professor reich, your case about mitch mcconnell and who is worse? donald trump or mitch mcconnell?k it's a toss up. it's very close. donald trump is worse. and you already indicated donald trump would not be nearly as bad if there were not an enabler, the enabler in chief, someone right there allowing him to do whatever he wants to do, putting up no fuss at all, acting as if there's not a separate branch of government called the congress, and that is mitch mcconnell. and mitch mcconnell, it's not just that mitch mcconnell as nancy pelosi has said today has made a graveyard of bipartisan legislation coming from the house, but also mitch mcconnell has given donald trump everything that donald trump wants. and what donald trump is going to want with regard to this senate trial, well, it's probably going to be a showcase for donald trump. >> and the rules about these trials are established for each trial, which is needless to say unusual. and mitch mcconnell's been there when perfectly reasonable rules have been used indeed for example the clinton impeachment trial. those rules were ag

but i honestly don't trust mitch mcconnell. i think nancy pelosi would be wise to keep the impeachment articles back until next spring. >> tom coleman, david jolly, jonathan alter, thank you for joining our discussion tonight. >>> tonight's last word on impeachment is next. (client's voice) remember that degree you got in taxation? (danny) of course you don't because you didn't! your job isn't doing hard work... ...it's making them do hard work... ...and getting paid for it. (vo) snap and sort your expenses to save over $4,600 at tax time. quickbooks. backing you. they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again! [ drathis holiday... ahhhhh!!! -ahhhhh!!! a distant friend returns... elliott. you came back! and while l

mitch mcconnell will not. the american people want folks with pre-existing conditions on their health care to know they are protected. the house took action, mitch mcconnell and the republicans will not. the louismaking sure act which passed the house one hundred 46 days ago gets action in the senate to protect important pensions for all pensioners across the country, nothing being done. , where womenence and children are waiting to have the changes, the reauthorization that needs to happen, house acted, senate will not. finally, 90% of the american people want congress to pass the universal background checks. we are seeing everyday 100 americans killed everyday to gun violence. we have had over 396 mass shootings just this year. the house has passed bipartisan legislation. mitch mcconnell and the republicans will not act. we could save lives today. at this point, they don't seem to care enough to act. it is time for mitch mcconnell to stop stalling, do his job and on a fairus constitutional process going forw

but we know occasionally mitch mcconnell get appeals wrong. he got it on obamacare and looks as though he's gotten it bad here. he's learned over time he can do things procedurally that are untoward and not pay a political price. the denyingmeric garland a confirmation hearing may be the most egregious example but he's learned that process fouls don't come with political penalty. in this case because impeachment is such a high profile thing and process for a lot of voters equates with fairness, i think it's right to say he's misread the politics of this pretty badly and the polls show as you indicated not just the country writ large and not also strong majorities of republicans who want to see a fair trial and want to see witnesses called forward, witnesses of fact, that is a -- these are not small majorities, these are large majorities. mitch mcconnell as i said misplay the politics on this and gives nancy pelosi on what would normally be a fair fight strategically, procedurally and gives the whip hand i think right now her and chuck schumer

i just want to get one more question here about mitch mcconnell. you surprised he went so far in his public comments as to say he has no intention of being impartial when the word impartial actually appears in your oath as jurors in the united states senate? >> yeah, surprise is a small -- doesn't even fully cover it. you know, there's a great speech where a judge talked about the documents, lots of countries have had a really well-written constitutional documents, and they were worth nothing because the spirit of this people was not resonant with the principles of their documents. this is one of those moments where folks 20 years from now, 50 years from now, 100 years from now are going to look back and see what happened when they had a test of history. and i think it is truly disappointing and discouraging and damaging to our republic when mitch mcconnell, who is the head of the senate right now, does not deal with this in an objective way with gravity for what a process is going to have to be, for him to speak in a way that is spit in the eye of

and it's up to mitch mcconnell. and we have the majority and now they want mcconnell to do wonderful things for them. i mean, he's going to do what he wants to do, he's a smart guy, very good guy, and a very fair guy. but they treated us very unfairly and now they want fairness in the senate. >> so brendan, do you buy the president's sort of public deference here to mitch mcconnell? >> i do, actually. it was in some way relieving to me that someone finally got the message to the president that nancy pelosi has absolutely no cards to play in this. and i imagine what happened is mitch mcconnell finally got to the white house and said i've got this, relax. because nancy pelosi has no leverage. withholding the articles from the senate does nothing for her. all it does is prolong this issue that she doesn't really think is great for her. so mitch mcconnell, if you recall last week, it was during your show, went to the senate floor and basically laughed at nancy pelosi for this idea that she was going to withhold them. he

chuck schumer sent mitch mcconnell a letter weeks ago that mitch mcconnell never responded to, they sent him another one this weekend he's now asking him over christmas to think about how they can do this together. nancy pelosi is going to send the articles to the senate, she just wants the rules in place. she said that publicly, harris. the president was with the bill clinton impeachment. >> sean: he said they had a productive meeting. at the end of the day, mcconnell has listened to his concerns, he is the leader. >> marie: he's protecting the them. >> sean: at the end of the day he's sitting down but he is the senate leader and if that's how they handled it at the time, that's great. >> marie: they had witnesses then. >> lisa: nancy pelosi withholding articles of impeachment underscores it was always partisan in nature, it wasn't about the constitution are getting to any sort of truth, this was about trying to append the election and hurt president trump. if she was serious she'd allow the senate to conduct its constitutional duty, which is to conduct a trial. she's withholding it rig

this morning as promised by mitch mcconnell. senator mcconnell announced last night he would make a statement about the impeachment trial on the senate floor at 30 a.m. after nancy pelosi's announcement last night she was not ready to transfer the articles of impeachment to the senate because mcconnell was still promising an unfair trial, a rigged trial for donald trump. here's the way mitch mcconnell characterized the speaker's position when he went to the senate floor this morning. >> speaker pelosi suggested that house democrats may be too afraid -- too afraid to even transmit their shoddy work product to the senate. mr. president, looks like the prosecutors are getting cold feet in front of the entire country. and second guessing whether they even want to go to trial. they said impeachment was so urgent that it could not even wait for due process, but now they're content to sit on their hands. this is really comical. >> and less than an hour after that speaker pelosi said this. >> we would hope there would be a fair process

has mitch -- have you met mitch mcconnell? he's someone who clearly has said that he's not going to be an impartial juror here and he's also working with the president very closely. so it's hard to know. i do think there are folks in her caucus who want something of a delay so she can throw a bone to them, but it's hard to imagine what the real benefits of this are. >> so listen to majority whip jim clyburn. he was just on "new day." listen to what he said about how indefinite this could be and how supportive he is of this move. >> are you willing to hold the articles indefinitely if mitch mcconnell doesn't concede the points you're asking him to? are you suggesting it's possible you will never transmit the articles of impeachment? >> if it were me, y thates, tha what i'm saying. i have no idea what the speaker will do. >> whoa, manu, that would be unprecedented. and i wonder if it would politically, optically be very different for many democrats who say this is urgent that we move forward with impeachment against the presiden

what are the two oaths of office that mitch mcconnell is going to violate?ee oaths are mentioned in the constitution at all. first is the presidential oath and the other two now pertain to senator mcconnell in article vi, all federal and state officials are bound by an oath to protect and defend the constitution, but there's a third oath that is very rare, rarely taken, rarely needed. when the senators try an impeachment, the constitution says they will be bound by oath. what that means is that they have to take it seriously. they have to be impartial. the words of the oath that every senator will be held to when the trial begins is that they will swear to be impartial. now, senator mcconnell and senator lindsey graham and others already said they had no intention to be impartial. and that, i think, is a violation of not only their article i oath but article vi oath as well. >> the founding fathers perhaps never envisioned this. otherwise they would probably tried to have an iron clad position where the senate leader would not working, as mitch mcconnell sai

they are not happy that mitch mcconnell is scratching their dreams. for the past 24 hours they've been touring a massive temper tantrum as usual. what do you expect from them? pouting, temper tantrum, anger. because they are losing, take a look. >> mitch mcconnell is willfully sort of violating nors that we have about his conduct or what it's supposed to be in this setting. spigot it is deeply disturbing to hear the head of the jury say that he is coordinating with the defendant. that is essentially what is happening here. >> as the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell stated explicitly that he does not care about this constitutional process. he thumbed his nose at the way this is supposed to proceed. to be one oh, okay. same people who held the compromise, correct, liar schiff beard carried his water throughout every lie, every calm, every abuse of power, every secret hearing. for over three years now they have done nothing for the american people but conspired

what is the state of your relationship with mitch mcconnell at this point? are you all still talking? will you be able to work things out? >> when we have to work things out for the good of the county roo i try to let my personal disappointment in mitch mcconnell not get in the way of doing that. we just produced a big budget document which has a lot of things that we've been asking for for a very long time, but i have mitch mcconnell, by going on sean hannity and by announcing that he doesn't want to have witnesses, he doesn't want to have documents and he's not risings to level that a senator should rise to. he's being a pure partisan and he said today in response to the question that he said proudly, i don't want to be impartial. my hope and my expectation is that there will be enough republican senators who will not follow that path, a path leading to trouble, a path leading to real problems for this country, and the rule of law. all we need is four republicans to produce the documents and i expect that some will. i expect that some will. >> let me ask y

i hope mitch mcconnell, i expect mitch mcconnell, will help us create that. if he doesn't, we'll have to see where to go from there. >> what do you see as the chief justice role in this? >> the chief justice has presided in a very i think rehnquist said, i did nothing and i did it very well, and i suppose, i don't know this, that the chief justice -- look, you would think -- in a regular trial if the prosecution, these would be the house managers, when they are appointed, ask for witnesses, the judge would give them a benefit of the doubt. in this situation he will probably, my guess, send it over to the state and we depend on a number of republicans to vote with us and make it fair. >> what happens if there is no deal? >> let's hope there is. this letter is an attempt to create a fair deal, not simply i'm going to do what white house wants or i'm going to do what i want, which is what mitch mcconnell has been doing up until now. >> and do you think there are still minds to be changed in america. >> yes. >> and in the usa? >> yes. particularly on what a trial

mitch mcconnell says he doesn't plan to do that. listening to mitch mcconnell speak on the floor the last thing the world needs are lectures on fairness and procedure for the man who held up merit garland. mitch mcconnell is trying to pretend he's doing a fair trial and holding up the senate and then goes on talk radio and says he's going to do nothing of the kind. >> the guy you used to work for who is a democrat but very moderate and has oftentimes sided with the president. >> i think he's doing anything thoek not judge the facts or not look at the articles until they come over and figure out what the senate is doing. >> is this not a hot mess? >> both sides are doing what they have to do. nancy pelosi has some leverage, mitch mcconnell has a lot of leverage. i think they're going to do whatever is best for their members and see two heavyweights slug it out. should be a fun christmas and new year's. >> i'm told we're joined by maxine waters and i would like to get her perspective and stand by. chair of the financial services commi

the white house wants it through, but mitch mcconnell may not. >> mitch mcconnell has a pretty single-minded on these judges. 1 in 4 circuit court judges in america are trump judges. in three years they've been able to put more of these judges in place than president obama was able to do in eight years. it is a remarkable record that he has been able to do. and president trump likes to claim credit, but this is mitch mcconnell's baby. he feels that he is shaping american policy for a generation. >> that will long outlast any of their time in office. >> yes. >>> coming up, a fallen soldier comes home after making the ultimate sacrifice in combat. stay with us. yet some say it isn't real milk. i guess those cows must actually be big dogs. sit! i said sit! enjoy your prime rib! anyone ever call you, "meat santa"? no, that's... weird. happy holidays. enjoy. next customer? enjoy. it's versus the other guys.eese (cheering) clearly, velveeta melts creamier the wait is over. t-mobile is lighting up 5g nationwide. while some 5g signals go only blocks, t-mobile 5g goes miles... beyond the big cities t

that's all mitch mcconnell was referring to.idiculous to compare this to the clinton impeachment. this is outside the bounds of any impeachment in american history because it's outside of the bounds of the united states constitution. there is nothing that president trump has done that there is evidence that falls within the scope of article 2. this is political opposition. that's what elections are for and not what impeachment hearings are for. >> robert? >> going into 1999 republicans were in charge of both chambers. the house and the senate. what trent lott did was negotiate to create the rules. what mitch mcconnell is doing is going after the minority party. it's inappropriate for him not to follow the rules. when we are addressing this question of coordination, the senate majority leader have to take an oath saying they will be impartial. they have an article 6 duty to support and defend the constitution of the united states. mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham and others made it clear they have no intention of carrying out t

that's the box that mitch mcconnell finds himself in at this point. and i'm not sure how or if he's going to work out. >> i think you've got to remember mitch mcconnell doesn't need logic on his side. he doesn't need a consistent position. it can change from day to day the way donald trump's position on many things change from day to day. it'll be completely situational. whatever mitch mcconnell at that moment thinks work tuesday the political benefit mainly of senate republicans and then to donald trump. >> we said at the top of the show nancy pelosi has trump and i think some could make the argument trump and mitch mcconnell for a time. >>> coming up "the new york times" has a stunning new report on investigation into navy s.e.a.l. chief eddie gallagher who spent part of this week thanking donald trump for pardoning him. week thanking donald trump for pardoning him. yaaaaass. with the united explorer card, i get rewarded wherever i go. going out for a bite. rewarded! going new places. rewarded! anytime. rewarded! getting more for getting away. rewar

i know everybody wants to attack mitch mcconnell. but it was chuck schumer who 20 years ago, whatever it was -- >> no, whoa, whoa. i would like you to answer the question. then you can go on to schumer. how do you have two people that said they will not be impartial take an oath that they will be impartial and not recuse themselves? >> i just don't agree that -- the premise of this is not a political process. this is an inherently political process. and it -- chuck schumer himself 20 years ago said this is a political process. he said this is not like a jury. he is the one who said that. >> he also said that he is not impartial. he says, "i am not an impartial participant here." >> chuck schumer said that he is not impartial back then. and he is -- flipped here now. the bottom line here is we know what happened. i mean, we sort of are overlooking this. we know what donald trump did. i personally think it's really, really bad. but there's not any real question about what took place here. the issue is that the house, for all of the com

how much latitude is he willing to give mitch mcconnell here? >> i don't think he's willing to give hmm a lot of latitude, but i don't necessarily think mitch mcconnell wants a lot of latitude. mitch mcconnell has hitched his wagon to donald trump's fortunes for good or for ill. and we see in senator mcconnell's comments that there's really not even the pretense of approaching this impeachment trial with any kind of high-mindedness or any attempt to even portray himself in a neutral way. he is saying that he will work hand in glove with the white house. so, in that sense, the issue of latitude, frankly, doesn't really arise. >> it's interesting, a.b. we're taking a look here at all these potential republicans who might break with mcconnell on the rules in the senate. i'm having some flashbacks to the house side of things. there were no republicans who ended up breaking in the vote to open the impeachment inquiry and no republicans ended up breaking with their party when it came to the actual impeachment vote. that included three of them, i belie

nancy pelosi is very sharp, smart, strategic, so is mitch mcconnell. i think there was an argument for nancy pelosi to slow down impeachment in the house. you could have potentially tried to compel other witnesses, bolton, mulvaney to testify. now pelosi is hoping to have that happen in the senate but she has no leverage in the senate, that's mitch mcconnell's domain, and i don't think she's going to have the leverage to make that happen. so i think advantage mitch mcconnell, at least for now. >> i do wonder, though, if nancy pelosi's leverage could be knowing the president wants vindication, he wants to be acquitted, he wants to be able to say i was exonerated, you know, after impeachment and if holding the articles she's betting on the president implying and creating pressure on mitch mcconnell to make some kind of deal so they can get on with it, so he can be acquitted, what do you think? >> i think there is truth to that. mitch mcconnell had that line, that very mcconnell-esque line, i don't know how much leverage there is sending us something we d

i don't understand how pelosi has any leverage over mitch mcconnell, and mitch mcconnell doesn't havee won't go to trial. and the impeachment ends? . >> and senator collins or gardener, are any of them facing intents who say we want a trial? >> but think about the position that they'd be in. they either are going to have to choose whether to vote to impeach donald trump or not, or if there's a trial. if pelosi holds it back, they can say we want to put him on trial. i would argue it's beneficial for people like collins and gardener. it's a benefit to have pelosi do this, and we know mitch mcconnell. right? we know he doesn't feel external pressure on almost anything he. he didn't have votes on judges during the obama administration. >> i thought it was rich him talking about precedent and completely forgetting about the fact that he refused to have a confirmation hearing for america garland. merrick garland? >> there's not a ton of precedent. we don't have impeachments all the time. it makes it difficult. if pelosi holds the articles for two month, what do you do if you want to put th

it is the reason that mitch mcconnell is called moscow mitch.ues on the republican side actually want there to be at least enough foreign interference to keep themselves and donald trump in power. >> i am really concerned about this. i mean, who in the world doesn't want to know what senator won't vote for an election protection bill to keep us safe from russian aggression. and there is only unfortunately one person in america who could let that vote go through and that is mcconnell. i think even people in kentucky should be discouraged about the fact that mcconnell doesn't want people to know who supports election protection and who supports the russians continuing to interfere. it is crystal clear that the ukranians had nothing to do with the 2016 election and that the russians not only interfered, but interfered in a way that was actually material and continue to interfere today. you would think it would be the most basic responsibility of an elected official in washington to vote for election protection legislation and i hope these guys pay

a former republican will have an answer for moscow mitch. will han answer for moscow mitch.ny comments doug? yeah. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. con liberty mutual solo pagas lo que necesitas. only pay for what you need... only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ >>> do believe with the second trump term and a continued senate republican majority we can transform the courts even further. we would certainly confirm a new justice if we had that opportunity. and we're going to continue obviously to fill the circuit, district court vacancies as they occur right up until the end of next year. my motto for the remainder of this congress is leave no vacancy behind. >> donald trump is impeached and the senate is supposed to conduct a trial but mitch mcconnell still has his eyes on the judicial prize. joining me now is a former republican, tom nichols. and tom, thank you so much for being here and i'm going to start right there on this issue of judges. 187 and counting mitch mcconnell having

>> i expect mitch mcconnell to near to the constitution of the united states of america. >> mitch mcconnellr mayerrick garland to be confirmed. >> i expect him to hold tight to the rule of law and not to become the president's lap dog. >> let's put impeachment numbers on our screen before we go. i want to get your sense of whether or not you think this has moved the needle. much of the support for impeachment or the people who don't like impeachment, it's stayed the same during this process. do you look at these numbers, do these numbers matter to you? >> no, they don't. what matters to us is the american people want answers, they want to know what went on. we must do what's right. we must follow the constitution. this is a constitutionally prescripted policy and not a political contest. this is not a political poll. this is about adhering to the rules of the constitution, making sure we hold a president accountable for violating the law, from one who obstructs congress and abuses power. >> congressman, thank you for joining us. >>> that will wrap things up for this hour of "msnbc live." i'

ultimately that decision is going to be made by mitch mcconnell. >> this is the concern for mitch mcconnellk it probably will have an effect on how mcconnell and the leadership moves forward. >> they treated us very unfairly. they didn't give us anything. now they want everything. >> this is "new day" with alisyn camerota and john berman. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to your "new day. "thursday, december 26th. john berman is still off, sleeping off his massive meals, i'm sure, this week. john avlon is here with me. >> happy boxing day. great to be with you. >> all right. christmas did not change. the stalemate over the impeachment trial. but for the first time, we are seeing a republican break ranks in the senate. senate lisa murkowski says she is, quote, disturbed by the coordination between senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and the white house in the lead-up to the president's impeachment trial. mur cowkey is one of a handful of senators whose votes are pivotal on the rules that will shape this ultimate senate trial. >> and democrats are pushing for testimony from key administr

i don't think the president likes that and he has a strong ally in mitch mcconnell. so whatever mitch mcconnell could come up with, i think the president will be fine with. mcconnell's stated position is let's have the same rules that we had in the clinton impeachment and the democrats won't go along with that so i think we're in unchartered waters here but maybe we'll know more in a couple of weeks. >> let's take a step back. mitch mcconnell, there is no reason to trust him at this point and i think nancy pelosi is wisely trying to ensure some degree of fairness. mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham have essentially said when they signed the oath which is the procedure that happens in the senate to say they will be unbiased and consider all of the evidence, that that will be a lie. because they've already said they've made up their minds, they're coordinating with president trump and they're not interested in the evidence or the facts and i'll tell you a number of polls, including one released by law works last week, a majority of americans want to see all of the evid

here's the other question that mitch mcconnell somehow is trying to avoid. last week he went on fox news to proclaim that he was not an impartial juror, but here's the thing, when those impeachment proceedings begin in the u.s. senate, every u.s. senator has to raise their hand to take an oath that they're going to be impartial jurors. how is he going to be able to do that when he said he'd already made his decision and in fact, he's not an impartial juror and just enough with what's going on with the side of leader mcconnell. get this set up, set up the parameters and there's independent counsel to hide and let's present this to the american people and move forward. >> he made the point that this is urgent and this must happening and there's interference happening right now because rudy giuliani was in ukraine and everybody has to move quickly. you're withholding the articles and it could drag longer because of that. so boom understand how the urgency is, here are your colleagues, congressman. >> it is urgence. >> nothing could be more urgent. >> we view th

mitch mcconnell said he wouldn't do that. so i think nancy pelosi should actually turn the scrutiny and the spotlight of all the house of representatives resources on the maladministration of mitch mcconnell and it raises a historical question. can the house refer articles of impeachment over to a senate when the majority leader said he will not be impartial. if we don't get a recusal or change of 125i7statement from m mcconnell nancy pelosi shouldn't ever send them over. no trial held with impartiality by the united states senate. >> interesting thought. a strategy of nancy pelosi's to highlight the way mitch mcconnell does thing and runs the senate and put a spotlight on it for the world to really pay attention to. but yet it's a risk for the democrats. brittany, i want to bring you in to talk about that. what are the risks for the democrats with the strategy of holding on to the articles? >> gigi, it's important to recognize the pressures that these it democrats are feeling. i want first republicans. donald trump jr. poste

. >> if we can use this leverage to get mitch mcconnell do the right thing. saying he is working hand-in-hand with the white house, is not an impartial juror. >> he has scoffed at the democratic pressure play. >> i'm not sure what leverage there is, and refraining from sending us something we do not want. >> the reality is lawmakers will be likely coming back to washington with the biggest question still unanswered from the most basic ones, how long a trial will last, when and who will be comprised of nancy pelosi's managers to actually present the case and the most pressing questions. will or if there will be witnesses? will subpoenas go out for documents. all will be answered in some form when lawmakers return the first week of january. while everybody assumes the first week when people come back things will kick into gear, nobody really knows for certain. the reality is speaker pelosi has kept her cards close to the vest and when she will send the articles over, nobody knows. >> surreal to think we won't hear from them but pretty stunning. thank you. >>> w

so is it better for us that we go in knowing what mitch mcconnell has said? knowing what lindsey graham has said. that they're not going to even pretend that this is going to be a trial. >> no, i don't think so because the american people ask more of the people in the senate. and the constitution asks more. we all take an oath of office when we get into congress or the senate. that's standard. but there's a special oath, and it's only in the case of impeachment. you don't take a special oath if you're voting for war. you don't take a special oath if you're voting otherwise. you take a special oath here. and if they can't keep that oath, then what does it say about the process? the american people need to demand, of the u.s. senate, the fair, the impartial -- that's what the constitution requires. and if you have to swallow hard and do the right thing, then learn how to do it. and that's what has to be demanded of them now. >> liz, thank you. liz holtzman is former new york democratic congresswoman who voted for impeachment and she is the author of "the case f

senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is in no rush. let me bring in congressman ben ray lujan who serves as assistant speaker of the house. what's your sense, when do you expect the senator to send over the articles of impeachment? >> i'm not going to get in front of speaker pelosi. she was abundantly clear last night as she was today. the ball is in mish mcconnell's court. he's not set the arena in which we'll be operating. we cannot appoint managers until which time mitch mcconnell is clear. get to work, make sure we present this to the american people and set those parameters. >> we heard it from the president in a tweet, snand senator lindsey graham, what is driving this crazy idea, meaning holding upbringing over the articles. democrats have final lie realized they have a very weak case which never should have been brought forward to begin with? do you worry this delay plays into the republican mantra of this being a partisan exercise by the democrats? >> look, leader mcconnell's remarks this morning on the senate floor don't surp

and mitch mcconnell says, fine, don't.hough, is that the president doesn't like it. he wants the trial and he wants it fast. let's bring in joe lockhart. and ali hodi. joe, the last important to me is the most important and explains everything. there's a lot of questions why is nancy pelosi doing this? what does she want to get out of it? it might be that tend game here is to rattle the president into an extent triangulate, create opposition between the president and mitch mcconnell. >> i think it's a -- she is seeking some leverage here, to try to get some witnesses. i think she's also trying to keep this in the news on her terms, over the christmas break. but you're right about the main point, which is, everybody has their own equities here. the democrats are together. they want to get john bolton and mick mulvaney under oath. i don't think they care if it's on camera in a deposition, like 1998 or on the senate particulaparticulafloor. he wants cory gardner not to take a hard vote. he wants this done fast and a short tri

mitch mcconnell can't hold out that long.hey know that because so many americans already believe that this is a rigged trial. part of what's been happening because nancy pelosi did not give over the articles of impeachment is mitch mcconnell revealed we are pretty much coordinating this whole thing with the president. since the public knows that, these vulnerable senators have to look like they've at least attempted to bring justice and order to this process. otherwise the whole thing is a joke and all of them suffer politically. >> and that pressure's not just coming from democrats. there is a new ad out from republicans for the rule of law. take a look. >> key witnesses in the ukraine scandal must testify in the senate impeachment trial. these witnesses include rudy giuliani. >> so you did ask ukraine to look into joe biden? >> of course i did. >> mick mulvaney. >> what you just described is a quid pro quo. >> there is going to be political influence and foreign policy. >> mike pompeo. >> rudy giuliani delivered ukraine fil

and so i don't begrudge mitch mcconnell or lindsey graham from having an opinion. i think all of us, whether we share it or not, have an opinion as to whether what the president did is worthy of removal. what i don't like is that they are telegraphing that they aren't open to running a fair trial, that they're going to run a trial only in accordance with the president's wishes. that's not my desire. my desire is to run a trial that's all about the facts. and i remain open to changing my mind if there is evidence that the president didn't do what it seems pretty clear by the evidence thus far that he did. >> senator chris murphy, thanks for being with us today. >>> coming up, reality bites. president trump says he does not feel like he's being impeached, just as the house was voting to impeach him. you heard that right. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. when you shop with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one. for small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more

so is mitch mcconnell right?i doing republicans a favor by holding off on sending the articles? >> nancy pelosi is just upholding the constitution. the constitution doesn't give mitch mcconnell the right to preside over the trial. it gives the chief justice that right. and the person who needs to be designing the rules and making the everyboidentiary rulings ar justice robert. it's really roberts who sets the rules for this. >> so you then support, obviously, speaker pelosi's decision to be holding off on sending the articles over? you don't see any potential unintended consequences there? >> i don't. i think all speaker pelosi is saying is have a fair trial. simply, if someone is called into court, the defendant doesn't get to work with the judge to write the rules. you want to have a fair hearing. what mcconnell is saying is have donald trump write the rules of the hearing. that makes so sense. what speaker pelosi is saying is have justice roberts come up with the rules, make them fair. and that's what the cons

and mitch mcconnell's numbers are down across the country. for him to further embrace this unfairness, this kangaroo court, i think is only going to help democrats moving down the line. >> congressman tim ryan, really interesting given where you've been and where you are. we wanted to give you a chance to share that with everyone. thank you so much. go ahead, quickly. >> ari, i call it like i see it. and we had issues and i've got a really good relationship with leader pelosi. but i will tell you to watch her operate is something to be seen. i call it like i see it. >> there you go. i think viewers might be interested in an update to that story. life is long. >> my thanks to each of our special guests for special coverage. >>> up next i want to tell you what we're going to do: break down how it works when the senate puts donald trump on trial. our team has been researching 200 years of president. we've dug deep into the archives. i would argue we have amazing footage you haven't seen yet. we're going to analyze how it will hold mitch mcconnel

also, why mitch mcconnell is wrong about the senate trial. also a new court filing showing that democrats still thinking about more arts of impeachment against the president. but we start this hour with new demands for witnesses in the trial of donald trump. those calls getting louder after the release of e-mails sent just 90 minutes after trump's infamous ukraine phone call. ordering the pentagon to stay quiet about the frozen military aid at the heart of this plot. that frozen aid is at the center of the impeachment case. and now democrats say these new e-mails highlight the need for more evidence and more witnesses. >> stop the aid, 91 minutes after trump calls zelensky and said keep it hush hush. from whom did duffy get the order? from whom did duffy get the order and why did he do it? what more do you need to request a witness? >> so today the top republican in the senate mitch mcconnell saying they'll decide on witnesses after the trial starts. >> what we need to do is to listen to the arguments, have a written questioning period and th

mitch mcconnell realizes that.nk he's okay to make sure that vulnerable republicans protect themselves while the rest project unity. i don't think president trump will want to highlight those individual republicans who have sort of defected from the coalition. >> everyone, stand by. we have so much more to talk about. i'm going to ask you about u.s. cyber commands plans for dealing with russian meddling in 2020. a new report has some very interesting details in it. i'm leah and that's me long before i had moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis. i've always been the ringleader had a zest for life. flash forward, then ra kept me from the important things. and what my doctor said surprised me. she said my joint pain could mean permanent joint damage. and enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop that joint damage. ask about enbrel so you can get back to being your true self. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other canc

no one plays as high stakes as mitch mcconnell does.not used to losing either. >> no, he's not. and it will undermine his arguments of precedent and institutionalism. every time he talks about what's good for the senate, they'll stand up and say merrick garland. and it's not about ideology. it's about winning. and right now he has a pretty strong hand. the joker is what's the problem. the president is his achilles heel right now. >> he's used to winning but the question is winning for whom this time? and nancy pelosi may have just created a third team in this. >> but i will say if you look back over mitch mcconnell's career, he's always been about winning for what's in his interest. it has been in his interest. he wanted to remake the judiciary more than donald trump did. he convinced donald trump that's what we should focus our efforts on. because he believed in that. that's about raw power. he will always do what's in mitch mcconnell's interest. and going back to pelosi, i don't think she's upped her game. she's always had this game.

so he just wants this to be clean and simple. >> a little more mitch mcconnell here. the reason you make that point is mitch mcconnell right here. he is calm at the moment. we company in texpect in the ho will be zero republicans voting for impeachment. mcconnell is trying to keep that in the senate, but he knows they have difficult elections next year. >> the case is so darn weak coming over from the house. we all know how it's going to end. there is no chance the president is going to be removed from office. my hope is there won't be a single republican who votes for either of these articles of impeachment. and sean, it wouldn't surprise me if we got one or two democrats. >> that's today. that's today. but to paul's point, if you demand the bidens, the democrats say give us mulvaney. you deny the whistleblower, the democrats say give us biden and pence. >> and they could say, what was that conversation you had with zelensky? there are senate leaders that if they have to sit through a very long trial, their view could change and decide, this isn't the best option for

no chance mitch mcconnell says president trump will be convicted in a public trial. outraged he is coordinating with the white house. >>> the president, might he be forced to release his tax returns? >>> and rudy guilliani meets with the president, the president reportedly pressing him for dirt on joe biden. we want to welcome viewers from the united states and around the world. you're in the "situation room." >>> we're following a huge story with ramifications for this country for generations to come. president trump don't j. trump now stands on the breach of impeachment after a partisan vote by the judiciary committee earlier this morning, teeing up an historic vote by the full house next week and an expected senate trial early next year. talking with a democrat on the house judiciary committee, representative madeleine dean. our correspondents are also standing by. first, let's get the latest on impeachment. phil mattingly is joining us. the president is on track to be impeached next week by the full house. walk us in the days ahead. >> reporter: the vote on two a

we should have a fair trial decided by justice roberts not mitch mcconnell.rate in the house of representatives, and we had a process where the intelligence oversight and foreign affairs committee deposed close to 20 witnesses, the white house donadged a bunc of subpoenas, then we had a process where the judiciary drafted articles of impeachment. we had a real, deliberate and fair process and now mitch mcconnell, before he even looks at the evidence, before he even looks or hears from witness, is saying this is a done deal, that he's coordinated this with the white house. what i submit to him, that he is not the judge in this process. it is justice roberts who will preside over this process. i think our leader nancy pelosi has every right to say we won't go into that lion's den until it's a fair process. i think we should do that. the american people deserve that. we should have a fair discussion among both party leaders to make sure that happens. >> in your mind, congressman, what would be a fair trial and how long are you willing to support speaker pelosi's

let me get your thoughts about mitch mcconnell. there is an op-ed in kentucky calling him out saying short of declaring the war, the senate is about to conduct its gravest and most serious constitutional obligation to exercise the sole power to try impeachments. all senators should take their obligation of faithful impartiality seriously, especially mcconnell. history is watching and it will be a harsh judge. the writer, he's going to join us later in the program. but margaret, give me your reaction to what dave trot there said. >> well, mcconnell is in a mind of sorts. he's running for re-election. the deadline for a primary challenger is january 28th. he could have conjured up one in time to challenge mcconnell had mcconnell not done his bidding. on the other hand, mcconnell has to raise his right hand in an oath in which he swears to be impartial after he's already sworn he's not going to be impartial. and i don't know how he does that without purging himself. i mean, he would have to have a change of heart akin to saul on the r

mitch mcconnell has said no witnesses. course want to call the witnesses who heard, perhaps, instructions from president trump about what to do with the ukraine aid. 71% of americans would like witnesses at this trial. but it's an impasse. so what's mitch mcconnell going to do? in i think what mitch mcconnell is going to do is what he has to do in order to brace up his vulnerable incumbents. there's a number of republicans up for re-election next year who are very unpopular on their own stakes and have tough re-election campaigns. and in order to maintain a majority of his caucus. i would like to believe that majority leader mcconnell will act with an eye towards history and will look at what the american people deserve switch a fair and open trial. but his leadership of the senate in recent months and years has shown that he needs really as a partisan. so my concern here, alisyn, is that senator schumer's completely reasonable request for four directly relevant fact witnesses, individuals who if president trump allowed th

that is what they were saying before mitch mcconnell came out. he said look, we're reserving judgment and comment because we're going to be jurors on this and we'll have to stay sigh lend. mitt romney has not ruled out the possibility that he could side with democrats on this issue and that is something very important to watch, but i think the strategy here is to keep all eyes on mitch mcconnell, too. and this is causing some heartburn here and that is what nancy pelosi is handling right now. and also the fact that mitch mcconnell might have some defections. >> jonathan, put on your strategist hat for a moment and tell me what the democrats do here when they hear a sound bite like what we heard from lisa murkowski. do they try to reach across the aisle subtlely or do they pile on or say this is a crack and we have to pile on? >> the longer that mitch mcconnell can't gavel in and gavel out, the longer that republicans have to decide if they're okay with that. as much as he might be aligned with the white house in his strategy, he is more aligned w

mitch mcconnell is saying that is not what we're going to agree to first. first let's begin the trial, we'll worry about the issues later and he head it clear today he would not agree to the demands that schumer is seeking up front. >> well, we need to listen to the arguments, have a written questioning period and then decide whether we need witnesses or not. we haven't ruled out witnesses. we've sen let's handle this case just like we did with president clinton, fair is fair. >> reporter: there could be up to 51 senators on the floor and that is required to vote to compel witness testimony if schumer and mcconnell could not reach a deal, schumer could force the votes and he needs four republican senators to break ranks and join with 47 democrats and right now republican senators are signaling they are in line with the president. we'll see if that changes in weeks ahead. >> with speaker pelosi wants certain concessions, right, for sending over these articles of impeachment to the senate. but is this a strategy that is working for democrats? >> it sounds lik