Targeting trumps rivals. If it sounds like a lot, it is a lot. Right now, our top story begins behind closed doors. Speaker pelosi continued her strategy to shape the calendar for the trial. Announcing a vote tomorrow to hand off the impeachment articles, to name the prosecutors who will walk over to the senate and make the case to the senate and to America Donald trump is constitutionally unfit to stay in office. Meanwhile, leader mcconnell saying the trial prep, meaning getting it going, can start immediately and well tell what you that means. An invite for chief Justice Roberts to swear in people this week. We know from history, as the chief justice arrives, the senators are sworn in, even the often partisan brawling atmosphere of the capitol does tend to cool even if briefly because the weight of the trial sets in. There are signs he wants to get on with it. Reports tonight that the formal trial could begin as soon as tuesday with some democrats looking downright pumped up today. The next step is simple. The senate should conduct a fair trial. Were going on reach a verdict. The verdict will be acquittal. We will not rest until we get the truth. That is assuming were on the trial next tuesday and i think thats the case. Next tuesday. We can report one of the most likely house managers, congressman adam schiff, is one of the few house members to try a Senate Impeachment case. He kit against a federal judge. He stayed behind for an extra halfhour today huddling privately with Speaker Pelosi. She will announce the impeachment managers tomorrow morning in a press conference. Meanwhile, democrats also stating, theyre turning over new evidence to the senate. These are the documents we just discussed briefly. Theyve received them, they say, from giulianis indicted associate, lev parnas. While many continue to defend trump broadly, his latest effort arguing they should prevent any trial at all. Guess who it is failing with . Republican senators. Theyve been coming out against the effort to dismiss the charges outright. We have a lot including the breaking story and we begin with the reporter from the New York Times magazine. And senior washington corporate for politico. And well be joined by a member of congress on that other big scoop, what theyre releasing. From the washington perspective, if they wanted to, at the white house, emphasize a kind of unity and nothing to see here. It would seem to be a little misfire putting out trial balloons getting shot down by republicans, meaning no dismissal. It is not surprising this white house is often out of step with republicans on the hill. Certainly democrats saying we should go for a motion to dismiss. And you have Mitch Mcconnell saying, no, no appetite. I dont think theres any possibility thats going to happen. I think it is another example of where this white house and republicans just arent working off the same play book. The white house does whatever it wants to and the Congressional Republicans are left to deal with the aftermath. This is where legal trial strategy meets Senate Strategy meets Everything Else youre trying to tell the country. Mitch mcconnell, if he knows nothing else. If he knows how to move what he wants through the senate. He was pretty clearly saying, hey, donald trump, dont help me help you. Let me run this. Here he was speaking about all this today. Take a look. There is little or no sentiment in the republican conference to dismiss. We feel we have an obligation. We will be dealing with it at the appropriate time. It is important to point out both sides would want to call witnesses that they wanted to hear from. I would say this is pretty minimal. Sticking up for congress. Mitch mcconnell knows there has to be some kind of proceeding here. Whats the constitution calls for. To some degree, the white house has been all over the map. Trumps spokesperson said, call all the witnesses you want west dont care. It is like theyre throwing spaghetti at the wall. This is prospect of hunter biden or joe biden himself who was at one point struggling to explain what to do if called. Hes putting that out as a veiled threat to the democrats. Be careful what you wish for if we start calling witnesses. And this has to do with republican control for the senate. I think it is obvious. At least, you can make a good argument that the witnesses that the democrats want to call are directly relevant to the proceedings. And by calling joe biden or hunter biden is going off farther afield from the meet of the impeachment inquiry. But of course, mcconnell has power to do it anyway. A traditional defense witness would be someone in the room saying, no, no, everything the president did was all right. Those people exist. Some of them werent in the house proceedings. To go out and find family members of your rival does seem a distant step. In fairness to the senate trial rules, if you can get the votes, you can call who you want. It is interesting what he was doing there. There are people in the 2020 campaign trail who would not like the idea of even an open invite as you head into iowa. The other thing on ask you about. Youre a straight report he. You just follow what each side is doing. Im curious. Your analysis what it means when people preview this very rare historical event, that donald trump clearly doesnt want to have happen. It will be on television. Everyone understands it is a big idea. The strategy of saying it is super boring. Dont worry about it. Heres senator kramer. Are. He said no phones no, ipads. I expect to drink a lot of coffee and not a heavy lunch. I expect it to be very tedious. I dont see how anyone who has aspired to be a Decision Maker in the United States senate wouldnt be curious and find it at least stimulating to their cases. What do you think, it is not joking but almost a lighthearted way of making the point or trolling. Hey, this will be boring. I think it is a way, Senate Republicans are following house republicans. This is all process issue. It will be boring. The hearings in the house. No one was paying attention to. Half the members didnt attend. From the republican perspective, theyre trying throw as much water, there is nothing to see here, folks, lets move on as fast as possible. Do you think will it is boring . Well, i think the chats do their best to prove that case. The issues at stake are really serious ones. And there were some pretty riveting witnesses who testified in front of the house. If you take out the witness testimony, and there are only lawyers arguing back and forth, it can seem less consequential. And sure, more boring than it would be with real witnesses. Thank you both. We continue now out to some guests on the hill in this breaking story. Democrats just now releasing this evidence they say is going to add to their case against trump in the trial. And it has been obtained from Rudy Giuliani. It includes handwritten stationary written on, in the writing it fears reference Donald Trumps plot to try to get ukrainians to investigate biden. Get zelensky to investigate. Eric swalwell has been mentioned as a potential. Good evening to both of you. Good evening. What is the new evidence and why are you releasing it tonight . We are sending over to the Judiciary Committee to make its way to the senate more evidence of communications between trump associates, the president s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, relating to the shakedown scheme. I can tell you, ari, every time we see more documents, the arrows continue to point in the direction that the president was running a correct scheme. Putting his interests above americas interestser having the ukrainians help him cheat in an election which is all the more reason mcconnell should support having all the documents available. For your response, lets dig into. This it just hit the newsroom. Chuck todd was mentioning it in the handoff. Wave hand written note says get zelensky to announce the biden case will be investigated, and quote, start communicating with be zelensky. Can you tell us for understanding, is this something that was not initially available to you in the earlier hearings . Is that why were seeing it now . Why not hold it back to the trial itself . Walk us through what were seeing. This is new evidence. The evidence we have corroborates that the president was focused on having president zelensky investigate the bidens and exonerate russia for its role. We have not seen a single piece of evidence that shows the president was doing anything other than that. So when he holds back witnesses, or holds back documents, the only conclusion we can make is hes holding them back because they dont help him. If they were revealed, they look like this ritzcarlton note. The president s scheme was to shake down ukrainian zelensky do this. Were looking at this handwritten document. Tell us what you think of what Mitch Mcconnell has been saying and the process with the senate, youre one of the few people on earth who has been a part of as a juror. I see that the majority leader backed off in some of his fantasies about just dismissing this trial. It is not because hes doing it for the right reasons. He doesnt have the votes. There are too many republicans in this caucus that wont put up with it. I think the chrriticism has bee made and it is starting to sting. If they make this a fake trial and dont allow this, they are complicit in this offense against the United States. What the president did here is one of the worst thing any president has done basically in american history. There has to be accountability. So that mcconnell is taking the clinton model. At least waiting until the opening arguments which takes several days for both sides before a possible motion to dismiss means hes feeling the pressure. And ultimately, it will come to a vote. Whether to have witnesses, depositions or live witnesses. I think this material is essential and flophilosophy can introduced. When you see your colleagues, murkowski who joined the senate later, talk about wanting witnesses. We know it is a handful of votes away. Do you take that at face value . Or do you have the concern or like the kavanaugh nomination, how do you help us understand what were seeing. Not only wasly the 20 years ago but ive worked with them. They are often very straightforward and sincere in what theyre doing. And i bet theyre both under comfortable with the idea of a show trial or being complicit. I worked very closely, hand in glove with senator collins. She and i consulted on a bipartisan basis during the clinton trial to make sure we understood the history of impeachment. What high crimes and misdemeanors were. I think her concerns are real and sincere. I thi Speaker Pelosi insists shes gotten the benefit out of controlling the calendar. Republicans have said it is a needless delay. Are you one of the impeachment managers . I believe only Speaker Pelosi knows who they are. It is only a needless delay if you are trying force a rigged outcome which is what shes trying to do. This is not what was alleged in the clinton impeachment trial. These crimes much darker and threaten our National Security of the so tomorrow we will learn who the managers are. We will vote to send the articles to the senate and ideally, a trial takes place with witnesses. What did Speaker Pelosi gain on holding back on the articles . First, three things. The public sentiment is high. 78 of americans want witnesses. People like john bolton have come forward and offered relevant information west didnt have that during our trial. During the clinton impeachment trial, every witness was interviewed by ken starr. We dont have that here. The president has blocked witnesses. And new documents have been obtained. Er it only reinforce thats the president was running this shake down scheme. It is released as a former senator and juror, ill be calling on both of you in the days to come. Thank you. Up next, more on the new impeachment evidence including some we hadnt seen. This Rudolph Giuliani letter. An entire letter to the incoming ukrainian leader. Giuliani admitting it was gun the knowledge and consent of President Trump. We have that breaking story next. Later, Michael Steele joins us on the actual pressure facing the people in the party he used to chair. And a response to the russia hack that could be putins move to insert himself even before the trial is over. T himself eve the trial is over. Dont get mad, put those years to work with e trade. Remember, you have out the hilton app. Can the hilton app help us win . Hey, heywere all winners with the hilton price match guarantee, alright . Man, you guys are adorable alright, lets go find your coach, come on book with the hilton app. Expect better. Expect hilton. The good news . Our comfort lasts all day. The bad news . So does his energy. Depend® fitflex underwear offers your best comfort and protection guaranteed. Because, perfect or not, lifes better when youre in it. Be there with depend®. Wherever we want to go, we just have to start. Autosave your way there with chase. Chase. Make more of whats yours. Thats why Xfinity Mobile lets you design your own data. You can share 1, 3, or 10 gigs of data between lines, mix in lines of unlimited, and switch it up at any time. All with millions of secure wifi hotspots and the best lte everywhere else. Its a different kind of wireless network, designed to save you money. Switch and save up to 400 a year on your wireless bill. And save even more when you say bring my own phone into your voice remote. Thats simple, easy, awesome. Click, call or visit a store today. Of Rudy Giuliani wrote, i have a specific request in my capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent, i request a meeting with you on his upcoming monday may 13th or tuesday may 14th. He describes victoria as distinguished american attorney who is knowledgeable with the issues at hand. Giuliani showing his trim at the time, contemporaneously as the lawyers would say, was something the president was consenting to. A very critical piece of information in evidence. And i want to get into all this right now with john flannery. We should note, he once worked directly with giuliani in the Southern District of new york. What do you think is the significance of this brand new evidence . If there was any room for doubt that this was a shakedown by the president , that he was involved and rudy was involved, and rudys people were involved, this put that all to rest. As you said, one of the most significant things about this letter that you were reading is that it starts with, i am private counsel to president donald trump. It even suggests that this is out of channels. Lets pause on the evidentiary part. Not according to the critics and observe theers, but according to the president s own employee or agent, this was not for the public interests of the United States. This is a personal attorney seeking personal help to the president. That brings me to the next thing to ask you. This letter is dated, is democrats say it is real and well report any contesting from the white house. If you take this date as real in may, it would suggest that the initial effort in this plot was not for trump to necessarily have to ask ukrainian leader on record in front of government officials but to get giuliani to do it. On when that faltered, didnt get results they wanted, did it then go to the july call. Yes. And the context is interesting. Before this letter in may, you have them getting rid of yovanovitch in april so shes not in the way to obstruct this corrupt deal theyre putting together. And i think you mentioned in the broadcast, that there was a text message or email from giuliani. And hes talking about the antitrump people who are around not zelensky that hes concerned about. Then when the two subs who worked there, they found out and were indicted, there is interesting correspondence for the president , john dowd to represent both of them in the criminal proceedings. Thats changed. Lev parnas is represented by different counsel. So the evidence that fills in whatever gaps people have. I relate to be one of those senators who think they have to lie for the president and vote for him at this upcoming trial with this kind of evidence. This goes to the factual pattern. Are you claiming the phone call was just a phone zmaul that there wasnt a wider alleged conspiracy . Or boom, as more evidence comes out, here it is. That brings me to the other big report. We led with this breaking news. I have to ask you about the other big thing going on. As the senate prepares to put donald trump on trial, the other reports about who will defend trump. The New York Times reporting alan dershowitz. This leaves one big name out in the cold. Rudy giuliani. There are a few reasons to leave him out. Theres First Defense lawyer to ever get a president ial client impeached. A twist worth reflecting on. We checked. If a university had a course in how to create an atmosphere where impeachment becomes plausible, the president would bring in people to do damage control who deliver more damage. Which is the outcome of the addition of Rudy Giuliani. It is and giuliani who pushed the conspiracy theory. And by some who argued nothing came of it, giuliani is undercutting that defense. He returned to ukraine with a camera crew. Hes in trouble tonight for his efforts. So with all that in mind, look at Something Else we havent had time mention yet. Consider this new cnn report that still, giuliani is lobbying the white house to get on the team on defend trump in the senate arguing he knows the case against the president inside and out. Put me in coach. Im ready to play today. Look at me, i can be, you know how it goes, center field. Trumps own allies saying no, way. They dont trust giuliani to argue a parking ticket. And others saying he will not be speaking on the senate floor. They dont trust him. They prefer him, mr. Flannery,