and doug brinkley joins us now. was there ever any doubt that this was constitutional?ays constitutional. we have the 1876 belknap case. it was just an excuse to not pay attention to what really happened on january 6th. luckily, that 13-minute video today caught everybody shorthanded, and it reminded us what a heinous and hideous crime the trump insurrection really was. >> and according to "the washington post," some republican senators were not looking at it very much. and with the trial held at the scene of the crime, and the jurors were esesentially witnesses and victims of the crime. >> that's what is so remarkable. every one of the senators know what happened. they were in the building. we have traumatic moments. the kennedy assassination, you have the warren commission report. but you're not going to the site. here we are in the building where the insurrection of january 6th occurred. and i couldn't help thinking that someday there will be a museum, a memorial about what happened there. i don't know why the republican senators that keep wanting to cut donald trump

and doug brinkley joins us now. was there ever any doubt that this was constitutional?lways constitutional. we have the 1876 belknap case. it was just an excuse to not pay attention to what really happened on january 6th. luckily, that 13-minute video today caught everybody shorthanded, and it reminded us what a heinous and hideous crime the trump insurrection really was. >> and according to "the washington post," some republican senators were not looking at it very much. and with the trial held at the scene of the crime, and the jurors were essentially witnesses and victims of the crime. >> that's what is so remarkable. every one of the senators know what happened. they were in the building. we have traumatic moments. the kennedy assassination, you have the warren commission report. after 9/11 you're not going to the world trade senate site but here we are in the building where the insurrection of january 6th occurred. and i couldn't help thinking that someday there will be a museum, a memorial about what happened there. i don't know why the republican senators that ke

doug brinkley is a cnn historian. doug, good to see you. president trump acquitted by the senate, but this is not vindication, right? he has been impeached twice. but does this second impeachment rewrite his legacy unlike the first? >> i think absolutely so. when he had one impeachment, he was being talked about. 7 million people threw him out of office, and he'll be remembered in history for the insurrection of january 6 and his bungling at best of the 2020 covid crisis. but it will be an albatross at best. it will be in any textbook covering his reign of power. >> so why do you say he does not escape that thing around his neck of january 6? mcconnell says, yes, he did bad things. he is morally responsible. but then you've got senator graham who says trump remains a force leading the party. so does trump have a unique distinction of continuing to be influential despite these blemishes, including a deadly pandemic and this deadly insurrection? >> you know, fred, the great james baldwin, novelist/essayist, and he wrote "fire next time," said

the president's cop duct on its face was unlawful. >> doug brinkley, do you think this trial is just as much about making the case to the american public as it is to senators, you know, like really make americans question trump's influence not just on the republican party but on american politics in general? >> i do, brooke, and i think the democratic party had no choice but to go forward with this impeachment trial. the i mean, the great poet robert frost used to say the only way out is through. the idea that we just say bye to donald trump and let him get away with this ill thinking that he did from the election onward are it -- it just doesn't fly, so i think the democrats are going to have to go after trump, put the evidence out there. the world is going to be watching on television, and at the very least it reminds me, brooke, of when dwight eisenhower went after the in 1945 to the holocaust sites, the death camps, and when he first saw one he wired george marshall and said document it, document, it document it where people say it wasn't really that bad or it wasn't real. so tha

i want to bring in doug brinkley who has been without power and water. i'm so sorry this is happening. thank you so much for joining us. frigid temperatures in austin. millions of people without power. you're in the thick of it. how are you doing? >> i'm hanging in there. my family's hanging in there but there's bad news everywhere you turn. i tried to get out of my driveway. there are branches left in roads. they have no salting devices or any way to de-ice or get rid of ice and governor abbott has been making a fool out of himself over and over again angering the people of texas. it's not just ercot that will be having laws. texas, energy state known for exporting energy doesn't have even the most rudimentary ways to turn on electricity for people. i was in katrina, don, i learned about the 48 hour window if you don't get to people with rescue, relief, power pretty quickly, you're going to have unnecessary death on your hand. >> it's a catastrophe already. what are you using, flashlights? you have a flashlight? >> flashlights and canned lsz right now a

iably the doug brinkley who has been without power and water. i'm so sorry this is happening. frigid temperatures in austin. millions in the state without power. you're in the thick of it. how are you doing in. >> i'm hanging in there. my family is happeninging in there of the there's bad news everywhere you turn. i tried to get out of my driveway. there are branches that haven't been picked up. they have no salting devices or any way to get rid of ice and governor abbott has been making a fool out of himself over and over again. it is not just ercot that will be facing lawsuits. everybody is looking into this energy state, texas, known around the world for exporting energy, doesn't have even the most rudeimentory ways to turn on electricity for people. i was in katrina and i learned about the 48-hour window. if you don't get to people with rescue, relief and power pretty quickly, you will have unnecessary death on your hands. >> it is a catastrophe already. what are you using? flashlights? >> i've got flashlights and candles right now. and i wanted to help you guys and just t

joining me now, historian doug brinkley and chair of the department of government of bowden college andming on. great to see you both. doug, let's start with this. this is president trump's second impeachment. it was the most bipartisan impeachment vote in u.s. history. at the same time, this is one of the most polarized political moments in our history. where do you see the political divide going from here, will it deepen or will more people coalesce around the senter? >> it's pretty deep right now. joe biden hasn't been if the news long. he's kept a very low profile and this week has to continue to sell a pandemic relief package, or perhaps work across the aisle with mitch mcconnell and other republicans to get some infrastructure deals done. so hopefully the era of working together isn't totally gone. but i have to tell you, more and more, we're governing by executive power. first bush does it, then obama does it. and now i see it we're having a breakdown of the u.s. senate and congress where it's a senate seat of presidential power. >> yeah, you are seeing that pattern with the exec

. >> doug brinkley, tim neff tally, guys, thank you very, very much. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. our coverage of today's historic impeachment trial continues next with pamela brown ruth here on cnn. ♪ ♪ bring it first time i saw you, you blew my mind ♪ ♪ i got this feeling everything was alright ♪ ♪ i've never known someone like you ♪ ♪ but when i'm with you every day is brand new ♪ ♪ new new new new ♪ ♪ new new new new ♪ advanced non-small cell lung cancer can change everything. but your first treatment could be a chemo-free combination of two immunotherapies that works differently. it could mean a chance to live longer. opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread and that tests positive for pd-l1 and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. opdivo plus yervoy is the first and only fda-approved combination of two immunotherapies opdivo plus yervoy equals... a chance for more starry nights. more sparkly days. more big notes. more small treasures. more family dinners. more private desserts. opd

brinkley, and john dean. so glad to have you both here on the eve of this historic event. john is the author of the book "authoritarian nightmare: trump and his followers." good evening. doug, i want to speak with you first. we're just hours away from donald trump's second impeachment trial, happening at the scene of the crime, with jurors who are victims themselves. it's a critical week for the country. >> unbelievable week. we'll finally see what is the republican party, does it have a spine? and the evidence is so overwhelming against donald trump already that he should be impeached. i say that when bill clinton was impeached, we were not really even emailing, there were not iphones. he got nailed on a dna issue which was considered edgy and new. today, we have all the evidence, we're running it on cnn over and over again that donald trump led an insurrection, he called the event a march to save america. and it was really a march to raid the capitol and destroy democracy. and so it's going to be hard to imagine how these republican senators sit there with a straight face and not go after trump and say, yes, he created grave crimes against our nation by his behavior with