how much trouble is cory gardner in in colorado? >> a lot of trouble. a lot of trouble. think, you know, joe, you mentioned the swing states, right, in this presidential year there's now i think kind of common consensus that there are really five, right? wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, north carolina and florida. those are the ones where the battle is going to happen. and that tells you something about colorado. really although the president's team will claim that they're going to fight in colorado, in a presidential year places like nevada, colorado, virginia that used to be battle ground states are now largely considered blue. >> they're gone. >> that tells you the kind of trouble cory gardner is in. in an off-year election it might be a coin flip. in a presidential year the tide is very much running against cory gardner so he's going to be facing an uphill fight in his reelection fight so that makes these votes all the more important for him. >> what about susan collins in maine? how much trouble is susan collins in? >> well, i mean, look, you look at her internal

another incumbent who is incredibly strong, though not as well-known, cory gardner. great campaigner, good legislative record against a well known incumbent who has a good brand. is problem with hickenlooper that he has not been tested in a long time and you saw his performance as a presidential candidate outside of colorado, it turned into a dismal performance. that is a race where i see a tough state. candidate as he appears in john hickenlooper, so how do you game that out? i still like where we set. based on the terrain, those are the two i would be most concerned about. jacqueline: susan collins caston him popular vote to bert -- confirm brett kavanaugh. sweeps concerned if she the impeachment under the rug, votes for the president's acquittal and not support calling witnesses, it will be more problematic for an already competitive race? steven: i'll be interested to see -- at some point, she will have to cast complex votes on processes as well as acquittal itself. day,nk at the end of the the real battle in maine -- and i think it is a battle she is well-suited

leah: is it possible susan collins and cory gardner do everything right and still don't make it through 2020? steven: it is possible for any candidate -- a little of it will depend on the president's performance and the larger environment. what voters are thinking about in those last few months of the race, but typically -- i've always felt in general one of my axioms of life is the candidate who does the most things right day after day usually wins. there are few exceptions to that rule but generally, if you've got a good, disciplined, hard-working candidate who knows the matters and is able to focus on it, and both are able to do that. i think the chance of them flubbing at the end is pretty small. there are other races. i think -- to me, the most vulnerable candidate running the cycle in the senate is doug jones in alabama, where he is somebody who at the end he could do every thing right politically, and may run a flawless campaign, but his voting record will be impossible for him at the end of the day to overcome. jacqueline: what does that mean doing the right thing for their vote

and uphill climb for cory gardner in colorado. so how are -- high might mcconnell think about how to protect these senators going into this 2020 race? >> i think he's going to look at letting them vote obviously how they want to vote. and not only the politics but the constituents and making sure that they're comfort on that front. it's worth pointing out that doug jones from alabama is up for re-election as well where impeachment is upside-down in the polls there. so there's always kinds of political calculations here. what will happen, it will launch. the arguments will be made. the question is whether the public overtime after listening to this senate trial says okay, we got it. it's the same thing. or whether there's going to be this push to call for witnesses that leads to another level of this. >> dana: meantime, civility in the house won't get easier, this is jim jordan talking about nancy pelosi on "fox and friends." she never expected to have a vote with us. so it's backfired on them. the american people understand facts,

guys like cory gardner and susan collins, people up for election, it is hard to poll, will people vote me more if i but for this amendment that lengthens the trial? there are a lot of political gut check on how will my conduct during the trial affect my reelection? susan: i think it is wrong russ to look at this in terms of how does it play out politically for any individual good if you can agree the behavior -- using the office of the presidency for personal gain to help him in if theion is wrong, and house -- i think the house thought if they did not impeach and have a trial, than future presidents, including trump would continue to do this. i do not think they did a political calculus. i think it was on the merits of the law. david g.: i tend to agree with that. there was the notion impeachment would be harmful to democrats. speaker pelosi was trying to avoid the vote but felt enough pressure we have to do something or else we look like we are flipping a switch. i do think there was a decision that was a political or anti-political at that moment. however, we cannot argue with the f

mitt romney, cory gardner, up for re-election. he's behind right now. martha mcsally, despite her conduct with with manu raju, totally inappropriate, she's running behind her opponent. there are a group, it's five to seven of them. the problem is, you would need 20 of them to remove donald trump, but it's different when it comes to -- >> you need four. >> right. >> much more to discuss. today in other news house impeachment manager adam schiff is saying documents are being when would that could be important for the impeachment trial. i'll speak to acting director andrew mccabe coming up. whether you're a dine outer, take outer, veggie person, definitely-not-just-veggie person, bread lover, or cheese lover... all you have to do is answer personal assessment questions and get scientifically matched with a proven weight loss plan. find out which new customized plan can make losing weight easier for you! the new program from ww. weight watchers reimagined. join for free and get two months free! hurry, offer ends january 20th. just between us, you know what'

colorado there's cory gardner of colorado absolutely you know to me or not i don't see she's so into the party and she's in a very very safe. but there have been some murmurs in washington that there might be a defection on her part but again it's a sort of a long shot again because of how much of a conservative stalwart she's been and she very much expresses liking for this president but i think there are a couple wildcards up there that we just maybe could be persuaded to through this process and of course the moderates. and then joe manchin of my home state of west virginia somebody who is a democrat in name only based. i love that as a historian you can never be wrong. but you historian perfection is perspective what should we be looking out flowing. in these impeachment hearings what what would you say i'm going to be discussing yes said that i don't think anyone is really well not many people are going to and that's john roberts. john roberts so he has an important role to play he's he's got a role that's not just about moderating but also about up. holding what he wants to dem

i'm thinking of people like senator cory gardner of colorado, if he votes to acquit trump, that will not help in a state like colorado. also susan collins in maine. >> thank you viewed -- thank you. is inrew, my question regards to the iran situation. last week there were wargames with moscow, beijing, and tehran. they have been underreported by the washington press corps. beijing, the chinese communist they areparty, breaking sanctions against iran every day and supporting the iran regime, buying iranian oil at a discounted price, and we are about to sign a trade deal on -- thenext week pentagon reports up to $3 million -- the pentagon reports up to 3 million people being held in concentration camps. how come people in the washington press corps aren't holding the administration account on that? it seems like it is the parlor game and not the substance a lot of the time. >> who wants to address these? >> we at foreign policy did cover the wargame last week and we have been covering the attention and concentration camps consistently in a way that the situation in china is now taintin

the purple state republicans, cory gardners, susan collins, people concerned about their integrity wantitnesses in, they're tired of being scooped by msnbc and other people that bring on information and they refuse to talk about it. >> about lev parnas, we talked about two things last night that bolsters the argument. number one, he is diminishing the text traffic from a guy, mr. hyde, he never saw when he wasn't drunk to use a damning double negative. and number two, in the interview he says of himself who am i, why would these people want to meet with me? the opposite of a kind of claim of grandiose that people in the spotlight often make. >> as you say, never not drunk means always drunk, and why would they want to talk to me, i'm nobody, mr. parnas said, is self deprecating in the search not of humor but of credibility. he appears to be trying to level with everyone. and there's a lot bearing down if he is not leveling. we saw senator harris make news going farther than chuck schumer, leader on the democratic side to say parnas should also be added as a witness. this adds the questi

cory gardner still has to get republicans in rural colorado to vote for him.s he going to do that? >> but what i guess what makes him vulnerable is there aren't enough of them. >> eli knows colorado much better than i do. and the question that we're not asking here is what if they do subpoena these witnesses and they don't show up? i mean, the whole idea that the senate trials -- >> or against the white house and you're a republican senator. >> right. and the idea that they're going to just somehow show up now. >> and the president's at 43%? i guess i don't understand -- and i worked in a republican white house where no one was afraid to stand up to the white house. so it's not a republican thing. it's a trump thing. it's a mob thing. it's a, we're going to get you with a mean tweet. it's the lamest, wimpiest, most pathetic thing. where are the people that used to care about ethics and government? rob portman was an omb director. he knows exactly -- he had michael duffey's job. he could very easily tell if this email is legal or illegal. it's binary. what does

i'm saying this because i'm thinking of people like senator cory gardner of colorado, it will not help him a lot in colorado and also people like susan collins inmate in maine t probably could affect her reelection potential. >> thank you. >> andrew duncan, on the film produced in china human rights activist. my question is in regards to the iran situation which you touched on. last week there were wargames with moscow, beijing and was tehran fitted been underreported are not reported by the washington press corps. beijing specific atelectasis the chinese, his party who are 90 billion people totalitarian rule over 1.3 billion people, not just china. they are breaking sanctions against iran everyday and supporting the iran regime, why iranian oil at a discounted price. we are about to cite a a trade deal next week with them, with up to 3 million uighurs being held in concentration camps and a quarter of the world cotton supply being picked by these people in concentration camps. how can people in the washington press corps are not holding the administration took out count n that? it see

>> for colorado and cory gardner it makes it harder to beat john hickenlooper.ection. that cory gardner's only path to re-election is to energize the republican base and get them out. cory gardner was saying i am not going to be able to pull over democrat leaning independents. i have to turn out republican trump supporters. >> same with north carolina? >> tillis showed us his card when he opposed donald trump on reprogram dod money to build the wall. trump came down on him, north carolina republicans came down on him, tillis flipped. >> i wonder if this will go down in history as a legal judgment, but as a strangely political polarized vote that in a country w where 90%, certainly nine out of ten republicans tend to vote for trump no matter what the issue. the moon is made of cheese. yeah, i'm with him. he says so, you know? to the point it explains why people like gardner and those team and tillis, with the only exception of a guy, mitt romney, who is immune to politics as we know it. he is -- his family is utah. he is part of the utah family. he will be there

with cory gardner, if the senate trial is over tomorrow and -- >> which isn't going to happen. >> but if it turnz out there's more evidence, those pieces of evidence are going to be in tv ads against cory gardner. i promise you they will be because that's complicity in the cover up. they're trying to pretend it's not going to happen. and i think the votes have been corroding in the senate by the day. i think mcconnell is getting a little nervous now and i think there's a political pressure because the minute mcconnell feels his majority is out the window, donald trump is gone. >> people like portman and johnson could be implicated. the chief justice of the supreme court is going to preside over this. i'd want to know about the portman call from trump. he's the last known senator to talk to trump. did he know tlhere was a whistleblower? what did the senators know and how can they hold up their hands and take this oath of impartiality? >> these guys are in the white house with their heads bobbing up and down like bobblehead dolls when donald trump is calling them out by name and praisin

but look, i mean cory gardner has avoided these kind of fights.hem being the kind to do it. lamar alexander is a serious minded senator. he's retiring. nobody's idea of a big donald trump fan. he may want to see the senate act like the u.s. senate and might be a vote in favor of witnesses. >> before garret and i start deciding who's bringing dinner on what night, take us into the substance of all this. donald trump about to be tried for abusing his office. it's sort of an indictment, if you view the house vote that way, that is undisputed by any word, utterence public and any document to date. so, what could the republican strategy be other than to push through something that isn't a trial at all? >> republican strategy is to simply short circuit everything. so that you don't have a real trial. and that's why we're having all these fights about witnesses. he's going to march in lockstep with the president. i've never heard of a trial where the judge and jury announced in advance the verdict, at least not in america as opposed to the soviet system.

susan collins, mitt romney, cory gardner.hat list, zero to ten, what is your level of concern that you may have to have witnesses? >> they will have to prove the need for witnesses that they are presenting all this information. we've been doing this for two days. i'm not going to predict what the senate does. i'm not concerned about it. i know the facts and i know the law and we have a great team. i don't believe that it will get to witnesses, but that will be the senate's decision. here's how i operate, prepare for every contingency. we are prepared for every contingency. we will make the case on why it's not necessary to have witnesses. we will talk about what the law requires and deal with what the senate decides. our job and we've been saying this for 18 hours was to get this process started. it's taken 12 hours to get it even started. >> bret: we appreciate you taking time. i'll put you down briefly and we will follow every element. thank you. thank you for inviting us into your home tonight. were going to cover everythi

>> i think cory gardner is one of the senators to watch. he'll ultimately vote for acquittal but he might try to hedge that for voting for witnesses in the meantime. he's not got a reelection fight, his likely opponent is john hickenlooper. he needs -- that's not going to go over well with the middle in colorado. >> frank, amanda, and pamela, thank you very much. i appreciate it. >>> breaking news i need to report. we're learning tonight that several service members were injured in that iranian attack on a base housing u.s. troops last week. why didn't the pentagon revise their initial assessment sooner? we'll talk about that. breathe freely fast, with vicks sinex. my congestion's gone. i can breathe again! ahhhh i can breathe again! ughh.. vicks sinex, breathe on and my lack of impulse control,, is about to become your problem. ahh no, come on. i saw you eating poop earlier. hey! my focus is on the road, and that's saving me cash with drivewise. who's the dummy now? whoof! whoof! so get allstate where good drivers save 40% for avoiding may

i am thinking of cory gardner from colorado. if he -- also people like susan collins in maine, it could affect her reelection potential. >> i am a film producer and chinese human rights activists. in question of the human rights situation which you touched on, wargames with moscow, beijing and iran, they have been reported or not reported by the washington press corps. beijing, the chinese communist party, 90 million people, totalitarian rule over 1.3 billion, not just china, they are breaking sanctions against iran and supporting the iran at a discounted price. we are about to sign a trade pentagon reporting up to 3 million liters being held in concentration camps -- uighurs being held in concentration camps. how come people hold the ministration to account on that, and it seems like it is a parlor game and not the substance a lot of the time? david: who wants to address these? jonathan: we did cover the wargames last week and we have been covering the detention and concentration camps of the uighurs consistently, including the

. >> it's going to be a high bar for people like susan collins and not just cory gardner and others, how do you explain all this stuff is happening or you flat out said no or voted for a hokie motion you shouldn't have or voted for mitch mcconnell versus your conscience or constituents. it won't be an easy walk for them. at least 10 of them will struggle with this. >> it will be interesting to see if any more evidence comes in. a lawyer who has worked at the justify department and familiar with the southern district of new york has been saying to me for weeks, what is coming from the southern district of new york? could there be something with rudy guilliani? could that evidence, something new, documents, e-mails, texts, end up that might -- >> make a move. >> make your optimism count for something? >> you have covered so many of these senators. allen, you were there on the hill in the senate parliamentarian's office where you get a lot of casual access to senators. i wonder what your reflexctions are as you look at some of them struggling with their conscience making political decis

colorado's cory gardner refused to comment saying it would violate his oath of impartiality. another vulnerable senator up for reelection in 2020, north carolina's thom tillis who says bolton's book has not affected his decision. tillis said, quote, i don't think we need witnesses. then here is the latest from senator lindsey graham. >> if people want witnesses, we're going to get a lot of witnesses, this idea of calling one and one makes zero sense to me. if we are going to open this up to additional inquiry, we're going to go down the road was it legitimate for the president to believe there was corruption and conflicts of interest on the bidens part in the ukraine, we will explore that and whether or not there's any credibility to the idea that the dnc may have been working with ukraine. >> what do the american people think about this? 75% of voters in a new quinnipiac poll said witnesses should be allowed to testify in the president's impeachment trial. 75%. broken down by party that includes 49% of republicans, 75% of independents and 95% of democrats. 54% of americans i

i'm doing a story on cory gardner's re-election campaign. he, of course, is one of the most vulnerable senators in the conference right now. i spoke to a lot of republicans, suburban women, unaffiliated but leaning moderate republican voters who are watching senators like cory gardner closely as they make this decision. i think if you see these senators say they are not open to new testimony at all, that's really going to affect them at the ballot box in november. even senator john cornyn from next, of all places, is open to having somebody like john bolton testify. i don't think you have a lot of wiggle room among a lot of republicans right now to block all of this outright. >> open to, though, is different from actually voting for it, right? those republicans even in difficult states define mitch mcconnell as no easy thing. do you see -- hate to be cynical here, but do you see a setup for something. i was open to it, then i listened to the arguments. there's not a lot there. i don't really think we need it at this stable. time to move onto

cory gardner keeps getting brought up. he is a vulnerable senator. so far, no indication he will want to call witnesses or otherwise break from mitch mcconnell? what do you think is going to happen as somebody who knows these guys, these folks, these people, men and women. >> there's going to have to be a hard choice made by every one of these mem members who is vulnerable and feels their conscience pricking at them as people who were involved in a cover-up. >> why does that the no loom as large as oh, my god i want to get re-elected and donald trump not on my side is very difficult to get re-elected? >> donald trump not on their side is actually a net positive, you could make that argument for cory gardner in colorado. >> maybe not in a primary. >> of course. they're afraid of donald trump's twitter feed, have sworn an oath of office to uphold the constitution but apparently in their heads it has this codici e that says if donald trump is going to tweet something mean about me, i won't do it. >> isn't there a third option that maybe they don't think

colorado's cory gardner refused to vote for witnesses.nother 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 h

those four republican senators or people looking closely, susan collins, murkowski, mitt romney, cory gardner, what kind of pressure do you think they feel, governor? >> well, i mean, first of all, the question is are they using their conscious. i happen to know a couple of them. i think they are going to use their conscious. secondly, there's some on the razor's edge and probably works to their benefit to say we should call witnesses but it's highly partisan. if you come from a red state it's easy to say we're not calling witnesses. if you come from a state more balanced you feel pressure to figure how to maneuver unless you let your conscious be the override. that's the way it ought to be in politics. days twist and turns, days come and go, but end you've got to determine what you feel best about. joe went through impeachment, i voted on impeachment. it's a matter of what does your conscious tell you. there's political ramifications then you're playing a different game than i played. >> how much do you think and what's your sense of how much that game has changed? >> i think it's changed ra

. >> i think for susan collins and cory gardner, if you are in cycle facing a tough election, possibly a loss, the opportunity to lean in asking for witnesses and then inevitably-evidently acquit the president is not too hot, not too cold, just right. it doesn't lump you in with those who acquit at all costs. and i think challenge is that nil wants this over by state of the union and if he and lindsey graham can pull off this trial without witnesses, it saves them 48 48 or 72 hours in getting the president what emdeclare as an exoneration before the joint session. >> and three republican senators to give the opportunity to appear moderate but can't lose four. what do you make of thom tillis and martha mcsally leaning hard on the president? they have made the choice to defend the president and try to juice their base. >> yeah, i know that the inflection part for tom till li thom tillis came from reprogramming money for the wall. he said the president didn't have a chance. there were rumors that tillis would face a senate primary challenge and the president would withholdis endorsement,

what is joni ernst going the say and cory gardner and martha mcsally and thom tillis? i'll be very interested to see how they handle that in states where they will be facing various races in november. >> one of the counter. pressures is that the democrats had an urgency. why? because we're afraid of what we'll do. that's what they accept saying. we're afraid he'll do more of this. he'll compromise the election. what does that create now as an environment for this election with a boldly reinforced president? >> well, remember the democrats and nancy pelosi who speaks for the democrats in the house did not want to impeach the president. they had all of the motor information. they had all of the obstruction, and she was not moved by that. what moved the democrats and the entire caucus the fact that looking back wasn't a reason to impeach trump, but looking forward, the fact that he might cheat and steal on the election, that was a reason to impeach him. >> you've got a lot of work to do on that narrative, though, joe. i think the more popular narrative was they wanted him

and senator cory gardner of colorado, republican of for reelection in the battleground eight, announced wednesday that he would not vote to call witnesses. let's go back to dean in rural utah. please go ahead and i apologize for interrupting you. >> caller: that's okay. my point is about calling witnesses, here's the thing. okay, what are the chances that you are going to have 20 republican senators vote to have witnesses, you know, to go to remove the president? so, even if they were to call witnesses, what are the chances of that? >> host: as the article said, very slim. >> caller: so why go through all of this? we are in an election year and what they are doing is penalizing the election system by dragging this out for months and weeks and weeks. why go there? >> host: your senator, mitt romney, has basically said he would vote for witnesses. >> caller: i know. and i'm not happy about that. and i sent him a message. >> host: did you get a response from his office? >> caller: i just sent it yesterday and i haven't received a response. >> host: tom from illinois. what ithat is the ques

when you want to talk impeachment underwater, let's talk cory gardner in colorado.about what's going on in arizona. let's talk about some of these other republicans. for them, the challenge is that once president trump is acquitted, which we think is likely. wednesday evening. he's going to say this is proof. i've been vindicated. it's all over. these republicans, even before acquittal, but vote to block witnesses and to block the admission of new documents are going to be loaded. it's going to be on their backs. at the top of the ticket they're going to have to explain why you think a fair trial does not include the guy who is the most pertinent to direct testimony about what the president should do. >> jesse: i don't think they are going to run against impeachment. >> dana: of your cory gardner and you're going to vote, let's say you vote against the president in colorado, then you're going to have no support in colorado all anyway. what he think about the media and how they played all of this as they wait to see -- every development, oh, mcconnell is going to los

it's not going to be the susan collins -- she may vote for it -- or the cory gardners. think it will be the mitt romneys and lamar alexanders who say this is what the senate should be about. we should be finding out about all the facts and making prudent decisions. but ultimately, i think mitch mcconnell is just relying on the fact that senators are tired of this. his whole strategy is based on the thinning patience of senators ready to be done sitting in their chair and doing other things. >> and i would say that's part of the reason why lindsey graham is so loud and others are threatening to bring in someone like a hunter biden because they know the people that care about the institution that would be inclined to vote to bring someone like bolton in don't want the prospect of the senate being turned into a circus. the republican senators who do want more information are being put in that bind as well. >> it's less than half the length of the clinton impeachment trial. i wonder how folks at home -- yeah, folks at home probably want them talking about other issues. or a

it is in the speaker's benefit to wait to see where cory gardner is going to go, martha mcsally, theke decisions because you're not going to get re-elected in colorado rubber stamping a fake trial. the other thing, a card that speaker pelosi could play is to say, okay, we're going to go ahead and do what your counsel said for us to do. we're going to reopen hearings and we're going to call john bolton. john bolton has said he wants to testify. there's no difference testifying to the house than to the senate. come testify here if you're just going to stipulate to what the house found. so what mcconnell -- hooengs he's quite wise but he's really quite affordable because speaker pelosi holds all the cards. if they want to reopen hearings on donald trump and call those same witnesses and say stipulate to that. >> so nancy pelosi needs reporters in maine to be asking senator susan collins are you for witnesses? and she needs time for that ripen. >> not just for witnesses, are you for a real trial or fake trial. if you're not for witnesses, you're basically saying, senator, this is the way

it's about putting cory gardner in a really tough series of votes so he has to defend him in november of this fall. >> sean: i think you are right through the prism of politics 299 days to go until the american people get to make the final decision. it's up to them and they can shock the world again and i hope trey gowdy in fact that that happens. let me ask you this question and it's a legal one constitutionally the sole role of the house of representatives to impeach. is it the sole role of the house of representatives to put the trial on. the chief justice of the supreme court he pro-sides. now the house managers will present their case. now, they are trying to have a redo and get the senate to do the job that they couldn't do in the house. what is your reaction? what would you tell republican senators tonight? >> same thing i told them in the op-ed. if he thinks the testimony of john bolton is so incidence spence cybiindispensay should have subpoenaed him. it's not to investigate and then deliberate. if that were true we wouldn't need the house. schiff was in such a hurry. keep in

how do you think that will affect cory gardner's re-election campaign in colorado? >> i don't think it's appropriate for me to weigh in on any individual senator/juror at this point. i'm a prosecutor in this case. all senators are sitting as jurors right now. i would hope that mr. gardner, like all senators, would take their oath to be an impartial juror seriously to listen to all the facts and the evidence. i continue to say to have a fair trial requires witnesses and documents. any american who goes into a courtroom and raises their right hand and becomes a juror knows that. tens of thousands of americans are file sping into courtrooms y to fulfill their constitutional duty to be a juror. they'll take an oath and hear witnesses and review documents. why should the president and what happens near washington be any different? of course, the answer is that it shouldn't and every american knows that. >> congressman jason crow from colorado, thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >>> the crash that took kobe bryant and his daughter's lives also killed seven other peop

. >> you also have cory gardner who doesn't want to talk to anybody about anything. >> that's exactly right because this is tricky. for the last three years, the republicans have been followed around the capital by reporters asking about the latest controversy and have gotten practiced. they know when to tune it out, when not to take the bait and when not to tarnish themselves with what he has done. the problem is this is a much bigger level, and republicans understand that if they break with the president, they're ultimately answerable to voters. their voters are in lock step with this president. my guess is almost all of the republican senators will be too at the end of the day. >> i am curious to see what the politico headline will be. we got reaction from one top democratic aide that said it is a sham to do the trial in this format. >> it is not that surprising given the fact that democrats are pushing for witnesses. they want this to be laid out in a spe specific way, they want it carried out on television. they want this to be something that's really the american public starts t

and i noted that cory gardner put out a vague statement as the debate began there. he said well, this follows the clinton model. he didn't say he supported it. cory gardner faces a tough re-election campaign in colorado. he's a republican from colorado here. what we'll have when they come back at 3:05 or 3:06, if they're going to debate the schumer proposal, an eight-page proposal put together by chuck schumer asking for documents and other communications from the white house. mentioneds mick mulvaney and asks for communications from joe biden as well. that will be important. the term of art that you'll hear a lot later this afternoon and then tonight is a motion to table. what does that mean from a parliamentary perspective? a motion to table is just that you try to set aside or kill a given proposal. so what chuck schumer will do, he will put this proposal on the floor. adam schiff will debate it. then you'll have the white house counsel office. the president's lawyers will debate it. and then it would be up for a vote. unless you move to table. this is something

if you're collins trying to broker this deal and lisa murkowski and mitt romney and cory gardner sayinghat list. but then you listen to the president if we open the door to the democrats we have to open it to this. >> in many ways i'd like a trial and i'd love to have sleepy joe biden. i'd love to have his son. i call him where's hunter, i'd love to have the whistle-blower who wrote a fake reporter and there was a second whistle-blower i want to know what happened to the second whistle-blower. >> the word you hear most often when you talk to people about this deliberation is they're worried about having a circus. >> that is the unknown question there. the president is actually very engaged in this upcoming trial. it is going to be a television show in some respects and he likes that very much. so we do not know what is going to happen between now and the end of the trial. we know he will almost certainly be not convicted. we do know that. we do not know the drama that will up fold between here and there so everything short of the president walking into the floor of the senate which is p

>> you know i think that someone like cory gardner, he really has no path other than sticking with thesident. i really doubt he will break away as much attention focused on him. i think there are a number of senators on the democratic side of the aisle who will also try to split their votes or find some way to send a message, including joe manchin from west virginia, kyrsten sinema from arizona and other senators as well. keep in mind what is going forward to happen in the next 10 days. you will have in addition to the iowa vote, you will probably have this wrap up next week. you will have a vote that will be probably bipartisan against removing the president. you will have the president then give a state of the union address. i think that is all going to create a lot of momentum going into 2020 in ways that we don't fully understand yet, what it is going to do to the situation but it will have a big impact. chris: let me bring in, i have a minute left, congresswoman harman. even if they don't remove president trump, this does have an impact. there are 30, whatever, 33, 35 senators up

this is cory gardner. chuck schumer has said as much. this is only partly about removing donald trump and taking his name off of the ballot. it is also about chuck schumer trying to make himself majority leader of the united states senate and there is no way to deny it because he himself has confirmed it. >> there should be more witnesses and documents because no evidence has come out, there was a recording literally obtain showing donald trump was in favor of taking out the us ambassador in the ukraine. can you respond to the idea that in a trial there has to be evidence, witnesses and documents as they come to have a fair trial? >> there will be new evidence every day. there will be something new that comes out every day and the house has said we will continue to investigate. house members said we may bring additional articles of impeachment. there is nothing to stop the house from continuing along that line but when the house managers say the evidence is overwhelming, it is a rocksolid case and a mountain of evidence. when they say th

it's to neuter that second t term by targeting the cory gardners and martha mcsallys and thom tilliss and joni ernst because if trump wins and doesn't have the senate. then he is not going to get any judicial vacancies filled and not replace a supreme court justice if he or she retires. is he not going to get the foreign policy he wants. he is not going to get the cabinet he wants.e i never thought this was about removing donald trump because they're not going to do it. it's about putting cory gardner in a really tough series of votes so he has to defend him in november of this fall. >> sean: i think you are right through the prism of politics 299 days to go until the american people get to make the final decision. it's up to them and they can shock the world again and i hope trey gowdy in fact that that happens. let me ask you this question and it's a legal one constitutionally the sole role of the house of representatives to impeach. is it the sole role of the house of representatives to put the trial on. the chief justice of the supreme court he pro-sides. now the house managers wi

during all of this, including lisa murkowski, susan collins, mitt romney of utah and possibly cory gardner of california. rand paul of kentucky is also viewed as a wild card and lamar alexander of tennessee thought of as an institutionalist who may vote to call witnesses as well.es speaking to reporters yesterday, senator romney confirmed that he would vote to hear from witnesses, including former national security adviser, john bolton. >> i support the clinton impeachment model which is vote on witnesses later, but as to which witnesses i would want to hear from and so forth, that's something i'm open to until after the opening arguments. >> including john bolton. >> including john bolton. he's someone i would like to their from, and presumably i get the chance toly vote for that after the opening arguments. >> 2/3 of americans would like to president trump's former national security adviser john bolton testify.se according to the quinnipiac poll, q 66% said bolton should testify. 17 percent said he should not. broken down by party lines, those who agree include 39% of republicans, 71% of

. >> jonathan lemire, what does mcconnell have for a cory gardner who comes to him and says, i can't sell this in colorado? i've thought long and hard about it. my call logs are off the charts. the polling is bad. mcconnell has his client in chief. he also has a business card that says "majority leader." he'd like to get those reprinted and not switch to what schumer hands out, the ones that say "minority leader." >> right. as we were discussing earlier, i think he would prize the majority leader title even over keeping donald trump in the white house. he has to provide some cover here for these moderate senators, particularly those facing re-election fights. a few days ago, susan collins was able to take credit in that closed door republican meeting for the switch from two days to three. she was very quick to jump out and say, hey, i was the one behind that, which is sort of seen as a nod to her tough situation in maine with voters there wanting this process to go forward. some others have their decision made for them. there's been a lot of speculation senator tillis, north carolina

joni ernst, martha mcsally, cory gardner, they could have voted against mitch mcconnell, they could have voted to not block witnesses, but they decided not to. so i think this whole thing frankly has just been theater, and what this latest development shows is the fix has been in since the very beginning. >> tim miller, and you talked a few times this weekend but i think this is a point you made at some point earlier this week. everybody needs to stop being fixated on those people, those republican senators who are in tough re-election battles, and talk more broadly about those who were in a position to do the right thing and are off the hook. i've seen it on twitter tonight. why are people not talking about all the other republican senators who had decided some time ago, not interested in hearing from witnesses? there's nothing you can tell me that's going to cause me to want to hear from john bolton or others. >> good memory, ali. every once in a while i make a good point. i did bring that up earlier this week. look, i just think that these senators are up for re-elect. it's going to b

being applied at least 3 republican senators appr to be resisting that pressure so fa but senator cory gardner who may have been the deciding vote for witnesses nosays he's seen enough and so s republican senator marsha blacurn of tennessee, you know what we don't ed more witnesses. e house called 17 witsses but washington senator patty murray argues witnesses are critical to a fair trial making it all the morurgent that we he not just from john bolton. but from other key advisers to the president who are inolved in his actions in ukraine but the white house se a letter trying to block the release of portions of bolton's book saying the book contains top secret classified information new mexico, senator martin heinrich says he wants to know exactly how much the president's legal team knew about bolton's book the white house was sitting on a manuscript that it was reviewing. >>that had a first pers witness whwas in the room saying effectively yes there waa quid pro quo in washington, alexandra leigh mound. >>the g p o allo. >>o coming up how hard can it be dispelled garoppolo well apparentl pre

colorado voters are going to know that cory gardner is rigging the process.oters are going to know that martha mcsally is rigging the process. iowa voters are going to know that joni ernst is rigging the process. they don't want the truth to come out. they don't want the documents to come out. they don't want the witnesses to see the light of the day. they don't want americans to know the truth. they're rigging this system. and they're the ones who will ultimately pay the political price. speaking of politics, let's go from washington, d.c. to iowa. talking about impeachment a lot this morning. john heilemann, you were out yesterday with joe biden. reports are that the former vice president had one of his better days. you saw him. you were on the ground with him. tell us what was going on. give us the update. >> he had a good day yesterday, joe. started obviously on this program doing an interview with you guys, and this was the last day of an iowa swing he's been on for a few days now. taking the day off today and then going to pop up in new hampshire overt

cory gardner had notebooks filled with notes as well. they understand they're targeting their message to a core group of republicans they hope to bring their way. i want to jump off what scott said earlier. what happened last night with the house judiciary chairman really rubbed republicans the wrong way. >> when he accused them of a cover up. >> reporter: exactly. that went over very, very po poorly. and i think what you saw the manager dos today is tailor their message to the senators they hope to bring to their side on the idea that if you want a fuller case, you need to subpoena these witnesses. it's not all 53 republicans. this is for four to six. this is a numbers game and they need at least four. >> that's crucial. interesting what you're saying about susan collins, lisa murkowski, cory gardner, how closely they're paying attention. everyone stay with me. we're waiting for the senate to come back, go back into session any minute. house managers are going to resume making their case against the president of the united states. we'll

to acquit the president. >> what is the sense among your colleagues talking about people like cory gardner susan collins, mitt romney and others, any sense from them whether they found mitch mcconnell, isn't quite lenient with these amendments and hasn't put a lot of pressure on schumer to start wrapping this up. >> every vote has been 53-47. every senator has voted with leader mcconnell and voted against the schumer amendments, sooner or later the democrats should begin to realize, i've got to tell you i think the house managers should begin to realize we are not going to do their job for them. they keep saying if you would call these witnesses then we would not have to go to court. we didn't call them because we didn't want to go to court and they want us to call them so they can get this done before the election and bear in mind this is not only about in their minds damaging donald trump but removing him and taking him off the ballot. they are talking about, the same phrases, talking about people all being in the loop on some grand scheme and how the president is trying to cheat in the