? warren obviously polls better. a lot of the party wants dramatic change, they want a big change in the country but amy klobuchar's argument is, whoa. people are afraid of change. i'm going to give you stability sort of similar to biden what do you make of that argument? >> i think, joy, kind of what we see as ascendant in the democratic primary, and i think klobuchar according to the poll with is pipis she got the most of the debate. people are afraid if we go too a far, too fast on some big policy ideas that donald trump's going to be able to use that to his advantage in the election. the main motivation for democratic primary voters, get the hell rid of donald trump.

so i think you see a couple things. one, i think you see amy klobuchar is ascendant. joe biden rebounded in national and state polls and by the way, in this kind of core argument of single payer health care versus promoting and improving the affordable care act we've seen that last one as more ascendant and that explains a little the stability argument versus blow everything up and start over. >> to that very point, talk about this. a week in which an appeals court struck down much of the core of the affordable care act and sent it back to the same judge declared it unconstitutional. a fear of 20 million to 30 million losing their medical care. 52% think well of it.

41% think not well of it. medicare for all, it's popular. 53% favor it. 43 mrs percent 43% oppose. a combination of losing what you have and a desire to have is a new thing. how do you think that plays out for warren and other candidates talking about making the bigger change? >> i think first of all, fear is an important word to talk about, because my old industry, health insurance industry uses that word. the whole campaign get us to be fearful. fearful of change. i used to do that for a living and know how powerful that is. it's notable the affordable care act is popular and more than in a while but especially noteworthy that medicare for all continues, despite all of these attacks from my old industry, continues to poll very well. people -- when the affordable care act as passed i said at the time end of the beginning of reform. but the basic structure of that

legislation, it was built on the current system that is very unstable and collapsing the employer-based system. it is really collapsing. more and more employers are throwing in the towel. that's why i had this organization called business for medicare for all because employers are finding out they've been sold a bill of goods by the insurance industry. affordable care act hasn't given much relief. every year double digit rate increases and saying, enough is enough. that's one of the reasons why you're seeing medicare for all polling so well. despite the onslaught of attacks and fearmongering going on out there. >> yeah. the other issue i think that played was an idea of campaign finance. other question of purity, how pure the candidates are where they get their money. play quickly, this is elizabeth warren versus pete buttigieg and the wine caves. >> the mayor just recently had a fund-raiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and

served $900 a bottle wine. think about who comes to that. >> this is the problem with issues purity tests you cannot yourself pass. if i pledge -- if i pledged never to be in the company of a progressive democratic donor, i couldn't be up here. senator, your net worth is 100 times mine. >> can't stand up to the wealthy and well-connected when relatively easy as a candidate, how can american people believe you'll stand up to the wealthy and well connected when you're president and it's really hard? >> your take on that? and the one "am" show i does, the difference between buttigieg and warren, an amazing choreographed dance and someone who can just dance. he's very programmed. she's very -- >> she pops lots. here's the thing. what their arguing about is

access. nobody is saying rich people shouldn't give to the democratic party. we love our limousine liberals. the question what do you do for somebody after? what does that money get you? facetime with the candidate? an ambassadorship? that's a conversation we're having not just for the party but for america. we realize donald trump didn't produce donald trump. years and years and years of corruption and seeing it now as we're seeing russia money slosh around in the gop. years and years of corruption brought us a society that tolerates somebody like donald trump. >> and quickly, on the economy. the economy has good macro numbers. people are driving a lift on the side, though. how do democrats get through on the economy given the macros look pretty good? >> they need to talk about, i think, how the economy affects people until their daily lives. the number one economic issue and i know wendel knows this, facing americans right now, is the cost of health care. >> yes. >> so democrats need to talk about health care, college

affordability, education afford act. the affordability of groceries, and because talk about those things they don't believe the economy is going well and people do pay more attention i think to college tuition costs than the nasdaq nkt nasdaq. >> out of time. quickly, doing the job? >> back to the access. when i was at cigna we had people come, members of congress to our idea of a wine cave. chris dodd, rick santorum. did it because they knew, it gave us access. corruption and a big part of the discussion going forward. >> absolutely. thank you for joining me. went so far over, my producers. 245u6r thank you very much. coming up, joe kennedy and how he's explaining impeachment to his kids. that's next. ids. that's next. learn more at the explorer card dot com.

you may have gingivitis. when you brush, and the clock could be ticking towards bad breath, receding gums, and possibly... tooth loss. help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. leave bleeding gums behind. parodontax. dear ellie and james. this is a moment that you'll read about in your history books. today, i will vote to impeach the president of the united states. and i want you to know why. >> shortly before the house's historic impeachment vote,

congressman joe kennedy made the case for impeaching donald trump in a powerful letter to his two children. joining me now is congressman joe ken dif massachusetts. thank you so much for being here, congressman. tell me in short what you said and what you are telling your children about this moment. >> joy, thanks so much for having me. it's an honor to be back, as always. look, i think there's been -- we've heard an awful lot over the course of the past several months through testimony, through witnesses, through evidence that has come forward about a call, about ukraine, about military aid, about a lot of different things. and i think at its core, if you kind of cut through all of it, this is about something pretty basic. it's about the idea that thin ts country we are all equal and held to account and that if you do something wrong, that you're going to be accountable for it. that's what this week was about. that's what our country's been about. and that's what i tried to explain to my kids who are still probably too young to understand that. but i do think that if you can kind of cut through all of it,

it gets back to a central core that i do believe every american believes it. >> and does it matter whether impeachment polls well? there's been a lot of talk in the media whether about whether or not it polls well and it will hurt democrats in the election. does that matter in the end? >> no. i didn't run for office to impeach the president. none of my colleagues did either. i would much rather be working on -- we've done a lot as democrats over the course of the past year. but fighting for prescription drugs, which we just did, but structuring an economy to make sure we put american families tes centat the center of it. those are issues that we've addressed as best we can in the time we've had. but sometimes you have to do things that you just have to do. and if the president of the united states is going to akboous babuse is his office, but our country

at risk, i don't know what else you're supposed to do. yes, we have to do this. if that means that there's going to be tough repercussions at the polls, then that's what it means. but standing up for this country is bigger than politics and i -- i would like to think that in the long run the american public understand that. >> you are running for your senate. are you going to run in the primary. if you were in the united states senate and coming from a family that has put public service so prominently in the lives of your family, what would you say to, like, a joe manchin who might be worried about voting yes on impeachment or a mitt romney who a lot of people don't understand why he isn't sort of standing more on his own. what would you say to them to argue as to why it would be important for them to not make up their minds to advance and consider removing this president? >> look, i think for anybody, regardless of the two that you mentioned, anybody out there, whether you're a house member or member of the united states senate or a member of the american public, i do think that it is worth just taking stock of the moment that we're in and

recognizing that -- take political affiliation away from it, nobody wants a president that is going to put their own political interests above the national security of the country. and if you think that that is a baseline fundamental value that we should come to expect from our president, then i actually think the answer here is pretty clear. and for those that decide that, hey, that's not so clear, that that's not what happened, that is a choice for you to make. but i also don't think that this -- when history is written about this moment, i don't think mystery's going to be so gray. i think it's going to be pretty clear about what transpired and whether an american democracy, our political system, our structures, were strong enough to stand up and say, no, that's not right or whether we turned away and aided and abetted its rise. and it's not very often that anybody has a chance to actually weigh in on that. and that's what the sflait senate will ha senate will have a chance to do

in the coming works and i hope they stand up for our country. >> are you worried about the next election be a free and fair election? >> i'm worried about a lot of things. i'm worried that this president will continue to try to divide and vilify people in our country that can least afford to bear it. i'm concerned that he's going to continue to invite electoral interference because he continues do so. we saw that with china days after he did this with ukraine. i'm concerned that theres not been a robust acknowledgement from our senate mitch mcconnell, our senate republican counterparts in terms of electoral interference, although c we did put some money on it in the bill we just passed. much has been said about the 63 million people that voted for donald trump or 65 million that voted for hillary clinton. we're a hundred of 335 million people. if each and every one of us who can gets out to the polls and makes our voices heard, we have an opportunity to leave no doubt about the kind of country that we are and the kind of country we believe we can be. >> yeah. >> and that's on us.

donald trump can't take that away. so that's what i hope we can do. >> i think -- i hope for maximum turnout next year. that would be good for democracy. congressman joe kennedy, thanks so much for being here. have a happy holiday. >> thank you, joy. >> more am joy after the break. . >> more am joy after the break. cologuard: colon cancer screening for people 50 and older at average risk. i've heard a lot of excuses to avoid screening for colon cancer. i'm not worried. it doesn't run in my family. i can do it next year. no rush. cologuard is the noninvasive option that finds 92% of colon cancers. you just get the kit in the mail, go to the bathroom, collect your sample, then ship it to the lab. there's no excuse for waiting. get screened. ask your doctor if cologuard is right for you. covered by medicare and most major insurers. (make-a-wish volunteer) ok, he's coming,y) c'mon c'mon...ing!

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some things are too important to do yourself. ♪ get customized security with 24/7 monitoring from xfinity home. awarded the best professionally installed system by cnet. simple. easy. awesome. call, click or visit a store today. all right. that is it for me today. and i now throw it over to my friend alex witt who's got the latest. >> you guys, here's the story she's actually sitting what? i don't know. i can reach out, see, come here.

>> hey. >> and that's because joy's on the show and any second after i do that i'll say hello to all of you from the headquarters here in new york. high noon in the east, just about 9:00 a.m. in the west. welcome to weekends with alex witt and my special friend joy. new poll on what the public wants to an invitation that could land the president in an unprecedented situation. fresh predictions whoon lion wh ahead. the president rages at a christian magazine after it gave him a stinging rebuke. the first daughter on defense when asked about impeachment. and a train derails into the potomac river. pictures right there. we'll get to that. right now in washington, d.c. and all the unfolding impeachment drama, history, in fact, put on hold for a number of reasons as both sides engage in a battle over a senate trial. joining me right now, once again, am joy's joy