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House Managers Deliver Impeachment Articles To Senate; Pelosi Signs Articles Of Impeachment Ahead Of Delivery To The Senate; Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Lays Out Historic Steps Senate Will Take As They Prepare To Receive Articles Of Impeachment. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired January 15, 2020 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: You can tweet the show @theleadcnn. Our coverage on CNN continues right now. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you tomorrow.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I'm Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM. And we're following breaking news. Historic impeachment developments, and developments unfolding up on Capitol Hill right now. At any moment the newly appointed House impeachment managers, they will begin walking the two articles of impeachment against President Trump across the U.S. Capitol to deliver them to the U.S. Senate. But even at this hour, even at this hour, it's still unclear how this will all play out in the next hour or so.
Let's go straight to Capitol Hill right now, and our Senior Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju has been speaking to everyone.
Manu, based on what you know right now, and it's still a bit of a mystery, walk us through what we anticipate to happen?
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And just a matter of minutes here, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, will go before the cameras and sign the formal records that would to lead to the transmission of the articles of impeachment to the Senate. She will be flanked by the impeachment managers.
The seven individuals she selected today will prosecute the case on behalf of the House Democrats. After she signs the papers then the House clerk will sign papers as well. And then afterwards a procession will occur in which they will march from -- the managers will march along with the House clerk and the House Sergeant at Arms from the House side Capitol to Statuary Hall in the Capitol, to the Capitol rotunda up until the House -- up until the Senate doors.
Now this, of course, would be -- the last time this happened was in 1999 in the Clinton trial. So while the Senate and House procedures are still a bit are murky. They are debating a lot of the procedures as they go, a lot of the things are not written in stone. So there will be some unpredictability of how this will actually play out.
But Wolf, a historic moment about to unfold in just a matter of moments when Pelosi does in fact signs the articles and then we'll start to move into the trial phase. And then after the ceremonial aspects take place today and tomorrow, the actual substance of this case will be argued on both sides starting on Tuesday, Wolf.
BLITZER: The signing will take place and we're showing our viewers, Manu, live pictures of the Rayburn Room on the House side of the U.S. Capitol. This is a historic room where a lot of major events have unfolded.
RAJU: Yes, no question. And also throughout the course of this impeachment inquiry itself after the House impeached the President in late December, and Nancy Pelosi went to this very room, made her case about why the President should be impeached at the time. Questions were asked by me and others about when the articles would actually be delivered to the Senate. She had not indicated for some time when that would happen.
So said that -- first, she said she want to understand that the Senate was going to have what she considered a fair process. Then she said she wanted to understand what the arena was in which her managers would go prosecute the case.
Ultimately she decided late last week that they would release the articles of impeachment this week. And so this is after weeks of back and fort between Pelosi and Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader. She agreed to move forward and agree to set the stage for this historic trial which will begin in earnest starting next week, Wolf.
BLITZER: The so-called engrossment ceremony takes place here in the Rayburn Room. And we're showing our viewers these live pictures.
The seven House managers led by the Chief House Manager Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, they will walk over to the Senate together, as you point out, the House clerk, the House Sergeant of Arms. But then what happens next, because it seems a little bit murky.
RAJU: Yes, it is some back and forth and discord between the House Democrats and the Senate Republicans as we kick off this trial.
What Senate Majority Mitch McConnell's office is saying right now is that they will not formally officially receive the articles of impeachment from the House. The reason why is this, essentially they say there is a two-step process that has to occur.
First, the House is to actually deliver a message to the Senate. That message is that they are -- they have appointed their impeachment managers and they are ready to deliver the articles of impeachment, then the Senate has to send a message back to the House saying it is ready to receive those impeachment articles. And they are going to say that tomorrow will be when those impeachment articles can be formally presented in the Senate.
And then tomorrow is when impeachment managers will actually read from the articles of impeachment themselves. Make the case about why the President -- to read the text of the articles of impeachment. And then after that, then these chief justices of the Supreme Court will be sworn in. John Roberts will preside over the case, and the senators were acting as jurors. All 100 of them will be sworn in after the fact.
But nevertheless, Nancy Pelosi's office is saying that they will still walk over today with those two articles of impeachment. They will be in a blue folder which will be held by the House clerk as they walk from the House side to the Senate side.
[17:05:01]
But that folder, that it contains the articles of impeachment, according to Mitch McConnell's office won't be formally accepted until tomorrow. So it will be interesting to see exactly how this plays out, because the House Democrats believe essentially that they will be delivering this as we transmitted officially today.
Senate Republicans say, not quite there yet. So, some uncertainty in the final stages here, but no uncertainty about this, the trial will begin next week when these arguments begin as we get through these procedural and ceremonial aspects of the proceedings, Wolf.
BLITZER: Well, we see the photographers have arrived, a lot of staff members have arrived. This is a moment that a lot of people in the House of Representatives, the Democrats have been waiting for.
Jamie Gangel, you've been following this very, very closely. What do you anticipate we will see? As Manu explained, it's still a little bit up in the air. But what do you anticipate will see in the next hour?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, there is a word that I think goes along with what Manu is describing, and that is power play. This is in Nancy Pelosi's court, in her House, and now it is being handed over the Mitch McConnell where the Republicans control the speed, the time. And so, he is exerting his influence now.
I think we will see at about 5:30, I was told that the managers walk over, and then they will have delivered it. And then the bureaucratic sort of tussle here of when it's officially accepted.
I do think, Wolf, it's worth -- you know, remembering what was said today when those managers went to the floor, because we are seeing history here. We're seeing this orchestrated playing out, this drama of them walking across. But you also heard some politics today. You heard Jerry Nadler talk about you can't -- a trial without witnesses is not a trial, it's a cover-up. And so they're going to be playing both sides of this.
BLITZER: Let's talk about, Nia, a little bit about the seven House managers that were named by the Speak today, led by Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Representative Val Demings, Jason Crow, and Sylvia Garcia. It's a pretty, pretty impressive group.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, it's a powerful group of people and I think represent the diversity of the Democratic Party and also litigate, that's right. They have experience in courtrooms. Zoe Lofgren, somebody who has experience with past impeachments.
You think about somebody like Val Demings, a law enforcement officer from Orlando, Florida. So I that's what Nancy Pelosi was thinking. How do you get a group together that can actually try a case, put on a case and be familiar with the details of these cases -- this case.
These people are obviously from some of the committees that tried this case and brought forward witness. So in that respect, I think if you are the Democratic caucus, you're happy with this.
There was some speculation that somebody like Justin Amash who voted for these impeachment articles might be named. He's an Independent, former Republican, but that is something that didn't happen. Some Democrats wanted that to happen, and Nancy Pelosi said it wasn't something that she really considered. So you got this group here. And people like Schiff is obviously been out front in this and as well as Nadler.
BLITZER: And their job, they are the prosecutors, Dana. They're going to have to go forward once the formal trial begins Tuesday, in the days that follow, they'll have to go before the United States Senate, the chief justice of the Supreme Court who will be presiding and they will have to make the argument of why the President of the United States was impeach and now should be convicted and removed from office.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. There are a lot of differences between this impeachment trial, any impeachment trial and the court of law, but there are a lot of similarities. And the biggest for people who are familiar with how court battles work and how court cases work, whether you're watching "L.A. Law" anywhere else. You -- or "Law and Order" -- you are looking at the prosecutors as you said, those are the House managers. They are making the case and they are trying to convince the jury. And the jury are a hundred senators.
Hundred senators sitting there, listening to the case that the House managers/prosecutors make. And then the defense is the President's team. We don't know who is on the team yet besides his chief counsel inside the White House, Jay Sekulow, a lawyer outside the White House, who's going to fill up the team.
There's a lot of pressure on him by his supporters and backers in the House to include some of the House Republicans that we saw make the case so forcefully during the House deliberations. We're going to see if that happens. But that's what we expect once this trial actually gets under way in earnest next week.
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BLITZER: And Jeffrey Toobin, we won't know whether or not there will be witnesses or new documents will be submitted or new evidence coming forward until after the opening arguments of both sides are delivered. JEFFREY TOOBIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: That's correct. And that could take, you know, several days. If the schedule works the way it did in the Clinton trial, both sides will have 24 hours of time in the courtroom, that is the Senate, to make their case and answer the written questions from the senators. So it will probably be on the order of three or four days before there's even a vote on whether to hear from witnesses.
And I think this presents a particular challenge for the House managers, because they will be doing kind of a dual task. They will be making the case that the President is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors. But they will also be making the case that in order to make a fair evaluation of the evidence, you, the Senate, must have witnesses and additional documents as well. So it will be interesting to see how the House managers do that -- pursue those dual objectives.
BLITZER: And Bianna, it's interesting that the pressure is clearly building on several of those more moderate Republicans to go ahead and say, yes, we need some witnesses, because of a whole bunch of new evidence in recent days has emerged.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, that's true, except you hear as Manu Raju has been reporting that Senator Collins when asked about the new Parnas revelations sort of threw cold water on it and suggested that it should have been introduced sooner and this is something that should have been taking place during the House investigation. So, yes, behind closed doors there is clearly a pressure as new evidence does continue the come out. And I would expect more evidence to come out over the next couple of weeks from the likes of Parnas and other intrepid reporting.
That having been said, I really do think the wild card will be to watch what the President does and his reaction to all of this, whether in fact he'll even be in the country next week. He is scheduled to be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos. On the one hand, this could be a good way for him to deflect from what's happening at home, and meet with the world leaders, but of course, he is likely to be wanting to watch everything play out as well. Last year he didn't go last-minute because of the government shutdown. We'll wait and see whether he is going to be here.
And we haven't heard from him as of late as this need of more witnesses and to hear from the likes of Biden and the whistle-blower and that could all change any moment. Of course, we know Mitch McConnell would prefer to have a short trial with no witnesses.
But I think one thing that resonates is what you continue to hear from Nancy Pelosi is she knows that her power over all of this is coming to an end as this is going to be transmitted to the Senate is what she continues to say that regardless, this President, will forever be impeached and that will go down as an asterisk next to his name. She repeats it time and time again and it's clear that that really hits the President hard.
BLITZER: And Dana, we are showing the viewers what looks like the two articles of impeachment. These are the articles of impeachment we're showing the viewers right now. They will be signed in this so-called engrossment ceremony and then they will be delivered to the United States Senate.
BASH: Yes. And look, it's going to -- probably, we said many times as the House was moving this through before Christmas, but it bears repeating now as we see those two articles and anticipate the House Speaker going to actually sign them. That how far she has come in her evolution, forced evolution to get to this part, to this place.
When she became Speaker, when the Democrats took the majority, you know, about a year ago, she was not just reluctant, she was adamant, that we're not talking about this, and we are not going there on this, and that -- the thing that was front and center at the time was of course the Mueller investigation and the questions about 2016 and about potential collusion, about obstruction of justice and then the Ukraine situation bubbled up and everything changed in her mind, thanks to the support of some of the moderate Democrats who gave her the majority who had been very reluctant, they changed her mind.
And that happened pretty fast. And here we are, it is done, she's sending it over to the Senate. The trial will begin.
BLITZER: And it's interesting, you know, Nia, the seven House managers, they were selected by Nancy Pelosi, and not a huge surprise that Adam Schiff who is the chairman of the Intelligence Committee and Jerry Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, they were so deeply involved in putting this whole case of impeachment together. But some of the others a little bit of a surprise.
HENDERSON: A little bit. You know, I mean, I think there's sort of a parlor game in Washington as to who might be on that list of House managers. Nancy Pelosi said she sort of wanted to wait to see what the Senate was going to do to figure out what the team would be in terms of the mangers.
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If you look at the Clinton trial there are about 13 managers, here, there are seven, but I think she wanted to look at geographically, like, you know, a body of managers represented the party, demographically that represented the party and also have this experience, right, to try an actual case. They were familiar with the case. Some of those folks were on the dais and asking those witnesses questions, a very pointed questions in many ways. So I think that's what she ended up with.
And a lot of these people I think didn't even know that they were going to be a House manager and found out just recently as we all did. So we'll see. There are going to be folks front and center for this impeachment.
BASH: Can I say one thing, that one of the seven is Congressman Jason Crow, he's a fresh -- he's one of those, who is one of those who I was referring to who's a front liner.
BLITZER: He's from Colorado. BASH: He's from Colorado. He beat a moderate Republican who the Democrats thought they could beat cycle after cycle and couldn't, and he did it in 2018. And so the combination of his support early, his experience as a prosecutor, but also where he is from geographically, that is case in point of the geographic and political diversity that you see among these managers.
BLITZER: We know the President is going to put together his legal defense team, Pat Cipollone, the White House Counsel, we assume, will encharge. Jay Sekulow, one of his private attorneys, we assume will be there. But the pressure is on to bring some House Republicans into this process as well.
GANGEL: So Mitch McConnell has a lot on his plate in balancing all of this. It's not just that as Mitch McConnell told the Republican conference lunch, I think it was last week, he said, this is going to be unpleasant and I don't know about the rest of you, but I like to get through unpleasant things as quickly as possible, meaning, translation, he doesn't want witnesses.
The other thing he has to balance is Donald Trump. And we've heard about Mark Meadows, we've heard about other House members. One thing that Mitch McConnell has made clear is he doesn't want this to be a circus. He feels that if he has his way there will not be House Republicans over there. We will see who wins that one.
HENDERSON: Different from Donald Trump. Donald Trump wants his people, right? The folks that he saw in the House process, people like Jim Jordan, people like Mark Meadows as well. And as you said, Mitch McConnell likely feels very differently.
BLITZER: You know, once it leaves the House of Representatives, Dana, these two articles of impeachment, and they're formally delivered whether that will be an hour from now or whether they're coming back.
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker, is now walking in. You can see her with Adam Schiff and some other members. They're going to be signing these two articles of impeachment. You can see Jerry Nadler in the middle as well.
But once, Dana, these articles are delivered to the Senate, then it's no longer a matter of the House of Representatives, it's a matter of the Republican majority in the Senate meaning Mitch McConnell.
BASH: Right. And I think that's what Jamie has been saying so eloquently, that the woman you see there, Nancy Pelosi, she is -- it's been her show, she's been encharge, she's been the decision maker. And she has no power once this actually gets over to the Senate.
BLITZER: And then, it's certainly all up to Mitch McConnell to decide how to handle this.
(Crosstalk)
HENDERSON: Right, and if you are Donald Trump, you're happy about that, right? This is the day you've been waiting for in many ways to have it out of House's hands where Nancy Pelosi is in charge, and into Mitch McConnell's hands. I think people know ultimately, there are not enough Republicans to come on board to remove the President from office, but having Mitch McConnell --
BLITZER: Here she comes.
HENDERSON: -- he'll shape everything.
BLITZER: I assume -- and the Speaker is going to speak, that's what speakers do. And let's listen in.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) HOUSE SPEAKER: Good afternoon. My colleagues.
As you know on December 18th, the House of Representatives upheld its constitutional duty and voted articles of impeachment against the President of the United States, Donald Trump. He said in the course of the debate that he did not uphold his oath of office, protect and defend the constitution of the United States.
The President takes a special oath, a little different from the congressional oath. With that, he takes an oath that was taken by President George Washington, the patriarch of our country, in front the famous picture we stand here.
[17:20:05]
So sad, so tragic for our country that the actions taken by the President to undermine our national security, to violate his oath of office and to jeopardize the security of our elections, the integrity of our elections has taken us to this place. So today, we will make history. When walk down -- when the managers walk down the hall, we will cross a threshold in history, delivering articles of impeachment against the President of the United States for abuse of power and obstruction of the House.
As we make that history, we are making progress for the American people. Progress in support of our constitution. Progress in honor of the sacrifice and the vision of the Founders. Progress and honor of the sacrifice of the men and women in uniform. And progress for the future of our children.
Make it be very clear that this President will be held accountable, that no one is above the law and that no future president should ever entertain the idea that Article I -- I mean, excuse me, Article II says that he can do whatever he wants.
And so with that, I will sign the resolution transmitting the articles of impeachment to the Senate which will be delivered by our managers from of whom I'm very proud. When they bring this over, we'll set in motion a process on the Senate side. Probably tomorrow, I don't know their schedule, but it may be as soon as tomorrow. The senators will take an oath of office. They will take a special oath of office to do impartial justice according to the constitution and the laws.
Let's hope that they uphold that oath that they take tomorrow. And so now I am very honored the be here with our six chairmen who worked so hard to help us to uphold the constitution with their legislating, their investigating, their litigating. You know the chairman of the Judiciary Committee is part of the managers joining, Nadler, Mr. Schiff, the distinguish chairman of the Intelligence -- House Committee on Intelligence, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the chair of the National Services Committee, Congresswoman Carolyn Malone, madam chair of the Oversight Committee, Congressman -- Mr. Chairman Eliot Engel of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Richie Neal, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
We thank them for all of their difficult work. And we honor our darling Elijah Cummings who said one day we are dancing with the angels. What will we say about what we did at this difficult time in our country's history?
And then I'm very proud that Mr. Nadler and Mr. Schiff are part of our managers. But I want to acknowledge our other managers who are with us. A. freshman member but -- and I shouldn't say freshman, this was been here one year and accomplished great things, Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado, Congresswoman Val Demings of the state of Florida, Congresswoman Garcia of Texas. Are we all here? Where is Hakeem? Hakeem our distinguished chair of our caucus, Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Is that everybody? And Zoe Lofgren. This is Zoe's third impeachment. She was -- for the Nixon impeachment she was a staffer for a Judiciary Committee member Don Edwards of California. She was a member of the Judiciary Committee on the Clinton impeachment in her own right, and member of the Judiciary Committee. And now a member of the Judiciary, chair of House administration which oversees elections, important to all of this and a manager.
So with that, I thank them all for the leadership and the service. And I'm now going to proceed to sign the articles.
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BLITZER: Apparently she has a lot of pens there. She's using all those pens. She'll be handing out those pens to all of the special guests who are accompanying her in this signing ceremony. She is signing these two articles of impeachment, which will now be formally delivered to the U.S. Senate in another ceremony.
The impeachment managers, all seven of them, together with the House clerk and the House Sergeant of Arms, they'll proceed through the National Statuary Hall into the Capitol rotunda on the way to the Senate to present the articles of impeachment to the secretary of the Senate. But -- hold on.
(INAUDIBLE)
PELOSI: Thank you all. I just say the clerk of the House will lead the way to the Senate side.
BLITZER: She's clearly giving the pens that we used in the signing ceremony to the chairman of the relevant committees as well as the House managers who will be walking over to the Senate for this delivery.
We're told the delivery won't actually happen. The Senate will then inform these House managers when to come back for a formal ceremony. That is expected tomorrow.
Manu Raju is with us. He's been watching this very, very closely.
Manu, I may have to interrupt you, but walk us through what you anticipate now.
RAJU: Yes, right after this is when the seven managers, the impeachment managers are expected to walk from that room in the House side of the Capitol with the articles of impeachment articles. Impeachment articles will be delivered and be carried by the clerk of the House.
The clerk of the House is actually going to go and sign the documents herself as well, and she will carry those over in a blue folder, we're told, from the House side to the Senate side. They will also be accompanied by the House Sergeant of Arms.
They'll go first from where they are now to the Statutory Hall into the Capitol rotunda. And at that point they arrive in the Senate side of the Capitol. That's where things may get a little interesting, because the House -- the Senate Republicans, Mitch McConnell's office is making clear that they won't formally accept the articles of impeachment tonight, because of the process that is laid out under the Senate procedures.
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Essentially, the process is this. The House Clerk will read aloud a message before the Senate, saying the House is ready to deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate and has named its impeachment managers.
At that point, the Senate will send a message back to the House, saying, come back tomorrow. And at that point, they can formally present their articles of impeachment and read aloud from the articles of impeachment, allow those impeachment managers to do just that tomorrow.
Now, we'll see what exactly happens at that point when the articles, which will be hand -- which will be carried across the Capitol when the Senate essentially says come back the next day. We'll see how the House Democrats respond to that because the House Democrats will be there when they walk on the floor, too.
They do have floor privileges on the Senate side of the Capitol, so, presumably, they'll walk into the Senate but they won't be formally recognized in any way. But, again, these are just procedural aspects, the ceremonial aspects of this trial before they get into the real nitty-gritty and the substance of the trial next week and deal with all those thorny issues about witnesses, about whether to consider new evidence, whether to consider new records.
And senators, themselves sitting as jurors, would have to consider all of that next week as we get to this move by Nancy Pelosi, signing these documents, setting the stage for a historic and unpredictable trial in the Senate. That could take weeks, Wolf.
BLITZER: It certainly could, although the Republicans would like to do it as quickly as possible, maybe two weeks or so.
You know, Dana, we heard the Speaker say, today, we will make history. This after she said President Trump did not uphold his oath of office. As a result, he was impeached by the House of Representatives, those two articles of impeachment. This is history unfolding. Only the third time in American history that we're seeing these kinds of developments.
BASH: That's right, and it is ceremonial. The one thing I will say, and as we were watching it, we are used to seeing signing ceremonies, handing out pens at moments of celebration when a president is signing is legislation. When -- even sometimes, you know, rare occasion but has happened, when the House sends over a landmark piece of legislation.
It was -- it was unusual to see that kind of ceremony and making -- you know, handing out the pens and smiling for a picture in this kind of situation where the House Speaker has bent over backward to say, publicly and privately, this is somber, this is not a time for celebration. Understandable. This is history and the people who were involved to mark the moment, but I did not expect to see it.
BLITZER: Yes.
HENDERSON: Yes. I thought that was a little jarring and certainly, I think, off message. Because you heard Nancy Pelosi there say, in fact, that this was a sad and tragic day, and then there she is holding up the pen and having photographs taken with those pens.
So, yes, it -- I think it was a little off message for someone who has tried to set a very serious tone, and here she is, posing for photographs with the pen. So probably not the best decision (ph).
BLITZER: House Committee chairmen and the House Managers, they will -- they'll have those pens for the rest of their lives.
GANGEL: Absolutely. You know, in the end, they are politicians. And in the end, Nancy Pelosi knows her caucus and that this was a part of history that they would all like a piece of.
That said, this was the last time she's really able to speak about this. Not that she won't talk about it in public, but this was the last formal time. And she really -- the tone was -- up until the signing, the tone was very solemn. The words that she chose today, we will make history --
BLITZER: By the way, we're showing our viewers some live pictures. Those documents now are being taken from the House of Representatives through Statuary Hall. That's Statuary Hall right there.
They'll be going into the Capitol Rotunda to the Senate to present the articles of impeachment, to the Secretary of the Senate, who will then inform them, you know what, come back tomorrow.
Go ahead.
GANGEL: Just that the words that she chose were very careful -- today, we will make history. She talked about abuse of power. That she wanted to make sure the President, it was clear that he would be held accountable, and that no president is above the law.
I think the other thing we were talking about, the managers there, we have seven managers. And six of the seven are lawyers, and Val Demings is a sheriff and -- and very tough. I think she picked a group that, legally, would know what to do but also represent the party.
[17:34:50]
BLITZER: This is (INAUDIBLE), Dana. I want to just remind our viewers, the House Clerk, the House Sergeant of Arms, they are there leading this procession. Followed by the seven House Managers, the Chairman -- Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee; Jerry Nadler, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee; Zoe Lofgren of California; Hakeem Jeffries of New York; Val Demings of Florida -- she was Orlando's first female chief of police -- Jason Crow of Colorado; and Sylvia Garcia --
BASH: And I just want to say --
BLITZER: -- of Texas.
BASH: Sorry to interrupt.
BLITZER: Go ahead.
BASH: But they're walking -- right now, they're walking by the old Senate chamber as they make their way to the current Senate chamber. And it's just a reminder -- it reminds me and those of us who were around 21 years ago, it's the old Senate chamber that, back then, all 100 senators agreed, in a bipartisan way, unanimously to the rules of the road of that impeachment. How different it is now.
Now, they're walking past Mitch McConnell's office, and they're almost --
BLITZER: That's Cheryl Johnson, the House Clerk, who is holding those two articles of impeachment that were signed with all those pens by the Speaker of the House.
They're -- this is history -- Nia, this is history unfolding right now. Paul Irving, the Sergeant of Arms, is escorting them as well.
HENDERSON: A big day for this country, a big day for this White House, and, in many ways, a day some people thought would never happen. And Dana talked about this earlier. Nancy Pelosi was never someone who was on board with this, and then everything came to a head with this Ukraine scandal.
And so, now, we have a time when the -- just the third time in this nation's history that a president is going to face an impeachment trial in the Senate. And you keep hearing Nancy Pelosi saying, forever and ever, this is a president that will be impeached.
BLITZER: Manu, we're now showing our viewers some live pictures from the U.S. Senate. You were mentioning before that the House Managers, as well as the Clerk and the Sergeant of Arms of the House of Representatives -- and there you see them -- they'll be -- they're about to walk into the Senate.
RAJU: Yes, they're right about to walk into the Senate. They do have floor privileges, so we'll see if they walk in -- you can see the House Clerk -- Wolf, let's listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERYL JOHNSON, HOUSE CLERK: Congress has passed H.Res. 798, a resolution of appointing and authorizing the managers for the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, President of the United States.
SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R), SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE: The message will be received.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: Mr. President.
GRASSLEY: The Majority Leader.
MCCONNELL: I ask unanimous consent that, pursuant to Rule One of the Rules of Procedure and Practice When Sitting on Impeachment Trials, the Secretary of the Senate inform the House of Representatives that the Senate is ready the receive the managers appointed by the House for the purpose of them giving articles of impeachment against Donald John Trump, the President of the United States, agreeably to the notice communicated to the Senate.
Further, that at the hour of 12:00 noon on Thursday, January 16th, 2020, the Senate will receive the managers on the part of the House of Representatives in order that they may present an exhibit, the articles of impeachment against Donald John Trump, the President of the United States.
GRASSLEY: Is there any objection? If not, so ordered.
MCCONNELL: I ask unanimous consent that, pursuant to Rules Three and Four of the Rules of Procedure and Practice When Sitting on Impeachment Trials, that at the hour of 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 16th, 2020, the Senate proceed to the consideration of the articles of impeachment and that the presiding officer, through the Secretary of the Senate, notify the Chief Justice of the United States of the time and place fixed for consideration of the articles and request his attendance as presiding officer pursuant to Article One, Section Three, Clause Six of the U.S. Constitution.
GRASSLEY: Is there any objection? If not, so ordered.
MCCONNELL: I ask unanimous consent that the presiding officer be authorized to appoint a committee of senators, two upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader and two upon the recommendation of the Democratic leader, to escort the Chief Justice into the Senate chamber.
I further ask consent that the Secretary of the Senate be directed to notify the House of Representatives of the time and place fixed for the Senate to proceed upon the impeachment of Donald John Trump in the Senate chamber.
GRASSLEY: Is there any objection? If not, so ordered.
[17:39:50]
MCCONNELL: I ask unanimous consent that access to the Senate wing, the Senate floor, and the Senate chamber galleries during all of the proceedings involving the exhibition of consideration of the articles of impeachment against Donald John Trump, the President of the United States, on all times that the Senate is sitting in trial with the Chief Justice of the United States presiding, be in accordance with the allocations and provisions I now send to the desk. And I ask that it be printed into the record.
GRASSLEY: Is there objection? If not, so ordered.
MCCONNELL: I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to its consideration of House Res. 471 submitted earlier today.
GRASSLEY: The clerk will report.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senate Resolution 471, authorizing the taking of a photograph in the chamber of the United States Senate.
GRASSLEY: Is there objection to proceeding to the consideration? Without objection, then the Senate will proceed.
MCCONNELL: I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
GRASSLEY: Without objection, so ordered.
MCCONNELL: Now, Mr. President, for the information of all senators, a few minutes ago, the Senate was notified that the House of Representatives is finally ready to proceed with their articles of impeachment. So, by unanimous consent, we have just laid some of the groundwork that will structure the next several days.
We have officially invited the House Managers to come to the Senate tomorrow at noon to exhibit their articles of impeachment. Then later tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m., the Chief Justice of the United States will arrive here in the Senate. He will be sworn in by the President Pro Tem, Senator Grassley.
Then, the Chief Justice will swear in all of us senators. We'll pledge to rise above the petty factionalism and do justice for our institutions, for our states, and for the nation. And then, we will formally notify the White House of our pending trial and summon the President to answer the articles and send his counsel.
So the trial will commence in earnest on Tuesday, but, first, Mr. President, some important good news for the country. We anticipate the Senate will finish the USMCA tomorrow and sent this landmark trade deal to President Trump for his signature. A major victory for the administration but, more importantly, for American families.
So let me close with this. This is a difficult time for our country, but this is precisely the kind of time for which the framers created the Senate. I'm confident this body can rise above short-termism and factional fever and serve the long-term best interest of our nation. We can do this and we must.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: We've just watched history unfold on the floor of the United States Senate for only the third time in American history. The articles of impeachment against the President of the United States are being submitted right now.
And we did learn, Manu Raju, that tomorrow at noon the House Managers will come back to the Senate to formally make the presentation of the two articles of the impeachment. We saw the signing ceremony from Nancy Pelosi a little while ago. Then at 2:00 p.m., the Chief Justice, John Roberts, will come to the United States Senate and this process -- this formal process, which could last a few weeks, will begin.
Walk us through what to anticipate, Manu.
RAJU: Yes, he locked in the procedures for the next couple of days here. First, he said when the House came in and they brought across the articles of impeachment, they did not actually formally present the articles of impeachment to the Senate. Instead, they just notified the Senate that they were ready to deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
And Mitch McConnell, then, set down the procedure, saying that the Senate -- the House Managers are invited back at noon Eastern tomorrow to essentially present the articles of impeachment. At that point, they will read aloud from the text of the two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Now, later in the day, at 2:00 p.m., that's when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will come in and be sworn in. That the Senators will escort him in into the Senate chamber, then he will take -- he will take his own oath.
And after that, then the senators themselves, all hundred of them, who'll act as jurors in this case, will take their own oaths. They will sign, actually, a book and say the -- saying that they will abide by their oath.
They will listen to these proceedings. They also have to follow a very strict set of rules, decorum rules, that Mitch McConnell has already laid out and informed Senate about --
BLITZER: And, Manu, I just want to interrupt for a moment. We're now seeing the Managers walking back from the Senate through the Rotunda, through Statuary Hall, back to the House of Representatives. Go ahead.
RAJU: Yes, and then we'll see. Tomorrow afternoon, the President will be officially summoned to present his case to the Senate. That's when this President's defense counsel will, eventually, have to come, make the case. But that will be another historic moment, when the Senate officially summons the President's team to, essentially, make the case on his behalf.
[17:45:09]
Now, after those proceedings happen tomorrow, which should take up through the course of the day tomorrow, then things will get quiet for some time. Behind closed doors, the President's team will write briefs making their arguments about why the President should not be removed from office. The House Democratic impeachment managers will write their briefs about why they should -- the President should be removed from office. Then, the formal opening arguments will begin on Tuesday.
Now, a big question, Wolf, in the days ahead is how they will deal not just with the witnesses but they will deal with evidence, new evidence in particular, that may come out after the trial ultimately begins. Because, at that point, senators will have to vote to allow any additional information to be presented and be admissible in this trial.
And there could be more information. Already, we saw some documents from a Giuliani associate come out yesterday. More documents are expected to come out in the days ahead. There's also a lawsuit pending for Freedom of Information Act, lawsuit pending by an outside group, that has pushed and has gotten more information.
So if more evidence does come out, the Democrats may want to present that in the trial. And at that point, the Chief Justice could rule about its admissibility, or the senators could vote to allow that to come forward. And 51 senators would have to vote in order to allow this new evidence to be presented. And I'm talking to Republican senators tonight, Wolf, who are not committing to allowing House Democrats to provide new evidence.
So that is all part of things that will happen in the twists and the turns of this impeachment trial. A lot of unpredictability, not just about the documents but, of course, also about the witnesses. Will any Republican senators break and join ranks? All those questions will be answered in the days ahead after Mitch McConnell, just now, setting up the groundwork for this trial that could take a couple of weeks, at least, Wolf. BLITZER: It certainly could. You know, Dana, let's step back. Big
picture, this is history unfolding right now.
BASH: Oh, that's right. And, look, just this ceremony of it, especially walking over, delivering the articles of impeachment, having the President Pro Tem, who's Senator Chuck Grassley in the chair, the Senate Majority Leader ready to talk -- I mean, these are the people who are in the official roles but don't always sit in those chairs, but this is something that -- and it's a situation and event where they want to be.
And also, if I may, just watching them walk through those halls, which I have walked around in for a few years, and just thinking about the history that they are walking through. For example, they came back through Statuary Hall, which used to be the House chamber where there were intense battles, debates, about slavery and things that were existential crises to this country.
And yet, the country survived. And in part, it survived because of the roadmap of the Constitution. And what impeachment is, as infrequent as it is, when it comes to a president of the United States, is a roadmap that they are following.
There are gray areas, there are Senate rules, there are House rules that they're going to have to figure out as they go along, but that is what is happening, which is remarkable. And as solemn as it is, it is something that we should, you know -- you know, take note of.
BLITZER: Yes. And the last time we saw this, 21 years ago, Nia. And I remember watching it very, very closely.
(LAUGHTER)
HENDERSON: Yes.
BLITZER: I was then the White House correspondent for --
HENDERSON: Oh, I remember you, Wolf, of course.
BLITZER: -- for CNN. And then, President Bill Clinton was going through the impeachment process, January 1999. And now, 21 years later, we are going through it again.
HENDERSON: Yes. And some people weren't watching it as closely as you were, front row to history, as you were covering it. And now, there is a sort of generation of people who are going to be informed about the impeachment process, right? As it unfolds, we'll see the pomp and circumstance and the formality and the seriousness of this. And we'll see it unfold over these next couple of weeks.
You know, practically, I think some of those senators there, particularly the Democratic senators, are probably a little nervous about what this means for them in terms of having to sit there if you're running for president but, listen, taking their jobs quite seriously. And you heard Mitch McConnell there essentially say, well, now it's
time to get serious, right? The Senate is the body to handle this in a way that he was obviously saying that the House couldn't handle it. And you've heard Republicans say, pretty frequently, that they felt like the process in the House wasn't fair. And so, you have Mitch McConnell there essentially saying, now, it's time for the grown-ups to take charge.
BLITZER: Yes. And, Manu, this was very, very smooth, this transition over the past hour or so from the House to the Senate.
RAJU: Yes, it is. And it's also interesting, too, Wolf, the House Clerk, right now, appears to still be holding on to the articles of impeachment from what we can tell from the cameras right there that we're looking at the screen right now. She appears to still be holding on to those articles of impeachment.
[17:49:59]
While they actually did deliver them, the formal transmission won't occur until tomorrow. And that's what we were talking about earlier about the process happening here. Essentially, what they did is essentially notify the Senate that they're ready to deliver the articles of impeachment, but the Senate said, come back tomorrow.
So you saw the House Clerk there walking back all the way across from the Senate side of the Capitol to the House side of the Capitol still holding the articles in that blue folder. And then, tomorrow is when the big day will occur when they actually will begin the presentation of the articles of impeachment. And then, the Senators will be sworn in, the Chief Justice, of course, and the President's team will be summoned.
But interesting there to see what part of the debate today all along has been what they should have -- the Republicans believe that they should have waited until the actual presentation was delivered by -- they agreed to come to actually deliver the articles of impeachment, but Democrats said that they were going to move forward today and walk across the Capitol, which they just did. But as you can see there, the House Clerk appears to still be holding onto those articles that will be formally read aloud before the Senate chamber tomorrow.
BLITZER: Yes. This is, we're showing, from moments ago. This is a videotape of what we saw. You can see the House Clerk, Cheryl Johnson, holding on to those two articles of impeachment that Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker, had signed. You see the House Sergeant of Arms, Paul Irving, by her side, followed by the seven House Managers led by Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
And we'll be speaking live with the Chairman, Adam Schiff, in the next hour.
You know, look, I want to stay on top of the history of this moment as a student of American history. You know, people are going to be studying this for a long time. GANGEL: So one of the things that the founding fathers decided, there
was a debate about who should be the jury. Should it go to the Supreme Court? And I believe it was actually Alexander Hamilton who said, at one point, that he felt the Senate -- the senators would be independent enough to do the right thing. They all knew it was going to be partisan. They didn't know it was going to be these two parties.
But it's going to be very interesting to see the political impact here. Mitch McConnell wants the Republicans to hold the Senate. Part of this is going to be whether he can give vulnerable Republicans, like Susan Collins, the kind of cover that she needs for her election yet still do what he thinks is best for President Trump. And that is, get it through quickly.
BLITZER: And, Jeffrey Toobin, we heard the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, announce on the Senate floor that at 12:00 noon tomorrow, the seven House Managers will return with those articles of impeachment, make the formal presentation, read out loud the charges against the President of the United States, why he was impeached in the House of Representatives. And the full-scale trial will go forward.
Then, at 2:00 p.m., the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts, will come before the Senate. And he will have a very detailed specific role as outlined in the U.S. Constitution. Tell us about that.
TOOBIN: Well, he will have a role. That role is not specifically defined in the Constitution, other than to preside over the trial. And one of the mysteries here is how much of a role Roberts will have.
This is a very different impeachment than Bill Clinton's impeachment because, you know, as I believe Dana mentioned earlier, all hundred senators got together and said we are going to do the Clinton impeachment in a way that does honor to the Senate. We're not going to have partisan fights. We're not going to fight about the rules. That's -- and as a result, Rehnquist had, basically, nothing to do. He used to joke later that, you know, I did nothing and I did very -- and I did it very well.
This is a very different situation. There may be rulings about evidence that have to go to Chief Justice Roberts. There may be ties, 50 to 50, that, presumably, would go to Chief Justice Roberts to break the tie. So he is likely to have something more than a ceremonial role, but because we've never been here before, we've never had a situation where -- in the modern era. The Andrew Johnson precedent is really so different in so many ways.
But in the modern era, we've never had a contested impeachment in this way, and Chief Justice Roberts may actually do something more than a ceremonial role. And that will be a very big deal.
BLITZER: Yes, it will be a huge deal as we watch it unfold. There will be preliminary procedures, Bianna, tomorrow and the days to come, but the trial itself in the Senate is not scheduled to begin until Tuesday. And that's when we'll see the arguments that will come forward.
[17:55:11]
GOLODRYGA: That's when we're going to see the arguments from the Managers, and we're going to hear what the President's defense will be and whether the President will be in the country as this plays out or whether he will be at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and how he decides to weigh in all -- on all of this.
One could guess that it would be quite differently from how President Clinton weighed in or did not weigh in during his impeachment trial.
And what was interesting to hear from Mitch McConnell was when he said that, now, the senators were going to rise above petty factionalism. Now, you couple that with what he'd on Fox News just a couple of weeks ago that -- that he -- or he's working in coordination with the White House.
And so, this sense of senators rising above it all and doing what's best for the country, doing what's been granted to them by the Constitution, really doesn't seem to jibe with where we are on a political sphere in this country and how divided the country and polarized the country really is. But next week and the following week will be instrumental in seeing how this moves forward and how it sits with the American public.
I do have to say, as we were watching Nancy Pelosi there sign the articles, think about where we were a year ago, just over a year ago, where Donald Trump himself, the President himself, was even weighing in when there was a question and infighting within the Democratic party as to whether she should be their next leader. And he was nudging that, yes, she should be because, in fact, she had spoken out about not wanting to go down the route of impeachment. And he knew that and here we are a year later.
There was some question as to whether she could be the effective Speaker of the House by Democrats. I know a lot of Democrats are probably sighing a breath of relief that she, in fact, is the leader and the way she's handled this. It's not something that she would have preferred, she said this many times. But she says that she was doing what she had to do, given the circumstances and the latest developments out of Ukraine.
BLITZER: We now know, Jeffrey, the prosecutions -- the prosecution team, the seven House Managers that were named by the Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, led by Adam Schiff, but we're not exactly clear what -- what about the President's legal defense, how that's going to unfold. They still haven't made any formal announcements.
TOOBIN: No. The only two lawyers we know for sure are Pat Cipollone, who is the White House Counsel -- who has not appeared in public at all, as far as I'm aware, during his tenure as White House Counsel. He hasn't testified before Congress. He hasn't gone on television. And I -- you know how much Donald Trump cares about how things look on television. That, I think, is -- will be a real challenge for him. The other lawyer is Jay Sekulow, who is a very experienced Supreme
Court advocate, also a very experienced television performer. I think the President will be very comfortable with Sekulow's role.
And then, the question is, who else? Will there be House members? Will there be Jim Jordan? Will he wear a jacket if he actually goes on the floor of the Senate?
(LAUGHTER)
TOOBIN: I mean, all of those questions, I think, are --
BASH: America needs to know.
TOOBIN: -- are unresolved at this point.
BLITZER: Yes. But, Jeffrey, you know that the President's other private attorney, Rudy Giuliani, has publicly made it clear he wants to be part of this team.
TOOBIN: We can only hope. You know --
(LAUGHTER)
TOOBIN: You know, he will be simultaneously under investigation by the Southern District of New York and the -- one of the President's lawyers during a trial on the floor of the Senate. My sense is that's not going to happen. But my sense has been wrong about this and many other things, so we shall see.
BLITZER: As far as you know, Jamie, is this -- is the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, and the White House, the President of the United States, on the same page right now as far as the tone they want to see in the Senate trial?
GANGEL: I'm going to go out on a limb here.
(LAUGHTER)
GANGEL: Under no circumstances are they on the same page. Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, two very different people, very different styles.
BASH: But it's McConnell's show.
GANGEL: Correct. Absolutely. And in the end, you will say to the President, you can't -- you have the votes now, don't mess it up.
BLITZER: Everybody, I want you all to stand by. We're watching history unfold here at the U.S. Congress.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:59:57]
BLITZER: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM, and we're following breaking news on historic new steps in Congress paving the way for President Trump's impeachment trial to finally begin --
