Rochester, New Hampshire - Oct 9. 2019

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Biden, (D) Presidential candidate:

"To preserve our Constitution, our democracy, our basic integrity, he should be impeached. That's not only because of what he's done. To answer whether he has committed acts of sufficient to warrant impeachment is obvious. We see it in Trump's own words. We see it in the texts from State Department officials that have been made public. We see it in his pulling much of the United States government into his corrupt schemes individuals and then the government, his appointees. But we have to remember that impeachment isn't only about what the president's done. It's about the threat the president poses to the nation if allowed to remain in office."

++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH ++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Biden, (D) Presidential candidate:

"One thing about this president is absolutely clear. And I don't think anyone can contradict this. He has seen no limits to his power regardless what the Constitution says. He believes the entire United States government can be corrupted into furthering his personal political needs. He's even willing to hold Congress and congressionally appropriated aid to a foreign nation hostage to his personal political demands. He believes if he does something, It's legal, period. And perhaps most important he believes there's nothing we can do about it. He believes he can and will get away with anything he does. We all laughed when he said he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot someone and get away with it. It's no joke. He's shooting holes in the Constitution and we can not let him get away with it."

++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus124868

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday for the first time that President Donald Trump must be impeached for abusing the powers of his office to help his own reelection.

Biden made the remarks as part a blistering 25-minute campaign speech in New Hampshire.

Biden said Trump is "shooting holes in the Constitution" by asking foreign powers to interfere in the 2020 election and then refusing to cooperate with a resulting House impeachment inquiry.