Plus our power house round table takes on the state of the 2020 race. Announcer from abc news its this week. Here now coanchor martha raddatz. Good morning. Welcome to this week. Its been over a week since the block buster impeachment hearings. Tomorrow democrats will take another important step in the highspeed, highstakes impeachment inquiry. The House Intelligence Committee is set to release its report to its members monday ahead of the first public hearings in the Judiciary Committee wednesday. Its the Judiciary Committee which is tasked with drawing up articles of impeachment. Theyll hear witness testimony from legal experts and ultimately deliberate what may or may not constitute high crimes and misdemeanors. Trumps legal team has been invited to participate in those proceedings. As of this morning, theyve yet to issue a response. For more lets bring in abc news chief legal analyst dan abrams. Dan, the Intelligence Committee is producing a report based on their investigation including the public testimony they handed to judiciary. Explain judiciarys role and how they craft the potential articles of impeachment. Think of the Intelligence Committee as the investigators where, the police or fbi, in a typical investigation. They then hand over their findings, their investigation, their report to prosecutors. The prosecutors here are in effect the house Judiciary Committee where they have to decide what charges are appropriate to move forward. Theyll evaluate this as a legal matter more. So less about the facts here, more about the, quote unquote, law. Remember when youre dealing with impeachment as opposed to a typical trial, what would be viewed as the statutes become a little less important than exactly what the judiciary exactly what the Judiciary Committee members decide is appropriate. Wednesdays judiciary hearing will be the first opportunity for the White House Legal Team to participate in the impeachment inquiry. Is it to their advantage to show up . Typically you would say, yeah, of course. Why wouldnt they show up . They demanded to be part of process, et cetera. As a practical matter, im not so certain theyll do that. Look, part of their defense look, part of their defense look, part of their defense here has been to delegitimize the process, to call it a circus, a motion, a sham. They know they have republicans on that committee who are going to do their bidding for them. Theres a real chance here that theyll say, you know what, were not going to be involved. You guys deal with this. Knowing they have the republicans on that committee who will be asking the sorts of questions, making the sort of comments they would have made anyway. Finally, dan, we saw a federal court ruling saying don mcgahn has to comply with a subpoena from congress over the mueller probe. Not necessarily about ukraine. Legally what could that ruling mean for former National Security adviser john bolton and acting white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney having to potentially testify . If you read the ruling, it would seem to apply to them. There are arguments about why this may be different than those cases. Remember what that case was and wasnt. Thats a case about immunity meaning thats saying don mcgahn has to show up. It doesnt tell us what he has to testify about. Then you say the same thing about bolton and mulvaney. Even if they have to show up, the immunity argument isnt valid. Theres still going to be fights about what they should have to testify to about or not. Thanks very much, dan. Joining me now is val demings, democratic congresswoman. She serves on the house intelligence and Judiciary Committee overseeing the impeachment hearings. Congresswoman we know the Intelligence Committee will send its report to the judiciary. Do you expect Firm Recommendations and whether the evidence be included . Good morning. I do believe that all evidence will be included in that report. The Judiciary Committee can make the necessary decisions that they need to. As you know, this week we will begin the critical process of hearing from constitutional experts to really lay out the ground for impeachment of the president. As we turn over that report to judiciary, we still have a lot of work to do. We know the witnesses for wednesdays hearing will be legal experts on impeachment. Any sense on how many future hearings your committee will hold or do you expect to call any fact witnesses or recall . We havent made the decision on future hearings or future witnesses. Our main focus is to have the president and his counsel, who you know are given the same privileges as president nixon and president clinton had to participate and engage in the impeachment process. Even to the point if we have executive sessions on the Judiciary Committee, theyre invited to participate. Were hoping the president and his counsel will take advantage of that opportunity. If he has not done anything wrong, were certainly anxious to hear his explanation of that. Have you got any indication the white house will be involved or the counsel . We have not. As you may know, chairman nadler sent a letter. I know theyve been in conversation with the white house and counsel. They sent a letter again inviting the president , making sure he and his counsel are aware of the opportunities to fully engage and participate in this process. We are certainly hoping that he will, as i said, take advantage of that opportunity. As i just talked about with dan, you have the mcgahn ruling which could affect bolton and mulvaney. Why not wait to see if they could testify . What we have requested are documents from the witnesses that you have just mentioned, the state department, chief of staff. We want to have those documents to review those documents that will help to lead any interview or testimony from those participants. As you well know, theyve not been willing to obey lawful subpoenas that have been issued. Were not going to play games with them. The American People are not going to, i think, tolerate any games. If theyre serious about obeying lawful subpoenas, they need to respond to the request for documents and obey those lawful subpoenas. Couldnt their accounts be critical to understanding whats happening . Again, why not wait . Well, as i said they have not been willing to really comply with lawful subpoenas. They want to, what i believe, is play a political game and tie the process up in the courts as long as they can and run the clock out. Were not willing to play that game. We have requested documents. Those documents as you well know are critical and very valuable to the work before us. So if they comply with the document request, i believe it shows a good faith effort on their part to further cooperate with the inquiry. Congresswoman, youve seen all the facts and evidence laid out on these impeachment hearings. No witness has personally testified that the president directly conditioned the release of military aid on investigations into his political opponents. Does that missing element really undermine the democratic argument . Let me tell you, the best witness, the most effective, the most valuable witness that we have is the president of the United States himself. When president zelensky on july 25th, on the infamous call, mentioned the fact he was about ready to purchase additional weaponry, President Trump responded but i need you to do me a favor though. He then went into to what the conditions will be. We know that every witness we talked to, none of the witnesses we talked to have been directly involved or not were able to give any reasonable, rational explanation for holding up the military aid. We do know that the aid was only released after congressional committees started asking questions and the whistleblower came forward. Lets go back to that phone call. Given the president was ultimately unsuccessful in the quid pro quo as republicans argue, the ukrainians never opposed the investigation, the aid ultimately flowed and trump met with zelensky at the u. N. , should democrats consider a censure instead of impeachment . Youre going to make me go back to my Law Enforcement experience. I had an opportunity in 27 years to deal with a lot of people who attempted to rob a bank, attempted to burglarize a house, attempted to car jack an individual. We didnt say since you werent successful, we caught you, you werent successful so lets just let you go and forget it. We have an obligation given to us by the constitution. I know its one the American People want us to uphold. Were going to do the work before us. Congresswoman the fact that the president got caught in the act does not relieve him of being held accountable for the wrong doing that he has engaged in. Congresswoman, you talk about public opinion. Public opinion on support for impeachment has not increased through the hearing process. Theres not been a single House Republican to join the democrats in this. How do you really move forward given what you said about the public . Let me say were going to do the work before us just like as a Law Enforcement officer i never took a poll before i lived up to my responsibilities based on the oath that i took. I have been extremely troubled and disappointed by the behavior of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Many of them i work on committees with. Ive worked on other legislation with. I know them. I have the utmost respect for them. But their refusal to hold this president accountable and to clearly go into their partisan corner and protect this president at any and all costs is troubling to me and i believe troubling to the American People. Thank you so much for joining us this morning congresswoman demings. Thank you. For the gop response lets bring in Judiciary Committee member congressman tom mcclintock. Congressman, have you heard whether the president s lawyers plan to participate in the Judiciary Committees first impeachment hearing this week . No, i havent. I think it would be to the president s advantage to have his attorneys there. Thats his right. I can understand how hes upset at the illegitimate process we saw unfold in the intelligence committ committee. The big question will be if jerry nadler continues that or if he respects the president s Due Process Rights not only to be represented by counsel, but also the ability to call witnesses, to confront his accusers. You think they should bring in lawyers . I think its too his advantage. Chairman nadler asked whether the republicans plan to issue subpoenas or supply written questions. Will your party do that . I expect they will. In fact i know discussions are ongoing as to the witnesses we would like to call. As you recall in the intelligence hearings, republicans asked for nine witnesses. Adam schiff vetoed six of those. In a free society the prosecution doesnt get to choose what witnesses the defense wishes to call. Thats whats been going on and the question will be whether jerry nadler continues that sham in the judiciary hearings. When it goes to the senate, that will play a big role in the senates deliberations. Theyll insist on full Due Process Rights and that could blow up in the democrats faces. We talked about the mcgahn decision here all morning. We know its being appealed. If the courts rule in the future that officials like john bolton and Mick Mulvaney could testify, do you believe they should . Absolutely. In fact i think it will be to the president s advantage for them to testify now. He has to weigh that against the catastrophic damage that would do to executive privilege that ensures when policy is being developed, those discussions are unfettered, are candid, are thinking outside the box. Thats why the doctrine of executive privilege exists. He has to weigh those elements. I understand why hes making the decision he is to protect the doctrine of executive privilege. Not only for his administration, but for future administrations. The discussion has been going on since George Washington was subpoenaed by the house in 1796. You believe they should testify, but not say much . No. I think it would be to his advantage to have them testify. Again, that would shatter the doctrine of executive privilege. Thats the question he has to weigh and whether to invoke that privilege. What about testimony from the president s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani who Gordon Sondland said was in the loop on everything, should he testify . More information is better than less in every aspect of an inquiry and the adversarial process is important to test whats true and not. My objection to what the congress has done is its impeded that process by vetoing republican witnesses and by interfering with the Due Process Rights of the president in whats a quasi judicial proceeding. The New York Times said the president knew about the whistleblower complaint in august before he released the military aid in september. That means when trump spoke to Gordon Sondland in september he was well aware of what was going on when he said there was no quid pro quo. He would have to have been aware of that complaint. Whats your response to that . The implication is this is an admission of guilt because the president found out about the whistleblower complaint and released that aid. Thats not what happened. Several weeks went by before the aid was released. Remember, under our constitution the president has sole responsibility to but he specifically mentioned there was no quid pro quo to sondland. Exactly right. Could he be covering his tracks . Among all of the testimony of the handpicked witnesses from the democrats not one, not one was told that there was a quid pro quo. The only conclusions that they came to were supposition and impressions they got reading the New York Times. Remember, the president conducts our foreign policy. Hes commanded to take care the laws be faithfully enforced. The National Defense authorization act which authorized aid to ukraine requires the administration determines the country is taking steps to combat corruption before he releases the aid. As i read his conversation with zelensky, thats exactly what he was doing. When you defend the president and think about these hearings, is there anything in your mind that the president did involving ukraine that is wrong or that concerns you in any way . Well, he didnt use the delicate language of diplomacy in that conversation. Thats true. He doesnt use the smarmy talk of politicians. What you hear from donald j. Trump is the blunt talk of a manhattan businessman. He says what he means. He means what he says. Thats the only thing thats remarkable about that conversation. He was within his Constitutional Authority and was following the statute that congress adopted in granting aid to the ukraine. We have to leave it there. Thank you for joining us. My pleasure. Up next the economy remains strong. Will it be enough to carry the president to victory in 2020 . Fivethiryeights nate silver weighs in next. Victory in 2020 . 538s nate silver weighs in next. Fights cancer, repairs shattered bones, relieves depression, restores heart rhythms, helps you back from strokes, and keeps you healthy your whole life. From the day youre born we never stop taking care of you. nicki hi, everyone. We just passed the one Year Anniversary of our 5g launch, so lets think about it. We were the first in the world to launch 5g mobile. We flipped the switch on 14 nfl stadiums and with 5g ultra wideband, we hit over 2 gigabits per second. And were gonna be in 30 cities by the end of this year. So thank you all. This is charlie not coughing because he took delsym 12hour. And this is charlie still not coughing while trying his hardest not to wake zeus. Delsym 12hour. Nothing lasts longer for powerful cough relief. Save it slimeball. Onstrating ive upgraded to mucinex. We still have 12 hours to australia. Mucinex lasts 12 hours, so im good. Now move kim nooooooo only mucinex has a patented tablet that lasts 3x longer, for 12 hours. Conversation. President to victory in 2020 . Problems. Nobody likes problems. But why is that . At ibm, problems actually inspire us, to fix things, to change things, to push the world forward. Which is why so many people who dare to take on problems work with ibm. Which is why so many people a lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesnt get everything clean. I tell them, it may be your detergent. Thats why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum. With the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. For sparklingclean dishes, the first time. Cascade platinum. Thanks to move free ultra i keep up with this little one. See the world with this guy. And hit the town with these girls. In a clinical study, 4 out of 5 users felt better joint comfort. Move free. Find our coupon in sundays paper. A couple years ago i got laid off. I did not know what i was going to do. And then a light bulb went off. I had a sewing machine that was still in the box. I pulled up youtube. I kept watching videos over and over, i finally got to the point where i could make a stitch. And thats how knotzland was born. We make handmade bowties out of repurposed fabrics. Because of youtube im an entrepreneur. Its been a crazy journey. You know we just set another stock market record. You saw that, didnt you . The stock market hit another alltime in history high. Meaning 401 k s and jobs. Everybodys getting rich. President trump repeatedly touting the economy after new record highs in the stock market last week and unemployment remaining at historic lows. Is a Strong Economy enough to boost trump to reelection in 2020 . We asked fivethiryeights nate silver do you buy that . When the economy is good the incumbent seems to win reelection and when it isnt, he doesnt. Jimmy carter and george h. W. Bush dealt with recessions. Its become a cliche, but as james carvel put it its the economy stupid. The economy is between pretty good and very good. Gdp has grown about 2 per year. Thats close to average. The Unemployment Rate is 3. 6 , the lowest in 20 years. That would seem to bode well for President Trump. Trump gets credit from voters for the economy. His Approval Rating on the economy is 52 . Quite a lot better than his overall number which is closer than 42 . I spent a lot of time trying to mathematically model the impact of the economy on elections. Trump is a tricky case. Heres the complication. That big gap between the economy and trumps overall numbers mean other things matter to voters also. Everything from trumps temperament, to his treatment of immigrants, to the ukraine, to the impeachment process. Those things arent going away. With trump they take the good and the bad and hes border line for reelection. If the economy gets better, that probably will help trump. It could get worse. The wall street journal assigning about a 30 chance of a recession. All this history might suggest the more trump focuses on the economy the better off his Reelection Campaign could be. Think about ronald reagan. However, focus is not a term that one might associate with this president. Our thanks to nate. You can read more at fivethiryeight. Com. When we come back on the heals of President Trumps unprecedentsed involvement in war crimes cases. My conversation with three veterans on the riffs emerging in the u. S. Military and the threat it poses to our security. Well be right back. Hi. Maria ramirez mom maria Maria Ramirez. Mcdonalds is committing 150 Million Dollars in tuition assistance, education, and career advising programs. Prof Maria Ramirez mom and dad Maria Ramirez to help more employees achieve their dreams. Mothe magic moment. Mirez Congress Really democratized wall street. I wanted to have a firm that wanted to get everybody in. Because people couldnt access wall street. We wanted to be agents of change. For the better. Save it slimeball. Onstrating ive upgraded to mucinex. We still have 12 hours to australia. Mucinex lasts 12 hours, so im good. Now move kim nooooooo only mucinex has a patented tablet that lasts 3x longer, for 12 hours. nicki hi, everyone. We just passed the one Year Anniversary of our 5g launch, so lets think about it. We were the first in the world to launch 5g mobile. We flipped the switch on 14 nfl stadiums and with 5g ultra wideband, we hit over 2 gigabits per second. And were gonna be in 30 cities by the end of this year. So thank you all. A lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesnt get everything clean. I tell them, it may be your detergent. Thats why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum. Its speciallydesigned with the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. Cascade platinums unique actionpacs dissolve quickly. To remove stuckon food. For sparklingclean dishes, the first time. Choose the detergent that lets your dishwasher do the dishes cascade platinum. The number one recommended brand in north america. This is charlie not coughing because he took delsym 12hour. And this is charlie still not coughing while trying his hardest not to wake zeus. Delsym 12hour. Nothing lasts longer for powerful cough relief. i love watching the weather. Hello, my name is itsy bitsy. Rain again . robin hahahaha statler thats impossible. I always plan ahead lets try one more time. kermit ha robin, what do you think of the story so far . robin gee, ive always liked arachnids. Solid opening. Boy, cant wait to see how it ends. waldorf what a coincidence i cant wait for it to end too Waldorf Statler oh hahahaha statler vo portal from facebook. A more secure diaper closure. There were babies involved. And they werent saying much. Thats what we do at 3m, we listen to people, even those who dont have a voice. We are people helping people. Coming up the powerhouse round table taking on impeachment and the 2020 race. Round table taking on impeachment and the 2020 race. Is that theres a lot to learn. Grow with google is here to help you with turning ideas into action. Putting your business on the map, connecting with customers, and getting the skills to use new tools. So, in case youre looking, weve put all the ways we can help in one place. Free training, tools, and Small Business resources are now available at google. Com grow thanks to move free ultra i keep up with this little one. See the world with this guy. And hit the town with these girls. In a clinical study, 4 out of 5 users felt better joint comfort. Move free. Find our coupon in sundays paper. Of millions of americans during the recession. So, my wife kat and i took action. We started a Nonprofit Community bank with a simple theory give people a fair deal and real economic power. Invest in the community, in businesses owned by women and people of color, in affordable housing. The difference between words and actions matters. Thats a lesson politicians in washington could use right now. Im tom steyer, and i approve this message. Introducing new Vicks Vapopatch easy to wear with soothing vicks vapors for her, for you, for the whole family. New Vicks Vapopatch. Breathe easy. We woke up today incredibly stunned and awed by the president s generosity. I cant tell you enough how much i appreciate President Trump and Vice President pence. I dont know how many times i thanked the president. He keeps stepping in and doing the right thing. I dont think he really understands the full definition of a war fighter. A war fighter is a profession of arms. A profession of arms has standards that they have to be held to and they hold themselves to. That was major matt goldstein, First LieutenantClint Lawrence and eddie gallagher, three Service Members whose war crime cases prompted the unprecedented interference of President Trump leading to the firing of the Navy Secretary. Issuing pardons is the legal right of the president. Was it the right thing to do . What is the impact President Trump made . I sat down with three veterans to discuss. Im colonel dave lapan. I spent 34 years in the marines. Three di deployments afghanistan and haiti. Im dr. Kyleanne hunter. I hold a phd from the corbell school. Commander kurt laport. I was a 26year navy veteran serves on cruisers and destroyers. I was the Commanding Officer of uss cole. I want to start with the quote from fired Navy Secretary richard spencer. He said this was a shocking and unprecedented intervention. It was a reminder that the president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices. Your reaction . I agree on both points. The president did reach down into the chain of command in an unprecedented way. This is the latest example weve seen from the president that shows he has very little to no understanding of the military that he professes to love. Commander, you think the president did the right thing . I think he did. When i looked at the decision he made, you have to look at how the military Justice System was performing. It was absolutely failing. You had to have a prosecutor relieved. The president made it clear he was disappointed the way the system was working. He wants to back this troops on the ground. This is disconcerting to senior officers. While it is unconventional, what secretary spencer said and how he said it, it was wholly inappropriate. It made him seem petty after his relief for cause or firing by the president. Dr. Hunter, your reaction . One of the things thats important to think about with this is rules of engagement is an important system put in place for a reason. The boots on the ground, the individuals making that split decision to take a life, to not take a life, to pull a trigger, to not pull a trigger, need to know the rules are there and they mean something. An intervention that challenges or questions the way these rules are enacted is troubling. It sends very concerning messages to what is a very serious decision. I want to go to one of the president s tweets. He said we train our boys to be killing machines and prosecute them when they kill. It was an inappropriate statement. When you Say Something like that the president isnt grasping they are professionals. They have a set of rules to follow. While theyre trained to be ruthless killers, they do it within the bounds of the rules and the rules of engagement. Doctor, explain to people who dont know what is good order and discipline about why that is so important and why its so important you have discipline and in so many ways its that moment when you can shoot or not shoot that the good order and discipline comes to bear. Absolutely. Everybody who is here can speak to real life examples of where this became so important. In the military were expected and trained and we are required to do things that go very counter to human nature. We run towards conflict. We lean into it. Its not easy. Its not in our normal nature to do it. So to do it and not devolve into the idea of being a barbarian takes a lot of training. It also requires there are rules and constraints put in place. Colonel, you and i were together in fallujah in 2005. We were in a convoy and there was a civilian, an iraqi civilian, who approached the convoy and the gunner in one of the humvees opened fire likely killing that man. Those are the splitsecond decisions. They might hurt us so we should hurt them. In that particular occasion our convoy was going down the street. Traffic had been stopped. All of a sudden a vehicle was approaching around the vehicles that had been stopped. We wonder whats the intent. It appears to be a threat. The soldier, or the marine in this case, the vehicle reacts instantly because he has to. He took the shot. Again, i believe the individual was killed. I believe we found out afterward it was a driver that decided he didnt want to wait and he made a bad decision that may have ended his life. Those are the kind of splitsecond decisions, life or death, thats the key to understanding why good order and discipline we talk about it. Most people dont understand it. What effect will this have on our troops Going Forward and if you were a commander right now, what would you say to them about what just happened and these pardons . I would sit there and say the president made a decision. It was within his bounds to do so. That is not going to change how were going to train to do business if we have to go to the tip of the spear and defend this nation. If im a commander, im going to run my unit to that standard period. I know that im operating under the guidelines and the long view of history will support that. Dr. Hter, do you think this will affect troops long term . One of the things i really worry about is this impacting on an individual level is the issues around ptsd, moral injury, did i make the right decision at the time . Coming back from war, having made decisions to pull the trigger is hard. Its something that i have worked through. I think knowing that rules of engagement are meaningful, knowing we made the best decisions for ourselves and the people who are to the left and right of us is something we need to have confidence in. We owe it to the young women and men over there right now making the right decisions. Does it divide the force . Yes. We have different opinions here. Im thinking of the s. E. A. L. Community and the s. E. A. L. S who support gallagher, says support him, and a whole bunch of others who think that should not have happened. I think thats also one of the most harmful longterm effects you have. Good order and discipline, rules of engagement, the chain of command, both up and down exist to unify us. When theres when the military becomes politicized, nothing good can come of it for longterm health of the military. The military today, unfortunately at the senior levels, has become more politicized than its ever been in our history. At the end of the day those troops on the ground, those sailors on the ships, want to know that the chain of command has their back. The divisiveness that weve seen, people taking sides, more politicization of the military and its gone down the ranks, when you have troops showing up at events with maga hats, commander in chief holds events for truth, but theyre not supposed to be partisan events. The force now wonders and we see the divisiveness and weve seen the Navy Secretary fired over it. This president has talked about how much he admires the military, how much he has done for the military, its all about the strength of the military. I would ask what these pardons have done to further that goal. Rather than making the military stronger, i think hes weakened the military. Our thanks to all three veterans. The round table takes on impeachment and the latest in the 2020 race. Thats coming up next. Were back in 60 seconds. Thats coming up next. Were back in 60 seconds. I will issue a pardon to a pair of very handsome birds. Butter and his alternate bread. Thankfully bread and butter have been specially raised by the jacksons to remain calm under any conditions which will be very important because theyve already received subpoenas to appear in adam schiffs basement on thursday. I should note that unlike previous witnesses, you and i have actually met. President trump poking some fun there at the annual thanksgiving turkey pardon on tuesday and the round table joins me now. Abc news political director rick klein. Fivethiryeight writer perry bacon jr. Washington examiner chief correspondent Susan Ferrechio and abc political analyst matthew dodd. Rick klein, weve been talking about the impeachment transferring to the Judiciary Committee. Talk us through what youre hearing from each side and their strategy. What are you hearing . The democrats view is get it over and move on. They feel like theyve made the case they can make. Theyre frustrated inside their conference about the inability to move public opinion. The inability to get r inabilitt torepublicans to go along. Thats not going to change. They need to get the process moving. Youll see that after the Intelligence Committee hands over documents. On the republican side youre hearing things like this process is rushed, its hurried, its partisan. Its political theater. Their view is this a more fair ground to play defense and theyll try to undermine the legitimacy of the investigation. Perry, the republicans have not broken rank with this and the president at all. Do you think that continues to matter . It matters absolutely. The democrats said impeachment should be bipartisan. We want it to be bipartisan. That will help move the public. Youve seen about 49 of the people support impeachment. 44 of people oppose it. Thats the numbers that were similar when we started. After three weeks of testimony we described as gripping and interesting and damaging to the president , it essentially changed no ones mind on the process. 49 44 is very close to who voted for hillary and who voted for trump. The Republican Party is not going to move the voters away from President Trump no matter what the president is. Were having a process that isnt going to change anybodys mind. Susan, do you get any sense the democrats think they made a mistake . No, i dont think they think they made a mistake, but i think theyre concerned. Here they are in this process. Were heading into december. The polls are stagnant. Theyre worried theyre stuck on something that could hurt them politically. As rick was saying, lets move on quickly and put this in the Rearview Mirror thats what im hearing from the democrats in congress. We were hoping the polls would have moved. Nothing has really happened. Whats going to happen next . Are they taking up articles of impeachment . If they do, theyre going to take it to the senate where its not going to go anywhere. Doesnt sound like the democrats will have any new witnesses other than these legal experts . We have the don mcgahn testimony that could be compelled by the courts. That takes a while. Democrats have signalled they dont want to weight. In part theyll drag out a process not winning for them especially in the key swing districts where they have to watch their theyre vulnerable. Theyre in a bind, the democrats. Even if bolton and mulvaney were forced to testify, they wouldnt want that to happen given that it will take so long. It would provide more theater, but i agree. I said before this started once the impeachment of donald trump numbers went to 49 or 50, i didnt think they would move much. Were in such a polarized time. Republicans are 100 for donald trump. Democrats are 100 against him. Theres a small amount of independent or swing voters that lightly switched. I never thought it would move. I think what the democrats i dont think the democrats will be hurt by this in the end. Well have an impeachment. Theyll vote on it. It will get to the senate. It will be dismissed and two weeks later well be on to something else. One of the things when you look at history, when you have this political battle going on, its never solved through congress. The voters are going to have to come in and fix what needs fixing. Next november to me is ultimately the only fundamental way if people want to hold donald trump accountable he will only fundamentally be held accountable in an election. I was going to turn to the 2020 race. The democratic debate last week felt like an after thought compared to the impeachment hearings. The candidates do want to talk about the issues. How do they do this when its all about impeachment . Its a very critical time. You cant fight it. The counter programming is delivering what the voters want to hear on. Theyre not getting asked on the trail about impeachment. They dont want to talk about it. They dont have much to add. Its not an issue for them. Theres not a good way for the campaigns to try to break through. The democratic primary is going to play out against that back drop. If this is done by february, march, were not going to be voting on impeachment in november. They have to keep their eyes on the prize. Its frustrating for the lower tier candidates. They thought this was the time where everyone is going to be dialed into the primary campaign. Perry, last week there were a marquette poll of out wisconsin showing all the major Democratic Candidates, warren, biden, buttigieg and sanders losing in head to head matches against the president if democrats move forward with trying to remove the president im with matt on this. Im not of the view we can take much of early polls. Come on. We want to see whats happening. Im saying we should be careful of the early polls. Absolutely. The race itself is interesting in that we had four frontrunners. Buttigieg has little minority support, black and latino voters. Biden is struggling in iowa and New Hampshire. Warren and sanders seem to be too left of the party. I think biden is still the frontrunner. Its a complicated race. I cant tell whats going on. Its a complicated race and i cant tell whats going on. I think its an interesting race. Any of those four could win, any could face plant as well. If you look at the National Poll that shows buttigieg rising to second place, Elizabeth Warren falling a bit and joe biden keeps hanging on to the top. You talk to a lot of people around the country. What are the dynamics of this here and where biden is. There are two facts around the primary campaign. Joe bidens support is real. Its constant. Its consistent. Guess what . So is concern over joe bidens support. Both can be true until one disproves the other. Im intrigued by mayor Pete Buttigieg. You can make an argument hes an early frontrunner now. Iowa and New Hampshire polls suggest it. Alexandria ocasiocortez chose him to target. Shes a very savvy political person. Shes very savvy. She knew what she was doing taking on mayor pete. I want to ask you questions about whats happening in the country. The polls that matter are the early state caucus polls. That determines the frontrunner. If you look at the time polls now, its fluid. Biden is the dominant candidate. He cannot only win maybe he wont win in iowa. You dont have to win iowa. Hillary clinton didnt win iowa but stayed a strong candidate. Its possible biden may not win iowa, but he still has the minority support buttigieg doesnt have. Hes like 0 among minorities. Hes got to improve that. Explain why he isnt getting that minority. Hes a small town mayor. Hes not been on the national stage. Biden is the successor to obama in the eyes of many minority voters. Buttigieg has to come up with an agenda thats more appealing to minority candidates. I think the minority support problem for buttigieg is a problem. Its not unique to buttigieg. He has the same level of support that Kamala Harris has and cory booker has, both of which are African American senators. The fascinating thing is theres no dominant powerful character. I think as of today theres still six or seven candidates that have the possibility of winning. I think joe bidens difficulty, if he thinks he can lose iowa, New Hampshire and nevada and come through strong in south carolina, that may be a fiction for him. He has to hope that Pete Buttigieg doesnt start winning multiples in a row. I was telling rick in the green room earlier, i would much rather be a candidate with momentum than some candidate with money or the machine behind them. Once you have momentum its hard to stop. Keep in mind that barack obama at this time in 2007 was behind in iowa and was significantly behind in south carolina. The race adjusted really quick as soon as the voting started. Perry, coming off our very strong black friday, the economy has not taken a major stumble under the president s watch. You heard what nate silver said. Thats baked in to how the voters look at that. His Approval Rating still low. If the economy stays strong, could that outweigh the negative . I dont think so. Weve had three years of polls showing the economy is strong. People still find a lot of other reasons to like donald trump. For trump it would be better if he stopped tweeting. I literally think that kind of thing alone would help his numbers more. Assuming hes not going to change, we never had these polls where theyve been more stable than any previous present. Those numbers dont change no matter what he says or what he does. Impeachment has not changed it. With that said, 40 National Polling is different in wisconsin to where hes closer to 47 . This is a very close electoral environment. Donald trump despite being unpopular could win the election because the polls show that Democratic Candidates are getting more unpopular. Biden started off popular, hes more unpopular. Warren and sanders too. Buttigieg if he becomes more known will become more unpopular too is my suspicion. Donald trump has a chance to win the election even though hes unpopular. Job approval numbers if i counsel anybody, look at the job approval numbers and look at them in five or six states. Its not going to matter. This is a president ial reelect. I went through the president ial reelect in 2007 with george w. Bush. That was the number one thing we watched is job approval numbers. Not john kerrys favorables or unfavorables. It does not matter. If Donald Trumps job approval numbers are where they are today in the low 40s in those five states, it does not matter what the favorability rating is. Donald trump will lose. I agree with perry. If he stopped tweeting, weve shown that the economy isnt helping him. If he did some adjustment in tone or temperament, that would help him more. That probably will not happen. He couldnt even adjust it on thanksgiving. Then we have debates. We have another debate later this month with a higher donor and polling threshold. So far only six candidates have qualified. The candidates have until next thursday. What impact will not making those debates make for cory booker and Julian Castro . Its devastating. The campaigns have been blunt about it. You need to be part of the conversation. Getting 4 or 5 isnt going to win your delegates in january and february when the voting starts. These thresholds are artificially low, not high. Its going to be tough. The fact that Michael Bloomberg wont be there is a key point. Hes blanketing the air waves and setting new records every day. Hes counting on this conversation to continue all the way through the primary process. Hes betting on chaos in the democratic field that he can clean up. Thats a totally different play than everyone else is banking on. Theres a brutal article in the New York Times about the state of Kamala Harris staff. They quoted from the Resignation Letter of harris former iowa director. This is my third president ial campaign and i have never seen an organization treat a staff so terribly. With less than ninety days to iowa, we still dont have a real plan to win. Are you surprised by this . I questioned her durable when she first got in and how quickly she was advantage wished by the entering of biden. Im not surprised shes almost out of it now. The real question is she has some support. Where does that go . Where does the support go for other candidates, like harris, are going to have to make a decision . A lot will end up dropping out soon. Where is that support going to go . Is that going to coalesce the field more and make it more stable and show us a frontrunner . Im not surprised. Shes going to be out of it soon. The other question is what does her future hold when she goes back to the senate . Will she go back to leadership . I dont think weve seen the end of Kamala Harris by any means. She does have real leadership qualities. Im wondering what shell do next. Matt, i want to end on Michael Bloomberg. We have 45 seconds left. He says he can beat trump. Can he beat the democrats . Hes got a much better odds of beating trump than the democrats. In this disruptive time, im not going to dismiss anybodys chances. I cant figure out the strategy other than chaos, biden is wounded. I come in. Im the only National Candidate here. I think somebody in that scenario somebody like Amy Klobuchar is more likely. In this disruptive time i dont count anybody out. That will have to end it. Thanks for joining us. Before we go we honor our fellow americans who serve and sacrifice. In the month of november two Service Members died overseas supporting operations in afghanistan. Thats all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. Check out world news tonight. Have a great day. World news tonight. Have a great day. Danafarber Cancer Institute discovered the pdl1 pathway. Pdl1. They changed how the world fights cancer. Blocking the pdl1 protein, lets the immune system attack, attack, attack cancer. Pdl1 transformed, revolutionized, immunotherapy. Pdl1 saved my life. Saved my life. Saved my life. What we do here at danafaber, changes lives everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. Is your business still settling for slow internet . Well time is money. 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