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Biden Says VP Pick Must Be “Capable of Immediately Being President”

Former vice president Joe Biden speaking to voters in Iowa acknowledges his age and says that any potential vice presidential candidate he selects must be able to assume the presidency immediately.

Video Transcript

Joe Biden: I can think of at least eight women, at least four or five people of color that I think are totally qualified to be vice president of the United States but for me, it has to be demonstrated that, whomever I pick, is two things.

One, is capable of immediately being president because I’m an old guy, right? No no, serious. Look, I thank God and I workout, no serious, I workout every morning, I’m in good shape, knock on wood as my mother would say.

Full Video: Day 8 of President Trump Impeachment Trial in U.S. Senate

Day eight of the trial on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020.

Alternate Video Links: Fox News (YouTube)

Watch prior days:

The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump began on Tuesday, Jan. 21, after a weekslong impasse over how the Senate trial would proceed, and debate over the rules stretched nearly 13 hours.

Reporting on day eight of the trial from The Hill:

Senators are preparing to take the reins of the impeachment trial on Wednesday after largely being relegated to the sidelines of the floor proceedings in the first week.

After six days of opening statements from House managers and President Trump’s team, senators will start asking questions of both sides at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

The question-and-answer session is expected to be stretched over two days, with senators getting a total of 16 hours to ask questions, before moving to a vote on Friday on whether or not to call witnesses.

Under a deal announced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), questions will alternate between Republicans and Democrats. Wednesday’s session is expected to last eight hours, not including breaks.

McConnell also doled out advice to both senators asking their questions as well as to House managers and Trump’s team for how to answer them: Get to the point.

“During the question period of the Clinton trial, senators were thoughtful and brief with their questions, and the managers and counsel were succinct in their answers. I hope we can follow both of these examples during this time,” McConnell said Tuesday.

Senators aren’t allowed to speak during the trial. Instead, they are submitting their questions in writing. The questions will first be fielded through leadership on both sides, who have said their main object is to weed out duplicates or repetitive questions.

The questions will then be passed, alternating between parties, to Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial.

Read the full story from TheHill.com

Full Video: President Trump ‘Keep America Great’ Rally in Wildwood, New Jersey (Jan 28)

President Trump speaks in Wildwood, New Jersey, for a “Keep America Great” campaign rally.

Alternate Video Links: Fox News (YouTube), PBS NewsHour (YouTube)

Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Wildwoods Convention Center, Wildwood, New Jersey

Reporting on the rally from ABC News:

Amid the ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate, President Donald Trump will leave Washington and head to the Democratic stronghold of New Jersey to rally for a congressman who refused to vote for impeachment as a Democrat and then switched parties.

Trump’s rally in Wildwood, N.J. Tuesday night takes place in newly-minted Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s district, who, after switching parties, declared his “undying support” for the president.

And while the rally at Wildwoods Convention Center is in Democratic stronghold of New Jersey, Trump supporters have lined up around the block more than 24 hours before the president is scheduled to speak— a not so uncommon occurrence at the president’s campaign rallies.

The Wildwood rally serves multiple purposes for the president. Trump will look to tie Van Drew’s Democratic exodus to a larger argument against the party’s impeachment push. Van Drew, who will travel with the president on Air Force One to the event, bucked his own party by voting against impeachment in the House. On Tuesday night, the president will tout that move to his constituents.

Read full story from ABCNews.com

Full Video: Day 7 of President Trump Impeachment Trial in U.S. Senate

Day seven of the trial on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020.

Alternate Video Links: Fox News (YouTube), NBC News (YouTube)

Watch prior days:

The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump began on Tuesday, Jan. 21, after a weekslong impasse over how the Senate trial would proceed, and debate over the rules stretched nearly 13 hours.

Reporting on day seven of the trial from The Hill:

President Trump’s impeachment trial completes its first full week on Tuesday with closing arguments from the president’s lawyers.

The president’s legal team, led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump personal attorney Jay Sekulow, spent roughly eight hours Monday seeking to pick apart House Democrats’ case as flawed, incomplete and politically-motivated.

They also went on the attack against the Bidens in a bid to argue that Trump had legitimate reason to raise the family on the call with Ukraine’s president at the center of the impeachment case.

Monday’s proceedings featured arguments from a number of figures on the president’s legal team who had not previously spoken on the Senate floor, including former independent counsel Kenneth Starr and Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz, who wrapped up the proceedings by arguing that House Democrats’ case did not meet the constitutional criteria for impeachment because they did not allege “criminal-like conduct.”

The attorneys waited until the very end of the day to explicitly address the elephant in the room — namely an explosive New York Times report that said Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton writes in a draft of his memoir that Trump told him he wanted to continue to withhold security assistance to Ukraine until the country helped with investigations into Democrats.

“Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense,” Dershowitz said late Monday evening after the rest of the legal team danced around the issue.

Read the full story from TheHill.com

Democratic Candidates React to Kobe Bryant’s Death While Campaigning in Iowa

Reactions and statements on the death of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant from former vice president Joe Biden, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Video Transcript

Joe Biden: As I was getting off the bus, the command, uh, I heard about Kobe Bryant. I didn’t know him well, I only met him a couple times, but uh, you know it makes you realize that you gotta make every day count. Every single day count.

Amy Klobuchar: I just read President Obama’s statement about Kobe Bryant and how, just tragic that is, losing his daughter in that same helicopter crash. And so our thoughts and prayers are with their family.

Pete Buttigieg: As somebody who affected so many fans and supporters and, just very difficult to believe. And, of course, we’ll be thinking of, not just his family, but everybody who’s gonna be impacted and mourning base on that news.

Full Video: Day 6 of President Trump Impeachment Trial in U.S. Senate

Day six of the trial on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020.

Alternate Video Links: Fox News (YouTube), NBC News (YouTube)

Watch prior days:

The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump began on Tuesday, Jan. 21, after a weekslong impasse over how the Senate trial would proceed, and debate over the rules stretched nearly 13 hours.

Reporting on day six of the trial from The Hill:

President Trump’s lawyers are poised to begin their second day of opening arguments in his Senate impeachment trial on Monday in what is expected to be a more robust presentation than their first day of abbreviated arguments over the weekend.

The sixth day of the trial will begin less than 24 hours after explosive new details about former national security adviser John Bolton’s knowledge of the Ukraine affair threaten to severely complicate Trump’s defense.

The New York Times reported late Sunday that Bolton wrote in a draft copy of his forthcoming book that Trump told him in August that he wanted to suspend military assistance to Ukraine until the country helped with investigations into the Biden family and a debunked conspiracy theory about 2016 election interference.

Trump quickly denied telling Bolton the aid was tied to investigations into Democrats, alleging in a tweet that his former aide was only making the allegations “to sell a book.”

It is unclear whether Trump’s defense team will address the new details during Monday’s proceedings.

Read the full story from TheHill.com

Full Video: Pete Buttigieg Fox News Town Hall From Iowa (Jan. 26)

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg joined Chris Wallace on the Fox News Channel for a town hall event from Des Moines, Iowa, just days before the 2020 Iowa caucuses.

Fox News Town Hall w/ Pete Buttigieg
Air Date: Sunday, January 26, 2020
Location: River Center in Des Moines, Iowa

Watch the full video of the event below in four parts courtesy of YouTube/Fox News:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

The Iowa Caucuses take place Monday, Feb. 3, 2020.

Highlights From Week 1 of President Trump Senate Impeachment Trial

Highlights from the first week of President Trump’s impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate. Scroll down for highlights from each day from week 1 of the trial.

Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020 (Day 1)

Day one of US President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial began with House managers, including Representatives Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, holding a news conference.

 

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020 (Day 2)

Day two of US President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial began with Senator Lindsey Graham holding a press conference outside the Senate in which he claimed that “When it comes to Donald Trump” Democrats were “Willing to destroy the institution of the office in the name of getting him”

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020 (Day 3)

On day three of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate, House Democrats have begone to wrap up their arguments against the President. House Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff has accused Donald Trump of putting his own interests above those of the United States and insisted Rudi Juliani was a “hand-grenade”.

Friday, Jan. 24, 2020 (Day 4)

Day four highlights of the Senate Impeachment trial against President Trump.

Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020 (Day 5)

On day five of the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump and the Republican defense council have commenced their arguments in the Senate. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone started the proceeding by claiming the Democrats had put forward no evidence and had “fallen far short” of the burden of evidence. He pressed the seriousness of removing a president from office and urged senators to reflect on the precedents being set.

Trump’s personal lawyer Jay Sekulow referenced the Mueller Report and stressed how it’s finding failed to establish a link between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russian interference.

The trial resumes on Monday, Jan. 27.