[Romans:] The full House set to vote this week on impeachment as Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer now laying out his vision for the Senate's all but certain impeachment trial. He says he wants new documents and testimony from a number of administration witnesses, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Now, that's different than the plan top Republicans are putting forward, featuring a short trial with no witnesses.
[Briggs:] And coordination as well. Joining us here, Princeton University historian and profession Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst. Good to see you, sir.
[Romans:] Good morning.
[Julian Zelizer, Cnn Political Analyst, Historian And Professor, Princeton University, Co-author, "fault Lines: A History Of The United States Since 1974":] Good morning.
[Briggs:] In terms of Mitch McConnell what he said to Sean Hannity over the weekend and Lindsey Graham over the weekend as well, how far are we in terms of what the framers intended when it comes to an impeachment trial in the Senate, specifically?
[Zelizer:] Very far. I mean partisanship is Trump being over triumph I mean, over governance. And so far what the Republicans are signaling is they're not open to a trial. Their position is already set they will defend the president and this isn't really an open- ended part of the inquiry.
[Romans:] I mean, you're a historian, right, so the Republican Party coordinated Republican leadership coordinated with the president and with the White House for how it will respond in this in this trial. What happened in the Watergate days? Did the Republican Party traditionally, does the party stick with the president?
[Zelizer:] Republicans stood by the president pretty long during Watergate more than we remember. But they did start to break with the president when he started to obstruct. It was pretty notable in the House Judiciary Committee, Republicans who were loyal to the president. When the president said I will not turn things over
[Romans:] Yes.
[Zelizer:] they said you have to follow the process. We have a constitutional system. We are far from that.
[Romans:] Yes.
[Zelizer:] Right now, the process has been put to the wayside.
[Briggs:] And I hate to again fast-forward through this dramatic week in the House because it is historic and it is important.
[Zelizer:] Yes.
[Briggs:] Again, in the Senate, how central a role could Justice Roberts actually play here?
[Zelizer:] Well, very important. He's the one who can fast-track some of these decisions. He has the authority if Democrats are insisting on trying to call witnesses or get more documents to make that happen. It's unclear if he will. He might defer to the courts. But he will have significant power to actually change what the president can or can't do.
[Romans:] What's so interesting to me is that there you hear the Democrats saying that the Republicans have prejudged how they're going to handle this. And the Republicans saying the Democrats have preloaded this and prejudged how they're going to handle this. And the American people have not changed their opinions along the way here. This Fox News poll on impeachment and removal 50 percent said yes, 46 percent said no. And when you look from poll to poll to poll to poll you really haven't seen movement. What does that say a] about the process and importance of the process and the constitutional sanctity of the process of impeachment, and the American public?
[Zelizer:] The process is more important, not less important now because if we are that polarized and if public opinion doesn't shift, it makes it even more important that Congress goes through with this if they think a president has abused his power. They can't do this based on public opinion and in this era, public opinion doesn't shift much. So it's about laying a case out for history and laying a case out for the public, and they have to follow through with that.
[Briggs:] Congressman Jeff Van Drew switching parties, going from Democrat to Republican. Will that have any impact on the proceedings, on the perception?
[Zelizer:] No, it won't. It won't it won't have any impact on the vote. It will be a talking point for the president. It's small potatoes compared to the damage Republicans have suffered in the midterms and with retirements and with Amash, so we have to put that in perspective. But it will be a talking point that the president talks about.
[Romans:] It looks to you like he's avoiding a primary challenger because he supports he supports the president, is against impeachment, and is a Democrat?
[Zelizer:] It's not about principle, it's about he was about to lose and that's why he's doing this. It's unclear what his future will be, but a lot of Democrats are obviously unhappy that he's made this decision.
[Romans:] It sure is nice to have a professor on the set first thing Monday morning, right? How did we do?
[Briggs:] It is always
[Romans:] Did I pass that test?
[Briggs:] Julian Zelizer, good to see you, my friend.
[Zelizer:] Thank you.
[Romans:] Thank you, sir.
[Zelizer:] Thank you very much.
[Romans:] All right. The Democrats' final debate of 2019 is set for Thursday but candidates are looking to diversify the stage in 2020. Nine of the candidates are calling on the Democratic Party to ease the standards for qualifying in the January and February debates, Sen. Cory Booker leading the charge. He failed to qualify for Thursday night's event and is quick to point out that those who did are all white, with the exception of Andrew Yang.
[Briggs:] He and other candidates want the DNC to use polling or fundraising thresholds. Currently there are both are required. DNC chairman Tom Perez has already decided that the January debate will continue to require both, he tells "The New York Times." He believes everything the committee has done has been quote, "completely fair and transparent." In the meantime, all seven Democrats who qualified for this week's debate at Loyola Marymount University in California are threatening to boycott if an ongoing union dispute at the venue is not resolved.
[Romans:] All right, so stay tuned to that. A trade truce. China has scrapped new tariffs on U.S. goods. The two countries are pulling back from a trade war that has gripped global markets. On Friday, Washington and Beijing said they had finally reached the first phase of an elusive trade deal. China promises to buy more farm products. The U.S. will roll back some tariff rates. Businesses want to see the fine print. U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer claimed a major Trump victory.
[Robert Lighthizer, U.s. Trade Representative:] Friday was probably the most momentous day in trade history ever. That day, we submitted the USMCA the Mexico-Canada agreement which is about $1.4 trillion worth of the economy I mean, of trade, and then in addition to this, which is about $600 billion. So that's literally about half of total trade were announced on the same day. It was extremely momentous.
[Romans:] That North American trade deal may have hit a snag just days after it was assigned. Mexico is angry over a clause allowing U.S. labor inspectors into Mexican factories. A House vote to approve the deal is expected as early as Thursday. Now, global markets right now are mixed. One economist saying this. Phase one picked the low-hanging fruit; now for the hard part. All right, winter weather across the Heartland. Nearly 40 million people under some type of advisory from the Rockies to the mid- Atlantic. I-70 is closed or blocked in several locations by accidents, and weather conditions in Missouri and Kansas. Near Greenwood, Nebraska, three people died, four were injured in a weather-related crash on I- 80. There's also the risk of severe today for 10 million people in the southeast. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has more.
[Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] Yes, good morning, guys. A lot of weather to be had across the country today, and even notice across the Gulf Coast some severe weather here along a frontal boundary where an enhanced risk is in place, which on a scale of one to five is a three, and it includes cities such as Jackson. And work your way just into western areas of Alabama there. Enough of a risk in place for not only strong winds and some large hail but maybe a few possibilities of tornadoes across that region. But again, the active weather skirts off towards the east. A very quick mover here so expecting some wintry weather across portions of Missouri, Illinois and certainly, into the Ohio Valley, and parts of New England as well. But notice much of this is generally two to four inches. A few isolated pockets where we could see more than, say, four to six inches. But, about a 1,700-mile stretch of land stretching out of, say, eastern New Mexico and Colorado all the way into areas of New England where winter weather advisories and alerts have been prompted. And, of course and fortunately here for New York City, temps just a little too warm to support much in the way of snow showers. Maybe you'll see a flurry mixed in but highs on Tuesday climb up to about 40 degrees and notice it kind of hovers around that range and then drops off sharply with some colder air coming in as we approach this weekend. Still, though, a warming trend into the weekend across the northeast guys.
[Romans:] All right, Pedram. Thank you so much for that. We'll be right back.