mcconnell: mr. vice president. the vice president: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask for the -- call the absence of a quorum call. the vice president: the absence of a quorum call has been -- of a quorum call has been called. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the vice president: a quorum is present. the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i simply want to welcome all senators on this first day of the 117th congress. today six new members are joining our ranks for the first time. senators hagerty of tennessee, hickenlooper of colorado, lujan of human, lummis of wyoming, marshall of kansas and tuberville of alabama have been elected to serve the people of their home states. of course senator kelly of arizona was sworn are in a few weeks ago. we congratulate all our new colleagues as well as their families. we look forward to the ways in which their unique experiences, their ideas, and their priorities will enrich this institution and strengthen our shared work for the nation. to say the 1

it was trump who wouldn't take mcconnell's phone calls. even and especially when the stimulus bill that was supposed to be signed in and around christmas, the president decided that he wasn't going to do it and there was so much drama. mcconnell couldn't even get the president on the phone is my understanding. one last thing i think is interesting in terms of the politics of this is that what phil mattingly and manu raju are hearing, and jonathan martin said this, too. mcconnell is seeing this as a way to purge trump from the party. i'm hearing the opposite from some of mitch mcconnell's republican colleagues, that they're concerned impeachment will make him a victim, make him a martyr. those are two different ways of looking at donald trump politically and a potential impeachment conviction. >> jamie, "the times" is reporting the house minority leader has asked other republicans whether he should call on president trump to actually resign. could all of this get republicarepublica republicans to vote in favor of impeaching when it comes up

i think that's what mcconnell is doing today. he is -- he is letting it known -- letting it be known that he is done with donald trump and he is appalled at what happened last week and how the president incited it and -- and i don't know if he would actually vote for impeachment, but the fact that he has put this out there and it doesn't get out from mcconnell unless he wants it out, in conjunction with liz cheney's statement about how she's going to vote for impeachment and i would wager a lot of money that there was communication between the two. certainly between the two camps, if not between the principals, is a signal and it's giving cover to republicans to vote for impeachment and to vote to convict. if they wish to do so. but i'm not going to, you know, make bold predictions about the fever, the trump fever, having broken yet in the -- in the republican party. i'll, you know, i'll believe that when i see it actually happen. it's -- for one thing, i think, frankly, there are a lot of these republican house members and some

despite mcconnell trying to blockade everything. there are different things we can do to get around him. >> leading off our discussion tonight, just the people i want to talk to in this beginning of the year of the senate. norm ornstein, congressional historian and scholar at the american enterprise institute. also with us, ezra klein, "new york times" opinion columnist, and host of the podcast, "the ezra klein show." norm, i want to begin with what it means within the senate for mitch mcconnell to cave like this tonight, just give up and no pretense, no -- there's nothing in his move that indicates there was anything other than i guess chuck schumer was going to beat me at this, i had to give in to him. >> it was kind of odd in a way, lawrence, because this was a made-up fight. there was no reason to have it. it wasn't going to lead anywhere. however it ended, the only thing that he could have done was to keep democrats from chairing committees for a period of time. and that wouldn't have looked good over -- after a while. but what

mcconnell, senator mcconnell, appear to be at an impasse in terms of the organizing resolution of the senate. >> yes. >> how is that going to end? >> well, let me tell you how it's going to end. traditionally, the organizing resolution should be a pretty routine thing. democratic leader, the republican leader, no matter who's in the majority-minority, sit down and just hammer it out. it's a little different now because it's 50-50, but we've had a precedent. it was 50-50 back in 2001, and democratic leader dashel and republican leader lott got together and worked out an agreement that most of the people think was pretty down the middle and fair. the first day i went to leader mcconnell and said, let's do that resolution, let's just do it like they did in 2001. and he went to the floor and said, i won't do it unless you democrats do this, demand what i want. he is not the majority leader. he is the minority leader, and he is not going to get his way. we are not going to do what he wants. and that is universal, rachel, in my caucus, from the most liberal to the most conservative. we hope

host: john mcconnell? mr. mcconnell: take yes for an answer. you are president of the united states. the campaign is over. the country is looking to you with great expectations, great goodwill. this is not a country obsessed with politics. this is a country that has a lot of problems and a nasty tone in its politics. none of that as to be reflected in the inaugural address. you are the president. look forward, look ahead, tell the country where you want to go, what do you want to do. it is not about your adversaries, who you defeated. it is about you. you are probably not going to run for office again, so just be every inch the president of the united states. but, he does not need my advice. [laughter] host: thank you for spending an hour with c-span in advance of joe biden's inaugural. appreciate your time. mr. mcconnell: thank you. ms. peri: thank you. ♪ announcer: all q&a programs are available on our website. or, our podcast on c-span.org. ♪ announcer: wednesday, joe biden will be sworn in at us -- sworn in as the 46th president. in lig

give mcconnell a fig leaf to back down. or coming out to oppose any movement to make the senate work better. we're seeing mcconnell flexing muscle to block things even if for a little bit that shouldn't be blocked. he'll signaling how obstructionist he will be. democrats instead of coming out and punishing him for it, said in principle they'd leave his demand to leave the filibuster unchanged. it's a little bit unclear at least at this moment. >> but, norm, those two senators could change their minds over time. depending on how obstructionist mitch mcconnell becomes. this is what the game is now. it's how often does chuck schumer have to threaten a nuclear option when he can? and ezra's right, he has to be able to actually threaten it. it sounded like he did have 50 senators ready to go to at least break through this filibuster of the organizing resolution and once that wall is cracked, that would have been a pretty big crack in that wall. >> i do think that if this had gone on for another few days what manchin said was i w

if they want mitch mcconnell to break ranks, they're going to want to keep mitch mcconnell happy. because mcconnell has indicated privately he believes donald trump committed impeachable offenses. he's undecided, he's made that clear publicly, too. some republicans are saying very clearly that if mitch mcconnell were to vote to convict donald trump, perhaps mcconnell could lose his leadership position in the next congress. so a lot is riding on the line with mcconnell. mcconnell is making clear that his conference wants a delay for two weeks to consider this impeachment trial, probably sometime in mid february. he does need the consent of the senate majority leader, chuck schumer in order to do just that, and schumer, we are told, is reviewing that proposal. one thing, erin, is that they also want some commitments from mitch mcconnell to move forward on some of joe biden's cabinet nominees. the senate has been moving very slowly initially to fill out joe biden's cabinet. so there is some discussion about potentially moving some of biden's cabinet nominees and then moving to an imp

mcconnell. and again, the story on mcconnell is that he is positively inclined toward this impeachment effort against the president. so i guess this is a live question. if the senate does vote -- the house is going to vote to impeach president trump tomorrow. that will happen. if there after the senate votes to convict president trump, if that happens while trump is still in office, the effect of the vote to convict him will be to remove him from office. vice president mike pence will become the next president of the united states. that will make joe biden the 47th, not the 46th president of the united states, even if mike pence only serves for five minutes. now, can a president be impeached after he's left office? arguable question, lots of legal scholars on both sides weighing in. but let's say the conviction of donald trump on impeachment charges happens after the inauguration. let's say they do pursue it in the senate but it happens after trump leaves office. even in that circumstance, the c

>> mitch mcconnell is playing the press. he is playing republicans, and he is playing democrats all at the same time, because he may be the grim reaper, but see a very smart guy. by saying up front, okay, donald trump was a part of this. donald trump provoked these people one way or another, he is giving himself sort of the air of credibility. it's look hey, i can acknowledge the facts. i'm not a crazy right wing republican. he is setting the stage for looking like a reasonable negotiator going forward. as you mentioned, ari, by not saying the word incite and using the word provoke, that's the kind of word a guy like mcconnell will end up using. that's the kind of nonsense weaseldom he is going to use and that other republicans will use, because we saw other things with last year's impeachment, literally at this point last year. well, donald trump did something that was terrible, he did something to violate the spirit of his job, he did something to try to overturn an election, he abused his power, but we don't know if he's

mcconnell may be wrong. but what we're seeing right now is mitch mcconnell saying we must now rid -- this is our chance. and he's sending that signal clearly to his senate colleagues in the republican side as liz cheney said it to her house colleagues. they are going to be less prone to listen to her. they are much craziest house republicans than among senate republicans and much more trumpists over there. this is an extraordinary moment in your party where a very explicit outfront way liz cheney and mitch measuring konl and others like them are saying far too late in my view, far too late but they are looking up and saying, the time is now to move on. and to rid ourselves of this stain. >> what trump has proven, willie, is he will shake you down. he will extort you. he will break laws. he will commit crimes. he will not back you. even if he promises to. what do republicans have -- let me use his phrase that he used for african-americans. what do you have to lose at this point? if you vote to impeach the pre

, no one in mcconnell world is pushing back. >> right. >> no one in mcconnell world is pushing back. zero people will tell you this report isn't true. obviously, the mcconnell people want this out there that he thinks impeachment is a good idea. significant. >> i'm glad you were working your sources last night. there's no question he obviously wants this reporting out there. that he's pleased with this. he thinks this could help purge trumpism from the party. let's be clear, mitch mcconnell stood by two months while this president fomented disinformation about the election while he tried to steal the election in vain from joe biden. only now, we can assume, because he was personally attacked during last week's insurrection. there's no question that all of the lawmakers are dealing with the trauma of what happened. mitch mcconnell stood by for years, not just for the months leading up to now, for years, all to remake the fed judiciary. i understand the reporting that he hates the president. but unless he leads his caucus to a conviction of this president and they try to disqualify him

the joy of movement. >>> if i were to ask senator mcconnell -- or if i were to assess senator mcconnell's legacy. his legacy is judges. >> also tax cuts for the rich. don't forget that. >> legislatively, tax cuts for the rich. but if you were to sum up his early days and he talks about it being his proudest accomplishment. >> he brags about it. >> proudly hypocritical. pull all the stops to break everything rule too, do everything to put young, conservatives on the bench. it is a very imbalanced judiciary now. for decades essentially, it will be stacked with conservatives. how do you makeup some of that ground? >> first, the good news is there we don't need anything. we are 51 votes allows us to put judges on a bench and there will be lots of vacancies that come up and i think there are a lot of judges, damic appointees who didn't take senior status while trump was president and now they will. so, first we can fill oplot. second, traditionally, we have increased the number in the lower-end circuit courts. i have, in the city of buffalo -- they don't have enough judges. it's this long line

so it actually came back and bit mcconnell. he lost those two seats and he lost the leadership of the senate, which is the thing that he holds most dear. >> how much do you think is playing into mitch mcconnell's calculus that donald trump is threatening to create this other party, the maga party, the patriot party, whatever he plans to call it. how much do you think that's keeping mitch mcconnell up at night? >> well, i mean, i think it's got to be a nightmare for him. basically, if his aim is to win in 2022, get back to majority, he needs to keep his caucus with him. he needs to have his members get re-elected. and basically, what trump is doing now is vowing vengeance against anybody who might go against him. and saying he will run primary challengers against them. so this is a nightmare for mitch mcconnell. he's basically -- there was a quote from adam gentleson, a longtime senate observer who's got a great new book out about the senate called kill switch. and at any rate, he's -- he says, mcconnell's like the cartoon chara

that's where mcconnell is right now. if you've paid close attention in the last five or six weeks, he hasn't been very subtle about it. he's tried to move his conference away. if you listen to his january 6 comments before the attack, that was a big speech. you know better than i do, john, mcconnell is very, very, very unwilling to attack his conference more than anything. splitting his conference is not something he wants to do. he is clearly in that position right now of trying to consider how to move the republican party on from president trump. the biggest thing for his conference right now, particularly those up in 2022, is whether or not they want to go with him on this specific moment. >> calculating the new reality of being in the minority, part of that as well. tamara, we know the president is mad right now. we know he's mad that mcconnell is not out speaking, saying, we're not going to impeach him. he's mad his own aides are not on television defending him at this moment. normally the president would use his tw

white smoke from team mcconnell. so the significance of it is really important, the fact that they put this out there. and it suggests that we may be moving forward to a conviction and a decision to bar president trump from holding office ever again. what did you make of the events that unfolded late yesterday after the president make those remarks that we just played? >> well, i think that you are right. this is a sign that mitch mcconnell is saying, umm, how can i benefit [ inaudible ] as mcconnell does. and i think it started with all of these corporations saying they will not give money to the house republicans that voted to wanting to overturn the elections last wednesday which started this whole riot and frankly a new wave of domestic terrorism. so mitch mcconnell sees an opportunity here i think. he says all right, maybe the republicans in the house won't be able to gain any money, but if i stand up, my guys may have a chance of coming back in 2022. it also allows his members to take a vote of conscience, not

mitch mcconnell is open to impeachment. a source says mitch mcconnell hates president trump for citing the insurrection and plans never to speak with him again. as of this morning, president trump is expressing no regret, and he is making new threats. >> federal investigators say they are pursuing thousands of leads on the identities of these domestic terrorists. so they can bring sedition and conspiracy charges against them. america's most senior military leader is issuing a rare statement warning their troops about their constitutional duty to reject extremism. metal detectors have been installed now outside of the house chamber after multiple house democrats told cnn they were worried about other members carrying firearms. we begin this histor

mitch mcconnell has always been strategic in his maneuvering. that is what he is thinking ahead to while the president is not getting much foresight into anything and is burning the white house down on his way out. host: jacquie alemany is joining us, the author of the washington post power up column. ahead of a very busy week in washington. we will get to the phone lines to call in. .emocrats, (202) 748-8000 republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. jackie alamein he will be with us until about 8:45. -- jackie alamei the weekend before the, leading up to the election in november. the president went to rome georgia and rallied and the were about 30,000 people that came out during the pandemic to rally behind this president. his appeal is undeniable. if anyone thought trump come him losing the election would make a big dent or be the end of trumpism i think a lot of people were mistaken and republicans to understand that which is why obviously there is a schism in the party and use some people hugging the president and others bac

mitch mcconnell tried to weaponize it. that to me indicates the republican party will leave no stone unturned in terms of the levers of power. if they could weaponize the senate gym, they would. anything that there is, they will try to use as a lever of power because they understand they are dealing with an administration and a democratic party that is emboldened, that is scared for the future of the country and that is willing to do a lot of really big things to save what i think they see as the country on a precipice. >> well, alex, as a student of washington, may i ask you then a relatively silly follow-up question? >> you can always. >> what do you make then of mitch mcconnell's argument which he made bluntly and in public that he would continue to basically try hostage obstruction tactics unless he was given the commitment that he could endlessly try hostage obstruction tactics? >> right. the -- it's completely counterintuitive. mitch mcconnell doesn't want anybody to do away with the filibuster because it's the one t

democrats say why would we give away this to mitch mcconnell when he's in the minority. >> mcconnell is going to block control for the dems until they agree to promise to uphold the rule that would allow him and the republicans to block anything else that they want to block? do i have that right? >> yeah, you do. that's a very good way of putting it. first of all, as i understand it, there is not a precedent for filibustering the organizing resolution of the senate the way mcconnell is threatening here, basically blocking the majority from organizing and holding everything up that way. second, even if the democrats somehow agreed to this, there's no way that it can be binding as mcconnell knows. they could later come back and change it. why is he doing it? he's doing it to make a statement here to kind of show his power and to kind of force democrats to back down. i was there in 2009 when he said to major garrett that his principle goal, mcconnell's, legislative goal, was to make barack obama a one-term president. if you look at this maneuvering plus his speech today criticizing bide

mcconnell lost control. i do think it feels like mitch mcconnell may have regained control of his republican congress again. it's almost like a march of republicans that will go to the podium and apologize and pull back. >> yeah, we will see how it plays out. we will continue to watch it, and you see tim kaine going in, and it will and interesting to hear from staff in fact the building, watching what is unfolding. we start to see the republican opposition start to fold one by one by one, and we await to see the divisions of senators hawley and cruz, to see if it strategy goes down to defeat or whether it will be extended an it will longer. >> i will tell you it is quiet here at the white house after what has been a day of trying to pressure president trump to come out and deliver a more forceful message than the one he gave, calling back those mobs, those who were gathering and storming capitol hill. what we were waiting and watching for is what the reaction will be. i can tell you what is happening we are

so, manu, let me just get back quickly to mitch mcconnell. he apparently hates -- and that's a strong word -- hates the president of the united states right now. we heard jonathan martin of the "new york times" say it's very possible mitch mcconnell might even vote in favor of convicting president trump in the course of a senate trial after trump is going to be impeached for a second time tomorrow, the first president to be impeached twice, that mitch mcconnell might also go in favor. you need 60 votes and that would be a powerful moment. >> if that happened, donald trump would most likely be convicted by the u.s. senate. you need 17 republicans to break ranks. he would bring over a lot of votes, a lot of republicans not certain which way to go. already we expect a handful to vote to convict when it does come to that, but if mitch mcconnell comes that way, that would be a very key indication, and that would mean donald trump would not be able to run for office, hold a public office ever again. but, wolf, that still needs to play out. mr. mcco

-- mcconnell? mr. mcconnell: that was vintage donald trump. as a speechwriter i was always hesitant, and i can show you my bosses, dick cheney, dan quill before that -- dan quayle before that, there was always a sensitivity to saying something completely categorical such as this stops right here, right now. is that right? is this really true that something stops here and now? i think sometimes in politics there can be overpromising and overstating, and sometimes an inaugural address there are other examples of that. host: sarada, what are your thoughts and listening that speech? ms. peri: i had a similar reaction to john. categorical assertions of anything is a dangerous move to make. i was struck by that phrase. devoid of all knowledge. that is something anyone i've ever worked for would've allowed to be written. what is chilling about it actually is that his suggestion of american carnage was really just more prophecy and prediction that it was an accurate picture of what was happening inside. he had just inherited a roaring economy from pre

now, mcconnell did lose. he's in the minority. the democrats have a range of powers to deal with the grim reaper. will they use them? we have a very special conversation planned right now. we're going to learn something because we're joined by adam gentleson, who had the powerful position as deputy chief of staff to senate leader harry reid. we are also joined by jason johnson. i should mention adam's new book is "kill switch" about the filibuster as a political weapon. jason, how are you doing? >> i'm feeling good. i'm feeling good. we have a new functional democracy. it puts a smile on my face. >> your thoughts first on this impasse with mcconnell. >> i mean, it's to be expected. and look, ari, we've been saying this from jump. if joe biden thought he was going to come in and be able to sort of chum it up with some of these senators on the republican side because they used to play squash and racquetball back in the '90s, this is throwing water in his face. and he should know that this is just the beginning. mitch mcconnell will

as far as mcconnell is concerned, we have really been trying to figure out what mcconnell's play is over in the senate, especially if democrats send these article -- this article of impeachment over relatively soon. we do know in "the new york times" there's a big bombshell story last night that said that mcconnell supports the democrats moving forward with impeachment. that was just a huge, huge signal to his colleagues. but we are hearing this morning, our colleagues, that mcconnell's leadership team had no idea that that story was coming, did not know about his position. there have been no conference calls scheduled among senate republicans. senate republican aides were complaining to me yesterday morning that they hadn't heard from mcconnell yet. this is before the story, saying that they needed guidance. they needed leadership. they didn't know what to do. everything has been completely silent. then this "new york times" story came out. that was the first senate republicans have heard from their leadership. now they are wanting to get something formal, some sort of conversation so t

mcconnell as i am before, this is his last point of leverage. if they're not able to reach a power sharing agreement, crazy as it sounds, even though democrats should control the senate, 50/50 with that then extra vote for vice president harris, the reality is the committee chairs will remain republican and that's what influences legislation as it goes through the united states senate, or as we've seen over the past ten years, legislation that doesn't go through. >> the phrase from every political show we binge on. it will never make it out. committee. then michael, the question again for any reasonable person will be burks who says you have to live by the old agreement? it's not in the constitution. this isn't a law. this is a rule they came up with for themselves. how could it be that you have a new majority but they're bound by some pact among the senators so you don't have the majority be the majority in the committees? >> it is a horrible outcome except for all the alternatives. in other words, what else can you do? if it were 51/49, we wou

why would mcconnell have any power? he lost. why would schumer to have negotiate any kind of power deal? >> because the vice president is not a constancy. she's not there every step of the way. she has other responsibilities and the dead lock remains. it is an explanation as to why in his first three days in office, president biden signed, i think the number is 29, it might be 30 by now, executive orders in comparison to five for president obama, one for president trump in the same time period. and it creates this situation where it kind of plays into the hands of mitch mcconnell who says, well, wait a minute, mr. president. i thought you were the guy on wednesday spoke of the need for unity. you're getting it all done yourself. at least trying. to of course, the response is that the president can't count on any modicum of cooperation because of what you're describing so he feels he has to do what he's doing right now. >> so still, i'm telling you. people don't get this and they shouldn't west never talk about it which is weird.

wrong i think of mitch mcconnell goes against this whether behind the scenes or in a more public fashion i do not think that he can turn around i do not think that the democrats will command 17 republican votes and that's on the assumption that all democrats in the senate go along with it i think that's likely by the way so i think breaking ranks in the democratic party in the senate right now is very unlikely democrats are very united and we know that they will have more senate votes in the republican party than they have the 1st time around. but i do not think that they're going to get to 17 i can see them getting to 6 or 7 something like that and therefore if they are not going to be able to get to 17 republican senators with them. they ought to actually relax about the timing because there could still be a benefit in going through this trial but the major benefit would be discovery namely that we have enough information that they have the ability to call witnesses that the senate can resurrect their ability to demand that witnesses come and testify before them which was sorely tried

we are getting a statement from mitch mcconnell again. what would come next given the rules, procedures and senate precedents, that govern presidential impeachment, there's simply no chance, again from mitch mcconnell, that a fair or serious trial could conclude before president-elect biden is sworn in next week. he goes on to say the senate has held three presidential impeachment trials. they have lasted 83 days, 27 days, even if the senate month says were to begin this week, no final verdict would be reached until after president trump had left office so reaction now from phil wakeman of real clear politics. so this seems unlikely, phil. your thoughts. >> i think we'll learn a lot of civic lessons from chad pergram the days to come as he explains the rules. what we saw from mitch mcconnell is that yes, while there's a 50/50 split in the u.s. senate right now, he's not going to bring the senate back with a emergency session. there's not a love lost between mcconnell and the president. there's a lot of senate republicans that blame the pr

mcconnell wants to -- our sources say mcconnell wants to get rid of the president. he doesn't want to ever hear the words donald trump again so if he is no longer a factor for senate republicans in 2022 and 2024 that could give mcconnell an easier path to the majority in the near future. but mcconnell is also a negotiator. he has to extract something in exchange so while he's doing these negotiations with democrats, perhaps if they want a quick trial, perhaps mcconnell's going to get something out of it and he might want to slow down joe biden's ability to stand up his government, kasie. >> so kelly o'donnell, and i know you know all the players on both ends of pennsylvania avenue, having covered the trump administration the last four years, and of course all the time that you spent up on capitol hill. it seems to me, one motivating thing here is an effort to keep the president inside the lines. he obviously crossed them all last wednesday. and this gives mcconnell a tool to say, okay, if you do what you did last week again we are going to leave open the option of c

from mcconnell. "new york times" broke the story and we matched the story about the misgivings about president trump and his openness to impeachment and his feeling that the president had committed impeachable offenses and that caused disenchantment as members figure out where they're supposed to land. it is a very high hill to climb. and mitch mcconnell will move from majority to minority leader will be the most powerful republican in the country. he has a serious of loyalists in the conference and in the republican party over the course of the last 36 or 37 years. where he goes, matters, where he is trying to take the republican party, that is what is happening where he is trying to take the republican party away from president trump, that matter tooz. but i want to read one statement from rob portman, close ally of mitch mcconnell and he put out a statement making clear he's going to be a juror and he hasn't made up his mind yet and wants to see how the trial plays out. if the senate conducts an i

so mcconnell has given them an offer that will be enticing to some people. at the same time, it does kick this down the road a little bit and meanses that donald trump and what happened during the transition will dominate the first hundred days in a way that frankly the biden team never wanted it to dominate. remember, joe biden never -- when they were impeaching donald trump, joe biden never came out publicly and said he wanted to do that. and you know, he was always ambiguous about that. so, it's like, we can't quit 2020, right? all of the hangover to have the trump administration is now dominating joe biden's first hundred days. the last two days of first -- of executive orders, the majority of them were about undoing executive orders and actions of the trump era. and this means that we'll be talking about donald trump and paying attention to the drama of the transition for quite a bit longer now. >> ryan lizza, thanks for having you on. great for waking up with us. can't wait to read the playbook this morning. >> thank you. >>> in the meantime, the pande

it was quite the speech by mitch mcconnell. the reactions that i'm seeing from various democrats are sort of shock and relief and cheering. things like that. instead of talking about it i want to pull up a couple excerpts. let's play it, i want to get everyone in on this. >> if this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral. we would never see the whole nation accept an election again. every four years would be a scramble for power at any cost. my colleagues, nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale that would have tipped the entire election. nor can public doubt, alone, justify a radical break when the doubt itself was ensicited witht any evidence. we cannot declare ourselves a national board of elections on steroids. >> andrea, katy, rich, claire, i thought it was the clearest rebuke of president trump's behavior we have heard from any sitting republican leader. you heard it from mitt romney, from lindsey graham when he is anti-trump

and likewise, you know, the reporting on mitch mcconnell, this is not mitch mcconnell coming out publicly and saying these things, this is whispers behind the scenes and being confirmed, you know, off the record. when he comes out and says something publicly on this is perhaps when the tide will really turn, and other republicans will feel like they have political coverage, come out and support impeachment. you know, the house vote today, or in 2019 when they impeach trump, there were no republicans who voted in support of it. you now have prominent republicans, including house number three liz cheney, saying that she would vote to impeach trump, and that may give political cover to other republicans to do the same. francine: stephanie, thank you so much, our senior writer covering the white house, stephanie baker. coming up, much more on the historic week in washington. we will have more on not only what mitch mcconnell will do next, but we will have more on security surrounding inauguration day. this is bloomberg. ♪ this is bloomberg. ♪ francine: economics, finance, politics. this i

but what mcconnell wants and what mcconnell has right now, the democrats have not yet been willing to take it from him, is more than a filibuster, right. he's not jimmy stewart on the senate floor talking himself into oblivion about representing the little guy against corrupt powers. this is minority veto. this is a mcconnell minority veto that is wielded to allow us to not even get to a vote on things that are so popular. i do believe that people like senator manchin who said they don't want to end the filibuster can be heroes by bringing back the talking filibuster. this is the question now, and this gambit you talked about in the first section with senator whitehouse that the republicans are doing right now is a reminder not to be fooled. act on behalf of the american people. democrats will say, you know, what if we're in the minority again? the best thing you can do to not be the minority again is to kill the minority veto and get things done for the american people that are popular. and then people will send you back to washington. >> and i will say john tester who is a democrat

margaret talev, mitch mcconnell, and i think it is notable, there's no pushback from mcconnell world over these stories, whether it be from "the times," cnn, what you guys are putting out. mcconnell world wants this out there that you guys have turned on president trump. but if impeachment is something he's in favor of or pleased with, why not call back the senate? he can do this. he can make conviction more likely by saying today, i'm going to do everything i can to get the senate back as early as possible for this trial. >> so, timing is a really important question. and i think we'll get maybe a little bit of clarity in the coming hours today about exactly how this is going to proceed. the senate scheduled to come back on the 19th. they could, with an agreement between mcconnell and schumer come back early. but i have not talked to anyone -- i have talked to a lot of republicans and democrats who think this is going to begin to move forward now. i've talked to no one who thinks it will be waving a wand and move forward. the question is, how long, realistically, will this take? it's

>> then let's -- >> and mitch mcconnell, we know, i mean, mitch mcconnell does not let something get out there like that that he is happy there's impeachment unless he really believes that. >> that is a great point. >> is it mitch mcconnell's republican party? you know, or statistics marge re-taylor green who is the congresswoman from dalton, georgia that ascribes to a lot of qanon beliefs. >> that congresswoman from georgia, do you know why she's relevant, because we keep talking about her, we're not talking about all sorts of other freshman who were elected. kevin mccarthy did say that the president bears some responsibility. he is a person of influence within the republican party, and he was, before president trump took office. so yes, you've got guys like lee zelden who are still defending the president but don't we need to remember that none of us had ever heard the name lee zelden, no one who lives west of montauk, long island heard of lee zelden until president trump made him a name. aren't these people holding onto that moment of fame before they're knocked back into irreleva

mitch mcconnell no se enfocó tanto en donald trump, pero sí en la democracia. ojalá que esta crisis que vimos hoy nos ayude a recuperarnos como una nación, y hacernos entender que nos debemos unir más que nunca. >> me interesó mucho victoria que tanto mitch mcconnell como chuck schumer utilizaron la palabra insurrección, una palabra que también utilizó joe biden cuando hablo sobre los incidentes que ocurrieron el día de hoy en el capitolio. fíjense, mitch mcconnell, chuck schumer y joe biden utilizando la misma palabra para describir lo sucedido hoy. >> mitch mcconnell normalmente no está de acuerdo con los demócratas. éstas no para protestas ni rallies, eran personas que buscaban usar violencia contra nuestros líderes políticos, y violentar en efecto nuestras instituciones democráticas. divisiones políticas, diferentes opiniones, todos los líderes políticos han dicho ya. joe biden en su discurso hoy en la tarde lo dijo en inglés, ya basta. aquí ojalá que los diputados y senadores que al principio dijeron que tenían oposición a la certifi

mcconnell did not rule out voting to convict president trump. the leader, according to sources familiar with his thinking, believes the president did, in fact, commit impeachable offenses. in fact, i'm told by multiple sources that mcconnell has been furious, furious that before the attack occurred that republicans were lining up with the president, trying to overturn election results, even angrier in the wake of the attack. not just because of the attack itself, but the lack of contrition from president trump. so where mcconnell lands on this, still very much an open question. it is incredibly noteworthy that mcconnell is not rejecting this out of hand. keep in mind, in 2020 after impeachment articles were sent over to the senate, mitch mcconnell was one of the president's most vocal and forceful defenders. not this time around. that has left senate republicans trying to figure out where this is all going to land. in fact, mcconnell hadn't sent words to republicans on where he stood on things until a couple of hours ago and many republicans i t

has was not in any consultation with mitch mcconnell. i think there may be more conversations going back and forth ironically than ever with this white house. >> that is pretty wild. gloria borger, thank you so much. >> sure. >>> next, the unbelievable argument that is now being made by republican backers of the president. that's actually democrats being divisive and causing violence by holding president trump accountable. we're going to roll the tape. >>> after the attack on the capitol, after trump was impeached a second time including by members of his party, the white house is still lying about the election. >> the democratic party did violence to this country by attacking a president who i believe was legally elected on november 3rd. i've never been more pissed off in my life at this place and i think there's 74 million americans out there voted for president trump and feel exactly the same way. so i would say to these people on capitol hill, knock it off. stop this. >> there are two refrains we're hearing over and over from republi

>> it's a completely outrageous demand by mcconnell. >> we call this the mcconnell veto. he used it when he was a minority to try to obstruct every good work to help out american families on health care, on housing, on education and good-paying jobs on infrastructure and opportunity and climate and on criminal justice reform. so here is mcconnell saying hey, i'm in the minority now and i want a veto over everything you do for upon hadding americans. >> do you think for a moment mcconnell would have agreed chuck schumer, you're in the minority and you want to veto everything i do and that's okay? >> absolutely. it's a piece of mcconnell's delay and obstruction strategy. the the guiding principle of his life and it's not to try to solve problems and not try to work with others and the guiding principle was guiding quest. how do do i that? i have the team in option that can't function so i can replace that. that to me is a horrific philosophy and mcconnell has gotten away with it and he succeeded with it and he built a case to be in the majority and he followed on to proceed

:, , , mcconnell? is he talking about mitch mcconnell? :. . . . mcconnell? yeah. is president trump talkin: mcconnell? yeah. is president trump talking about — mcconnell? yeah. is president trump talking about mitch _ mcconnell? yeah. is president trump talking about mitch mcconnell? - mcconnell? yeah. is president trump talking about mitch mcconnell? no, | talking about mitch mcconnell? no, they are _ talking about mitch mcconnell? no, they are not speaking, as i understand it. and we are still... i think— understand it. and we are still... i think we _ understand it. and we are still... i think we both know mitch does a really— think we both know mitch does a really good job keeping his cards close _ really good job keeping his cards close to — really good job keeping his cards close to his vest and ultimately making — close to his vest and ultimately making the right decision for his constituency and his senators. i would _ constituency and his senators. i would not — constituency and his senators. i would not be surprised that, you know. _ would no

york times, mitch mcconnell is leaning towards convicting the president. he sent a letter to his republican colleagues yesterday after the house impeach the president saying he has not made up his mind. he is leaving that door open to convicting the president. if mcconnell votes to convict the president or signal fact to his republican conference, that will provide cover for the rest of the republicans to vote for conviction. they would need is 17 republican votes in order to convict, at a minimum. that is a pretty high bar. we only saw a few vote for conviction including mitt romney, the republican from utah. this is a different scenario. the capital itself in the united states editors themselves were under attack in this siege. the representative said it was incited by the president's words before the rally at the white house. this is a very personal act of violence against members of congress. each of them it was on the floor that day. they had to flee for safety. they understood what was at stake. they understood the process they were engaged in. that

senator mitch mcconnell said i had "excessive expectations," but i don't think so. after seven years of hearing repeal and replace, why not done? >> there's a lashing out when things don't go his way. john mccain was the deciding vote, and so, you know, it was hard to understand how mitch mcconnell would be the blame of it, but, you know, that's the president's nature, as we all know. >> can you believe that mitch mcconnell, who has screamed repeal and replace for seven years, couldn't get it done. >> trump was using the most powerful weapon he has, which is twitter, to humiliate him repeatedly, to rake him over the coals, to let his followers know, "this is mitch mcconnell's fault. he's failed you, not me." >> mitch, get back to work and put repeal and replace, tax reform and cuts, and a great infrastructure bill on my desk for signing. >> narrator: mch mcconnell learned a lesson-- he had to keep donald trump on his side. >> mitch mcconnell is a very smart politician. i think he understood the trump base, perhaps better than most. and he understood that the trump b