both ron johnson and the senator noted these positions raised concerns. they were important in assessing the president's state of mind and understanding whether president zelensky was truly committed to finding corruption in ukraine. the evidence shows that president trump invited president zelensky to meet at the white house on three separate occasions, all without any conditions. the first was on april 21st during the initial congratulatory phone call, the second was via letter on may 29th. this letter followed an oval office meeting on may 23rd with the delegation. they expressed concern about ukraine. alexander volker recalled the president saying, these are terrible people and a corrupt country. ambassador sondland similarly testified that ukraine, in the president's view, tried to take him down in the 2016 election. senator ron johnson confirmed this in his submission to the impeachment inquiry. and when they met browithout preconditions, it was the july 25th phone call. the next time they met, evidence does not show the ukranian government felt add

he travelled to ukraine as a member of the senate foreign relations committee with senator ron johnson who president trump quotes in a very strange letter to nancy pelosi. a letter donald trump says he wrote for history. there are demonstrations all over the country in support of the impeachment of president trump. an organizer of the demonstrations will join us later in this hour. the house rules committee spent the day debating the articles of impeachment. it was the kind of house committee hearing we have not seen in what feels like very long time. there was no yelling. there were no attacks on members of the committee by other members of the committee in the opposite party. and that is thanks entirely to the good old-fashioned, fully respectful, working relationship of chairman jim mcgovern of mlszmous and the ranking republican momeber, tom cole of oklahoma. sometimes old-fashioned is good and today it was very good to see tom cole leading the republican side of the committee with flawless politeness and civili civility bhiel completely disagreeing with the sdms. they gave a maste

senator ron johnson who will chair tomorrow's hearing. it lays out the mass of that bias has played a role in keeping this never-ending fisa from going. for example, you might remember this. august 202016, text from strzok says i want to believe the path you're out throughout for consideration and in mccabe's office that there's no way he gets elected. i'm afraid we can't take that risk. ilike an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before your 40. here dukes claymore, wisconsin senator ron johnson. thank you for being with us. what's with the timeline because this is crucial. tell us what you believe what the real timeline is and why it's critical. >> hello, sean. let's step back a little bit. i began my investigation really back in march of 2015 because the hillary clinton email scandal. what inspector general horowitz did during his inspection of that investigation, he found the text between lisa strauch and peter -- peter strzok and lisa page. what is so key about the texts as they provided unvarnished evidence of the bison

johnson confirmed this testimony in his submission to the impeachment inquiry only the 3rd time the president trump invited selenski to meet again without any preconditions was during the july 25th phone call although some time passed between may $21000.00 when the president formally invited selenski to meet and september 25th when the president's met the evidence does not show that the ukrainian government felt additional pressure due to this delay to the contrary ambassador volcker testified that the ukrainian regime felt pretty good about its relationship with the trump administration in this period during those 4 months in your ukrainian government officials had at least 9 meetings or phone calls with president trump by spreads event pants secretary pompei o. security advisor bolton and u.s. ambassadors evidence does not support a conclusion that president trump condition to meeting with president selenski on investigating former vice president biden mr president let's he's close advisor said that explicitly in an august 21000 new york times story which was published before the

senator ron johnson confirmed this testimony in his submission to the impeachment inquiry. finally the third time that president trump invited zelensky to meet again without any preconditions was during the july 25th phone call. although some time passed between may 2019 when the president formally invited zelensky to meet and september 25th when the president's met, the evidence does not show that the ukrainian government felt additional pressure due to this delay. to the contrary, ambassador volker testified that the ukrainian feltfi pretty good abt its relationship with the trump administration in this period. during those four months senior ukrainian government officials had at least nine meetings or phone calls with president trump, vice president pence, secretary pompeo, national security advisor bolton and u.s. ambassadors. the evidence does not support a conclusion that president trump conditioned asi meeting with president zelensky on investigating former vice president biden. mr. yarmac said that in an august 2019 "new york times" story which was published before

senator murphy, i want to begin with president trump's letter tonight in which he quotes ron johnson who you accompanied to ukraine. i just wants to read you that part of the trump letter. it says senator ron johnson a support of ukraine who met privately with president zelensky has said at no time during this meeting was there any mention of zelensky or any ukrainian that they were feeling pressure to do anything in return for the military aid. that is the entirety of senator jaunsance's entry in the trump letter. what's your reaction to that? >> what president trump neglects to mention in that letter in that very meeting he cites between myself, senator johnson and president zelensky, at the ownedf that meeting i stipulated a series of facts for president zelensky. i told him there were public reports he was being pressured by the trump administration to investigate the bidens and that it was my opinion that it would not be good for ukraine if they were to get dragged into american politics. president zelensky conceded the point that i made and in fact simply responded he had no in

abrams he was brought back to the movie basically to pick up the pieces left by director ron johnson who did the last movie that so many people were disappointed in this movie is under a lot of pressure to wrap up the story and it manages to do that even if sometimes it feels like it's 2 movies squeezed into one now this question about ray and her bloodline of course is central the force is very strong with her why it was kind of an echo of that classic star wars your father kind of moment it turns out that ray much like her love interest turned enemy kyla ran has some family issues but we already know that it's coming out very much at the beginning of the movie one way i tells her never be afraid of who you are now as for luke skywalker the actor mark hamill is in the movie as well does that mean he's still alive you're not going to tell me really boil it but we saw in the report for instance that they've even resuscitate and incorporated old footage of the late carrie fisher princess lay and what does that work how i found her really uncanny you know they they took this footage of

that is ron johnson. >>> it is our year-end wrap up. top highlights from "varney & company" this year. celebrities, sports figures, even larry kudlow. the best of 2019. you get it all on "varney." stay with us. we'll be back. ♪. most people think of verizon as a reliable phone company. but to businesses, we're a reliable partner. ... ai customer experiences. (second woman) we also keep them ready for the next big opportunity. like 5g. almost all of the fortune 500 partner with us. (woman) when it comes to digital transformation... verizon keeps business ready. i wanted more from my copd medicine that's why i've got the power of 1, 2, 3 medicines with trelegy. the only fda-approved once-daily 3-in-1 copd treatment. ♪ trelegy ♪ the power of 1,2,3 ♪ trelegy ♪ 1,2,3 ♪ trelegy woman: with trelegy and the power of 1, 2, 3, i'm breathing better. trelegy works three ways to open airways, keep them open and reduce inflammation, for 24 hours of better breathing. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tre

senator ron johnson to confirm this testimony in his submission to the impeachment inquiry. finally the third time that president trump invited zelensky again to meet without any preconditions was during the july 25th phone call. although some time passed between may 2019 when the president formally invited zelensky to meet on september 25th when the presidents met, the evidence does not show that the ukrainian government felt additional pressure due to this delay. to the contrary, ambassador volker testified that the ukrainian regime felt pretty good about its relationship with the trump administration in this period. during those four months, senior ukrainian government officials had at least nine meetings or phone calls with president trum president trump, vice president pence, secretary pompeo, national security advisor bolton, and u.s. ambassadors. the evidence does not support a conclusion that president trump conditioned of meeting with president zelensky on investigating former vice president biden. mr. yermak, the close advisors noted explicitly in august 2019 "new

senators lindsey graham, ron johnson and chuck grassley asked for the record of former dnc consultant alexander chalupa and the ukrainian official who talked with her on allegations of allege foreign interference with ukraine. the republicans finally standing up in the senate. ruth bader ginsburg blocked the democrats' subpoenas to deutsche bank. tonight's temporary hold comes hours after the president's attorneys argued the subpoenas were quote extraordinarily broad and raised profound separations of powers concerns. joining us tonight, white house press secretary stephanie grisham. good to have you with us. i know the white house has to be well pleased by ginsburg's hold. where does it go from here. is it simply a matter of waiting for the court to decide? >> i think it's exactly right. it's a matter of waiting. we are pleased with that. i think that was the right thing to do. lou: the right thing to do, the president's attorney, pat cipollone. i think he wrote something very correct, telling the democrats to stuff it on the judiciary committee until they can find a legitimate proce

the chair is senator ron johnson of

johnson senator chris murphy in kiev in one of these meetings the president selenski raise any concern about linkage between security assistance and investigations in particular the september 5th meeting with senator johnson and senator murphy is notable because they're not part of the trump administration and president selenski could be candid with them what did occur during those 55 days were historic effort by ukraine's parliament called the rada to implement anti-corruption reform. president pants had pressed president lenski about these reforms during their september 1st meeting in their depositions ambassador taylor lout of presidents lindsey's rapid reforms and national security council official morrison testified that during a meeting in kieve he noted that everyone in the ukrainian side of the table was exhausted because they had been up all night working on these reforms on september 11th president trump discussed the matter with vice president pence senator portman portman and acting chief of staff moving according to tamara since testimony to discuss whether ukraine's progr

senator ron johnson from the great state of wisconsin. senator, thank you very much. and merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you. steve: 7:21 here in new york. conservative author heather mcdonald shouted down on the speech college campus. the college dean is now defending those students. pete: time now for news by the numbers. first 80,000. that's how many convicts will now have voting rights restored in new jersey. democrat new jersey governor phil murphy signed the bill, which effects people who are out of prison on probation or parole. next, the, that's how many of america's 20 wealthiest counties get this are in the washington, d.c. suburb, pays to be on the government dole. the u.s. census reports the areas have average yearly income of up to $140,000. and finally $90,000. that's the return on $1 of a bit coin investment if it was made at the start of the decade. bank of america reports the crypto currency was the most profitable investment of the 2010s. one bit coin worth about 7 grand. thankfully, i have a few coins and let's hope 2020 is good for bit coin.

both ambassador volker and ron johnson noted the disappointment raise concerns. these facts are important in assessing the president's state of mind and understanding whether president zelensky was truly committed to fighting corruption in ukraine. the evidence shows that president trump invited president zelensky to meet at the white house on three separate occasions all without any conditions, the first is on april 21st, during the congratulatory phone call and the second was a letter on may 29 and this letter followed an oval office meeting on may 23 with the u.s. delegation to the inauguration and during the meeting president trump expressed his kep skepticism abt ukraine. ambassador volker recalled the presidency these are terrible people and a corrupt country. ambassador sondland testified that ukraine and the president's view try to take them down. in the 2016 election. senator ron johnson confirmed the testimony and the submission to the impeachment inquiry. finally the third time the president trump invited zelensky to meet without any preconditions was

senators lindsey graham, ron johnson and chuck grassley asked for the record of former dnc consultant alexander chalupa and the ukrainian official who talked with her on allegations of allege foreign interference with ukraine. the republicans finally standing up in the senate. ruth bader ginsburg blocked the democrats' subpoenas to deutsche bank. tonight's temporary hold comes hours after the president's attorneys argued the subpoenas were quote extraordinarily broad and raised profound separations of powers concerns. joining us tonight, white house press secretary stephanie grisham. good to have you with us. i know the white house has to be well pleased by ginsburg's hold. where does it go from here. is it simply a matter of waiting for the court to decide? >> i think it's exactly right. it's a matter of waiting. we are pleased with that. i think that was the right thing to do. lou: the right thing to do, the president's attorney, pat cipollone. i think he wrote something very correct, telling the democrats to stuff it on the judiciary committee until they can find a legitimate proce

here is ron johnson who was involved. nancy pelosi was pretty darn smart. she had him convulsing and demanding trials. they are freaking out because they can't have a trial. here is ron johnson. >> it is kind of bizarre, they had to rush to this impeachment vote and all of a sudden she's sitting on it. i don't think the senate should make the case the house should have made in their presentation. the charges are pretty thin, i don't see anything impeachable in that. just not the job of the senate so make the case the house should have made in their impeachment articles. >> again, donald trump would not let their witnesses testify so now they're saying those witnesses did not testify, therefore, there is no case. now they're saying we demand the trial with none of those witnesses. democrats are never going to agree that. chuck schumer is not going to agree to that. either donald trump sit there and impeach in agony and gets no trial or the democrats negotiated a deal which some of these witnesses testified and neither of these are good for him. i don't see h

on september 5th he met with senator ron johnson, senator chris murphy in kiev. in none of these meetings did president zelensky raise any concern about linkage between security assistance and investigations. in particular the september 5th meeting with senator johnson and senator murphy is notable because they're not part of the trump administration and president zelensky could be candid with them. what did occur during those 55 days were historic efforts by ukraine's parliament to implement anti-corruption reform. vice president pence pressed president zelensky about these reforms during their september 1st meeting. in their depositions ambassador taylor lauded refornls and morrison testified during a meeting in kiev they noted everyone on the ukrainian side of the table was exhausted because they had been up all night working on these reforpz. on september 11th president trump discussed the matter with vice president pence, senator portman and acting chief of staff mulvaney. according to tim morrison's testimony they discussed whether ukraine's progress on ant

johnson, and yavanovitch, judge engine napolitano. jussie smollett, the college admission scandal, we will look at legal stories that rocked hollywood. we have a busy three hours, kicks off 13 minutes from now on the channel you trust for last-minute shopping coming up next. this time of year, that's really important. so we're making it easier than ever to become part of our family. that's why our chevy employee discount is now available to everyone. the chevy price you pay is what we pay. not a cent more. family is important to us. and we want you to be part of ours. so happy holidays. and welcome to the family. all: the chevy family! get the chevy employee discount for everyone today. i am not for ignoring the first sign of a cold. i am for shortening my cold, with zicam! zicam is completely different. unlike most other cold medicines, zicam is clinically proven to shorten colds. i am a zifan for zicam! oral or nasal. they use stamps.com all the services of the post office only cheaper get a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital s

on september 5th he met with senator ron johnson, senator chris murphy in kiev. in none of these meetings did president zelensky raise any concern about linkage between security assistance and investigations. in particular the september 5th meeting with senator johnson and senator murphy is notable because they're not part of the trump administration and president zelensky could be candid with them. what did occur during those 55 days were historic efforts by ukraine's parliament to implement anti-corruption reform. vice president pence pressed president zelensky about these reforms during their september 1st meeting. in their depositions ambassador taylor lauded refornls and morrison testified during a meeting in kiev they noted everyone on the ukrainian side of the table was exhausted because they had been up all night working on these reforpz. on september 11th president trump discussed the matter with vice president pence, senator portman and acting chief of staff mulvaney. according to tim morrison's testimony they discussed whether ukraine's progress on ant

what astounds me when you have ron johnson, he made his money in plastics from wisconsin. and he's going to bat with ukraine thing. when you have senator from south dakota, you never knew but now i have a chance to know because you treat him unfairly and makes people double down and people throw up their hands and say i was wrong or something unbelievable is taking place. they are mystified. >> cnn cannot believe they were not able to convince any republican in the house or the senate the trump should be impeached so they smear them instead. >> they smeared them in 63% voted for trump. that's a pretty big colt, half the electorate proximately. >> i watched the hearings carefully and many peopletime dd and were waiting for crime, show evidence of crime, if i sell a crime i thought maybe this would be a problem but you heard speculation, presumption and ultimately you have ambassador sondland possibly one of the strongest democrats to put up under cross-examination i never heard him link aid and investigation. i presume i do not hear, where is evidence of wrongdoing and crim

. >> and today you see in the senate, senator grassly, senator graham, and ron johnson of wisconsin raising again this idea of ukrainian meddling. so they want to hear from this democratic consulted alexander who was looking into the manafort stuff. that's an effort to further muddy the waters and confuse. >> it's a conspiracy theory. and speaking of conspiracy theories, katherine, the judiciary committee hearing, the doj's inspector general report, it's expected that the fbi is going to say -- and again if the reporting is correct -- that the origins of the russia investigation, right, that it was launched properly. >> correct. >> there may have been some mistakes, right, human errors which shouldn't have happened but it was launched properly. if the reporting is correct, it's not going to be a good day for the president and for the conspiracy theorists who were hoping. >> no, i mean this ig was hand picked to basically promote the conspiracy theory and it was in an effort essentially to distract from the very bad evidence that we've been talking about that the president was extorting a fo

that republicans grassley and ron johnson wrote the fbi two weeks ago demanding to see by u. alexandra is one of the witnesses chairman adam schiff refused to call. if impeachment moves to the senate she may be calling the theory of ukrainian collusion may be proven or not. >> thank you. as democrats push forward with the next phase of their impeachment push tomorrow with house judiciary committee hearing featuring constitutional law scholars comparisons with former president nixon are ramping up again. >> the only thing we can say is that it is not so much that the situation is different in terms of next and's conduct or trump's conduct but we have seen something far more serious than a third-rate burglary, beyond anything nixon did. >> constitutional law professor jonathan turley, one of the witnesses tomorrow so those words by adam schiff to the constitutional challenge for the house tweeting there is still disagreement of what this is, whatever this is it is not nixonian at least not yet. attorney general jeff sessions, good to have you back with us, senator, i will call

johnson made money in plastics from wisconsin -- and yet he's going to back with a ukraine thing when you have senator from south dakota you know never really knew him but now i have a chance to know him because unfairly it makes people double down and i think what happens is people throw up their handle and they either say i was wrong. or something unbelievable is taking place. they're mystified. cnn can't believe that they weren't able to convince any republican in the house or the senate that trump should be impeached. so they just smear them instead. they smear republican and 63 million voted for trurp that's a big cult half of the election and and i watch hear physician carefully many people did, and we were waiting for crime showing me evidence of crime if i saw evidence of a crime i'm like this is a problem but you heard conjecture and speculation your presumption ultimately you have master sun land stroangs witness to put up ultimately say under cross-examination i never heard president link aid and investigation i presume that i didn't hear it but where's evidence of any wron

so you have people like ron johnson masquerading as the reasonable republican. or interesting limb ricks on camera. and that is the republican we can present to the mainstream. it's a stuff spot. media has a responsibility because you put people like that on tv with no context, that's dangerous as well. >> thank you all very much for being here with me in new york. we know president trump loves insulting nicknames. last night was no different for the president in florida. >> crazy nancy. she's crazy. >> the president lashing out at a political rival in front of a crowd inside florida. going forward as she holds onto the two articles of impeachment. the nancy pelosi way. christine pelosi is going to join me next. christine pelosi io join me next sting, what's new? -well, audrey's expecting... -twins! grandparents! we want to put money aside for them, so...change in plans. alright, let's see what we can adjust. ♪ we'd be closer to the twins. change in plans. okay. mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. lemme guess, change in plans? at fidelity, a cha

now turning attention to the ron johnson letter if i may. >> yes. >> on august 31st, senator johnson is getting ready to travel to ukraine on september 5th with senator -- with murphy. and he wanted -- johnson wanted the aid released so he calls the president and sought permission to be the bearer of good news. >> right. >> the president said i'm not ready to lift the aid. they had this -- senator johnson, he writes a ten-page letter, very detailed, and he gives some remarkable detail and i would like to read it. it's on page 6. i -- this is senator johnson speaking, he said i asked him whether there was some kind o

senator ron johnson said a few minutes ago, above my pay grade. lisa mur cows kiss said i'm hoping for a deand the subway elevators closed on us, so we're not getting many answers. you know how that work. >>> let me ask you about the first question. do you think there should be witnesses in the senate? >> absolutely. there has to be. >> look, i think we have a tremendous case in front of us. the president has obstructed us every step of the way. we asked mick mulvaney to come a testify -- >> and he knows it all. >> absolutely. bolton, based on what was, is very incredible the. they are real patriots who put country over party, so i think, you know, we should make sure we have the ability to presents all these folks in the senate. let's just be clear that what mish mcconnell has done, but maybe a different finger in the face of our constitution and framers. >> how do you explain these people? >>,ask any american out there. how can you have the foreman of the jury, the chief juror, the person who makes all the rules for the senate trial actually say

whereas there's all this contradictory stuff, there's ron johnson saying he had a phone call with the president days before the whistleblower went anywhere near the white house with the president hinting he was gonna do it. you also have the call from rob portman. it's just completely made up. it's basically a debunked conspiracy theory that's endlessly recycled. >> the professor that testified had no firsthand knowledge. you did hear from a gentleman from the state department, i don't recall his name who does have firsthand knowledge and he said there was a deep consideration by the entire administration based in large part on the law that said we've got to make sure that others like germany and others are contributing into. >> exactly. and again the money was released before the deadline. >> there you are. i think we did a pretty good job going through the arguments. just one thing i want to say before we go to break. it's about last sunday's segment on rudy giuliani. as i said he was a transformational man and an inspirational leader. i have absolutely no wish to get into any kind

senator ron johnson, wallaisco said, a growing number of the senate, 53 gop members want to let house democrats to make their case to impeach the president and hear a rebuttal from trump's team before moving to a vote of the articles of impeachment. chairman lindsey graham echoed those same sediment. >> to get schiff and all that good stuff. i am really worried about where this could take the country. here is what i think is best for the country that we listen to the house's case based on the evidence they use to impeach if they do, that we not build on that record, we like the president to give his side of the story. i think we should vote and end it. >> appearing on this network tonight, democratic senator, john tester of montana has this warning. >> if folks want to turn this trial into a carnival. there will be hell to pay for that at the ballot box. people expect a fair trial. i will tell you it is difficult after watching the house a bit this evening. the bottom line is i think the american people expect our government to work. >> here for our lead off discussion. phillip rucker

now, turning attention to the ron johnson letter if i may. >> yes. >> on august 31st, senator johnson is getting ready to travel to ukraine on september 5th with senator murphy. and he wanted -- johnson wanted the aid released, he calls the president, he actually sought permission to be the bearer of good news. >> right. >> the president said, i'm not ready to lift the aid. and they had this -- senator johnson. he writes a ten page letter, very detailed. and he gives some remarkable deta detail. and i'd like to read it, it's on page 6. i add -- this is senator johnson speaking, i asked him whether there was some kind of arrangement where ukraine would take some action and the hold would be

so first we have ron johnson. no offense he said. now marie i would call her a hostile opinion witness. go. >> madam ambassador as you sit before us simply and directly do you have any information regarding the president of the united states excepting any bribes? >> no. >> do you have any information regarding any criminal activity that the president of the united states has been involved with at all? >> no. we have two witnesses he seived on national security counsel. their testimony on whether or not the president effectively committedded an impeachable offense go. >> i wanted to start with the july 25th call between trump and zelensky mr. morrison you were on that call and no mention of withholding on the call. >> that is correct and there was no quid pro quo? correct? >> correct. >> no bribery -- >> correct. >> no extortion? >> correct. >> and ambassador i presume you got a readout of the call is that correct? >> but yes. >> in the term from the u.s. participates was there any reference to withholding aid? >> no there was not. >>

quote, senator ron johnson, a wisconsin republican, said a growing number of the senate's 53 gop members want to simply let houseto democrats make thei case to impeach the president, then hear a rebuttal from trump's team before moving immediately to a vote on the articles of impeachment. tonight, senatet. judiciary chairman lindsey graham echoed those same sentiments. >> everybody's dying to hear from joe biden and hunter biden and prove that there was corruption on their part and to get rtschiff, shifty schiff and all that good stuff. i'm really worried about this will take the country. here's what i t think is best f the country. that wefo listen to the house's case based oftn the evidence th use to impeach if they do, that we not build upon that record. we let u the president give his side of the story of why it's not impeachable. then i think we should vote and end it. >> buthi appearing on this netwk tonight, democratic senator jon tester of montana had this warning for his republican colleagues.r >>co i think if folks want to tn this trial into a carnival, i think there will be he

a conversation, back and forth without any challenging and you can see senator ron johnson go on that show. and sean just said, can't get a breath in. otherwise, it's hostile and personal and that's why "meet the press" is a mere shell of what it used to be under the great tim russert. >> it is. this is what's interesting, is that the democrats, i think, believe this is helpful for them. they're being facilitated and helped along. at the same time, republicans tend to govern better, are better politicians, get more done. i would argue in part because they are confronted so regularly. and in the meantime, the democrats have never learned how to handle hard questions or how to refine their ideas. how to -- how to answer tough questions from any reporters. and that in the end is -- almost -- you know, denigrates like a termite infection in their foundation as it begins to crumble because they're never confronted. in the long run, do you think that republicans, in fact, you know we have to be better as conservatives, because we're constantly challenged. i think that's helpful. it's one of

. >> now, turning attention to the ron johnson letter, if i may. >> yes. >> on august 31st, senator johnson is getting ready to travel to the ukraine in september with murphy. johnson called the president and sought permission to be the bearer of good news. >> right. >> the president said i am not ready to lift the aid. senator johnson, he writes a 10 page letter. very detailed. he gives some remarkable details. i would like to read it. it's on page 6. this is senator johnson speak. i asked him whether there was some kind of arrangement or ukraine would take action and be lifted. without hesitation president trump denied such an arrangement existed. and he started cursing. he said no way. president trump said no way. i would never do that. who told you that? and senator johnson goes on to say that president trump's reaction was adamant, ve hement and angry. and as august 31st, the president said you will like my decision in the end." that's very important context on the president's state of mind on august 31st. >> right. he fully expected that the aid would eventually be released after the

johnson. they're all, sir, john, they're talking about planning to reportedly interview at least five former top aides to former vice president joe biden and exec tear of state john kerry, benefited from exclusive access to the obama administration. your reaction to that story? >> yeah. no, look, you don't find what you don't look for and the democrats narrative is this is all debunked and discredited. i think there is a prima facie case that is worth investigating about exactly what was going on with burisma and hunter biden and joe biden. if the house is unwilling to take it up, they will play these sorts of games with respect to articles much impeachment perhaps the senate will take this up. liz: these former obama officials reportedly met with burisma lobbiests in 2015 an 2016. reportedly senator lindsey graham has been talking about timing of those meetings and the pressure campaign that followed in which joe biden reportedly demanded ukraine fire its top prosecutor who at the time was lo

now, turning attention to the ron johnson letter if i may. >> yes. >> on august 31st, senator johnson is getting ready to travel to ukraine on september 5th with senator murphy. and he wanted -- johnson wanted the aid released, he calls the president, he actually sought permission to be the bearer of good news. >> right. >> the president said, i'm not ready to lift the aid. and they had this -- senator johnson. he writes a ten page letter, very detailed. and he gives some remarkable deta detail. and i'd like to read it, it's on page 6. i add -- this is senator johnson speaking, i asked him whether there was some kind of arrangement where ukraine would take some action and the hold would be lifted. without hesitation senator johnson says, president trump immediately denied such an arrangement existed. and he started cursing. and he said no way, president trump said no way, i would never do that. who told you that? and senator johnson goes on to say that president trump's reaction here was adamant, vehement and angry. senator johnson goes on to say that as of august 31st, the president

. >> on the sunday news programs, senator ron johnson and dick durbin talked about the impeachment of president trump and gave a preview of the senate trial. >> you said earlier this month that you think the consensus in the senate would be that when the house -- let the house make its case, the white house make its case, then put forward a motion to vote without witnesses. is that what you see happening? >> i think so. that is general discussion within the conference. the case is pretty thin that the house is sending over, if they ever send it to us. gruel from my standpoint. both

senate republicans grassley and ron johnson wrote the fbi two weeks ago demanding to see by december 9th whatever the fbi found on those devices. alexandra chalupa is one of the witnesses that chairman adam schiff refused to call, if impeachment was to the senate, she may be called, and the theory of ukrainian collusion may be proven. are not. shannon? >> shannon: doug mckelway, thank you. so, as democrats push forward with the next phase of their impeachment push tomorrow with the house judiciary committee hearing featuring constitutional law scholars, comparisons with former president nixon are ramping up again. >> well, the only thing we can say is that it's not so much that the situation is different, in terms of nixon's conduct and trump's conduct. what we have seen here is far more serious than a third rate. that is beyond anything nixon did. >> shannon: well, constitutional law professor donovan turley, those words constitute a challenge for the house. charlie tweets there is still disagreement of what this is, whatever this is, it is not nixonian, at least not yet. former att

jon: take a listen to republican senator ron johnson of wisconsin. >> i don't think senate should be making the case the house should have made in their presentation. my guess is they weren't able to make the case. as i said, the charges are pretty thin. i don't see anything impeachable in that. so it's just not -- it's not the job of the senate to make the case that the house should have made in their impeachment clause -- or in their articles of impeachment. jon: that's argument -- one argument that the republicans are making, is that the house really hasn't made much of a case. >> yeah, an ally of the president. look, you hear other members of the republican party in the senate saying i've made up my mind, including mitch mcconnell. he's working with the white house counsel on organizing the trial, which is you could argue problematic because it is the president who is on trial, but this is normal washington politics. the republicans are siding with their guy and they are trying to protect him at this point. jon: you could also say it is pretty weird have the jurors, mainly the u.

. ♪ >>> when chuck todd asked republican senator johnson if it he trusts the cia and the fbi now, ron johnson threw out a bunch of names of people who no longer work at the fbi. >> do you trust the fbi and cia because none of them have come to the conclusions you've come to? do you trust them now? >> who are you talking about? >> the cia and the fbi. >> i don't trust andrew mccabe, i don't trust james comey, i don't trust peter strzok, i don't trust john brennan. >> that is the essence of the trump deep-state conspiracy theory that suggests what eventually became the mueller investigation was started by fbi officials deeply prejudice against donald trump while he was running for president. attorney general barr is flying around the world investigating that himself. something we've never seen an attorney general do. william barr could save a lot of time be picking up a copy of "deep state." it shows how russian investigation began. the president is on his way to impeachment tonight because of his obsession with that very question that was included in what he was pushing the president o

one would be senator ron johnson. he was in touch with both the ukrainians and with president trump towards the end of the military aid being withheld. he, of course, is going to be a juror in all of this. so that's a complicating factor. but he seems to have a perspective that not everybody would have. and then in a -- in a crazy world in which this would be possible, the one ukrainian who i think would really lend some perspective to this would be andriy yermak, which is the top zelensky aide conversing with these administration officials about withholding military aid and about the white house meeting. >> aaron, good to talk to you. aaron blake is a senior political reporter at "the washington post." now that negotiations for a senate trial are at a standstill, speaker nancy pelosi has decided to delay sending the articles of impeachment to the senate. and republicans are seizing the opportunity to slam the speaker for what they're calling, quote, a failed strategy. >> you know, sandra, it is as if the house voted

three republican senators, lindsey graham, ron johnson, and finance committee announced they were seeking interviews on reported -- to help hilary clinton's 2016 campaign. betsy, michael steele, marie are back with me. so michael steel, what's that about? >> they are creating a counterfactual narrative that will be convincing enough to the group of president's supporters to continue supporting him and confuse enough people that he doesn't get convicted and impeached. i mean, they have a very clear strategy. we may not like it. we may not agree with it. we may think it's all factually wrong and terrible. but they have a convincing argument that a lot of people are going to buy. >> and they didn't just ask for this former dnc consultant to talk to them. they also asked for a ukrainian guy to participate in their investigation. i whatsapped with him a little earlier today. he told me he's received a former invitation and he's going to play ball with him. >> where does he live right now? >> he lives in kyiv. he's in kyiv right now. he's one of the people participating in the documentary. and

. >> ron johnson. saying you guys are having secret meetings. >> i'm glad claire has been tying we're watching live 'r coverage of the impeachment hearing. while each e side's version of closing argument, it still is startling. every time you hear the fact based case on the democratic side and then you see the antics and the drama, and the tantrum on the right, it is so apparent that, you know, what all of you say, when you don't have the facts you fightt the process. if you don't have the process th you run to the fox news camera. >> we have a terrific contrast here with the inspector general's report and the impeachment. imagine barack obama, they had that meeting in the senate i should we talk about russian interference and mitchan mcconnl says no. imagine barack obama says in the middle of 2016 russians are involved we think they are involved in president trump's um campaign. that's what president trump is trying the togn do. that's the contrast here you had onere president who was in char of an in

. >> now, turning attention to the ron johnson letter, if i may. >> yes. >> on august 31st, senator johnson is getting ready to travel to the ukraine in september with murphy. johnson called the president and sought permission to be the bearer of good news. >> right. >> the president said i am not ready to lift the aid. senator johnson, he writes a 10 page letter. very detailed. he gives some remarkable details. i would like to read it. it's on page 6. this is senator johnson speak. i asked him whether there was some kind of arrangement or ukraine would take