Within the hallways of the U.S. Capitol, there is growing confidence by GOP Senators that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can whip his caucus to block a vote on witnesses Friday.
While returning to the chamber after a short break Thursday, Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) told Cheddar he's "feeling good" about tomorrow's expected vote.
Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told reporters during the break that Republicans have the "momentum" to move to end the trial tomorrow without witnesses. "If we're able to say no [to witnesses] and go right to final judgment, we'd move in that direction and stay here until that work is decided and completed Friday evening. That's where all the momentum is now."
Still up for debate is what, exactly, happens, if the Republicans vote to end the debate on witnesses quickly.
Meanwhile, back in the chamber, lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff said witness depositions could be limited to just one week and said that the trial should not be rushed just because the State of the Union is Tuesday.
After the break, Senators asked two bipartisan questions, both of which were from senators who may still be undecided on the issue of whether to allow witnesses. First, Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) asked the defense team if the president would assure them that private citizens would not be directed to conduct foreign policy unless formally designated by the president and the State Department.
Murkowski and Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) submitted the second bipartisan question, asking if any action a president takes is inherently political and where the line is between permissible political actions and impeachable political actions.
In President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, there was only one bipartisan question asked, which Sen. Collins had signed onto at the time.
Tubi Daily News Powered by Cheddar for the morning of November 11th, 2018
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Nov. 19, 2018.
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Michelle Obama's memoir, "Becoming," hit shelves this week, with a rollout that felt more like a concert tour ー including appearances by Oprah, packed stadium events, and near-universal morning TV coverage.
British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan had a turbulent rollout this week, but the British Trade Commissioner for North America said the path to a successful exit from the European Union is still on track. "So far, we are on course for the path that she set out just after the referendum almost two years ago," Antony Phillipson said Friday in an interview on Cheddar.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is fighting back after the New York Times published an investigation into how the company failed to address Russian meddling in the 2016 election. California officials doubled the number of people missing as a result of the wildfires to more than 600. And Bill Oliver, director of the new sci-fi drama 'Jonathan,' joins Cheddar to discuss his new film starring Ansel Elgort.
Facebook's latest scandal has raised serious questions about founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's oversight of the troubled media giant.
A federal judge made a limited ruling Friday that the White House must immediately restore press access to CNN correspondent Jim Acosta on Fifth Amendment grounds.
After a machine recount of ballots in the U.S. Senate race in Florida between Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson found them still within a hair's breadth of each other, the state is now endeavoring to recount, by hand, millions of the votes cast. Cheddar's J.D. Durkin reports from Palm Beach County on the latest developments.
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