[Rep. David Cicilline:] Do what you were elected to do. You didn't swear an oath to Donald Trump, you swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
[Rep. Matt Gaetz:] House Democrats aren't clarifying that no one's above the law. They're just clarifying that none of them are above partisanship and politics.
[Dave Briggs, Cnn Anchor:] Democrats and Republicans resume their historic debate on the impeachment of the president just hours from now.
[Amara Walker, Cnn Anchor:] CNN has learned Republicans are leaning towards a short impeachment trial in the Senate without the witnesses President Trump would like to see called. Good morning, everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm Amara Walker.
[Briggs:] Good morning, I'm Dave Briggs, 5:31 Eastern time on a Thursday. We start with the latest on impeachment. In just a few hours from now, the actual legislative work on articles of impeachment finally begins. And after weeks of hearings and last night's many openings statements, today, the House Judiciary Committee will debate amendments possibly, a lot of them. And by the end of the day, the committee will vote, with Democrats almost certainly sending the matter to the full House over Republicans' strenuous objections. Congressional correspondent Phil Mattingly with more.
[Phil Mattingly, Cnn Congressional Correspondent:] Well, Amara and Dave, it was a long night, it was a late night, but it was also an important night for a couple of reasons. First off, this was obviously, on Wednesday night, the next step to what is clearly going to lead to the impeachment of President Trump one more step forward for House Democrats in their effort, one more step of trying to block those Democrats by all the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. But there is also the idea of kind of framing through the 41 members, Republicans and Democrats on this Judiciary Committee giving their personal statements as to why they were for or against impeachment kind of how it was laid out. Take a listen to how one Democrat and one Republican put it.
[Rep. Jerry Nadler:] I believe that three questions should frame our debate. First, does the evidence show clearly that the president committed these acts? Second, do they rise to the level of impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors? Third, what are the consequences for our national security, for the integrity of our elections, and for our country if we fail to act?
[Rep. Jim Jordan:] This is not about Ukraine. The facts are on the president's side. Zelensky said he wasn't pressured. Ukrainians didn't even know aid was held at the time of the call. And most importantly, they did nothing to get the aid released. This is about one basic fact. The Democrats have never accepted the will of the American people. Three weeks ago, Nancy Pelosi called the President of the United States an imposter, and the attacks and the president started before the election.
[Mattingly:] So if Wednesday night was the opening statements, Thursday is the legislative action. There's going to be a lot of back and forth. It will be very long and it will probably be pretty dense in terms of what they're actually doing. But kind of bottom line I think is this. You're going to see Republicans draft and try and propose a number of amendments to try and change the two articles of impeachment that have been presented by House Democrats. Democrats, themselves, will defend those articles of impeachment. They will not be looking to amend those articles of impeachment and they will try and keep everything in its same place, and they can do that they have the majority on the committee. So whatever Republicans propose, Democrats can one-by-one shoot it down. But what it's all kind of leading to right now is the fact that by the end of the day on Thursday by the end of legislative consideration for the House Judiciary Committee, the House floor is what's next. The full House vote is what's next. Once the Judiciary Committee is done there are no more stops, there are no more hearings, there are no more closed-door depositions. The House of Representatives will vote to impeach President Donald Trump next week. We don't have the exact date yet but that's what the Judiciary Committee final meeting actually means. It means it's on its way to the House floor, it means President Trump is on his way to being impeached. And it means that in short order, the Senate not the House, anymore the Senate will take up the mantle a Senate trial for President Trump to see if they actually have the votes to remove him from office guys.
[Walker:] Phil Mattingly, thank you. Impeachment light, witch hunt President Trump has used a lot of slogans to dismiss his imminent impeachment, downplaying it as just another political stunt by the Democrats. But according to people familiar with his mindset, the prospect of becoming the third U.S. president ever to be impeached is weighing heavily on Mr. Trump. More now from chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta.
[Jim Acosta, Cnn Chief White House Correspondent:] Dave and Amara, we are hearing President Trump is growing increasingly aggravated over the likelihood that he will be impeached. A Trump campaign adviser told me simply, the coverage bugs him. A separate Trump adviser said the president has been preparing for this moment for some time, suspecting for the better part of the last year that Democrats would try to impeach him after taking control of the House. This adviser said Mr. Trump is somewhat taken aback that it's this Ukraine scandal that is leading to his impeachment. The adviser said, quote, "Frankly, I think he's a little surprised it's the Ukraine thing that's done it." Another thing we are hearing is that Mr. Trump is irked by the fact that he would be joining the less than envious list of presidents who have been impeached. Still, aides said that the president is of the belief, at this point, that he is winning this debate on impeachment. He's satisfied that Republicans aren't showing many signs that they will defect in either the House or the Senate. Administration officials are pointing to recent polling that shows that support for impeachment has either held steady or begun to slide against removing the president from office. And we should note, at his rally this week, the president appeared to crow over the fact that he's only facing two articles of impeachment. He's dubbed this process "impeachment light" but in the history books, Dave and Amara, it doesn't say impeachment light. It says impeached. Dave and Amara.
[Briggs:] Jim Acosta, thanks. If the president is impeached and there is a Senate trial, majority leader Mitch McConnell is not planning to hold a vote to quickly dismiss the articles of impeachment. According to two Republican senators, he will wait to hold a final vote to acquit once a majority of senators feel the trial has run its course. Most Republicans want an acquittal to clear the president rather than rely on a procedural motion to dismiss the charges with the 51-vote threshold. And note that only 34 votes would be required for an acquittal.
[Walker:] Senate Republicans also seem to be coalescing around the idea of a shorter Senate impeachment trial. Contrary to President Trump's stated desire, a short-form trial would not include witnesses like the whistleblower or Hunter Biden. No final decisions on strategy or structure have been made but GOP senators say they are beginning to see the benefit of keeping the process short and simply laying out evidence in a presentation by House managers and the White House.
[Briggs:] All right, more on this ahead with Zach Wolf, including what's next for Republicans and Democrats as this historic process plays out in the coming hours.