well, republican senator rick santorum and paul begala have strong thoughts on that next.ve most about being a scientist at 3m is that i'm part of a community of problem solvers. we make ideas grow. from an everyday solution... to one that can take on a bigger challenge. from packaging tape... to tape that can bond materials to buildings... and planes. one idea can unlock a breadth of solutions. at 3m, we are solving problems that improve lives. >>> if you'd like to know what john bolton had in mind when he thought that zelensky could favorably impress the president in warsaw, we can find that out too. just for the asking. and a document called a subpoena. >> that was congressman adam schiff emphasizing the case for calling witnesses in the senate trial and getting new documents. senate republicans who have been open to witnesses say they will consider the issue after opening arguments are concluded. joining us now with how the democrats are making their case, we have rick santorum. he's a former republican senator who was in the senate during the clinton impeachment trial

perspective from paul begala who had a front row seat to his boss' trial and john dean, former counselxon who resigned before his likely impeachment and john dean testified, just in terms of how this is different from president clinton, the managers were interviewed. >> and yet we still wouldn't want more witnesses because everyone was deposed, interviewed by the fbi front of the grand jury. mr. starr was so thorough, he interviewed window washers, dentists, mail carriers and we had to accept three witnesses, ms. lewinsky. jordan, and sydney bloomenthal. this time around, there's a really limited first-person, firsthand evidence, and it's really striking. we've never had an impeachment trial in history with no witnesses. right now it looks like that's where we're going. and the house managers a are doing a terrific job putting on a case with what they have. >> what was the argument? >> back then? it was that we can't have a trial without witnesses. the record is there, but they had already been interviewed. absolutely. front of the grand jury under oath. as a friend of vernon, i was wo

joining us now paul begala and rick santorum. friends, i think we need to read what lamar alexander wrote last night. it was an interesting statement. it came at 11:00 p.m. where almost everyone was sleeping. hoors one part. there is no need for more evidence to prove that the president asked ukraine to investigate joe biden and his son. he said this on television on october 3rd and during his july 25th telephone call with the president of ukraine. there is no need for more evidence to conclude the president withheld the united states aid to pressure ukraine to investigate the bidens. the house managers have proved this with what they call a mountain of overwhelming evidence. paul, first to you. lamar alexander says, you know what? the house managers proved it. not only do i think it's not worth removing the president over it. that's a high bar. but i don't think we should hear any more witnesses in the case. >> history will not remember he was the governor of tennessee, he was the president of the university of tennessee, he was

. >> but there were others who -- i was on with paul begala earlier this morning, bill clinton did nothing did something -- >> you have people all over the spectrum. if you're going to have people who say he did nothing wrong and this is a sham, people will say it is inappropriate, inartful, a whole variety of opinions within the caucus, but you can't just say, well, you know he, they're trying to cover up. >> the lawyer said it was perfect -- appropriate, there was nothing wrong with it, the president says it is -- >> so does paul begala say that about bill clinton. >> but clinton's attorney on the floor of the senate said what he found bill clinton did was immoral. there was an acknowledgement that what he did was wrong. i think what some people are concerned about is what precedent does this set. this -- i don't think you as president or senator would ever do this, would ever ask a foreign power to help you in an election by -- >> i would be surprised if donald trump's going to ask any more foreign powers. >> why do you say that? >> he paid a huge price here. >> you should not be surpri

secretary for president clinton, karen finney, former senior adviser to hillary clinton's campaign and paul begala, democratic strategist. karen finney, i'll start with you. what are you looking for tonight? what dynamic interests you most? >> i think we'll see an interesting dynamic between bernie and warren, but i'll tell you what i bet most voters are looking for. this is where you have to be pivot to be presidential. right before you go to vote, you want to see a president on the stage. no doubt also the commander in chief test given what's happening with iran, the polls we've seen. people are still very concerned. they'll be looking at those candidates saying, is this someone that can take on iran? do they have a plan? no doubt, i suspect brnie will have a back and forth about who voted for the iraq war. that's something bernie brings up a lot. i think it will be about how do we go forward? how do we revive america's relationships around the world? >> that's interesting. the biden campaign, paul, when talking about foreign policy, would rather it be about the idea of current judgment and temp

paul begala who worked for president clinton, had a front row seat to his impeachment. r who teaches impeachment law at tulane law school. paul, the rules of how this is going to be, this is obviously despite what he had earlier said, this is going to be very different than the president clinton impeachment. >> it is. and i don't understand why. i'm sure it's political, and i'm a political guy. i get that. but it's not like he's at risk of losing votes anyway. it's not like 30 republicans are going to remove the president anyway. it's actually honestly, in mcconnell's interests, in the senate's interest more importantly to have a fair trial. the average american watches that and said okay, that's fair. you're trying to keep senators up until 1:00 or 2:00 or 3:00? the senate famously is like the world's most exclusive nursing home. and we're going to take these people and keep them up until 3:00 in the morning. there is no need. >> i'm not sure viewers are going to stay up. >> maybe that's his goal. but he is certainly giving the house managers prime time. insteld of doin

paul begala, he served in the clinton white house during that impeachment trial. let's start at the beginning. paul, with what happened with mitch mcconnell retreating on some of his rules after many objected. it wasn't just the people, they didn't like they were cramming it all into two days and that all of the witness testimony wasn't going to be entered automatically into evidence. what does it tell you that mcconnell changed? >> mcconnell is a master tactician. maybe his grip is not quite as tight as we had thought. it was untenable. we saw last night to try to keep the senators at the world's greatest assisted living facility awake until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning. but then he went on to win 11 votes in a row. so the key thing for these republican senators, the most important thing for mitch mcshould be -- i think is -- protecting his vulnerable republican senators. he has now put every one of those vulnerable senators on record voting against witnesses in a trial. that is going to hurt those who are running in november. >> i have to say chief justice john ro

now, rick santorum, former republican senator from pennsylvania and senior political commentator, paul begala. let me put more of that polling up on the screen so people can just see how overwhelming it is. when i tell you 75% of americans want to see it, a plurality of republicans, 49% to 43%. an overwhelming number of democrats, 95% to 3%. and independents, 7 5% to 18% say they want to hear witnesses. so, paul, for months republicans have been saying, oh, democrats are taking a giant political risk with impeachment. what political risk, paul, do republicans face if they vote against witnesses when 75% of americans, including 75% of independents say they want them? >> right. so far, there has not been a backlash against the democrats since they began impeachment. they actually won the kentucky governors race. they won the louisiana governors race. the house and senate in virginia. the elections since impeachment began have almost all gone for the democrats. but the republicans have a huge risk here. and the risk is not so much the vote to convict or acquit. the risk is that polling you just

on the left, james carville and paul begala. on the right, robert novak and tucker carlson.n jon stewart went on "crossfire." it was 2004. john kerry was the democratic presidential nominee facing george w. bush. and i thought, you know, watching it, i said, this is going to be a funny show. >> can i say something very quickly? why do we have to fight? the two of you, can't we just say something nice about john kerry, right now. >> i like john. i care about john kerry. >> and something about president bush. >> he'll be unemployed soon. >> anyone who enjoyed paying attention to the news and watched "the daily show" will forever remember jon stewart going on "crossfire" and reading those guys the riot act. >> you're doing theater when you should be doing debate. it's not honest. what you do is partisan hackery. and i'll tell you why i know it. >> you had john kerry on your show and you kiss his throne and you accuse us of hackery? >> the show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls. what is wrong you? >> comedians and satire when done right will take on hypocris