. this morning, it appears the senate may be poised to reject any witnesses in the impeachment trial of president trump. so far just two republicans have said they would vote in favorovfavor of witnesses. democrats need at least two more. and joe biden, lobbing attacks at each other days before the iowa caucuses. a new warning from the state department, americans are being advised not to travel to china amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak. good morning, everyone. it is friday january 31st. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside

yasmin vossoughian. we want to begin this hour with the highly anticipated vote over whether to allow witnesses. it appears democrats will come up short of the four votes needed from senate republicans to compel new testimony. here's where the key swing votes stand as of now. lamar alexander of tennessee confirmed that he will vote against calling witnesses. lisa murkowski says she'll announce her decision this morning, leaving susan collins and mitt romney as the only republicans who have committed to voting for more witnesses and documents. if murkowski decides to join them and all other senators vote along party lines, the finally tally will be 50 votes for new evidence and 50 votes against. the vice president would be called upon to break this tie but because of the obvious conflict of interest it is the chief justice of the supreme court who presides over presidential impeachment trials and those who have studied john roberts say he is unlikely to

intervene. senator lamar alexander said he's a no vote on witnesses, he also did not exonerate the president. in a statement released after last night's question and answer session, the senator wrote there is no need for evidence to prove that the president asked ukraine to investigate joe biden and his son hunter. he said this on his july 25th telephone call. there is no need to pressure ukraine to investigate the bidens. the house managers have proved this with what they call a mountain of overwhelming evidence. it was inappropriate for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate his political opponent. and to withhold the united states aid to encourage that investigation. when elected officials inappropriately interfere with such investigations, it undermines the principle of equal justice under the law. but the constitution does not give the senate the power to

remove the president from office and ban him from this year's ballot simply for actions that are inappropriate. he goes on, the question is not whether the president did it but whether the united states senate or the american people should decide what to do about what he did. i believe the constitution provides that the people should make that decision in the presidential election that begins in iowa on monday. >> more now on senator murkowski after wrapping yesterday's proceedings, the alaska republican said she would go home, study all the evidence and announce her decision on witnesses later this morning. the question she submitted for the president's defense team clearly shows her focus is on john bolton. >> you explain that ambassador sondland and senator johnson both said the president explicitly denied that he was looking for a quid pro quo with ukraine. the reporting on ambassador bolton's book suggests the president told bolton directly that the aid would not be

released until ukraine announced the investigations the president desired. this dispute about material facts weighs in favor of calling additional witnesses with direct knowledge. why should this body not call ambassador bolton. >> i think the idea that something comes out because someone makes an assertion in a book allegedly, it's only an alleged -- it's simply alleged that the manuscript says that. ambassador bolton hasn't come out to verify that to my knowledge, that then we should start having this chamber call new witnesses and establish the new normal for impeachment proceedings as being that there doesn't have to be a complete investigation in the house. i think that's very damaging for the future of this institution. >> so in a bid to potentially win over some republicans who are reluctant to allow witness testimony, lead impeachment prosecutor adam schiff has proposed limiting witness

depositions to one week. >> i will make an offer to opposing counsel who have said this will stretch on indefinitely if you decide to have a single witness. let's cabin the depositions to one week. in the clinton trial there was one week of depositions and you know what the senate did during that week, they did the business of the senate. the senate went back to its ordinary legislative business. you want the clinton model, let's use the clinton model. >> much of the impeachment trial centers on the idea that president trump asked a foreign country to investigate a political rival, joe biden, and his son hunter. during yesterday's question-and-answer session, the team argued trump never requested investigation into the bidens. >> president trump didn't ask president zelensky specifically for an investigation or an investigation into vice president biden or his son hunter.

there's a lot of loose talk in sort of shorthand reference to it that way but what he refers to is the incident in which the prosecutor was fired and the first thing that he says in the whole exchange is talking about the prosecutor being fired, and he says it sounds horrible to him, and the situation with burisma and so -- and all the president says is so if you can look into it. it sounds horrible. it sounds like a bad situation. that's not calling for an investigation necessarily into vice president biden or his son, but the situation in which the prosecutor had been fired, which affected anti-corruption efforts in the ukraine. >> joining us here onset msnbc legal analyst, danny cevallos, also with us from washington white house, politico reporter, daniel litman. the democrats now have susan collins, they have a yes vote from susan collins. they have a yes vote from mitt romney, obviously we heard the

statement from lamar alexander. he's going to vote now and leave this to the election. murkowski is the toss up. what is the likelihood we could hear lisa murkowski voting yes, bringing it to a tie vote in which the chief justice will have to be the deciding factor and what happens there. >> look at the language of the question she posed yesterday, it wasn't why shouldn't we call john bolton, it was why shouldn't we call john bolton. the question implies she's leaning toward a presumption of calling john bolton. it wouldn't be a surprise if that's the direction she goes in. she has shown an independent streak throughout the trial along with a couple senators and she may end up calling for his testimony, but given that the likelihood still is, at least the odds are that he won't be called, it may not ultimately make a difference. it may at best lead us to a tie which is really the most fascinating constitutional conclusion in this trial. >> so what happens then with the

tie? >> any number of things. number one, the chief justice can always punt to the senators. in a tie he's got to make a decision. there are scholars that says the chief justice presides that the vice president is the only person authorized to break ties. precedent, history tells us that the chief justice has broken a tie in the past going back to the johnson impeachment but even then it said that a senator stood up and objected to that very action of the chief justice breaking a tie. so it's hard to say because these are not precedential decisions. the chief justice could take a different view. >> daniel, you are the expert out of us, what is the finding behind lamar alexander's thinking. he says what the president did was inappropriate but it seems

he's buying a little bit of the alan dershowitz logic which is if the president does it, it's not necessarily an impeachable offense. >> yeah, it almost holds the president to be above the law and that he shouldn't worry about getting impeached for anything he does in the course of his official duties. i think it's basically a punt to voters in november, but i think if you think about it, that means that he can welcome outside foreign help to get him elect elected or reelected. and i think this is the get over it argument that we heard from mick mulvaney. it's baesically confirming the case. it's not a huge deal. we can let the voters deal with it in a few months. >> daniel, what was behind you think lamar alexander's decision voting no. i was reading a threat from tim alberta of "politico" talking

through what could have inspired lamar alexander to vote now. in spite of the fact that he is retiring and leaving his seat, there is still a lot of outside pressure with regards to the president when you do become a civilian, really. >> that's totally right. he does not want to face the president's wrath for the next nine months and if you're thinking about his state of tennessee, if he has stuff he wants to get accomplished for his own legacy that he's thinking about a lot these days, mitch mcconnell is much less likely to help him out if he votes in flavor of witnesses. so he's really always been kind of a traditional party line republican, and he is not really displayed much independence like a mitt romney or a murkowski or collins. >> or john mccain. >> if it was john mccain, i could definitely see him voting

for witnesses. >> so much for impartial justice when you're taking in all these political calculations like your legacy and trading and all that. danny cevallos, quickly, what do you make of the defense team, hey, the president was investigating joe biden, you're kind of mishearing what he said and focussing singularly on that not even a transcription of that phone call with president zelensky using the words burisma and never mentioning joe biden and ignoring all the other times where he's come out and said he wanted the investigation specifically into the bidens. >> the defense has gotten into trouble when they advance arguments that are hypothetically true or technically true but they land with a thud because we know under these facts and we know given this president and what we know about this president, that it just cannot be the case. plus, the transcript, or i like to call it a memorandum that was released contradicts that position because he mentions the

bidens multiple times. he doesn't explicitly say can you investigate the bidens and that's where the defense, i think, stumbles because they hold the senators to a standard that is unless you see explicit quid pro quo in the form of a written contract or actual words to that effect, but the law has never required that level or that degree of proof for an agreement or a conspiracy or anything else. our whole universe is run on winks and nods and assumptions that things get done a certain way and so too does the criminal code where extortion and bribery don't require a written agreement to extort or bribe, it can be inferred from the surrounding circumstances. >> it is so obvious that danny cevallos is from the defense world. our whole universe is run by winks and nods. >> i have defended these cases. the federal law has never required an explicit verbatim agreement.

it's an argument that's a bit of a stretch. >> danny cevallos always appreciate it. daniel litman, we're going to talk to you in a little bit. don't go anywhere for us. how top democrats are responding to the idea the senate may acquit president trump as early as today. the president and joe biden go after each other in iowa days before the caucuses, and mike pompeo is in ukraine meeting with president zelensky, the man at the center of the president's impeachment. we're going to give a live look from there and a check on weather when we come back. her w.

welcome back, president trump and former vice president joe biden are trading jabs in iowa just days before the caucuses are set to begin. in a speech yesterday, biden slammed the president over his moral character while trump at his rally last night mocked biden for his gaffes on the campaign trail. does it matter if a president lies? does it matter if a president

has no moral compass? does it matter if a president believes he or she is above the law? does it matter if the president is petty or mean or spiteful? does it matter what the character of the president is? well, i believe the answer to each and every one of these questions is what you think as well, yes. over the course of his presidency, donald trump has proved he believes the answer to each and every one of these questions is no. ladies and gentlemen, in november, america will have a chance to answer the question does the character of a president matter. yes or no. >> let's vote for pocahontas, let's vote for bernie, lets vote for sleepy joe. joe. he always gets the name wrong.

how many times has he missed it. he's in iowa, great to be in the great state of ohio, and they say, joe you're in iowa. you can't do that, no matter how great you speak, if you're winston churchill, if you make that mistake at the beginning of your speech, it's over. you might as well just wrap it up. there's the fake news. they were just absolutely -- they would absolutely destroy you. you can't do that. you can't do that, joe, sleepy joe. >> it's official, we are back in campaign mode, election season. >> we will be officially monday when the iowa caucuses get underway. joe biden took on two rivals, pete buttigieg and bernie sanders. the former vice president slammed buttigieg over his lack of political experience while hitting sanders for not being a

democrat. >> look you guys have seen pete, he's a good guy. you've seen bernie, you've seen me, contrast, i've gotten more than 8,600 votes in my life. he says he's not, he's not a democrat to the best of my knowledge, and bernie has a different view. everything i have suggested to you that i want to do, i figure out how to pay for it. he's acknowledged he doesn't even know how, what his medicare for all is going to cost, how he's going to do it. >> you got to love the guy picking up the blizzard in the background, i just want to get my cookie dough blizzard and then i'll be out. the latest on the deadly coronavirus outbreak, amid new developments how it's being spread from one person to another. we're back in a moment. o another. we're back in a moment applebee's new irresist-a-bowls now starting at $7.99. now that's eatin' good

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two each in illinois and california, one in arizona and washington state. over in the uk, the chief medical officer there announced that two people, members of the same family have tested positive in that country. now, shortly after the world health organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency, the state department heightened china's travel advisory to its highest alert possible, a level 4, which is a do not travel warning. let's switch gears and get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. hi, bill. >> last day of january, wrapping up a very warm month as we have been reporting all morning long. the windchill, typically, nothing too extreme. burlington, vermont at 13. that's a little bit cold. i was looking at some of the stats, new york city, this is the 10th warmest january ever for boston, the third warmest everywhere and almost everywhere in the northeast, top ten and same thing for the south, a very warm month, a very warm winter

and february is the same. today a little bit of light rain moving through the southeast. umbrella weather day in areas like atlanta, montgomery, birmingham, all the way into areas of north florida too. the some of the terrain may creep up into virginia late today through the carolinas and washington, d.c. north of washington, d.c., maybe cloudy skies, you do not need your umbrella. middle of the country, a little bit of light mix possible in chicago, but the roads should be fine. let's time some of this rain out. this is 6:00 p.m. this evening. you will see the rain over charlotte, north carolina, heading through raleigh, virginia, we have to watch for the potential of a few thunderstorms in areas of central and south florida. festivities going on getting ready for the super bowl. we'll be dodging the possibility of strong storms. well off the coast, no impacts whatsoever, leaving everyone in the northeast with a pretty nice saturday and it looks like super bowl sunday is going to be equally as nice for just about the entire eastern sea board, the exception is northern nenw ,

england. i mentioned the severe weather threat in the miami area, a slight risk of severe storms, could have gusty winds and lightning as those go through, and unfortunately that boundary sits there again into saturday. we do have two days in a row. thankfully for the super bowl, though, everything clears out and this is about as nice as it's going to be for the 49ers and chiefs. this is great football weather. it's going to be clear, mild, not that windy. temperature about 66 degrees. so, you know, they will be dodging some storms the next two days, and then sunday should be fine. >> a bittersweet day, because when you watch the super bowl it's usually this kind of celebratory atmosphere and yet there's also going to be a tribute for kobe bryant after the major loss to the sports world. a bittersweet moment for the country as they're watching the super bowl game. >> indeed it will be. we'll get your next weather update, be prepared for that. >> got to work on that. >> get ready. it is a pivotal day in the impeachment trial. in a matter of hours we could

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welcome back, everybody, i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. the key vote on whether to allow witnesses at the senate trial. it appears democrats do not have

the votes. lamar alexander will vote against calling witnesses. lisa murkowski said she's going to announce her decision this morning. that means susan collins and mitt romney are the only republicans that have committed to voting for more witnesses and documents. chuck schumer told reporters, we're going to keep fights. >> you cannot be acquitted if you don't have a trial, and you don't have a trial if you don't have witnesses and documentation and that. i would hope that the senators, if it comes to a tie or if there's a question of hearing testimony or receiving documents would leave it up to the chief justice of the supreme court. >> and during yesterday's question and answer portion, chief justice john roberts refused to read aloud a question

that would have identified the alleged ukraine whistleblower. >> i have a question to present to the desk for the house manager schiff and the president's counsel. >> the presiding officer declines to read the question as submitted. >> so following the floor drama, paul gave a contentious news conference in the senate's tv gallery where he discussed the basis of his question. >> i think it was an incorrect finding to not allow a question that makes no reference. it means that anybody ever said might have been whistleblower could never be discussed in a proceeding. i think it's very important whether or not a group of democratic activists, part of the obama/biden administration, were working together for years looking for an opportunity to impeach the president. >> tensions ran high yesterday when white house lawyer pam bondi took to the podium to ask a question about the bidens. in her rebuttal, val

demonstrate, lookdemonstratings looked directly at bondi. >> hunter biden is paid $83,000 a month to sit on that board with no experience in energy, no experience in the ukraine, doesn't speak the language and we clear know that he had a very fancy job description. and he did none of those things. he attended one or two board meetings. hunter biden stays on that board for three years. three years. then we hear the video of joe biden bragging about firing the prosecutor linking it to aid. then we have the six-minute phone call. >> if we are serious about why we are here and i have no reason to doubt that we are. if we are serious about seeking the truth because the truth matters. looking at the bidens, no matter how many times we call their

name, we have no evidence to point to the fact that either biden has anything at all to tell us about the president shaking down a foreign power to help him cheat in the next election. >> so if there weren't enough awkward moments that we have shown you so far, there was also a moment at the end of last night's proceedings when jerry nadler appeared to rush ahead of adam schiff to give closing remarks. pay attention to the bottom of your screen right after chief justice john roberts ask the question. >> could you please respond to the answer just given by the president eat couns president's counsel and provide any other comments the senate would want to hear before we adjourn for the evening. >> mr. chief justice, members of the senate. >> wow. >> jerry, jerry.

>> i was curious about that much earlier in the process how they decided who gets to respond to each one. does each have a brief and a portfolio, if a question comes about a certain topic. >> adam schiff as the lead prosecutor, he was obviously leading most of the rebuttals. >> and certainly would have had the first right at the closing arguments. joining us again from washington, d.c., and washington reporter for politico, daniel lippman. let's talk a little bit about senator murkowski. an undecided vote. we're not sure how she's going to vote, do you think the way lamar alexander voted, this is going to stall no matter what, does that free her up to vote no or embolden her to vote yes knowing it's not going to necessarily guarantee witnesses and more documents and really having it hung on her? >> yeah, i think she can also take heart from what adam schiff has offered which is just one

week of witness testimony or depositions and the senate can go back to its normal course of business monday night or whenever they're supposed to come back next week. i think if she does vote for witnesses, then -- and justice roberts breaks a tie in favor of witnesses, which would be huge news, then she can tell mitch mcconnell blame chief justice roberts for leading two more witnesses. i was not the tie breaking vote. so i think that's something she can hang her hat on. >> daniel, let's talk about what we just heard from speaker pelosi there where she basically said this is not an acquittal if there's not a fair trial, if witnesses aren't necessarily called. is this more of a political statement from the speaker or is this the beginning of the next steps for what the democrats plan to carry out, if in fact, could they feasibly call john bolton to testify in front of the house at least to have that on record. >> i think that's what we're likely to see, that they're

going to say the senate did not hear from john bolton, and the book is not released. we have not read the chapters, and so just for the public record, for the historical record that our great grand kids will be reading about, we need to hear from john bolton in his own words, under oath, not just in a book that might be to his liking that he's written, and so i think they're going to use that in the house to subpoena bolton and to try to also use it to get an advantage in 2020 in the election. and they'll say, well, even the national security adviser confirmed why we spent three months doing this. >> let's talk about new reporting that you have that an aide to vice president mike pence is possibly -- who is also i should say a key witness in the house impeachment inquiry is possibly leaving her post for another position. what more can you tell us about that? >> yeah, she's gotten a job at

u.s. central command in tampa, florida, where she is supposed to be a middle east adviser. she's leaving a month or two early, which is pretty unlikely when you have a plus job in the vice president's office, but, you know, she is a state department employee, and i think what they said they're evaluating her request to leave early and so it's possible she has to stay another month working for vice president pence when she clearly has been on the outs, given that she testified in the house impeachment inquiry, so it's probably not a very popular person in the office right now. >> daniel, quickly, as we turn to 2020, if this thing does wrap up in the next day or so or even today, what are the plans that you're hearing from both republicans and democrats as to how they plan to play this whole impeachment inquiry trial on the trail? >> i think they're going to say that this was a needed thing and

that this is not a full acquittal and that we have to take care of things at the ballot box in november and that's why, you know, even more inducement for all democrats to unite even after a tough primary. >> all right. daniel lippman, thanks my friend, appreciated it. >> thanks, daniel. we are following developing news at this hour. secretary of state mike pompeo wrapping up a news conference with ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky, this comes as ath at an interesting time. why is pompeo there now. that's the big question. we're going to go live to kiev with some answers right after this break. we'll be right back. r this break we'll be right back. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪

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welcome back, everyone, as the impeachment trial plays out, secretary of state mike pompeo is ukraine where he held a news conference with ukrainian

president zelensky that just wrapped up in kiev. that is where we find correspondent matt bradley who has an update on that conversation. walk us through it, how did that press conference play out. any awkward moments between the two men. >> reporter: now, they looked like the best of friends, as a matter of fact, he did at the very beginning, pompeo made reference to that expletive tirade he gave to an npr reporter. ukrainian people should know americans do care about ukraine. the tirade he said earlier basically that, you know, in not so many words that americans don't care about ukraine. he again kind of walked that back. he also gave full throated support to ukraine's opposition to fighting in the east. that is the heart of the impeachment inquiry whether or not the u.s. was going to give that aid to the ukrainians in order to help in narrow fight against russia. that fighting has been going on

since 2013, killed more than 13,000 people, quite a big fight and the ukrainian desperately needs that aid. and one of the reporters asking whether or not there was a condition on the aid, a quid pro quo, the central question in the impeachment inquiry and once again, secretary of state pompeo denied there was any quid pro quo in giving the aid and in offering a white house visit for president zelensky. president zelensky said that he would go tomorrow, as soon as tomorrow to the white house. he's really eager for that formal meeting, a sit down in washington with president trump. and here's what mike pompeo had to say about it. >> no, there's no condition of the nature you described for president zelensky to come to washington and have that visit. it's simply not the case. we'll find the right time. we'll find the appropriate opportunity. we want to make sure that it happens at a time when there are substantial progress, things that we can deliver between the

two of us, and there's a lot of work, our teams discussed today all the opportunities. we see the economic opportunity for american businesses coming here. we talked about a handful of them just this morning, companies by name, real projects. president zelensky will be welcome to come to washington when we have an opportunity to do good things for the ukrainian people and the american people. >> reporter: one ukrainian reporter asked whether or not the impeachment process was damaging the relationship between the u.s. and ukraine. no surprise that mike pompeo said no, the relationship is thriving and president zelensky agreed. >> was there any response from president zelensky per that question as to whether or not there were any conditions with regards to receiving this aid? he's been asked this question before and had somewhat of a wishy washy response, and of course we have heard house testimony about higher ups amidst the ukrainian government and how they reached out to their counter parts in the united states saying what's going on with the aid here, but

did he have any response? >> reporter: yeah, we didn't really hear much of a response from president zelensky on that one. mike pompeo offered a very very firm no, that there was no condition, especially on that white house visit, but actually, mike pompeo was a little bit wishy washy when it came to whether or not the aid was conditioned, he con feignfined condition to the white house aid offered or not offered. >> thanks, matt. let's get a check of your weather with bill karins. >> our friends in the pacific northwest, high wind warnings on the coast, could have winds up to 70 miles per hour. it's been raining nonstop all month long. one spot has had rain reported every single day on the coast of washington state since the beginning of the year, since january 1st, and it's pouring this morning again, so by far the worst weather is right there. we also are going to continue to watch the weather pattern in areas of the southeast, with some rainfall, and you can see

here the atlanta area has got rain that's beginning to move in, and also areas of especially down around the panhandle. this will be light rain. later on this afternoon, heavier stuff will try to move into areas like in the carolinas, we'll watch that. the only thing as far as severe weather goes, we used to watch and this is for everyone down here for the super bowl festivities, miami southward through the keys, a slight risk of severe weather and we may have isolated tornadoes later on this evening, evening tornadoes and those are always very dangerous. could get damaging winds too, like 60 miles per hour winds, so as far as the other predictions this weekend, ground hog is coming out on sunday. puks punxsutawney phil could be cold. is he going to see his shadow, not going to see his shadow. an iffy proposition to see what happens. more thunderstorms on saturday, that does clear out on sunday

for nice weather for the super bowl and it looks like march. it's going to be 70 in nebraska, 71 in denver on sunday. even east coast, 60s in the carolinas, 55 in washington, d.c. super bowl sunday looks and feels like spring across the country. >> who's it going to look like spring for, which team. >> i lived in kansas. i want to root for kansas city for the field good andy reed story winning the super bowl. but i think san francisco takes it 41-24. i think it will be a high scoring game. >> i'm going with the kansas city chiefs. you get to be the tie breaker vote you get to choose. >> can't i say i'm about the commercials and the half-time show with j. llo and shakira. >> i'll say the 49ers. i'm the chief justice. we'll see what happens. >> all the witnesses are out there watching right now.

thank you, bill. after 3 1/2 years, the resignation of two prime ministers and too many failed proposals to count, today is the day the united kingdom officially breaks away from the european union. we are going to go live to london for more on what that means today. or more on what that means today. hello son, i think it's time you join the family business. dad, come on. i'm... going to old spice fiji? dad, i'm an old spice body and face wash kinda guy. hmm, moisturizing. the good news? our comfort lasts all day. the bad news? so does his energy. depend® fit-flex underwear offers your best comfort and protection guaranteed. because, perfect or not, life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. americans have come to lendingtree.com to shop and compare their loans and credit cards for over 20 years. now with the new lending tree app you can go beyond loan shopping and see your full financial health, including your free credit score, ongoing credit monitoring, your current cash

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welcome back. it is brexit day in europe. at 11:00 p.m. london time, 6:00 p.m. eastern standard time,

britain will officially leave the eu. quite day. and this day is finally here and it's taken three and a half years to get here. what can be different as of 11:00 p.m. local time? what will change? >> that's right. it's taken three and a half years. three prime ministers and two general elections just to get to this point. you mentioned, the official exit time will be 11:00 p.m. local time, midnight european time, after which the uk will no longer be a part of eu. it's actually happening here. what this means, though, more interim, because after today we'll move to something called a transition period. the uk and eu from a trading perspective, nothing will change in the next 11 months, but there is a big difference. the uk will no longer be paying into the eu budget and it will have to be a take her, not everyone will make her, no say in lawmaking.

the transition period the uk enters into the next 11 months. you may notice this is a short time frame indeed for the government to come up with a new free trade agreement with the eu from december the 31st, 2020 onwards. that's the big challenge. the prime minister boris johnson already ruled out the possibility of another extension to that date. a lot of pressure on the government from tomorrow onwards. of course, today for them is a day of celebration, just in terms of markets. the pound is about 10% weaker than where it was prereferendum. stock markets up still underperformed broader eurozone economy. time will tell. of course, whichever the side of the equation, you're either very happy or sad. >> and what about travel? >> not yet. >> everything stays the same pretty much? >> no yet. the next 11 months. as of 2021 onwards, new restrictions that will be in place, that certainly as a uk

passport holder i won't be able to stand in the fastrak line anymore. have to wait with everyone else. >> our heart goes out to you. at least you won't are waiting at jfk. thank you. coming up, up next, a look at axios' "one big thing" and on "morning joe" a key day in the trump impeachment trial. will it end today or will we hear from more witnesses? the answer depends on a critical vote expected later today. we'll tell you where things stand. and democratic senator chris murphy of connecticut. "morning joe" is moments away. fi you don't believe me? hop in. good lookin' pickup, i will say that. oh wow. silverado offers an optional technology package with up to 15 different views - including one enhanced view that makes your trailer appear invisible. wow. - that's pretty sweet. - that's cool. oooohh! that's awesome. where'd the trailer go?

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learn more at the explorer card dot com. welcome back. joining us from washington, a look at axios a.m. editor and chief for axios nick lick johnson. good morning >> good morning >> talk to us about axios' "one big thing" today? >> president trump headed to acquittal. long-awaited acquittal in this impeachment trial later today

after breaking news last night we learned lamar alexander one of these possibly on the fence senators said he would not vote in favor of the motion to allow more witnesses. bringing us back to where we were last friday pap whole thing a question of witness math. could the democrats find four republicans to vote with them to vote for the motion to get witnesses. we'll learn today that is probably not the case. three witnesses can't find a fourth. couldn't find one last friday, can't find one today. look for today the final vote happening and barring a massive, important defection from a massive republican we haven't been following or a tie-breaking vote cast by chief justice john roberts, no witnesses called and we'll move ahead with the proceeding. i'm struck by this, talking about this, it's the same conversation we've had for months since proceedings started in the house. any scenario in which four republicans would break with the president, break with they are party and join with democrats on the impeachment proceedings or

impeachment conviction? learning in a couple hours the answer to that is, no. >> let me then kind of play this out a little with a quick acquittal happening possibly today maybe even over the weekend. i doubt. if it does, how do you see politics in washington going forward starting monday? are we then suddenly shifting to 2020 full blown or do you think the house may shift gears here and see somebody like nancy pelosi say, all right. i want to bring john bolton to hear from in a committee -- >> or at least try to. >> or at least try to? >> remember, we haven't heard from john bolton. what other revelations might there be in that book? the book the white house is threatening bolton with legal action if he publishes is and interviewers wanted to get an interview. and do they want to be dragged back to congress to go through more of this? are republicans ready to go through more of this? we've watched over both the

house and senate trial viewership is dropping. what voters want. the important thing to note, voting in the 2020 presidential election starts on monday. as lamar alexander said about the president's action, which he thought were inappropriate said it's up to the voter to decide. we might see coalition of that agreement in capitol hill as voters head to the polls next week. >> nicholas johnson live in d.c. thank you, as always. reading akies a.m. in a little bit. sign up for the newsletter si sign signup@axios.com. >> i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. "morning joe" starts right now. -- while we are sitting in the middleimpeach everment proceedings hit an all-time high. >> hit my highest poll numbers since elected. >> his historic nafta -- >> we replaced a nafta disaster with an incredible brand new

u.s./mexico/canada agreement. >> we've kill add terrorist al baghdadi and soleimaniants our brave warriors lost a flawless precision strike that killed the world's number one terrorist. >> secured $738 billion to rebuild a military. >> we have fully rebuilt the united states military. >> more than 7 million jobs created since the election. >> since the election we have created 7 million new jobs. >> the legal board cross aring down 78% since may. >> we have reduced illegal border crossings seven straight months. >> the african-american, hispanic-american unemployment, asian-american unemployment ever recorded. >> unemployment rates have reached the lowest levels ever recorded. >> we passed, as manager jefferies will recall, is