Mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. We begin with the impeachment trial of President Trump which resumes this afternoon and Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has unveiled the ground rules for the proceedings. Mcconnell released the fourpage organizing resolution which outlines the rules that will govern the trial late yesterday afternoon. It offers both the democratic prosecutors and the White House Defense team 24 hours in total to make Opening Statements but the time must be confined to two working days or basically two 12hour slots. When each side has made its case, senators will be given 16 hours to ask questions in writing. The senate will consider subpoenaing witnesses or documents and vote on whether to do so. The resolution does not automatically admit evidence from the house impeachment inquiry. The impeachment rules set forward by Mitch Mcconnell vary from those of the impeachment trial of president bill clinton. According to the new york times, while the trial is expected to unfold in a similar sequence to the 1999 one with Opening Statements, then questions from senators followed by an up or down vote on whether to consider calling witnesses or new evidence, mcconnells plan would speed up the proceedings. The times reports that when the clinton trial opened the senate admitted into evidence, printed and shared with senators all record generated by the house impeachment inquiry into clinton but that is not the case this time. And while the draft resolution similarly does not incorporate democratic demands that the trial guarantee witness testimony or requests for new documents, mcconnells proposal still differs slightly. According to the paper, the Resolution Says that after senators conclude their questioning, they will not immediately entertain motions to call individual witnesses or documents. Instead, they will decide first whether they want to consider new evidence at all. Only if a majority of senators agree to do so will the managers and prosecutors be allowed to propose and argue for specific witnesses or documents. Each of which would then be subject it to an additional vote. The times reports that mcconnells resolution does not include a guarantee that the senate will vote on a motion to dismiss the case after opening arguments rather than see the trial to a full conclusion. A guarantee that was included in the clinton era rules. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle weighed in on the organizing resolution outlining the rules that will govern the impeachment trial with two key moderate republicans to watch when it comes to the witness vote, senator mitt romney, and Lamar Alexander. In a statement senator romney said i made clear to my colleagues and the public that the senate should have the opportunity to decide on witnesses following the opening arguments as occurred in the clinton trial. The organizing resolution includes this step and overall it aligns closely with the rules packaged approved 100 to 0 during the clinton trial. If attempts are made to vote on witnesses prior to opening arguments, i would oppose those efforts. Senator alexander released a statement reading in part quote the resolution i am supporting guarantees a vote on whether we need additional evidence at the appropriate time. Their support does not come as a surprise considering Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell announced previously that he has 53 republican votes in favor of the resolution. Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer meanwhile said he will offer amendments quote to address the many flaws in this resolution. In a statement just yesterday, schumer writes quote this, senator mcconnell repeatedly promised senators the public and the press that his rules for the trial would be the same as the rules for president clintons trial. After reading his resolution, its clear senator mcconnell is hell bent on making it much more difficult to get witnesses and documents and intent on rushing the trial through quote on something as important as impeachment. Senator mcconnells resolution is nothing short of a national disgrace. Pretty strong words there from senator schumer. Speaking to reporters last night, schumer accused mcconnell of orchestrating a cover up. Impeachment is one of the few powers that congress has when a president overreaches. To so limit impeachment and make it so less serious is so so wrong. We will fight that tooth and nail. We hope that four brave republicans will resist mcconnells cover up. The fate of honor in the republic is on their shoulders. And by the way, senator schumer will be joining us later on morning joe. Joining us here on msnbc, legal analyst, danny cevallos. And senior staff writer for the hill scott wong. Run us through what we will see today as President Trumps impeachment trial resumes. Are we going to hear 12 hours of opening arguments from the prosecution . Well, things kick off in earnest today at 1 00 p. M. Eastern. Were finally here. This is the Senate Impeachment trial but before we even get to the opening arguments, which will start on wednesday, we are going to have this big fight over senator mcconnells resolution governing the rules of engagement for this senate trial and specifically senator schumer and the democrats have one big objection, and that is that this resolution lays out a very accelerated time line as you guys mentioned 24 hours of argument, thats pretty standard, but that 24 hours will be consolidated or condensed into two working days, two sessions. What that means is when you start at 1 00 p. M. Each day to allow for john roberts to conduct his work over in the Supreme Court and walk across the street to the United States senate, it means that these days are going to run well into the night. Perhaps into the wee mornings the next day, and so democrats and schumer are concerned that a lot of the arguments are going to be happening when the American Public is not paying attention. Thats why youre hearing words like a cover up. They are accusing mcconnell and the republicans of being an accomplice in the quote cover up by allowing this to run late into the night when most americans are not tuning in. Danny, walk us through sort of your sense with regards to this resolution that mcconnell released yesterday. First and foremost, the timing in which scott got into a little bit with this 24 hours over two working days, which i want to get your take on, and also obviously this question of witnesses, which we have talked about repeatedly as to whether or not big names like john bolton are going to be called forward. It seems like every step of the way youre going to have to get votes before you can get to the point whether or not they can ask if they can submit witnesses for the impeachment trial. If you are hearing the sound of our voices at this moment, then you are not likely to be watching the senate trial at one in the morning. Its five in the morning now. Most folks hearing this right now are asleep well before one in the morning when the trial is going to conclude each day. This is a very condensed trial in that its going to force a lot of evidence to be jammed into the record in marathon sessions. So its really interesting strategically how each side is going to present its arguments and now what becomes critical is what time of day do you present your arguments. Do you get them out there during prime time or at 1 00 p. M. When do you make these main legal arguments. Your best legal arguments. Very different from a courtroom trial where you have a jury that is forced to be attentive at least for the time youre there, the normal 8hour working day for a normal 8 hours. It will be interesting to see the strategies they use moving forward. Do you think an element is for public consumption making the Opening Statements or public statements. You as a lawyer would take that into consideration is what im asking. Absolutely because you have a jury unlike any other. You have a jury that is not only already biassed because they were elected for their bias but influenced by all the other people watching television. Those are their constituents and those people write letters and emails and they vote people in and out. The very jury members that are going to be hearing this case, so yes, it is very important. Its an extremely important consideration in fashioning these rules as to who is going to be watching not just senators but the American Public as a whole. As a leader, mcconnell does not want this to be about public consumption considering the timing of it. That has to be true, and leader mcconnell wants this to be finished very soon in a short period of time, even though the same number of hours may be allotted, theyre jammed into a few days, working also on saturday. The mission is clear and i have to say at least leader mcconnell is consistent with his position during the clinton impeachment trial. He wanted to streamline it, not a lot of witnesses. The only difference is now hes in a much greater position of power. But as similar, i have to say similarly, republicans in the clinton trial and a more partisan era did not want to see a lot of witnesses. Did want to get the trial over with quickly. How does majority leader mcconnells ground rules for the trial intensify the battle over including impeachment witnesses and documents . Well, as your previous segment alluded to, the fight over documents and witnesses sort of gets put off or punted until much later until after the oral arguments and so Chuck Schumer is avowing to hold repeated votes at the outset so later this afternoon we will see the democrats try to force votes to call witnesses to allow certain evidence to be admitted into this trial from the start, but because republicans including Lamar Alexander and mitt romney, and some of those on the fence republicans have said they are willing to support Mitch Mcconnells resolution, it looks like he now has the 51 votes needed to pass the resolution. That means that this whole fight over documents and witnesses will be punted until well after the oral argument or perhaps we wont even see this fight happen at all after the arguments. Danny cevallos, do not underestimate the endurance of our viewers. They might be watching now and may very well be watching at 1 00 a. M. I know my endurance, and its not happening. Danny cevallos onset, thank you very much. Scott wong, well talk to you in just a little bit. Still ahead in just about 20 minutes from now, President Trump is in davos as we said earlier. He is going to speak at the World Economic forum. We are going to go live to davos for a preview of what we can expect. New reporting about how trumps legal team and other republican allies are trying to ensure john bolton does not publicly testify in the impeachment trial. Those stories and of course a check on your weather when we come back. Course a check on your weather when we come back. I dont keep track of regrets. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on is boost high protein. And now, introducing new boost mobility with collagen for joint health. When taken daily, its key nutrients help support joints, muscles, and strong bones. New, boost mobility. Wherever, however, whenever. Well deliver lunch or dinner right to you. Order delivery at panerabread. Com. Panera. Food as it should be. Welcome back, while impeachment plays out on capitol hill, President Trump is in davos switzerland for the World Economic forum. Joining us now senior White House Correspondent for digital, Shannon Pettypiece, thank you for joining us on this. Talk about the president s agenda this morning considering the split screen moment were going to have throughout the day with the Senate Impeachment trial underway. Reporter right. Its another effort by the president to do some Counter Programming here, to try and shift the narrative away from impeachment and on to the topics he would like to emphasize in his reelection bid, for example, the economy, trade deals with china, trade deals with mexico that he has finalized recently. But of course as weve seen from these past foreign trips, even when he attempts to Counter Program and have a split screen moment as you said where he is being president ial on the international stage, we often find him pulled back into these domestic sagas playing out back at home. And actually i remember being here in 2018 when the big news all of a sudden was that he had tried to fire then special counsel robert mueller, and so the second day of his trip was engrossed in his response to that. So hell have a speech here in actually a few minutes or so where hes expected to emphasize the economy and then he has meetings with World Leaders later today where hopefully well hear from them again. Let me get your thoughts quickly, as we talk about this particular, as you just mentioned the particular moment in this presidency. The president railed against the very type of institution that is the World Economic forum. He railed against what he called global elites. He railed against the International Community even the relationships that are forged by many of these events including the bilateral relationships have been strained. What compels him then to turn around and go, especially in an Election Year like this, to go to davos to try to make this appearance and this speech . Reporter right. Thats such a great point because to his base, this is really this crowd of the global elite, everything they fought against. This is the global swamp, you could say, but the president has really embraced wall street, embraced the Business Community since his election. I mentioned he was here in 2018, and at that time there was this tension and this question about what his relationship was going to be like with wall street, and as weve seen, he only, you know, often invites executives to the white house. He has touted how rich he has made people through gains in the stock market, and so at this event, theres not an expectation that there will be those same tensions between this, you know, protectionist populist president , this global community, but i will say one thing that will be a big thing this year, particularly more so than other years is the issue of Climate Change and that is the focus of this event. A lot of the executives here are going to be announcing actions theyre going to take on Climate Change. Great that thunberg, the teenage environmental activist is here. I think that will be an area where we could see the president spar a bit with this community. We will be watching for the president s speech, and bring it to you live from davos, switzerland, Shannon Pettypiece also joining morning joe later this morning. Appreciate it. Since it is one of the biggest issues at the World Economic foreign, about how important it is to see Climate Change addressed on that level. So important as shannon was saying that it is going to be the main theme of this years World Economic forum. Theres supposed to be a big announcement, theres supposed to be a bunch of companies and countries, and theyre supposed to be releasing that. Well see if the president addresses it given his track record on the issue. Exactly. Which may have been one of the reasons he didnt want to go, you know. All right, so lets get into this. The temperatures out there, the windchills have been the story over the last two days, and they continue to be. Youll notice all the way down into florida, tallahassee feels like 25 degrees this morning. So were all in the same boat together. This has been one of the coldest arctic outbreaks we have had. Typically winterish, minneapolis at negative 13. 6 in kansas city. 0 in burlington. Bostons at about 7. The next big storm, this is going to be a slow move across the country. Typically when you have a really cold air mass and the next storm moves in it means a lot of Winter Weather. This is moving so slow that the atmosphere is going to warm up a little bit. Were going to get some Winter Weather out of it. Right now just a rain event going on in the pacific northwest. Its a rainy day for friends in california, the northwest. This storm will slowly be moving on shore during the day today. Typical high elevation, mountain snows, and the rain on the coast will continue, wednesday as this system lingers, and then as all the storms move into the middle of the country, by the time we get to wednesday afternoon and thursday, a little bit of light snow from kansas city northwards and by the time we get into thursday, some of that Winter Weather will be moving through the great lakes. As i mentioned, this isnt like a block buster snow event, the snow events will be kind of light and rain as we end the week down in areas of the southeast. Sometimes we get this really cold air, and then once we get the next storm, it could be like a big block buster snow event. This will be another one of those small ones, arrive in the northeast, friday, saturday, sunday. Perfect timing for the weekend. As long as it stays on the weekend, i can live with that. Its when it gets into the weekdays. For the kids. His long commute, you know, youre driving all across america. For the kids, of course, always for the kids. Still ahead, Rudy Giulianis former associate lev parnas wants attorney general bill barr to recuse himself from the criminal finance case against him. Plus, what gi