gardner of colorado and susan collins of maine. carolina.ter of north how did orange county, the bastion of ronald reagan's conservative republican party, flip to become a democratic stronghold? real: we are seeing a alignment in this country and it is two different groups. you got suburban america that once a -- that once was a republican stronghold. particularly women, are moving away from the republican party to where the democratic party. at the same time, we have small-town america, working-class whites without a four-year college degree, and protestants and catholics who go to church at least once a week, they are trending away from democrats towards the republican party. we are seeing very much a real alignment in american politics. the problem for republicans is there are a lot more people in the suburbs. you are seeing the suburbs where democrats did incredibly well

gardner of colorado and susan collins of maine. carolina.ter of north how did orange county, the bastion of ronald reagan's conservative republican party, flip to become a democratic stronghold? real: we are seeing a alignment in this country and it is two different groups. you got suburban america that once a -- that once was a republican stronghold. particularly women, are moving away from the republican party to where the democratic party. at the same time, we have small-town america, working-class whites without a four-year college degree, and protestants and catholics who go to church at least once a week, they are trending away from democrats towards the republican party. we are seeing very much a real alignment in american politics. the problem for republicans is there are a lot more people in the suburbs. you are seeing the suburbs where democrats did incredibly well

susan collins of maine and mitt romney of utah.n particular is one the white house is very concerned about may vote with the democrats if this thing does get to the senate and there is a trial and the vote on whether or not to convict. romney said in the halls of congress before heading down to the white house that he will not bring up impeachment at this meeting, and that if it is brought up he will sit there and listen like he is doing to the television set. there are other things he wants to talk about including the trust act. impeachment not big on his agenda. with this follows along with what the white house has been doing over the last several weeks. it has held now more than 80 meetings with members of congress. they've had a couple movie nights, meetings up at camp david. just to kind of get everybody on the same page here, and really -- it was described to me at one a time-share sails pitch and terms of the intensity to say, "we need you folks to step up." "the democrats are to against on this road and we need the republic

. >> susan collins. mitt romney.t to get at least a couple of bipartisan votes so the end vote in the senate isn't a total party line deal. the persuadable universe here is a pretty small group of mes. >> that's right. a small group of yous, which is a small group. >> very small. >> we should note sometimes overrepresented. the other thought i had here was the, you know, people have been making fun of they didn't get away with it argument. rightly so. there is this sideshow bob in jail gets a nobel prize for attempt attempted chemistry like attempted murder. i guess in some ways it is kind of the best argument they have because at least it doesn't require them to say it's fine if he had gotten away with it and also to deny the facts that are produced. >> i think it's the second best argument, right? stepanek made that in the postgame press conference. she said there was no investigation in the end into burisma. they got their aid. they didn't get the aid under obama. that's that. a congresswoman from new york who wor

people like mitt romney, susan collins, who are not saying much after that, but have made clear they are not happy. then you have a few people like pat toomey of pennsylvania who, at last check this past week was washe -- that that call inappropriate but not impeachable. that seems to be a bucket that could get a lot bigger. that a lot of senate republicans could ultimately not vote to but have some harsh words for the president's conduct. that is something that happened in the clinton hearing. ultimately, the democrats lined up to protect him from removal. that could be where things. are going -- where things are going. it is hard to at this point. one thing i do not think is an actual removal. as a senate republican, you are essentially voting for the end of your career because somebody is going to run against you and probably beat you if you remove a president they like. >> a lot of developments with the impeachment as they unfold. thank you for being with us on this sunday. we appreciate it. >> this week, the house intelligence committee and chair adam schiff continue impeachment

fair to say mitt romney, more than susan collins.th the ongoing impeachment thing, finding a single republican voice to respond to that, anyone's guess. we should get an update very very soon. i should say things have calmed at the corner of wall and broad. we are down about 11 points. i will get to that in a second. it's the impeachment stuff that is gripping main street, obviously. again, not so much wall street. take a look. >> in particular, i asked ambassador sondland if it was true that the president did not give an expletive about ukraine. ambassador sondland agreed the president did not give an expletive about ukraine. i asked why not. ambassador sondland stated that the president only cares about big stuff. i noted there was big stuff going on in ukraine, like a war with russia. ambassador sondland replied that he meant big stuff that benefits the president, like the biden investigation, that mr. giuliani was pushing. neil: we've got former house manager during the clinton impeachment trial, bill barr, he says he doesn't rea

people like mitt romney, susan collins, who are not saying much after that, but have made clear that they are not happy. and then you have got a few people, like pat toomey of pennsylvania, who, at last check, this past week, believe -- was in that the call was , inappropriate but not impeachable. some harsh words for the president's conduct. ultimately the democrats lined up to protect him from removal. could be where things are going. tell at thisard to point. one thing that i don't think is removal an actual barring a collapse in the support among the primary voters because as a senate republican you're ssentially voting for the end of your career because somebody is going to run against you and probably beat you if you president that a they like. as the of to develop as unfolds on wednesday morning. thank you for being with us on this sunday. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> c-span's washington journal every day with knew and policy issues that impact you. coming up monday morning, we'll two of the impeachment inquiry hearings with "wall street journal" vivian -- an senior staff w

republicans who have said very critical things about the president's phone call -- mitt romney, susan collins -- who are not saying much after that, but have made clear that they are not happy. and then you have got a few people, like pat toomey of pennsylvania, who, at last believehis past week, that the call was inappropriate but not impeachable. and so that seems to be a bucket that could get a lot bigger, that a lot of senate republicans could ultimately not vote to convict but have some harsh words for the president's conduct here. that is something that happened in the bill clinton and treatment. if you remember, joe lieberman gave sort of a scathing speech about clinton's conduct, but ultimately the democrats lined up to protect him from removal. and that could be where things are going. it is really hard to tell at this point. one thing that i don't think is likely is an actual removal, barring a collapse in the president's support amongst public and primary voters, because then come as a senate republican, you are essentially voting for the end of your career, because somebody is goi

among them swing states, mitt romney, susan collins.usan collins said they didn't talk about that and they didn't feel like he was trying to butter up the jurors or what have you and mitt romney said they didn't talk about their differences. but do you think he's going to just try to keep an eye on these senators even though it's along party lines right now? >> you know, i just wouldn't give him credit for that much cleverness or even for that -- even for any kind of strategy. i mean, one of the -- i was listening to carl bernstein earlier and john dean, who was saying that this was worse than watergate, and i think they're right. but one of the really striking similarities to me is it's not the first time we had a president who was delusional. dick nixon was convinced the cia was out to get him. he thought there was dirt somewhere in the brookings institution on an opponent. >> that's paranoia. >> the safe. he wanted haldeman to go and blow the safe and get it out. haldeman didn't do it. but that delusion almost pales in comparison to

collinh both the toast because donald trump isn't going to win any of those. >> susan collins i think that is why we haven't seen her on the impeachment questions but other things that are meant to differentiate herself. then colorado has been trending more or less. the democrats path to taking control of the senate isn't impossible but it's tricky in part because they also have to do things like defend the seat in alabama. >> you have written on the threats to the integrity of the election in terms of the voter registration databases and using social media to the discord spreading disinformation through facebook and twitter. what are the greatest threats you worry about as we head into 2020? >> we have an e-book coming out on the topic soon. for the actual voting day information there's been quite a lot of movement in the state. more than half the states now have paper ballots and some protocols for the risk limiting that can be done after the election. congress appropriated money last time around. after a lot of groaning and a delay, the appropriated more money for the cycle. so i'm

not from gardiner in colorado or thom tillis in north carolina or susan collins in maine or martha mcsally in arizona or joni ernst in iowa. not a peep. what about the very prominent senior republicans who have elected to retire in 2020? not a people from pat roberts nor mike enzi, nor lamar alexander, and nothing as far as i know from johnny isakson either. it is possible that there will be a huge shift in response to the public hearings and other information, such that 20 republican senators, the number needed to remove a president from office, which is to vote in that direction. but as others of the current, as of right now, the signs of that are few and far between. host: ok, thank you. molly, it looks like the how soon will move to public hearings. today we saw the release of the first two transcripts. we are likely to see more tomorrow and the rest of the week. tell us how these hearings will unfold in the house, what the rules will look like, and how they will lay groundwork for articles of impeachment. molly: ok. so, where we are in the house in the process is ending the stage of g

pay attention to people like susan collins and cory gardner.t to vote out the president but to figure out to have a senate trial that's structured and both sides feel is fair. pay attention to mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer. they'll meet to lay out the top line structure. the details of who the witnesses are, how votes take place, how long the trial is. that will take rank and file members in the middle to come together. that's why the senators are important now. that will play out in the weeks ahead. how the senate trial works is perhaps more important than that at least for the moment. >> we have a president eyeing some of the senators as well. thanks for the report. happy thanksgiving to you. thanks for being with us. >>> melanie, i'm going to put on here abigail spanburger. here's her strategy in terms of talking to the folks in her district. >> i figured when i went out to go hang out with the democrats the week after last week the topic would be the president. but i'm looking at your schedule. doesn't seem to be the topic. why is that?

it is targeted susan collins, joanie erns, cory gardner and martha mcsally, all of whom face tough re-electionights next year. take a look. >> should a president pressure a foreign leader to intervene in our elections? >> i could have. i think it would probably, possibly have been okay if i did. >> he swore an oath to protect our democracy but ask his lawyer. >> you did ask ukraine to look into joe biden. >> of course i did. >> now his chief of staff says get over it. tell senator collins it time to put country over party. paul: fox news contributor karl rove served as senior advisor to president george w. bush. i want to get to this ad in a bit. first, how does the partisan nature of the house vote for an inquiry affect the politics of impeachment and the ability the to persuade the country? >> well, look, one of the three big considerations that i think voters are going to have when they ultimately judge members of the house and senate for voting on this was do they believe the process was bipartisan in nature. that was the critical nature in the nixon impeachment and because it was missing

susan collins, the republican senator from maine was in that lunch with the president.was hearing her out on issues with the lobster industry up in maine. so he is doing a lot of wooing of these republicans right now that some in the gop are concerned may stray if a senate trial takes place. now there was another separate group of republican senators like tom cotton, john kennedy and so on meeting with the white house counsel's office. they were talking about what the senate trial might look like. as i said, the republicans are looking at perhaps calling their own witnesses, and they're going as far as bringing in hunter biden and that sort of thing. anderson, that trial may only take a couple of weeks to wrap up from what we're hearing at this point. but the timing is fluid, like everything else with this impeachment inquiry. >> thanks very much. joining us now are john dean, david gergen, nia-malika henderson, jeffrey toobin, and scott jennings. jeff, there was clearly reason that the democrats saved fiona hill for the last witness. >> if you have a helen mirren bad a

. >> look, to be parochial for a second, one person i've been spending a lot of time with is susan collinsump probably faces the biggest pickle ever. if she votes to keep the president in office, she loses by 7% to the very strong democratic candidate who is raising a lot more money than susan collins. >> you have the exact percentages here. i see that. go ahead. finish. >> here's the fascinating thing. if she votes to remove trump from office, and look obviously republicans need 20 votes. just let her do it, mcconnell. it's fine. she gets crushed in a republican primary. and we have until march for that period to happen. >> she wants a senate trial in april is what you're saying. >> exactly. >> paula page. i thought he was a florida resident. >> he's spending a lot of time in maine right now. this poll shows that she would lose to the -- >> i believe chuck schumer would pay his filing for the united states. anyway, james, danielle, cornell. stick around to say paula page. up next, new hearings and new evidence. we're going to get a preview of the democrats plan to try to take the impeachm

susan collins of maine. she is one of eight senators to come here along with mitt romney.ou mentioned a couple who normally don't see eye-to-eye in some cases with president. susan collins gave a readout what she said, part of the discussion was on prescription drugs prices and vaping. impeachment was a small portion of the meeting between the president and senators. speaking of vaping, connell. tomorrow, by the way there will be a meeting at the white house between president trump and stakeholders in the e-cigarette industry. you will remember back in september the trump administration said it was throwing its support behind a ban on flavored vaping products. however, since then there has been some pushback from some of the president's allies. it remains to be seen what the president what his position is on that topic. potentially clarity tomorrow as there will be that e-cigarette meeting over here at the white house. connell: we'll look for that tomorrow. blake burman on the north lawn for us. melissa: joining forces in the fight for 5g. president trump turning to apple'

among them, utah's mitt romney and maine's susan collins, both critical of the president, and he doesn't want any defections if it comes to a senate trial. >> this remains deeply troubling. >> reporter: last month, romney's critiques prompted the president to call him a pompous ass and argue republicans are not as united as democrats. >> they don't have mitt romney in their midst. they don't have people like that. they stick together. >> reporter: after the lunch, romney said their contentious relationship did not come up. democrats in the senate cried foul. connecticut's richard blumenthal said republicans will be jurors and should not be discussing impeachment with the president at all. >> his agenda's pretty clear. he's trying to taint the jury pool, and they should be above it. >> reporter: this as it appears house democrats are moving closer to impeaching mr. trump. house speaker nancy pelosi -- >> the evidence is clear that the president, the president has used his office for his own personal gain. and in doing so, undermined the national security of the united states. he has viola

case, corywere the gardner and susan collins would be toast. collins, that of is why we have seen her, not on the impeachment question, but do other things to differentiate herself. colorado has been wasding blue since gardner elected six years ago. the democrats' path is not impossible. likealso have to do things -- have written on threats to the integrity of the election in terms of databases, using societaldia to sew discord, spending disinformation. what are the greatest threats you worry about heading into 2020? >> dale and i have a book coming out soon on this topic. , i look at this in two ways. on the question of the count itself, and protecting the information, day there's been a lot of movement in the states, more than half of the states have paper ballots. riskhave protocols for limiting audits, which can be done after the election. .hey've been working hard congress appropriated $380 million, too late for the 2018 election. a lot of states have that money and after a lot of delay, they appropriated more money for the cycle. beene one

is it someone like susan collins? is it someone like cory gardener? any of those people? >> i think -- i haven't heard the name cory gardner as much as i've heard the name susan collins, right? because the white house, the president's allies are looking at the same political landscape everybody else is. they know maybe this is going to be a tough vote for a couple senators but a couple republican senators won't change the game on this. and frankly, neither will it matter if maybe a democratic senator crosses a line and decide to vote with republicans if it does come to a senate trial. and again, that is still a couple of steps down the road. i think the white house is looking at this much like everyone else is. the president, yes, has courted house republicans but i got to tell you there's some reporting out from bloomberg that guess who is on the plane as we speak right now with president trump? senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. he's not an enemy of the president at all. the two have had their disagreements but they talk frequently. i do feel the white house is fee

you look at someone like susan collins in the great state of maine. n,if she votes for convicthe does she fend off a well-financed challenger? i don't know. if she votes no, that could be the end of her senate career. laura: ron christie, thanks for being with us. ron: nice to see you. laura: you are watchbc world news america." still to come on tonight's program, venicepe is riencing the worst flooding in half a century. we are there to see the damage. laura: china's president has accused protesters in hong kong of a violent, illegal action, which he says tramples on the rule of order. mr. xi says the unrest could threatened the principle of one country, two syste, underha which hong kon had significant autonomy from beijing. parts of hong kong for a fourth successive day. robin brandt has the story. robin: four straight days of purchase and of his station heart of hong kong's financial district -- protests and demonstratio in the heart of ng kong's financial district. we saw office workers takings over r the heart of the city, some moving big flower

the white house for lunch and to talk impeachment, among them, utah's mitt romney and maine's susan collins. both have been critical of the president and he doesn't want any defections if it comes to a senate trial. >> this real estate mains deeply troubling. >> reporter: last month, romney's critiques prompted the president to call him a pompous ass. and argued republicans are not d united as democrats. >> they don't have mitt romney in their midst. they don't have people like that. they stick together. >> reporter: after the lunch, romney said their contentious relationship did not come up. democrats in the senate cried foul. connecticut's richard blumenthal said republicans will be jurors and should not be discussing impeachment with the president at all. >> his agenda's pretty clear. he's trying to taint the jury pool, and they should be above it. >> reporter: this, as it appears house democrats are moving closer to impeach mr. trump. house speaker nancy pelosi today: >> and the evidence is clear that the president, the president has used his office for his own personal gain, and in doi

maybe mitt has given indications and susan collins as well, but in order to get those phone numbers,pinion and the swing states and republican senators are going to have to start to realise that their duty is to put country above party, as the republicans did many of them during the watergate impeachment and removal which was bipartisan, and also, the other thing as public opinion. as it begins to show them that they might lose their seat, they are less secure in theirjobs than they thought if they stand by the president, that will change things. public opinion is surging for impeachment, for the investigation. we are now in the high 50s when it comes to american who support impeachment investigations and for contracts, when nixon resigned, it was high 50s as well of people who supported his resignation. this is supporting the investigation, not removal, but it is still pretty close and the pressure is starting to mount. thank you very much. my pleasure. let's get some of the other news now. roger stone, a long—time adviser to donald trump, has been convicted on several criminal cour

president trump hosting a lunch with eight gop senators including two of his critics, mitt romney and susan collins. now, if the house votes to impeach, that's when the process moves to the senate, and it takes two-thirds of the senate to convict and remove the president from office. kenneth. >> all right, elizabeth hur, thank you. >>> former new york mayor michael bloomberg is moving closer to entering the race for president. he's now filed papers with the federal election commission to create a presidential campaign committee. bloomberg has yet to officially say whether he's entering the race, but his announcement is expected soon. >>> the military is investigating the deadly crash of two fighter jets in oklahoma. one of the training jets landed upside down near a runway at vance air force base. two airmen were killed. it's the second crash involving that kind of training jet in oklahoma in the last 15 months. in the previous crash, the pilot was able to eject in time. >>> a major scare for passengers on a flight from los angeles. they had just left l.a.x. when they saw those flames that you see

. >> can i ask you, james, about a piece that you've written about republican senator susan collins, in which you write that the latest political head quake for susan collins -- what to do with impeachment. where does she stand on this? >> you know, she may be the person, besides president trump, who is facing the hardest pickle here or the most pressure. on the one hand, she represents a state that suddenly went to hillary clinton just by about four points, but if she were to -- the poll just came out, and if she were to vote to keep him in office as a senator, she would lose re-election by seven points. if, however, she votes to remove him from office, votes largely with democrats, she would easily lose a republican primary. so, it's a lose-lose proposition. so, i think for her, she's hoping that it's the kind of thing that sort of just goes away somehow, but this has been a very tough pickle for her. and of course, she's up for re-election next year and faces very strong competition. >> all right, allan, last question to you because you have a piece out about the president's coast

those senators martha mcsally, susan collins, corey gardner. so are they trending the wrong way? of virginia joins us now, former florida republican congressman and david jolly. thanks for being here. chris, we watch the balance of power, many are watching obviously the senate. if you're a democrat, which you are, you are looking at the impeachment process and impeachment inquiry and how the senate may get in the way of as some democrats are saying of a fair trial in the senate. your reflection of where you are seeing the trending? >> the conventional wisdom has been off so many times on impeachment. first, the theory was that this would hurt democrats the way in 1998. it's like the public opinion polls has moved so firmly in favor and now a slight majority in favor. ajority in favor. independent voters go, it's how many of these close senate races will go. you'll recall in 2016, donald trump won independents by four points.nd democrats won independents by 12 pointsin in 2018. so when you look at states like colorado, nevada, arizona, maine, those independents will be the margin

be about what happened to the presidential race. >> that were the case, then cory gardner and susan collinsould both be toast because donald trump is going to mac when any of those states. >> i think and particularly in the case of collins that's why we have seen her not so much on the impeachment question specifically but other things meant to differentiate herself. and then colorado has been trending blue more or less since gardner was elected six years ago. the democrats top taking control of the senate. it's not impossible but it's tricky because they also have to do things like defend the dell jones seat in alabama. >> elaine, you've written on threats to the integrity of the 2020 election in terms of hacking into voter registration databases. using social media to suicide all the discord. spreading disinformation to facebook and twitter. what are the greatest threats that you worry about as we head into 2020? >> darrell has written about these too and darrell and i have an e-book coming up from brookings soon on this topic. i look at this through two different ways. on the question of

reaching out to those people, the few you mentioned like the moderates in the senate like maine susan collins, alaska's susan murkowski or mitt romney. we haven't seen a lot of white house meetings with them. it's interesting. so far republicans have pointed to that vote we saw, i think it was early last month -- or late last month that was outlining the procedures for the impeachment inquiry and they point to the fact that all republicans stood united. whether that continues remains to be seen as more details are released. >> crystal hayes, great article there. thank you so much. we appreciate you taking time for us. >> thank you for having me. >>> president trump has ignored advice from his defense secretary, other pentagon officials, and has on solved three officials. the president pardoned army major matthew goldstein who was charged with the murder of an afghan bombmaker. earlier he spoke about getting that call from the president. >> you joke about stuff like that, but it's very interesting to get a call that says, you know, stand by for the president and on he comes. it was an incredib

susan collins in maine filing deadline not until march 16th. he has a cup olof primary opponents. that primary with would be right after an impeachment trial. >> steve at the big board on a friday night after the week we've-we eowe oyou a great debt of thanks. >>> next we're talking about the pulse of the u.s. senate. the same subject steve was just talking about. the votes may be as they get handed potentially a colossal can case. handed potentially a colossal can case ♪ >>> the bottom line is all of those witnesses, they're all shifty schiffs, remember there's no due process. we couldn't have any witness withes. we want to call the whistleblower. you know who i want as the first witness? because frankly i want trial. number one they should nev, ever impeach. >> the senate trial the president says he wants could start at the end of the first of the year. adam "the l.a. times" thav begun working on the report. once the intel committee work is done, it then moves over to jerry nadler, judiciary can committee eto decide if articles of impeachment

. >> i think all eyes are on senators like mitt romney, susan collins, lisa mruczkowsur kourm president dined with collins and romney the other day, and declined that it was an effort to rally them behind the president, but if you take a step back and look's how the process has unfolded, it was clear that house republicans are fully behind the president. from the senate, one of the lines you have heard is they don't agree with the president's conduct, and it makes them uncomfortable, but it does not to an impeachable offense. i think that's the strategy, the argument they will put forward. whether or not that's sustainable in the eyes of the american public, what the political cost of that calculation might be, that remains to be seen. >> that was the will hurd argument, right? ross, before we go, congress mast powell was on "new day" on cnn. she said that essential they're going to hold the hearing to help explain to the american people what high crimes and misdemeanors senio s are. if they do that, is that a wise strategy? >> i think it makes sense for everybody, for republicans, demo

susan collins, lisa murkowski and even mitt romney is a possibility. living in more partisan times. i think most people are saying why are we not getting anything done on prescription drugs when the house is willing to pass a bill, hr-3, why haven't we gotten anything done on infrastructure? they blame the culture in the white house, scandal after scandal, and they want someone who will get something done for the american people. >> congressman ro khanna, thank you for your time. and let me wish you and your family a happy thanksgiving. >> thank you, jim. happy thanksgiving to you and your family as well. >>> accused of war crimes. as he goes, richard spencer takes a parting shot at the president. i'm a regular in my neighborhood. i'm a regular at my local coffee shop and my local barber shop. when you shop small you help support your community - from after school programs to the arts! so become a regular, more regularly. because for every dollar you spend at a small business, an average of 67 cents stays in the community. join me and american express

gerrymandering decision north carolina helps a bit the e greater for people in the senate, like susan collins though they are not in the front lines of this hearing. republicans in blue states who are up in 2020 have to be sweating this. david: many thanks to our political panel, drew littman, chris wilson. 250,000 veterans leave the military every year and many have difficulty transitioning into the private sector are. on this veterans day, we talked to a vet who has helped them make that transition. that is next. this is "balance of power" on bloomberg television and radio. ♪ television and radio. ♪ david: this is "balance of power" on bloomberg television and radio. i'm david westin. more than 4 million veterans have left the military since 9/11. 250,000 leave every single year. they have acquired skills and experience that can be extremely sector,n the private but figuring out how to make the translation is not always easy, either for the veterans or the employers. sector, but figuringa new startup compag to help them with a translation, founded by a navy veteran. mike slagh is the founde

here's the thing jesse that goes both way when it come to swing senate seats like you mention like susan collinsow do you feel if you have a seat up in arizona or another swing state and you're one of the democrats on the the senate side as if impeachment totally collapses neither yovanovitch or star witnesses with dreaded air quote because they were star witnesses for republicans jesse none of them could point to actual crime not one of them. as a matter of fact none -- >> never witnessed anything. [laughter] so it goes both ways i mean you don't want to be a democrat in arizona having to raise your hand for impeachment trial for aing nothing burglar of a case like this is. >> yeah, now -- if you have a situation in ukraine where russians are killing ukrainian and biden family getting rich while ukrainian are dying and all joe is doing is firing prosecutors so his son keeps getting rich. that doesn't look too good especially when trump comes in and start boosting the crane i cans against the russians. sm yeah. no reasonable person who actually looks at evidence believes that this wasn't a quid

some of the strongest advocates, whistleblowers, senator chuck grassley and susan collins who understand when we want people in government if they see something wrong that they can report it up through channels and be protected by retribution and in this case we have the president of the united states a few weeks back literally calling the whistleblower a potential traitor or spy and a physical violence threat, i understand why the whistleblower wants to keep his or her identity secret when you see these kinds of threats put out or the media or outlets put a bounty. i am trying to get this person's identity out. i would hope my republican colleagues will take a deep breath and realize if you set this president now and undermine the integrity of the whistleblower, for future administrations, you may have people not coming forward. i think it is a huge campaign of intimidation. there is one whistleblower, there may have been other people who may have wantsed to coed to forward. >> as you pointed out. the whistleblower's claim has been validated by a host of people publicly. >> still to som

susan collins, not getting any money right now.another quid pro quo and another sign of, i'll going to use the b word. a little bullying at a time when he needs their support. >> republicans held the line today on the vote. how are republicans really feeling on the vote? >> they are exhausted, anxious, and they don't know what's coming next. they had that vote where they were all disciplined and they all, you know, stayed on the same side. that's because they've been arguing about process. they do not know what is coming. very few have defended him. several have said to me, we don't know what is coming next and it is hard to defend him on the substance of what we've seen so far. >> sorry, i have to go. we know the president want to give this fireside chat. it appears there is no strategy but his own. there is no war room coming? is it just him? >> the president has resisted calls to have any kind of war room. it has been over a month since pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry and the white house still hasn't hired a communicati

why is it these members of congress, the senate, who are supposed to be the jurors, someone like susan collinsine, contrasted with the story where you have republican senators actively involved in trying to figure out what's the best strategy for trying to create a case to vote ton remove the president. i just -- my concern is what precedent are we setting going forward for congress' ability to function as an independent branch of government as opposed to who has the most votes being able to do what they want. >> and house democrats want to talk to a lot of people. among them, john bolton, outgoing energy secretary rick perry, both, you know, have really set conditions. bolton saying, if you subpoena, then maybe. perry saying, not, you know, private in the form of the depositions that we've been seeing but only in a public, you know, platform. can you do that? >> so i mean, can you did do that or do that legally? two different questions. the bolton and perry have a fair amount of lerj verage if the question is can they be brought in to testify soon? they might loose eventually in court if they

the people you want to keep an eye on are susan collins of maine.derate, a swing vote on these. lisa murkowski kind of fits the same profile, and mitt romney has made it clear he has concerns about how this thing has all gone. romney had lunch with the president yesterday. he called it delightful, he and the president even shaking hands and diverting contention. lindsey graham on one count, ted cruz on another and mike lee. i've been told that they are the core group of individuals who are working with the white house right now on how to shape what's coming next in a senate trial. they were working with pat cipollone. they were involved with pat cipollone and other republicans yesterday in the actual shape of a senate trial. there is notice on capitol hill that a trial is coming, whether the president likes it or not. how that actually firms up, what that looks like may be just as important given the fact this very clearly will end up in the senate's lap in short order, john. >> short order. the question is how short? phil mattingly on the hill. we'