. >> thank you very much, jeff zeleny. >> the vast, vast majority of scholars all agree that it is constitutional. out front now lawrence tribe, consultant tried on impeachment and jamie raskin has been frequent contact with you up to and including today. let me start with asking you about the interview with david schoen with "the new york times" holding trump accountable for the impact of his words, chilling the rights of any passionate speakers. it's a first amendment defense. will it hold up? >>. >> i don't think so. it's a very serious point, but it's wrong. i don't know anybody who is a stronger first amendment advocate than i am, but i fully recognize that there is a difference between the right of an ordinary citizen to express herself passionately and the right of someone to run for president, take the oath as president and then stand by the presidential seal in front of the white house and urge an angry mob to burn it down. to go to the capitol and basically take it over. that is not freedom of speech. justice scalia was a strong defender of free speech and he once said you can't ride wi

let's get to jeff zeleny at the white house. and jeff, president biden strong words as he tries to walk a fine line on trump's impeachment trial. i find it fascinating he did not want to directly say how he would vote. >> erin, he has really always shied away from saying that. we've known for weeks he has not had the appetite for this impeachment trial. the fact of it matter is former president trump is going to essentially take all the oxygen not out of washington next week but also out of the legislative process which president biden is trying to work through to get his covid bill passed. so we know president biden is not thrilled about this, but he didn't have a choice. had he spoken out against it, there would have been, you know, massive turmoil inside the democratic party. house democrats were sitting in the capitol on january 6th. they experienced all this. they wanted to do something. they wanted to punish the former president. so president biden has watched all this quite frankly at a bystander. he's very comfortable to

jeff zeleny, cnn, the white house. >>> and as jeff just mentioned, the impeachment trial of former president trump is set to get under way on tuesday. we don't know how long it may last. president biden says he think the trial needs to take place but in an interview he declined to say if he would vote to convict if he was still net u.s. senate. take a listen. >> let's turn to the impeachment trial. if you were still a senator, would you vote to convict him? >> look, i ran like hell to defeat him because i thought he was unfit to be president. i watched what everyone else watched. what happened when that crew invaded the united states congress. but i'm not in the senate now. i'll let the senate make that decision. >> trump has refused to testify at the trial in his own defense, but democrats who will prosecute the case believe there is plenty of evidence already of his alleged role in inciting a mob to attack the capitol on january 6. >>> head of the u.s. and americas program at chatham house in london, lizy, lovely to see you. so president biden is defending his stimulus plan. how much is ri

we want to start now with jeff zeleny who's outfront live on capitol hill. jeff, how did senators react to trump's legal defense? >> reporter: erin, senators were unsparing in their criticism and that was just from republicans. senator john cornyn of texas said they rambled on and on. one republican senator said the president's lawyers were disorganized. another described them as awful. another said it was a rocky start. so that all came as they were praising house impeachment managers for presenting a strong and compelling cogent case. with part one of the impeachment trial now over, it is constitutional to impeach a former president. the tough part for democrats begins tomorrow. >> this cannot be the future of america. we cannot have presidents inciting and mobilizing mob violence against our government and our institutions. >> reporter: searing arguments steeped in history on the opening day of the senate impeachment trial of former president donald trump. tonight senate jurors asking a single question, whether it's constitutional to put a former presiden

jeff zeleny is out front live on capitol hill. jeff, what are you learning about this meeting tonight to help with strategy, as ted cruz said, between cruz and other republican senators and the trump legal team? >> reporter: erin, we do know the trump's legal team is putting the finishing touches on its presentation tomorrow. as you said with the help of three republican lawyers, three republican senators in this case three republican jurors. now, this really highlights everything you need to know about this process. it is political indeed. this certainly is not necessarily unique to this case. that's what impeachments are. but usually it's not so blatant. in this case behind closed doors, just hours, really just minutes after the house prosecutor spent hours on their case, these republican lawyers went in and spent some time with the trump legal team. erin, the reason they are doing that is, you'll remember the lackluster performance, to put it mildly, at the beginning of the week that angered the president and worried republican

jeff zeleny is outfront live on capitol hill. jeff, this is really stunning, right? we knew that mccarthy had talked to trump and pleaded with trump, and trump hadn't done anything. but these are the details. pleaded with him, and trump says, they care more than you, taking the side of the rioters and opting to do nothing. >> reporter: erin, the reason why this is important, because it speaks to the mind-set of the president in those critical hours of the afternoon of january 6th when this capitol was under siege, under attack. the house minority leader, kevin mccarthy, of course a very close friend of the president, was on the phone with him, being yelled at by the white house. so that made clear the president was very much aware of exactly what was going on here on capitol hill, and that has been at the heart of the entire argument, the entire set of questions. did the president know what his vice president, what danger he was potentially in? it was this series of several questions in the senate trial this afternoon. but it is this new reporting from jamie gangel a

. >>> first, here's jeff zeleny. jeff? >>> the article of impeachment now before the senate is an unjust and blatantly unconstitutional act of political vengeance. >> reporter: a verdict in the impeachment trial of former president trump donald trump is expected today. with his lawyers swiftly resting their case friday after arguing the deadly attack on the capitol was neither trump's fault nor responsibility. >> no thinking person could seriously believe that the president's january 6th speech on the ellipse was in any way an incitement to violence or insurrection. >> reporter: the senators quickly moved to the next phase of the trial. with republicans and democrats alike submitting written questions before rendering their judgment. the senate clerk read this query from republican senators mitt romney and susan collins -- >> when president trump sent the disparaging tweet at 2:24 p.m. regarding vice president pence, was he aware that vice president had been removed from the senate by the secret service for his safety? >>

jeff zeleny is outfront. >> yeah i'm giving it another shot. >> caroline quinn lynn didn't vote for joe biden but is pulling for his success. >> i think he is a very nice man. i think he is very good. one of the last politicians i think can go across the aisle and meet with people. that's something it's a big plus. >> when we first met quinn lan in the heat of the kban last fall she was torn. >> i get it why people don't like trump. but at the same time he has done a few things i thought were important. >> but said she ultimately decided trump would do a better job fixing the economy. >> i voted for trump. >> in the end biden won wisconsin by less than 1 point and the city of cedar burg by only 19 votes. turning the reliable milwaukee suburb blue the first time in a quarter of century. with most signs of the election gone it's a new season and many voters say a fresh start from the acrimony from the trump era. >> just the tone down of the rhetoric, not having to be glued to the tv or social media to find out the latest is going on has been very refreshing. >> you're welcome, hon. >> nat

cnn's jeff zeleny shows us what's weighing on their minds. >> i'm giving him a shot. >> reporter: caroline didn't vote for joe biden but she's pulling for his success. >> i think he's a very nice man. i think he's very good. one of the politicians i think can go across the aisle and that's something that's a big plus. >> when we first met her in the heat of the campaign last fall she was torn. >> i get it why people don't like trump but at the same time he has done a few things that i thought were important. >> reporter: but said she ultimately decided trump would do a better job fixing the economy. >> i voted for trump. >> reporter: in the end biden won wisconsin by less than a point and cedarburg by only 19 votes. most signs of the election are long gone, it's a new season and many voters hearsay a fresh start from the acrimony of the trump era. >> the tone down of the rhetoric, not having to be glued to the tv or media has been very refreshing. >> you're welcome, hon. >> reporter: natasha is a small business owner who supported biden but senses more calm. >> you can tell there's morriss

all right, thank you very must've, jeff zeleny. >> let's go to floria borger, the white house secretary jen psaki also said, i quote her, certainly the president of the united states owns the response to the americans, likievr jeff said. she continued to say it's important for people to know what we inherited when the president came into profit. already, they got a bipartisan group of governors complaining about communications from the biden administration on vaccines. can they continue successfully to blame what they have inherited much longer. >> reporter: well, welcome to incumbency. they can to a certain degree. we know this. there wasn't much of a federal distribution plan for vaccines when the biden administration came into office. we know that they have upped the number of vaccines that will be available by about 200 million. they've upped the number of total daily inoculations to about 1.6 million. but people want to get vaccinated. they want to get vaccinated sooner. and now this is a problem that they have and they own and they have to explain to the american people why it is

jeff zeleny has more on that visit. >> president biden making a visit to the pfizer factory in portage, michigan, where the coronavirus vaccine is being produced. and clearly there have been issued with vaccination supply. so the president taking a firsthand look while he walked through the factory getting the pfizer acknowledgement to ramp up production. that is about two months ahead of schedule from the original plan. now, there is no question, winter weather in the united states has slowed the distribution of this vaccine considerably. the president said there could be other bumps in the road, as well. different variants of the strain, of course, are making this even more challenging. but he did say by the end of july, he does expect some 300 million americans should be receiving vaccines. but also making the case that vaccines are safe. there is a worry inside the administration that people who are eligible for the vaccine are afraid to get it because of the safety concerns. he made clear the vaccine is safe. also, he pushed republicans to support his $1.9 trillion covid relief sp