-The Senate has been sworn in,
and the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump
is about to kick off in earnest.
But the terms of the trial are still being set.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell,
of Kentucky, wants a short trial,
and Democrats aren't happy.
-It appears that Leader McConnell decided
to go along with the president's desire
to cover up his wrongdoing.
Hook, line, and sinker.
-Meanwhile, the president is overseas, at Davos, Switzerland.
-That whole thing is a total hoax,
so I'm sure it's gonna work out fine.
Thank you all very much.
-The third presidential impeachment trial
in American history is under way.
The Senate returns from a three-day weekend
ready to debate the rules for trial.
And neither Senate Democrats, nor House impeachment managers
are happy about the framework McConnell is proposing.
-The Republican leader will offer an organizing resolution
that outlines his plan for the rules of the trial,
which was only released last night.
It is completely partisan.
It was kept secret until the eve of the trial.
The McConnell resolution is a blueprint
for an impeachment trial on fast-forward
and makes getting evidence as hard as possible.
-As the day's session begins in the Senate,
McConnell quickly introduces the resolution.
-The Majority Leader is recognized.
-I'm about to send a resolution to the desk
providing for an outline of the next steps in these proceedings.
-The clerk will read the resolution.
-Senate Resolution 483 to provide for --
-As the debate over rules begins,
Trump's legal defense team takes the podium for the first time.
-We believe that once you hear those initial presentations,
the only conclusion will be that the president
has done absolutely nothing wrong.
-It was a more-than-12-hour day,
in terms of debate on rules for the impeachment trial,
and the number-one issue that the House managers
were trying to tell the senators was,
"We need these firsthand witnesses to come in."
-Right now, a great many, perhaps even most Americans,
do not believe there will be a fair trial.
They believe that the result is precooked.
The president will be acquitted.
Not because he is innocent.
He is not.
But because the senators will vote by party,
and he has the votes.
-And they begin to introduce
a series of amendments to the rules.
-The Democratic leader is recognized.
-Mr Chief Justice, I send an amendment to the desk.
I send an amendment to the desk. I send an amendment to the desk.
I send an amendment to the desk. Mr.
Chief
Justice, I send an amendment to the desk.
-The clerk will read the document.
-They basically just put up votes for hours on end,
trying to get more information,
and they were, of course, all rebuffed.
-Senator Susan Collins, of Maine,
breaks with fellow Republicans on just one vote on an amendment
that would have extended the amount of time
each side had to respond to motions.
-The yeas are 52.
The nays are 48.
The amendment is tabled.
-It's getting late.
I would ask you, respectfully, if we could simply start.
Maybe tomorrow we can start, and they can make their argument.
-About the time the clock strikes 9:30 pm, McConnell
asks Schumer if Democrats can speed things up.
-Since there's a certain similarity to all
these amendments,
whether he might be willing to enter into a consent agreement
to stack these votes.
-We believe witnesses and documents
are extremely important,
so there will be a good number of votes.
We are willing to do some of those votes tomorrow.
There's no reason we have to do them all tonight.
But we will not back off on getting votes
on all of these amendments, which we regard
as extremely significant and important to the country.
-In the Senate, decorum is normally the rule,
but as the night wears on, politeness goes out the window.
-I see a lot of senators voting for a cover-up,
voting to deny witnesses.
An absolutely indefensible vote.
Obviously, a treacherous vote.
-Mr Cipollone.
-The only one who should be embarrassed, Mr Nadler,
is you for the way you've addressed this body.
This is the United States Senate.
-I think it is appropriate at this point for me to admonish
both the House managers and the president's counsel,
in equal terms, to remember that they are addressing
the world's greatest deliberative body.
One reason it has earned that title
is because its members avoid speaking in a manner
and using language that is not conducive to civil discourse.
The Senate is adjourned.
-It's Day 2 of the impeachment trial,
and in a couple of hours, we're gonna hear the prosecution
lay out their case for impeachment.
They basically have 24 hours, over the next three days,
to try to articulate their case to the Senate.
-We are here today in this hallowed chamber,
undertaking this solemn action
for only the third time in history
because Donald J Trump, the 45th President of the United States,
has acted precisely as Hamilton and his contemporaries feared.
-No senators will be able to speak or push back.
The rules of impeachment are no phones,
no electronics in the chamber.
Basically, no one's gonna be able to say anything.
-But Republicans signal
that Congressman Jerry Nadler's comments
the previous night may not have been helpful to Democrats' case.
-You know, I mean, when you have Representative Nadler
up there saying that it would be treacherous for senators
to vote against their amendments --
this was like at 12:30 at night --
that it would be a vote against the United States?
That, of course, brought an admonishment
from the Chief Justice of the United States,
and rightly so.
-We actually were talking to a bunch of senators
coming to the trial around lunchtime,
and we heard from folks -- not just Republicans --
who said that was totally out of line.
But there are a number of Democrats
who sort of sent a signal to the House managers
that they need to cool it on that sort of language.
There's sort of a sense that sort of rhetoric could alienate,
even more so, moderate Republicans.
-Democrats lay out the basic facts of their case.
-The House believes that an impartial juror,
upon hearing the evidence that the managers will lay out
in the coming days, will find that the Constitution
demands the removal of Donald J Trump from his office
as President of the United States.
-The July 25th call warrants our close scrutiny.
It presents significant and shocking evidence
of President Trump's corrupt intent.
-President Trump directed the delegation
to talk to Giuliani.
-President Trump directed that a hold be placed
on the DOD security assistance, as well.
-Thank you.
-After a second long day in the Senate,
Democrats had just two more days to make their case
for removing Trump from office.
And when they returned for another day of Democratic
arguments on Thursday, GOP senators are unimpressed.
-I am ready to hear from the president's defense.
There's a lot of discussion of, "Do we need witnesses or not?"
This is a very serious issue, a serious thing for the country.
-And it is a sad day in our nation
when, in fact, our Democrats House managers
are simply telling the same story
over and over again with actual no basis in fact.
-President Trump's defenders seemed
to zero in on the strategy,
insisting Democrats have made a discussion
of former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter,
a critical part of the trial.
-I don't know anything about the Biden connection to the Ukraine,
so when the managers tell me this has been looked at
and debunked -- by who?
-And I will just say that, for my part,
if we're gonna call witnesses, I think it's now clear
we absolutely must call Hunter Biden
and we probably need to call Joe Biden.
-Adam Schiff, the Democrats' lead impeachment manager,
saves his most impassioned argument for his closing speech.
-No constitution can protect us if right doesn't matter anymore.
And you know you can't trust this president
to do what's right for this country.
You can trust he will do what's right for Donald Trump.
If you find him guilty, you must find that he should be removed.
Because right matters, and the truth matters.
Otherwise, we are lost.
-As Democrats prepare for their final day of arguments
for removing the president,
Trump is just blocks away, on the National Mall,
where thousands of anti-abortion protestors
are gathered at the March for Life.
-You know, the evidence that we've heard so far,
I mean, icy and most importantly the transcript --
And, so, I'm gonna continue to be an advocate
for getting all information
so we can have a trial that is about a real process
and a democratic process.
This is -- -Could you hear?
-It was kind of a lot of sound.
-People will decide, but I think he's --
-So, it's Friday and it's the last day
of the House Democrats' presentation
of their case against the president.
Today, they are talking about their charge
of the obstruction of Congress,
which is the second articles of impeachment against Trump.
-The managers for the House of Representatives have 7 hours
and 53 minutes remaining to make the presentation of their case.
The Senate will now hear you.
-Now, let me take a moment to address another defense
I expect you will hear -- that the aid was released,
and the investigations were never announced,
so, therefore, no harm, no foul, right?
Well, this defense would be laughable
if this issue wasn't so serious.
-President Trump's orders, in fact,
prevented the House from obtaining key witness testimony
from at least 12 current or former government officials.
-This is the first time we've ever seen a White House
refuse to give over any information,
and that's why this is sort of significant and unique.
But Republicans are gonna argue --
Trump's legal team, starting tomorrow --
that this sort of charge of obstruction
of Congress is premature.
They're gonna say that Democrats
should have gone to the courts to litigate this.
-President Trump engaged in a brazen effort
to publicly attack
and intimidate the dedicated public servants
who came forward to testify.
-This is a determination by President Trump
that he wants to be all-powerful.
He does not have to respect the Congress.
He does not have to respect the representatives of the people.
Only his will goes.
He is a dictator.
-Lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff takes the microphone
to conclude Democrats' presentation.
-This is no parking ticket we are contesting,
no shoplifting case we are prosecuting.
It is a matter of high crimes and misdemeanors.
How long is too long to have a fair trial --
fair to the president and fair to the American people?
Americans get a fair trial.
And so I ask you, I implore you, give America a fair trial.
Give America a fair trial.
She's worth it.
Thank you.
-On Saturday, President Trump's defense team
gets their opportunity to respond.
They lay out their basics of the defense of the president
in the space of just a few hours.
-The Senate will now hear you.
-We believe that when you hear the facts --
and that's what we intend to cover today,
the facts -- that the president --
-The president did absolutely nothing wrong.
-Nothing wrong.
-The president was, at all times,
acting in our national interest
and pursuant to his oath of office.
-We got a preview today of Trump's defense
and pretty much the case that they're gonna be laying out
and making in full detail on Monday
to try to push back against these two charges.
-Now, they've come here today and they basically said,
"Let's cancel an election over a meeting with Ukraine."
The people decide for themselves.
That's what the founders wanted.
That's what we should all want.
And with that, I thank you for your attention
and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.
-The Senate is adjourned. -Senators head for the exits,
particularly the four Senate Democrats running for president,
who want to get to Iowa as quickly as possible.
When they return on Monday,
Trump's team will conclude their defense,
leaving senators to ask questions,
debate bringing in more witnesses,
and then hold a final vote on the two articles of impeachment
against the president.