♪ in the impeachment trial, president trump's legal team has wrapped up its defense. now senate republicans are scrambling to block witness testimony. plus, president trump unveils a controversial new plan for peace in the middle east. the president is calling it a win-win but palestinian leaders have all right rejected it. and new reports that aideses for joe biden have discussed a lions with amy klobuchar next week at the caucus but her campaign doesn't appear to be interested. good morning, everyone, it is wednesday, january 29th. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian.

we begin with the scramble that is taking place on capitol hill ahead of friday's vote on whether to subpoena witnesses at the senate impeachment trial of president trump. mitch mcconnell told members in a closed-door meeting yesterday that he had not yet secured the 51 votes needed to block witnesses and their testimony but that situation remains fluid. democrats need four republicans to break ranks. chuck schumer said he believed 10 to 12 republicans are at least open. right now, we count three. >> reporter: how confident are you that the republicans are able to secure witnesses? >> i don't think they're all settled as a group or individuals as to exactly how they're going to vote but i'd like to hear from john bolton. i think the idea expressed in the media about having each side

choose a witness or maybe more than one witness on a paired basis has some merritt. >> it is very likely that i'm going to conclude that, yes, we do need to hear from witnesses. i for one believe that there's some gaps, some ambiguities that need to be cleared up. and more information tends to be helpful when you're making such a weighty decision. >> another key republican senator lisa murkowski told reporters, quote, mr. bolton probably would have some things that would be helpful for us. sources also tell "the wall street journal" that the white house is now concerned that senators pat toomey and rob portman might also vote for onces. colorado's cory gardner refused to vote for witnesses. another thom tillis said bolton's book hasn't affected his decision, stating, quote, i

don't think we need witnesses. and here's the very latest from senator lindsey graham. >> if people want witnesses we're going to get a lot of witnesses. calling one and one makes zero sense to me. if we're going to open up this to encourainquiry, we're going down the road. and whether or not there's any credibility to the idea that dnc may have been working with ukraine. >> so lead impeachment prosecutor adam schiff spoke to reporters yesterday saying democrats are prepared to hear testimony from national security adviser john bolton. he also weighed in on the calls himself for him to testify. >> mr. schiff, are you confident enough that the senate will call witnesses at your beginning preparations for that, if so, how? and republicans have raised your name in some of these conversations, are you, yourself, prepared to possibly to be dragged into this? >> well, first, are we

preparing? you know, we have been preparing for john bolton now that we know more of what he's is most likely to say. most crucial is not the skill of his examination across cross-examination, but rather, letting the senator evaluate the credibility and letting him tell a story, and not tell in a book. in terms of the sort of red herrings, well, if we're going to call, if the house managers want to call relevant witnesses, we want to call irrelevant ones, because we want to make a price for getting at the heart of this scheme, that's not a game we're interested in playing. >> but you may have to? >> i can tell you what my testimony is, he's guilty and he should be combeefeimpeached. if they want a witness for witness, let them call mick mulvaney. mick mulvaney has said he

disputes that john bolton has said. let them call mick mulvaney, or mike pompeo, let them call witnesses that are precipent to his scandal or scheme. >> 47% are saying the senate should vote to convict and remove the president. 58% said they should not. in the debate over witnesses, 75% of voters said they should be allowed to testify in the president's impeachment trial. broken down by party, that includes 49% of republicans, 75% of independents and 95% of democrats. meanwhile, just over half, 54% of americans agree that the president abused his power regarding his actions in ukraine. and 52% said trump obstructed congress regarding investigation into actions. >> and former white house chief of staff john kelly said he believes john bolton's report of

the ukraine saga speaking to a crowd in florida on monday. kelly commented on the bombshell revelations which are reportedly included in the former national security adviser forthcoming book that president trump told bolton that releasing aid to ukraine hinged on whether they investigated his political rival. quote, if john bolton said that in the book, i believe john bolton every single time i was with him he always gave the president the unvarnished truth. amid the calls to testify in the impeachment trial, kelly said, i think if there are people could contribute to this either innocence or guilt, they should be heard. speaking to bolton's character the retired marine corps general added, quote, john's an honest guy. he's a man of integrity and great character. >> i just want to add to this, let's not forget, back in october, this is the same

johnically who said he had a conversation with the president when he was chief of staff who said if you surround yourself with yes men, then you will face impeachment. foreshadowing what could be happening in washington, d.c. >> joining us here on the set to break this down, msnbc analyst danny cevallos and scott wong. the president and his defense team wrapping up their arguments yesterday. as a defense lawyer, what do you make of how they handled their case? >> defense's mission was totally different than the prosecution's. the prosecution had the burden the entire time. the house managers had to put on evidence enough to convict the president. the defense was always going to be shorter in their presentation. and they had to be very cautious not to introduce anything new that might arguably open the door or a pandora's box into an entirely new line of questioning. for example, new witnesses. so they played it conservative.

they did the best they could with a difficult set of facts. consider that for the most part, they had to concede a lot of facts. they couldn't argue that didn't happen. they had to argue, yeah, that may have happened but it's acceptable. that is a difficult position to be in, because they're essentially conceding a number of things that the house managers have said but saying, it's okay. >> so get over it? >> yeah, in a sense, yeah. >> it's not impeachable, this happens all the time? >> that's right. and with a dusting of look at what the other people did like biden. >> and obama. >> and obama, yes. >> today begins the next phase the trial, danny, the q & a portion of the trial where house managers and the defense team will be able to ask any question. over 18 hours, unbelievable amount of time for q & a to say the least. what would be some of the things you'd want to be asking the teams? >> look for republicans to ask about the whistle-blower.

maybe even direct questions to adam schiff. adam schiff is a house manager but -- >> ask what about the whistle-blower? >> his contact with adam schiff. that's one example. several weeks ago that was something that republicans brought up several times. but the response is going the whistle-blower is imgiven the other folks that have testified since the whistle-blower but in many ways also look for the questions to be the same party folks. for example, democrats may ask democrat house managers designed to let them tee off and get an easy opportunity to hit bullet points. that's something that happened in the clinton trial and look for it to happen here again. remember, too, that the rules of cross-examination in a court are very different. they give the advantage to the attorney asking the questions. if this situation, if you ask a question to one of the house managers or the defense team they can tee off on you as if it's an opposing party. they don't have the same power.

look for them to ask questions to friendly faces. >> scott, let's turn to you. over what you're hearing with the battle over witnesses, senators romney, lisa murkowski and susan collins. s they're signaling for witnesses but still no certainty that they have the votes to block the witnesses coming forward? >> you're exactly right. you named three but democrats need four to cross the aisle and join them in order to be able to call witnesses. so far that fourth republican senator is really -- has been elusive. we don't really know where that fourth vote is coming from. we have an idea of some people that are still keeping an open mind. one name that keeps popping up is lamar alexander. he's a former member of leadership, a veteran 6 tof the

senate, served as education secretary under george h.w. bush. that's how long he's been in washington. but at the same time, he's a close ally, one of mcconnell's most trusted confidants. it's hard to see how alexander if one of his last acts of congress in his long political career would break with his party and with mcconnell, one of his closest friends in the senate. so obviously we're looking at cory gardner and martha mcsally who have tough re-elections coming up in november. but at the same time, these individuals can't get too far away from the president, especially since they need the conservative base to turn out in their favor in the november election. a lot of these folks are in a very difficult spot right now. right now, the question remains where the fourth vote comes from. >> do we know what happens if it's 50/50?

>> there are about three different options. the chief justice can punt it to the senate as a whole. he can make a ruling and be overruled by 51 senators. or thirdly, he might refuse to get involved in which case the question doesn't have a majority so it doesn't succeed. >> danny cevallos thank you so much. scott wong, we'll talk to you in a little bit. still ahead, president trump's new and controversial plan for middle east peace. plus, the president rallied in new jersey amit the impeachment trial launches new taxi on congressional democrats. those stories and check of weather and more when we come back.

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welcome back. president trump unveiled his long awaited middle east peace plan alongside israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu at the white house yesterday. olympian president mahmoud abbas was noticeably absent,

criticized the president's deal as, quote, the slap of the century. the president's deal three years in place keeps in place israel's settlements and recognizes sovereignty while outlining a conditional plan for palestinian states that including a four-year freeze on new israeli settlements in areas alotted to the palestinians. >> and the president's deal also offers $50 billion in economic investments in future palestinian state that has no right of return by refugees. and the palestinian state will not be able to develop military outside of palestine. and jerusalem to be the capital of the future palestinian state, the president said in his speech yesterday that the city would remain undivided.

a dutchman has been masquerading as a law enforcement officer. texted reveal that ambassador yovanovitch had been receiving text messages from robert hyde. >> joining us from washington, nbc news josh fetterman. >> what a twist in the story. >> what a twist to you of this. talk to us about what you know with regards to the story? >> this guy anthony decalway has been a mystery. he's a dutch citizen but he was living in belgium, but he was kind of this trump superfan that showed up at pro-trump events in florida and in washington. and when these texts came out,

anthony decalloway said it was a joke but the nbc news investigation found troubling things in his past, including the fact that he's been identifying himself as a dea agent, a federal law enforcement official, even sometimes flashing a badge when he would meet people to assert that he really was a dea agent. and he's been telling people that he was starting a company that could actually track people or electronics through rfid which raised concerns about whether that could potentially be used to actually monitor someone. and also when this came out, he told us he had no connections to ukraine at all. we found at the same time he was sending these text messages about yovanovitch, he was involved with a ukrainian woman who travels back to her home country. >> this raises the big question about what this means.

on one hand he may try to dismiss he was a serious character in is this. he may have been role playing as he claims but the reality is we know that marie yovanovitch was told that she was a security risk, or i should be clear, she was facing a security risk. and was told to leave ukraine due to that physical threat? >> yeah, they told her to get home on the next plane out of kiev. the u.s. government has never really explained what that was about or what the nature of the potential threat to her security was. but we know that president trump in his conversation to president zelensky predicted some bad things were going to happen to her. and we know that law enforcement is taking this very seriously. there is now a joint investigation under way between ukraine's interior ministry and the diplomatic security service at the state department here in washington. >> incredibly troubling to say the least. >> to say the least. josh, thank you. still ahead, the latest on

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seriously good scent. and if you love gain flings, you've gotta try the dish soap. the deadly coronavirus continues to spread the number of known cases have increased by 25% overnight. today, china announced almost 6,000 cases of the virus have been recorded. that is up from 4,500 just on tuesday. china said 1 twloo people ha32

from the virus just up from tuesday. however the actual number of deaths is expected to be higher due to a shortage of test kits that has made it difficult for officials to test the virus. so far one hospital recorded one case of coronavirus. last night a plane carrying 240 passengers evacuated from the hot zone which is wuhan landed in alaska where they will be quarantined and examined for the next 72 hours. this morning, british airways announced that it suspended all chinese flights. and yesterday, the trump administration informed u.s. air providers that it is considering a similar ban. >> it's for comforting to know they're keeping a handle on it. >> there are two simultaneous things. what's happening in china is extremely alarming making sure they get a handle on the situation. some are saying it's not worse than the sars epidemic that

happened. at the same time spreading internationally which we now know a dozen cases. >> let's switch gears with weather with nbc meteorologist ki bill karins. >> you know who has had more snow than d.c. and philadelphia? >> florida? >> no, let's not play. >> liberal kansas, almost up to a foot of snow. by kansas standards this is a forecast, the forecast called for 3 to 6 inches it ended up coming down harder. about two snow days in a row. a lot of areas are going to be closed today. that storm is now moving through missouri. the blue on the map shows you what's left of the snow. you can see the green is all of the rain from little rock southward from memphis down to mississippi. new orleans it looks like you're just about done with your rain. but as far as the treacherous travel goes, anyone driving on

44 from joplin to springfield, heading back up to st. louis, that's where temperatures are cold enough that we'll have slick spots there. i'm sure school delays there. and 70, towards kansas city, columbia could have slick spots. under a winter weather advisory including central missouri. and the forecast isn't for that of traditional snow, only getting an inch or so in missouri. sliding into illinois. later this storm will duck to the southeast. we are going to get some rain, talking about the super bowl forecast heading down to miami. it looks like rain late today. a chance of rain friday. then a really nice weekend in south florida including on sunday for the big game. the actual forecast for today, miami, 78 and sunny. no complaints there but we will see rain late in the day. tampa, no problems in the northeast. a little chilly this morning so bundle up. this afternoon is fine. there's that snow in st. louis. a sneak peek for tomorrow, rinse and repeat. so we will clear out.

there's a good reason why the super bowl is in miami often. >> i was going to say, i suspect you don't want it to be who hot. like 85 degree weather. >> the player s aren't used to humidity and stuff, that's why they go early. >> does the nfl take into consideration this kind of climate? >> remember when they did it in new york, it was like a favor for the new stadium that was built. >> yeah. >> but they typically like to stay in new orleans -- >> remember -- wasn't there like a snow threat then? >> there's been snowy forecasts. atlanta was actually indoors. but sleet and snow. the media was like, never again. >> thanks, bill. >> that's how we talk. still ahead, we're going to show you how president trump's legal team wrapped up its defense in the impeachment trial yesterday and how they addressed claims made by john bolton. plus what joe biden is saying about uniting around

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welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. we begin this half hour with the final day of arguments at the senate impeachment trial. as the president's defense team aimed to raise doubt about the claims in an unpublished manuscript by former national security adviser john bolton.

>> unpublished man yu >> unpublished man yscript that some reporters knows what it says. if you want to call that evidence, i don't what you want to call it i call it admissible. a partisan agreement based on policy disagreements. newspaper allegations in an unsourced maybe this isn't somebody's book who is no longer at the white house. if that becomes the new norm, future presidents, democrats republicans will be paralyzed the moment they're elected? before they can even take the oath of office. the bar for impeachment cannot be set this low. >> all right. that is jay sekulow, one of president trump's personal attorneys yesterday questioning president trump's decision to delay sending articles of

impeachment to the senate. >> remember the whole idea that this was a dire national security threat, we had to get this over here right away it had to be done before christmas. it was so significant, the country was in such jeopardy, the jeopardy was so serious, that it had to be done immediately. let's hold on to the articles of impeachment for a month, to see if this house could force the senate to adopt rules that they want it. which is is not the way the constitution is set up. but it was such a dire emergency, it was so critical for our nation's national interest, that we could hold them for 33 days. danger, danger, danger. that's politics. >> so, white house counsel pat

cipollone argued that a vote to convict the president would deprive americans of their voting rights. >> what they're asking you to do is throw out a successful president on the eve of an election with no basis and in violation of the constitution. it would dangerously change our country and weaken, weaken forever, all of our democratic institutions. you all know that's not in the interest of the american people. why not trust the american people with this decision? why tear up their ballots? why tear up every ballot across this country. you can't do that. you know you can't do that. so, i ask you to defend our constitution. to defend fundamental fairness. to defend basic due process rights. but most importantly, most

importantly, to respect and defend the sacred right of every american to vote and to choose their president. >> in a tense exchange during a news conference yesterday, nbc news news correspondent heidi przybyla pressed congressman lee of new york one chosen to defend the president on corruption in ukraine as it relates to the senate impeachment trial. watch this. >> what happened specifically since may? >> specifically since may. >> well, first of all, you have a whole new administration coming in. >> running on anti-corruption -- >> you have to let me answer questions. >> i'm just saying anti-corruption platform. >> that's fantastic. >> so, after you have -- and listen, if i give a good answer that doesn't mean that you have to cut me off. okay? i know if you let me -- if i give a bad answer, you'll probably let me go all day. >> i'll cut you off if --

>> biden, crowdstrike and what are the other -- >> as far as -- listen -- yesterday, by the way, anyone else have any other questions. >> i know it's a hard question but it's -- >> no, ore. >> it's a hard question -- >> the president mentioned biden, crowdstrike. and you haven't mentioned any -- >> please. >> i'm happy to answer your question. all i was asking, you have a lot of colleagues here. >> we all want the answer, right? >> i'm happy to. you have an unique style. and it's one that might not be as -- you're not looking around to see if anyone else has any other questions. >> but you're not answering it. >> by the way that unique style, our own heidi przybyla is going to be joining "morning joe" to talk about that exchange. also president trump was in wildwood, new jersey when hi veered off course to go after house democrats.

>> while we are creating jobs and killing tariffs, the congressional democrats are obsessed with demented hoaxes, crazy witch hunts and partisan crusades. the american people are disgusted by the washington democrat -- you see it. you see it. which is worse the impeachment hoax or the witch hunts from russia? >> joining us now from washington, d.c., once again senior staff writer for the hill scott wong. scott, great to have you with us. scott, let's get into this, how has the ongoing impeachment trial impacted, do you think, president trump, in his re-election? it seems like every time there's a big day, you kind of see him going into a campaign trail going into a maga rally? >> yeah, i think he's using impeachment and the people leading the impeachment as a political foil. so people like jerry nadler,

adam schiff, nancy pelosi, he sees an advantage to using those people as a foil. and he's running to his base. right? normally, you would see a lot of politicians seeking re-election, running to the middle. he knows, his team knows that he needs the suburban women, people in the suburbs. people in the middle to win this re-election. but instead, president trump is running to his base. you saw that in wildwood, new jersey where he got a raucous reaction, a response to his visit. people were lining up for hours or days on end to see him, but again, that may not be necessarily the people that president trump needs to win this re-election. so, on the other hand, you know, the president also is trying to show that he is doing the people's business. you same had davos last week, focused on the economy, his team

has sent -- the administration has sent officials to capitol hill to talk about coronavirus and the public health crisis. so they are trying to show business as usual, even though there's this obviously very big impeachment trial going on in the senate. >> let's talk about the president's defense team. and how they're trying to essentially smear john bolton, especially when you have people like the former chief of staff john kelly basically saying if you're going to believe anybody, you should believe john bolton. you have many republican senators on the record from the time in which the president had chosen john bolton to be his national security adviser. saying john bolton is a good guy, he's a trustworthy guy. people like senator lindsey graham on the record, telling msnbc, telling other networks that he was the right pick for national security adviser. and now you have the president's defense team trying to smear him in personal attacks. what do you make of it? >> it's very confusing to say the least. you have people like rudy

giuliani calling john bolton a back stabber. people that have worked with john bolton, like you mentioned, lindsey graham for decades on end. john bolton goes back to the reagan administration. he served in the bush administrations. okay just one of the biggest proponents of the iraq war supported by lindsey graham. so tell really has been a confusing few days. they heralded john bolton as a truth teller. now that he is prepared to tell the truth on the ukraine matter. now, republicans don't want to hear from him. so it will be interesting, we certainly will hear from john bolton at some point, because his book is coming out but it may not be in the senate trial. >> yeah, the timing is under consideration. >> absolutely. scott wong, thanks, scott, pleasure. still ahead, former vice president joe biden tries to tamp down the buzz about next week's iowa caucus. plus, reports of a possible alliance between 2020 democratic

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because hey, tomorrow's coming up fast. nature's bounty. because you're better off healthy. i would back mickey mouse against this president. i shouldn't say it that way, but, look, this president is a genuine threat to our democracy. and we have some good candidates running. and but this is just -- this is just the first gun that goes off. you know, we go from here to new hampshire. then to nevada and south carolina. places i'm winning. and then we go to super tuesday. so, i'm still feeling good. as long as, you know, i don't think it's going to be settled here. but i think you can make a difference here. >> okay. so that was former vice president joe biden yesterday downplaying iowa's role in the 2020 race. >> basically saying he would back mickey mouse -- >> are you sure that's what he said? >> i'm pretty certain that's what he said. >> i got to be honest i did not

hear clearly what he said. he was making a point about 2020. aides for former vice president joe biden are reportedly considering alliance with senator amy klobuchar ahead of next week's caucuses. would have a pledge where one doesn't have enough support to win delegates. to would energy supporters to back the other candidate. well, this week in des moines, three staff members from biden's campaign including its iowa director floated the idea to a talk klobuchar adviser according to to democrats briefed on that meeting. it could provide a messy split among moderate candidates monday. however, biden and klobuchar's camps have played down the discussions. and biden's campaign declined to comment to the "times" on the report. >> many iowa polls buts bernie sanders on the top of the list. while campaigning in iowa

yesterday, former vice president joe biden was asked if he believes that the democratic party could rally behind bernie sanders is coach as the presidential nominee, watch this? >> the whole party? >> we have to unite. i'm not going to -- but i just think that it depends upon how we treat one another. between now and the time we have a nominee. >> saying we have to unite. all right. let's switch gears here and get a check of your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. hey, bill. >> when you think of seattle weather, what do you picture? >> rainy, but clear and beautiful spring. should we go on? >> that's accurate. yeah. >> is that the weather quiz? >> they're on a run right now. they haven't had a sunny day, even a mostly sunny day since winter started. so it's been very west and it

continues to be gloomy from the morning commute from seattle to portland. by the way, this energy is the energy that has a chance to be the storm in the northeast come saturday. so it's now just moving onshore and even that storm is not looking likely from the northeast. if you're a snow lover from d.c. to philly to new york to boston this does not look like a solution to get significant snow. is as far as what we're doing rainwise we're going to get flooding. this is the olympic tier, seven inches of rain and the cascades could get that in the next couple of days. that's just soggy. another storm if you're heading out through missouri, interstate 70, 54, driving south of st. louis that's where you could have slippery roads that's probably where we'll have school delays maybe a couple of cancellations. and that rain will move into the southeast today. temperatures nothing really special. we're not actually above average. most areas are near average for

highs. tomorrow, 30s for columbus, chicago, 39, raleigh, 50. and then as we get into february, 70 degrees on sunday. minneapolis in the 40s which for the middle of winter is very warm, too. and areas like charlotte in the mid-50s. >> it's melting when you have weather like that a couple hours away from major ski resorts. >> sunday, the super bowl and then the groundhog sticks his head out. >> or he doesn't. still ahead, brit ten defies warning against working with huawei. and the white house considers a ban on flights from china from the u.s. we're back in a moment. yered wi. it's the first and only coated nicotine lozenge. for an amazing taste... ...that outlasts your craving. nicorette ice mint.

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welcome back. yesterday the uk dismissed president trump's calls to boycott huawei and gave the okay for the company to build its 5g network. cnbc's joe man in a bercetche is joining us from london with this. tell us more about what you know. >> good morning. yes, absolutely, so the uk government has indeed given permission to british companies to continue to work with huawei on noncritical parts of the country's 5g network and a 35% market share. the u.s. has lobbied the uk not

to work with huawei but the prime minister boris johnson did speak to president trump and reported the two did agree to cooperate on diversifying telecom supply going forward. i want to take you to company news as well. apple beats on both top and bottom line in earnings yesterday, record revenues in the quarter after it saw a return to demand for iphone hand sets. iphone 11 sales up 8% to $56 billion in the corner and shares 3% higher. tim cook said it was sort of a blockbuster quarter. turning to fiscal news, the congressional budget office, the cbo, has predicted the u.s. deficit will top $1 trillion annually over the next ten years. the budget deficit hit $1 trillion last year, is projected to reach $1.7 trillion in 2030. that would put the united states gdp ratio at 98%. >> staggering.

>> -- to stay low which would save the u.s. in interest payments but those deficit numbers very large indeed. >> where are all those fiscal conservatives shouting at president obama when the same thing was happening but not at the same rate. let me ask you about what is taking place in china. countries seem to be taking drastic measures to avoid the coronavirus. what more can you tell us about the call to suspend international flights from europe, u.s. into china and maybe even domestic flights. >> absolutely. very big story we've been watching in the financial news base. white house officials have reportedly told u.s. airlines that they are considering a ban from flights to china. u.s. health officials have told reporters that the administration is looking at a variety of measures to contain the fast spreading virus. just to tell you in the uk british airways this morning was the first global airline to announce that they have stopped flights to and from mainland china and we would expect other airlines to follow suit as well. >> joe manna, thank you.

up next a look at axios' one big thing. coming up on "morning joe" after the final day of arguments in the trump impeachment trial focus shifts for the fight for witnesses. two of the jurors, chris coons and joe manchin will be our guest. congressman hakeem jeffries will also join the conversation. will also join the conversation. managing lipids like very high triglycerides, can be tough.

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joining us now from washington, d.c. with a look at axios a.m. the co-founder of axios mr. mike allen. great to have you with us. what is the one big thing for us? >> the axios one big thing is witness politics. you will have a high stakes fight going on over the next 48 hours to figure out if republicans are going to be able to prevent witnesses. so in an effort to push that off republican leaders are sort of threatening both sides. yesterday when mitch mcconnell said at the senate republican meeting that they didn't have the votes to prevent witnesses at this moment, the leaders

pointed out to the members if you have witnesses this is really going to drag things out and that could really hurt some senate republicans who are up for reelection. so that's where you're warning the republicans. they're also putting out warnings to democrats saying that if you get josh bolton as a witness we're going to get hunter biden as a witness. so trying to make both sides leary of really plunging into something where nobody knows where it would end. >> let's talk about today's impeachment trial, considering this is now the question phase of the trial, 18 hours of questions ahead of the senators this morning. how are republicans and democrats preparing for this next stage? >> so this could be -- if you are watching here on msnbc this could be the best day of the trial yet by far. so senators are able to put in written questions, they have to say who they are, what group of senators, they go to chief justice roberts, he will read the questions.

but i was up on capitol hill yesterday, i and my axios colleagues, talking to senators and they've been antsy to participate and they're working up some real doozies of questions. senators are working together to try to coordinate so that they can tell a story, democrats tell elena treen and other axios reporters that they are going to try to emphasize gaps and holes in the republican defense to show things that haven't been answered. so to make the case for witnesses implicitly there. republicans say that they are going to ask a bunch of questions about corruption in ukraine as a way to try to justify the president's push for an investigation there. >> so, mike, really quickly what is axios learning in terms of the questions that senators are planning to ask? what are their priorities? you outlined a little bit in terms of what each side does, but the reality is do republicans want to drag this bit out? could this backfire for them if

they start going down the road of saying let's have a lot of these questions about corruption? >> no, you're right. opening the door as the lawyers say. we have 16 hours, probably over two days to do this, and we got a preview of some of the questions from some friends of "morning joe," including senator chris coons of delaware who says that he's going to push on whether the transcript of the call is really complete. senator doug jones, democrat of alabama, is going to push on the idea rudy giuliani -- nail down whether he was acting personally or acting on behalf of the president. republicans and democrats have really been trying to make the most of this moment, trying to implicitly give us a taste of what we would get if we would get witnesses. there are all these headlines that we've seen about republicans not having the vote on witnesses, but someone pointed out to me if you look

over the history mitch mcconnell seems to always have a card up his sleeve that we don't know about, so we will see. >> all right. mike allen live in d.c. this morning, always a pleasure. we will be reading axios a.m. in just a little bit. you can sign up for that newsletter. >> that does it for us on this wednesday morning. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. "morning joe" starts right now. you know you can't trust this president to do what's right for this country. >> you know what the right answer is for our country. >> you can trust he will do what's right for donald trump. >> you know what the right answer is for the american people. >> he will do it now. he's done it before. he will do it for the next several months. he will do it in the election if he is allowed to. >> what they are asking you to do is to throw out a successful president on the eve of an