mr. barrasso, mr. bennett, [background sounds] missus blackburn, mr. blumenthal, mr. blunt, booker, mr. bozeman, mr. braun, mr. brown, mr. burr, ms. cantwell, ms. miss capital, mr. carper, mr. casey, mr. cassidy, his colons, mr. kunz, mr. cornyn, ms. miss mr. cotton, mr. kramer, mr. crapo, mr. cruz, mr. gaines, ms. duckworth, mr. durbin, mr. lindsay, mr. ernst, mrs. feinstein, mrs. fisher, mr, mr. graham, mr. grassley, ms. harris, ms. townsend, carefully, mr. heinrich, mrs. corona, mr. bowen, mrs. kleinsmith, mr. inhofe, mr, mr. kane, mr. kennedy, mr. kingr langford, mr. lakey, delete, mrs. loeffler, mr. mansion, mr. markey, mr. mcconnell, mystic sally, mr. menendez, mr. merkley, mr. moran, ms. makowski, mr. murphy, mrs. murray, mr. paul, mr. perdue, mr. peters, mr. portman, mr. reid, mr. risch, mr. roberts, mr. romney, is frozen, mr. brown's, mr. rubio, mr. sanders, mr. south, mr. shots, mr. schumer, mr. scott of florida, mr. scott of south carolina, mrs. jean, mr. shelby, ms. cinema, ms. smith, ms. carbonell, mr. sullivan, mr. tester, mr. kuhn, mr. tillis, mr. toomey, mr. udall, mr. b

mr. barrasso. mr. bennett. misses blackbird, mr. blumenthal, mr. blunt, mr. volker. -- mr. booker. mr. bozeman, mr. braun, mr. brown, mr. burr. ms. cantwell, misses cap auto, mr. cardin, mr. carper. mr. casey, mr. cassidy, ms. collins, mr. kunz. -- mr. coons. mr. cornyn, ms. cortez masto, mr. kotten, mr. -- mr. cotton, mr. cramer. mr. crapo, mr. cruz, mr. daines, ms. duckworth. mr. durbin, mr. enzi, ms. ernst, mrs. feinstein. mrs. fischer, mr. gardner, mrs. gillibrand, mr. graham. mr. grassley, ms. harris, ms. hassan, mr. hawley. mr. heinrich, ms. hirono, mr. hyde-smith. mr. inhofe, mr. johnson, mr. ne.es, mr. kai mr. kennedy, mr. king, ms. lankford., mr. mr. leahy, mr. lee, mrs. loeffler, mr. manchin. mr. markey, mr. mcconnell, ms. mcsally, mr. menendez. mr. merkley, mr. moran, ms. murkowski, mr. murphy. mrs. murray, mr. paul, mr. perdue, mr. peters. mr. portman, mr. reed, mr. risch, mr. roberts. mr. romney, ms. rosen, mr. rounds, mr. rubio. mr. sanders, mr. sasse, mr. schumer.r. mr. scott of florida, mr. scott ms.the south carolina, shaheen, mr. shelby. ms. sinema, ms. smith, ms. sul

mr. barrasso, mr. bennett, mrs. blackburn, mr. blumenthal, mr. blunt, mr. booker, mr. grossman, mr. braun, mr. brown, mr. burr, ms. cantwell, mrs. kept joe, mr. [roll call] mr. casey, mr. cass mr. kunz. [roll call] shoes. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] >> any senator who is not in the chamber of the time the oath was administered to the other senators will make that known to the chair so that the oath may be administered as soon as possible. >> the sergeant and arms will make the proclamation. hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, all persons are commanded to keep silent, imprisonment. while house representatives articles of impeachment against donald john trump, president of the united states. . . . 6:00 p.m. on saturday january 18 cut, 2020 to file his answer with the secretary of the senate. which will be spread upon the journal, and the

mr. barrasso. >> aye. >> mr. bennett. >> 12 minutes after the 11:00 hour on the east coast. those who have been with us all day or even part of the day now know the familiar pattern. we get an amendment. the vote is then to table the amendment, and all of today's votes have been strict party line. there's no reason to think this vote will be any different. i am joined for something like her 12th hour of coverage today by a former member of that chamber, former democratic senator claire mccaskill of missouri. just curious to hear your observations based on the last couple of hours of arguments and the friends and former colleagues you see who may be flagging in their seats. >> well, it appears mitch mcconnell is flagging. he's looking tired. listen, this is a hard thing. i've had people give me feedback all day that have talked about how hard it is for senators to sit still and not speak and not move. i realize it is not as hard as watching a child sick in a hospital and other crises that we have in our personal l

mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today after speaker pelosi today ended her delay of the senate impeachment trial. you know, for the past month the american people have watched the speaker, i believe, make a spectacle of herself. we talked about the need to pass this in a way that was rushed, that was partisan, that was sloppy, but they had to get it done, and their key word from the speaker and so many in the house's word -- urgency. have to get this done, they said. urgency, urgency, urgency. so they took the vote in the house before christmas, and then the speaker decided to sit on this for four long weeks, blocking the move, moving the articles from the house to the senate by refusing to send over the necessary papers. in the end the american people, including key members of the democrats and the cincinnati, cincinnati, -- democrats and the senate, realized this was just a political stunt. even senate democrats lost patience with her cynical scheming. the american people saw what th

mr. barrasso. mr. bennett. mrs. blackburn, mr. blumenthal, mr. blunt, mr. booker. mr. boozman, mr. braun, mr. brown, mr. burr. >> we don't want to interrupt this moment so much as we want to explain what we're seeing. 25 groups of four senators each, the full 100. claire mccaskill, having been one of them, what are they signing? >> they're basically signing a document that will be part of history that these are the 100 senators that participated in the impeachment trial. the only other time a senator signs a book like that is when they take the oath of office. so this is a procedure that is limited only -- you sign things, you know, various amendments you have to sign if you're offering it. there's various times you have to sign things serving as a senator. but the only time you have a formal enrollment like this in terms of a book is in fact during an impeachment or at the time you take the oath of office. >> and i'm just being told senator inhofe of oklahoma is not there, giving us a total quorum of 99. he'll be sworn in separately when he arrives, and i assume his signature will

mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. >> well, i think that it can be said, here we are at 12:57, 28, 29, 30 seconds and counting. we had perhaps the most memorable moment of the day just now from chief justice john roberts who after there has been some much more chippy talk in the later hours here. you see counsel especially for the president looking back at the house managers and kind of going face to face with insults about tactics and pettiness. and i use the term because after one of the latest volleys between two sides, the chief justice said that he would admonish both sides. that they are addressing the best deliberative body in the world. that civil discourse is the rule. he then cited a senator once objecting to a house manager for using the word petty fogging. p-e-t-t-i-f-o-g-g-i-n-g. and that that was a word that had no place on the floor of the senate. i think it was back in 1907 or something like that. the chief justice said, we aren't going to try on maintain that high a standard. but decency. ci

mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn -- >> they are doing roll call right now. this is another vote on an amendment. this was about future subpoenas and in what form body will get to see witnesses. and this is like many others, a point of contention for democrats. just to remind you again. it is almost 1:15 eastern. they've been going certainly for over 12 hours now. you have is the chief justice who just arguably made the moment of the day admonishing both sides to observe the decorum of civil discourse in the senate. he has to be at work today in eight hours plus. so this is going to wear on people. you have 66 out of 100 senators are over 60 years of age. this is not about age. it is not to disparage anyone but the fatigue is significant. and this is just the procedural stage. let's check in with jeff zeleny as they do the roll call. a vote that is expected to go down along party lines, as has every other. what are you hearing? >> the vote will go down if all the senators are still present. we believe they are. it will fail 53-47 as the others have. we're get

mr. barrasso, mr. bennett -- >> okay, we're calling the role on this new amendment. this is to -- and harry litman and kimberley atkins, correct me if i'm wrong -- this is to allow the chief justice to call witnesses or testimony -- >> close. to make relevancy determinations about whether a witness is relevant. it's a good example of how the democrats are playing very effectively because here they're actually able to shoot down this talking point the republicans vn offering well you get yours we get ours and that is a red herring. they know they're going to lose it but they get to make the case and push back on the republican talking point. >> if the chief justice deems it relevant, does that mean that witness gets to appear or is it just a judgment on relevance or not relevance? >> so it sounds like based on the amendment if they put -- if a member of the defense or the prosecution of the house motions subpoena a witness the chief justice will rule on relevancy and then that person will be subpoenaed unless the senate as a whole chooses to overturn the chief justice

mr. barrasso. >> aye. >> mr. bennet. >> no. >> we have been wondering how active a role, how seriously the chief justice would take his title as, in effect, judge in front of this, in effect, trial with these 100 senators who are, in effect, jurors, and that was the first kind of off-book rema remark of roberts' tenure however brief. we say brief, but we're just about to clock 12 hours from the start of these proceedings today. you now know how this goes. roll call vote. someone pointed out today you can more or less determine how these roll call votes are going to go because of a big marker. first in the alphabet is lamar alexander, retiring tennessee senator. and if he votes with the republican majority, there is a minimal, very slim chance you'll hear many other deviations from what has been a 53-47 straight party-line day. we will go back in and sample the roll call vote as it progresses. then you know the rest. the clerk gets up, shares the tally sheet with the chief justice, who announces the tally to the c

mr. barrasso. no. mr. bennett, aye. mrs. blackburn. no. mr. blumenthal. no. mr. booker. aye. mr.mr. braun. no. mr. brown. aye. mr. byrd. no. ms. cantwell. aye. mrs. o. no. mr. cardin. aye. mr. carper. aye. mr. casey. aye. mr. cassidy. no. ms. collins. aye. mr.. aye. mr. cornyn. known. aye. mr. cotton. no. mr. kramer. no. mr.. no. mr. cruz. no. mr. daines. no. mrs. duckworth. aye. mr. durbin. aye. mr. enzi. no. this is feinstein. aye mrs. fisher. no. mr. gardner. no. mrs. kirsten gillibrand. aye. mr. graham. no. mr. grassley. no. ms. harris. aye. mr. hawley. no. mr. heinrich. aye. mr. hoven. no. mr. inhofe. no. mr. johnson. no. mr. jones. aye. mr. kane. aye. mr. kennedy. no. mr. king. aye. miss amy klobuchar. aye. mr. langford. no. mr. lahey. aye. mr. lee. no. mrs. leffler. no. mr. mansion. aye. mr. markey. aye. mr. mcconnell. no. miss mick sally. no. mr. menendez. aye. mr. merkley. no. ms. murkowski. no. mr. murphy. aye. mrs. murray. aye. mr. paul. no. mr. purdue. no. mr. peters. aye. mr. portman. no. mr. reid. aye. mr. rich. no. mr. roberts. no. mr. romney. aye. ms. rosen. aye.

mr barrasso. mr bennett. mrs blackburn. mr blumenthal. mr blunt. aye. mr booker. no. mr bozeman.out what is happening in the centre. the jurors about what is happening in the centre. thejurors in the star about what is happening in the centre. the jurors in the star the 100 senators and the rules state that they should approach this row without bias when each senator was sworn in, they were asked, let me just... " that was what they were asked. but some people are already on record saying they have no intention of upholding that oath. for sample here is the leader of the republicans in the senate speaking last month. i am not an impartialjuror. this is a political process. there is not anything judicial about it. impeachment is a political decision. in any courtroom trial, if a juror said they were coordinating with the defendant's legal team — which mitch mcconnell also said — they would be removed from the jury. not here. if this were a normaljury there might be some questions asked about the democrats too. among their senators are elizabeth warren and bernie sanders, both cand

mr alexander, miss baldwin, mr barrasso, mr bennett.ard now and sign the oath book, which means they are pledging to abide by the rules of the impeachment trial. they come forward alphabetically, so it is not all republicans or democrats, they are being called by alphabetical order, which means you get democrats and republicans coming up at the same time to swear that in. anita, you have been watching this. even though we know this is just a ceremonial moment, listening to chiefjusticejohn ceremonial moment, listening to chiefjustice john roberts standing there, presiding over this trial, is a pretty historic moment for this country. it is, even though people talk about they know what's going to happen, they know what the outcome will be — the reality is we don't fully know what the outcome will be, what this trial will be like. but remember, this is only the third time in history that this has happened. and that is what speaker nancy pelosi keeps saying, even if the senate acquits him, he has been preached, donald trump has been impeac

mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the barrasso substitute amendment be agreed to and the bill as amended be wrd read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the bill as amended. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, the question is on passage of the bill as amended. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill as amended is passed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the barrasso title amendment be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on commerce be discharged from further consideration of s. 19282 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1982, a bill to improve efforts to combat marine debris and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconne

mr. barrasso. spirit ricks plain what is happening now, again, yet another amendment they are voting on whether -- this one was about making modifications to the rules package that the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has put together about when you will vote on witnesses, how that will be a debated, whether that will be live, whether you will hear them deposed, i anticipate a party line vote, but you have been the master of all predictions tonight, so tell us what comes next. >> they do seem to be wearing down a little bit here. after that feisty debate over john bolton in the admonishment of the councils by chief justice john roberts. this is going back to one of those technical amendments. i was one of the shortest debates we've had on any of the year i think nine amendments we've had so far, check my notes, losing track here. should take 5 minutes, so we should have the results soon. we are getting the sense a lot of senators are getting restless. a lot more walking around the chamber, go

mr. barrasso, mr. brass oi, mr. bennet, mr. bennet know, missus blackburn missus blackburn i've. mr. blumenthal mr. blumenthal no mr. blunt -- mr. blunt i can, mr. booker, mr. booker no, mr. boozman, mr. boozman a, mr. braun. mr. braun i mr. brown mr. brown no. mr. berger i roll call roll call roll call. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [silence] [silence] >> does any member in the chamber we should change his or her vote? if not they yeas are 53 the names are 47. the motion is agreed to. the democratic leaders recognized. >> mr. chief justice i sent an amendment to the desk to subpoena jon r bolton and ask that it be read. >> the clerk report. >> the senator from new york mr. schumer opposes 1296 in their place in their resolve in closets or the following, section notwithstanding any other provision of this resolution, p

mr. barrasso. >> the vote's ticking away, the vote's ticking away. the floor, but he's not voting. >> mr. blunt. mr. booker. >> you saw mitch mcconnell looking more and more unhappy, his arms were closed. and you could tell from the body language on the republican side that they were very d. >> mr. durbin. >> john mccain walks up to where ate vote clerks are and he lifts his hand very drally. >> narrator: mccain, with age thumbs-dowure, shocked the chamber. (people gasping) you could hear audible gasps in the chamber. and those gasps of surprise came from both sides of the aisle. >> no.in (people ga >> in the senate chambers, you could hear the shock-- first gasps... >> another devastating blow to republican senators as an obamacare repeal fails... >> nobody was expecting john n mccain to vo and the way that he did obviously hads ramificatit just in the senate or in congress, but in e ite house, as well. and how-- it would make m everythie difficult because members are fighting with each other now. >> breaking news right now. the republicans' obamacar

mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. madam president, i come to the floor today following the u.s. air strike in iraq, the air strike that killed iranians terrorist mastermind. i fully support president trump's decision. as commander in chief, i believe he had an obligation to do what he did to act when american lives are at stake. with the death of iran's general soleimani, the american people and people around the world are much safer. this general was an emboldened blood-thirsty terrorist. he was a killer. he has the blood of countless people around the world on his hands. in the last two months we've seen 11 attacks -- 11 attacks on u.s. forces and bases, including the killing of an american citizen. he became bolder, he became more aggressive in both his actions and his ambitions. and he was stepping up his attacks on americans. in fact, general soleimani was at war with the united states his entire career, and it was a military career. he was the commander of iran's terrorist network. we watched in recent months as he personally directed brazen attacks on our embassy and our

mr. barrasso, aye. mr. bennett? mr. bennett no. mrs. blackburn. mrs. blackburn aye. mr. blumenthal. mr. no. mr. bozeman? mr. bozeman aye. mr. braun? mr. braun aye. mr. brown? mr. brown no. mr. burr? mr. burr aye. miss cantwell? miss cantwell no. mrs. catito. mrs. capito no. mr. garden no. mr. carper? mr. carper no. mr. casey? mr. casey no. mr. cassidy? mr. cassidy aye. miss collins? miss collins aye. mr. kunze? mr. kunze no. mr. cornyn? mr. cornyn aye. miss cortez masto? miss cortez masto no. mr. cotton? mr. cotton no. mr. cotton aye. mr. cramer? mr. cramer aye. mr. crapo? mr. crapo aye. mr. cruz? mr. cruz aye. mr. daines? mr. daines aye. miss duckworth? miss duckworth no. mr. durbin? mr. durbin no. mr.enszy? mr.enszy aye. miss ernst? miss ernst aye. mrs. feinstein? mrs. feinstein no. mrs. fisher? mrs. fisher aye. mr. gardner? mr. gardner aye. mrs. gillibrand? mrs. gillibrand no. mr. graham? mr. graham aye. mr. grassley? mr. grassley aye. miss harris? miss harris no. miss hassan? miss hassan no. mr. hawley? mr. hawley aye. mr. heinrich? mr. heinrich no. miss hirono? miss hirono no. mr.

mr. barrasso. >> no. >> mr. bennet. >> aye. >> mrs. blackburn. >> no. >> mr. blumenthal. mr. mr. burr? no. ms. cantwelcantwell, aye. ms. capito, aye. mr. cardin, aye. mr. carper, aye. mr. cassidy, aye. ms. collins, aye. mr. koons, aye. mr. cornyn, no. ms. cortez masto? no. mr. kramer, no. mr. crapo, no. mr. cruz, no. mr. daines, no. ms. duckworth, aye. mr. durbin, aye. mr. enzi, no. ms. ernst. ms. feinstein, aye. ms. ernst, no. mrs. fisher, no. mr. gardener, no. mrs. gillibrand, aye. mr. graham? no. mr. grassley, no. ms. harris, aye. ms. hassan? no. mr. hawley, aye. mr. hirono, aye. mr. hoeven, no. ms. hyde-smith, no. mr. inhofe, no. mr. johnson, no. mr. jones, aye. mr. kaine, aye. mr. kennedy, no. mr. king, aye. mrs. klobuchar, aye. mr. lankford, no. mr. leahy, aye. mr. lee, no. mrs. leffler, no. mr. manchin, aye. mr. markey, aye. mr. mcconnell, no. ms. mcsally, no. mr. menendez, aye. mr. merkley, aye. mr. moran, no. ms. markowski, no. mr. murphy, aye. mrs. murray, aye. mr. paul, no. mr. perdue, no. mr. peters, aye. mr. portman, no. m mr. reade, aye. mr. rish, no. mr. robert

mr. barrasso. >> yaye. >> mr. bennett? mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. blount. mr. >>> we are letting them vote. this is jake tapper, and what is going on right now is that there is an amendment being introduced by the democratic leader of the senate, the minority leader chuck schumer of new york and the majority leader republican mitch mcconnell of kentucky is asking for the vote to table the amendment, and table the amendment. i guess that anything can happen, but we expect that this is going to pass on the par partyline vote to table the schumer amendment for subpoenas and a whole bunch more evidence to be obtained from the white house, and it is not likely, we don't think that it will pass the republican-led senate. >> 5 3 republicans and 47 democrats and four independents who caucused with the republicans, and it is expected along the partylines, jake and i would be surprised if it is not. >> and especially after the maneuver that mcconnell made before this amendment was introduced which was backing off some of the more harder line provisions that he had made i

mr. chief justice. >> senator from indiana. >> send a question on my behalf and senator barrasso for president's counsel. >> thank you. >> the question from senator braun and barrasso for the counsel for the president. the house managers have said the country must be saved from this president and he does not have the best interest of the american people and their families in mind. do you wish to respond to that claim? >> mr. chief justice, members of the senate. while the house managers are coming before you and accusing the president of doing things in their words, solely for personal and political gain and claiming that he is not doing things in the best interest of the american people, the american people are telling you just the opposite. the president's approval rating while we are sitting here in the middle of these impeachment proceedings have hit an all-time high. a recent poll shows that the american people are the happiest they have been with the direction of the country in 15 years. whether it's the economy, security, military preparedness, safer streets or safer neighborhoods, they're all way up. we, the american

mr. chief justice. >> senator from indiana. >> i ask the senate a question to the desk on my behalf and senator barrasso for the president's counsel. >> thank you. >> the question from senator braun and barrasso for counsel for the president. the house managers have said the country must be saved from this president and he does not have the best interests of the american people and their families in mind. do you wish to respond to that claim? >> mr. chief justice, members of the senate, while the house managers are coming before you in accusing the president of doing things in their words solely for personal and political gain, in claiming that he's not doing things in the best interest of the american people, the american people are telling you just the opposite. the president's approval rating while we're sitting here in the middle of these impeachment proceedings has hit an all-time high. a recent poll shows that the american people are the happiest they've been with the direction of the country in 15 years. whether it's the economy, security, military preparedness, safer streets, safer neighborhoods, they're all way up. we, th

senator john barrasso, republican from wyoming, joins us now. mr.you're tired, but take us inside the chamber yesterday. what was it like being penned up there for all those hours? >> well, you know, you're not allowed to speak, stuart. under, as they say, penalty of prison. kind of like the tower of london. [laughter] and i sit next to lindsey graham. well, you know, he's a talkative guy -- [laughter] there's some challenges, but it's an important role that we are playing sitting in on this what will now be a fair trial after what we were through in the house which was very unfair. they put up a flimsy case. it was rushed, it was partisan. i believe it was actually an abuse of the constitution. what happened in the house. we are now going to have a fair trial in the senate consistent with the rules that were used for president bill clinton. stuart: as a viewer, it was boring. it went on forever. i can't believe that this will do the democrats any good politically if you've got to put up with that for days on end, weeks on end. >> the interest just

mr. chief justice, i sent a question to the desk on behalf of myself and senators holly, cruz, kramer, braun, purdue, barrasso, ruby, rich, ernst, scott of florida, daines and fisher for both the house with response to the council of the president. >> thank you. >> the question from senator johnson and other senators from both parties. there were two nsc staff holdovers from the obama administration attending an all-hands meeting of nsc staff held about two weeks into the trump administration and talking loudly enough to be overheard saying, we need to do everything we can to take out the president. on july 26th, 2019, the house intelligence committee hired one of those individuals, sean misko, in the report further describes relationships between he he and an individual alleged as a whistle-blower. why did your committee hire sean misko and what role has he played in your committee investigation? the house will begin. >> first of all there have been a lot of attacks on my staff. as i said when this issue came up earlier, i am appalled at some of the smearing of the professional people that work for the intel

mr. trump's legal team gets its turn. joining us now is one of the jurors. he is republican senator john barrasso. i know you guys have had late hours, busy days, so we really appreciate it. let's start here. what have you -- what new information have you learned from the house managers' presentation? >> in some ways it's like groundhogs day about every hour and a half they start over again. i think one of the interesting things yesterday afternoon, they deviated from that by spending so much time talking about vice president joe biden and the money that his son hunter was given by ukrainian company under valuation for corruption to the point that this morning in "the new york times," the headline on the front page was that the case has taken a risky turn yesterday by so much focus and discussion about the bidens, even in adam schiff's closing statements last night. >> i think the part of what they were talking about was the corruption of the prosecutor who had been in charge and that then-vice president biden had, along with allies, effectively gotten rid of and then suddenly came back to the for

senator john barrasso, republican, wyoming, joins us now. mr. senator, welcome back to the show. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: if we get witnesses of any kind, john bolton testifies, surely we can demand, you can demand that hunter biden appear as well. if that happens, then you're going to stretch this thing out forever. >> you're absolutely right, stuart. look, let's remember that this is a purely partisan impeachment done for political purposes because as your economic numbers surely show, we have seven million new jobs since president trump has been in office, unemployment at an all-time low, consumer confidence at an all-time high. this is the only thing the democrats can do to beat president trump. but the momentum in our conference is clearly moving toward ending this trial, going to a final vote, a vote on final judgment. we hope to have that on friday. that's where we are right now. stuart: let me repeat that. you hope to have a vote on friday of this week on a final judgment on the charges against the president. that's it? >> that is i

mr. chief justice. >> the senator from indiana. >> i ask to send the question to desk on behalf of myself and senator barrasso's counsel. >> thank you. >> the question from senator braun and barrasso for the counsel for the president frp the house managers said the country must be saved from this president and he does not have the best interests of the american people and their families m in mind. do you wish to respond to that claim? claim? >> mr. chief justice, members. senate, while the house managers are coming before you and accusing the president of doing things in their words, solely for personal and political gain, and claiming that he is not doing things in the best interest of the american people, the american people are telling you just the opposite. the president's approval rating while we're sitting here in the middle of these impeachment proceedings have hit an all-time high. a recent poll shows that the american people are the happiest they've been with the direction of the country in 15 years. whether it's the economy, security, military preparedness, safer streets or safer neighborhoods, they're all way up, we,

mr. chief justice, we will finish up at 11:00 o'clock. >> thank you. >> chief justice, the senator from georgia. >> i send a question to the desk on behalf of myself and senators blackburn, highsmith, cotten, holly, barrasso, fisher and corning. >> thank you. >> the question is for the counsel for the president. as a fact witness who is coordinating with the whistleblower did manager shifts handling of the impeachment inquiry create materials and process issues for the president to have a trial? >> mr. chief justice, senators thank you for that question. i believe the short answer is yes it created a material due process issue. as i explained the other day and the portion of my argument there were three major due process violations the lack of an authorization as a whole preceding started an illegitimate and constitutionally invalid manner and second the lack of due process protection with fundamental right to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses and present witnesses. the final is manager schiff or his staff had some role in consulting with the whistleblower that remains secret to this day. and all attempts to find out about that and ask questions about thought were shut down. manager schiff said

mr. manager. >> the senator from georgia. >> i had sent it on behalf of myself and senator ernst and senator barrasso. >> thank you. >> in the counsel for the president is as follows. please summarize the house of representatives three stage investigation how the president was denied due process in each stage combined with the investigation with the fruit of the poisonous tree. >> mr. chief justice and senators thank you for the question and the schedule will - - and the answer is yes it is now the fruit of the poisonous tree and the fruit that was fatally deficient in due process from the start and as a result it produced a record that is totally unreliable and cannot be relied on other than acquitting the president. first totally unconstitutional and illegitimate manner starting as an impeachment inquiry for the house to authorized inquiry. and spent time with the house managers and they tried to argue why they are proceeding all right for go they are not engaging the real issues. so in order for the house to have that delegation of that authority to a committee the fundamental principle of the house itself not to individu

barrasso joins us now. he's on the foreign relations committee in the united states senate. mr.nding regime change in iran? >> i do, stuart, but remember, we have been there before. i stand with the freedom loving people of iran who want to get out under this oppressive regime, who have been doing what they have done for the last 40 years. president trump is right, we can never allow iran to get a nuclear weapon. stuart: it's a remarkable turn-around in two weeks, isn't it. two weeks ago, qassem suleimani was organizing protests and now he's dead and the protesters in the streets of iran are saying death to khamenei. that is an extraordinary turnaround. i don't think the iranian regime has ever been in this position before. >> no, i don't think they have. a month or so ago, they were in the streets protesting the increased cost of gasoline and the lowering of the value of their money but what has happened as a result of that, with suleimani under his direction, 180 iranian protesters were killed, 700 were detained and arrested so the people realize when they take to the streets

mr. chief justice, i sent a question to the desk on behalf of myself and senator risch, hawley, and moran. >> thank you. the question from senator barrasso the president: can the senate convict a sitting u.s. president of obstruction of congress for exercising the president's constitutional authorities or rights? >> mr. chief justice, senators, thank you for the question. and i think the short answer is constitutionally, no, the senate may not convict the president for exercising his constitutional authorities. the theory that the house managers have presented, i think, professor turley testifying before the house made it very clear is itself an abuse of power by congress and is dangerous for the structure of oour government because the fundamental proposition at the heart of the obstruction of congress charge that the house managers have brought is that the house can simply demand information. and if the executive branch resists, even if it provides lawful rationales, perhaps ones that the house managers disagree with but that are consistent with long-standing precedents and principles applied by the executive branch, the house managers

mr. manager. >> whir chief justice. >> the senator from georgia. >> irsend a question no the desk from for at the president's counsel. >> thank you. >> the question from senator purdue, earns anti-and barrasso is: plasmas he house of representatives three stage investigation and how the president was denied due process in each stage. combine if with manager schiff's repeated leaks during the house's investigation, do these due process violations make this impeachment the fruit of the poisonous tree? >> mr. chief justice, senators, thank you for that question. and the short answer, as i think i've indicated a couple of times i've been up here is, yes, this entire proceeding here is now the fruit of the poisonous tree. it is the fruit of a proceeding that was fatally deficient in due process from the start to the beginning. and as a result of that it produced a record that is totally unreliable, can't be relied on here for any conclusion other than acquitting the president. and let me detail the three phase. first, first error was the house began the proceeding in a totally unconstitutional, unlawful and illegitimate manner. it started in an impeachment inquiry without any vote of the house t

mr. manager. the senator from south carolina. >> thank you, sir. i send a question to the desk on behalf of myself, senators hawley, sasse, and barrasso. >> thank you the question from senator scott of south carolina, hawles, sasse and barrasso is to the counsel for the president. during their presentation, the house managers referenced chairman goudy and the house benghazi investigation. the final report on benghazi flatly says, "the administration did not cooperate with the investigation." that committee fought for two years to access information and often had information requests ignored or denied. yet, this house investigation after just three months already supposedly justifies impeachment. does president trump owe more compliance than other presidents did? >> thank you, mr. chief justice. part of what we're seeing, i believe, is kind of a twofold attack, or approach. we just saw a citation to two district court opinions. as if the final arbiter of an issue of this magnitude is going to be the district court, or for that matter, the court of appeals. you're right. it's going to be the supreme court of the united states if it goes in that direc

mr. mccluskey alaska. lamar alexander of tennessee. mitt romney of utah and susan collins of maine. cnn added another senator to that list. john barrassog, who is part of the republican leadership team. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has signed on to a resolution to dismiss this trial , these charges against the president. if they follow the 1999 clinton impeachment rules, a vote to dismiss could come after opening arguments and questions from senators. in 1999, when they did not dismiss after that vote, then they voted on the subpoena and witnesses. they were able to see evidence. and then they voted. we are hearing that senate democrats, when the rules are ,oted on on tuesday afternoon could force votes on witnesses as early as tuesday afternoon. our coverage of all that on c-span two, starting at 1:00 p.m. eastern time on tuesday. olivia in virginia, republican caller, you are next. caller: thank you for taking my call. i want to say that i don't have confidence that the trial will be fair. i think that from the very beginning, the demonization of this president has been breathtaking. the republicans have never been on this

mr. chief justice. >> the senator from indiana. >> i ask to send a question to the desk on my behalf and senator barrasso for the president's counselhe question from senator braun and barrasso for counsel for the president. the house managers have said the country must be saved from this president, and he does not have the best interests of the american people and their families in mind. do you wish to respond to that claim? >> mr. chief justice, members of the senate, while the house managers are coming before you and accusing the president of doing things in their words solely for personal and political gain and claiming that he's not doing things in the best interests of the american people, the american people are telling you just the opposite. the president's approval rating while we are sitting here in the middle of these impeachment proceedings have hit an all-time high. a recent poll shows that the american people are the happiest they've been with the direction of the country in 15 years. whether it's the economy, security, military preparedness, safer streets or safer neighborhoods, they are all way up. we the american pe

mr. chief justice. sit at the from wyoming. >> i sent a question to the desk on behalf of myself and senators risch young fischer and blunt. >> thank you. question from senator barrasso and the other senators for the counsel to the president. is it within a u.s. president's authority personally address the issue of corruption with a head of the foreign government that he believes the established u.s. process has been unsuccessful in the past? >> mr. chief justice and senators thank you for that question. the short answer is yes. the president did under article article ii with the entirety of the executive power and it has been made clear since the founding, since the early part of the 1800's and decisions by the supreme court that the president is the sole of vested with the authority to speak on behalf of the nation. the supreme court has described it, he should be the sole voice of the nation in foreign affairs and that is why that authority was assigned in the constitution to the executive greg alexander hamilton explained in the letter list papers that the executive is characterized by unity and dispatch, the ability to have one view to act quickly and also the a

mr. chief justice. sit at the from wyoming. >> i sent a question to the desk on behalf of myself and senators risch young fischer and blunt. >> thank you. question from senator barrasso and the other senators for the counsel to the president. is it within a u.s. president's authority personally address the issue of corruption with a head of the foreign government that he believes the established u.s. process has been unsuccessful in the past? >> mr. chief justice and senators thank you for that question. the short answer is yes. the president did under article article ii with the entirety of the executive power and it has been made clear since the founding, since the early part of the 1800's and decisions by the supreme court that the president is the sole of vested with the authority to speak on behalf of the nation. the supreme court has described it, he should be the sole voice of the nation in foreign affairs and that is why that authority was assigned in the constitution to the executive greg alexander hamilton explained in the letter list papers that the executive is characterized by unity and dispatch, the ability to have one view to act quickly and also the a

mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent that i be allowed to engaging in a colloquy with are senator enzi. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: we have a picture here of geraldine brown who passed away peacefully on january 8 in wyoming. she was surrounded by her loving family. for many years jerri was a dominant force in wyoming. for the last 12 years she was the most influential voice with the wyoming senate delegation. she's my wife bobby's mom. senator enzi knew her long before i did. senator enzi. mr. enzi: thank you, senator barrasso. i got to meet this delightful lady in wyoming some 70 years ago. i need to tell you a little bit about thermopolis, wyoming. my dad, during the war, was a welder on ships. after the war, he move around the country doing different welding projects, one of which took him to thermopolis wyoming. he welded on