They've got the keys to the offices, new paint inside, and parties to attend. But on January 3rd 2019, the work begins when 535 members of the new 116th US Congress solemnly swear to govern the divided nation.

Instantly, the new Congress will make history for seating a record number of women and becoming the most racially and ethnically diverse.

Republicans will take more seats in the Senate, while Democrats will grab control of the House.

Newly-elected Congresswoman from California, Katie Hill, said it reflected the "changing face of Congress", calling it "a new generation".

Immediately, they'll all be faced with resolving a stand-off over money and immigration that has shut much of the US government and vexed their predecessors.

***

On january 4th US President Donald Trump reacted to a freshman Democratic congresswoman's diatribe predicting his impeachment while using a vulgarity, by saying "You can't impeach somebody doing a great job." He also said the lawmaker, Rashida Tlaib, "dishonoured herself and dishonoured her family."

A few hours after taking her seat in Congress, newly elected Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan riled up a supportive crowd by calling the president a profanity and predicting that he will be removed from office.

"I thought is was highly disrespectful to the United States of America," the president said.

While many Democrats might favor impeachment, those calling for it now are largely outliers.

***

On January 4th U.S. President Donald Trump says he's considered using executive authority to get a wall built on the southern border.

Trump told reporters that he could officially declare a national emergency to build a border wall but wants to try to negotiate a border wall with Congress.

Trump said: "I can do it if I want. We can call a national emergency. I may do it."

He says he thinks the standoff over the border wall, which has resulted in a partial government shutdown, is going to be over sooner than people think.

In response to reporters questions about reports that members of the President's senior political team are poised to receive a $10,000 pay raise, because the government shutdown allows an existing pay freeze to lapse, Vice President Mike Pence indicated he would turn it down.

***

US federal employees in North Carolina took their anger to the streets, holding banners and chanting "No paychecks, no peace," demonstrating across Raleigh on January 11th.

Paychecks with zeroes on them began reaching federal workers on Friday, becoming the most tangible and painful sign yet of a three-week government shutdown that has paralyzed Washington and was all but assured to become the longest in US history.

Meanwhile, Miami International Airport is closing a terminal this weekend because Transport Security Administration's (TSA) security screeners have been calling out sick at twice the normal rate.

Airport spokesman Greg Chin said there's a concern there won't be enough workers to handle all 11 checkpoints during normal hours over the weekend.

The terminal serves United Airlines, along with smaller carriers.

Its closure means restaurants and shops that depend on departing flights will also close.

Terminal G's flights will be diverted to other terminals over the weekend.

But Chin said that if the shutdown continued and additional screeners don't show up for work, the airport could be forced to close a security checkpoint at terminals that have multiple entry points.

***

U.S. President Donald Trump says he will do an "alternative" event since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has blocked him from giving his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.

Trump at the White House January 23rd said that the cancellation was a "disgrace."

He did not detail his next move, saying: "we will be announcing what we're doing."

The California Democrat told Trump in a letter Wednesday the Democratic-controlled House won't pass the required measure for him to give the nationally televised speech from the House floor.

Trump said he was planning a "really important speech" and called Pelosi's move a "great blotch on the country that we all love."

He argued Pelosi was blocking him because she doesn't want to hear "the truth" about border security.

***

Democrats are moving quickly to try to roll back President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to siphon billions of dollars from the military to fund construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

A vote planned for February 26th in the House aims to revoke Trump's executive order from earlier in February.

The bill will likely pass in the Democratic-controlled House, and would be sent it to the Republican-held Senate, where it would take only a handful of GOP defections to pass it.

Democratic leaders said February 25th that the vote is not about the merits of Trump's wall; instead they say Trump is trampling on the Constitution by grabbing money that he can't obtain through normal means.

"But this isn't about the border, this is about the Constitution of the United States. This is not about politics. It's not about partisanship. It's about patriotism," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday.

The vote could be challenging for GOP lawmakers who view themselves as conservative protectors of the Constitution and the powers of the federal purse that are reserved for Congress.

But GOP vote counters are confident tally won't get near two thirds that would overturn a Trump veto.

Either way, Trump is likely to prevail in the end since he could use his first-ever veto to kill the measure if it gets sent to him, but the White House is seeking to minimize defections among the president's GOP allies to avoid embarrassment.

***

President Donald Trump reiterated how great he believes the findings from the Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is and the "Republican party will soon be the party of health care."

Trump's comments came on March 26th as he was heading into a Senate Republican Policy lunch on Capitol Hill.

The President says he doesn't believe any Democrats are talking about 'impeachment' any longer.

"We have the greatest economy we ever had and our country is in incredible shape," said Trump.

"They and others created a fraud on our country, it was ridiculous as you are aware, and proven very strongly no collusion, no obstruction, no nothing. We are doing so well, we've never probably had a time of prosperity like this, it's been great."

The Trump administration has told a federal appeals court it wants the entire Affordable Care Act struck down, an outcome that could leave millions uninsured and reignite a winning political issue for Democrats.

The administration, in a terse filing March 25th with the court in New Orleans, said it agrees that former President Barack Obama's health care law should be declared unconstitutional after Congress repealed one part of it - unpopular fines on people who remain uninsured.

That position is at odds with previous statements by leading congressional Republicans who said they did not intend to repeal other parts of the law when they cut out its fines, effective this year.

It's also a departure from the administration's earlier stance in a lower court, where it had argued that only federal protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions and limits on premiums charged to older, sicker people should be struck down.

The president's response was "let me just tell you exactly what my message is, the Republican party will soon be known as party of health care you watch."

02:08:22

00:00:00

New look US House gets to work in Washington

4189313

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington DC - 3 January 2018

1. Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat, Minnesota, posing for pictures

00:06:11

Trump: 'Can't impeach somebody doing a great job'

4189484

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 4 January 2018

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President

(Reporter)"If you could comment on the remarks made by a freshman congressperson about impeachment and following a bit of a profanity last night.

(President Trump) Well, you can't impeach somebody that's doing a great job. That's the way I view it. I've probably done more in the first two years than any president, any administration in the history of our country.

00:28:17

Trump says he could use executive power on wall

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 4 January 2018

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

Yes, I have and I can do it if I want.

Reporter: So you don't need Congressional approval to build the wall?

No, we can use them. Absolutely we can use them. We can call a national emergency because of the security of our country. Absolutely. No, we can do it. I haven't done it. I may do it. I may do it.

00:42:19

Protests and closures across the US amid shutdown

4190647

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Raleigh, North Carolina - 11 January 2019

4. Protesters holding banners and chanting "No paychecks, no peace"

00:47:20

Trump: State of Union cancellation a 'disgrace'

4192528

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 23 January 2019

5. Mid, Donald Trump in Cabinet Room

6. SOUND BITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"The State of the Union speech has been canceled by Nancy Pelosi, because she doesn't want to hear the truth. She doesn't want the American public to hear what is going on and she is afraid of the truth and the super-left Democrats, the radical Democrats, what is going on in that party is shocking

01:08:14

House Democrats slam Trump border declaration

4198061

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 25 February 2019

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives:

"But this isn't about the border, this is about the Constitution of the United States. This is not about politics. It's not about partisanship.It's about patriotism. And so, again, once we pass this resolution, we will send it over to the Senate. All members, as I say, have taken the oath of office. We would be delinquent in our duties if we did not resist -- we did not fight back and to overturn the president's declaration."

01:42:12

Trump talks Mueller probe on Capitol Hill

4202926

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington DC - 26 March 2019

++AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING++

8. SOUNDBITE (English) President Donald Trump:

"I don't think they are talking about impeachment. We have the greatest economy we ever had and our country is in incredible shape, they and others created a fraud on our country, which is ridiculous where it was proven very strongly no collusion, no obstruction, no nothing. We are doing so well, we've never probably had a time of prosperity like this, it's been great."

A majority of Americans say they believe President Donald Trump has tried to obstruct the investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia, though the public is divided on whether he should be removed from office if he's found to have stymied the probe, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Meanwhile, the survey shows Americans are somewhat less likely to say Congress should remove Trump from office if he directed his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to arrange hush money payments to cover up claims of extramarital relationships during the 2016 campaign.

Still, opinions on both matters see a stark partisan divide.

The poll was conducted just after federal prosecutors in New York implicated Trump in illegal payments to a former Playboy model and adult actress and after special counsel Robert Mueller revealed that discussions over a possible Trump Tower in Moscow extended longer than had been previously known. It was done amid signs of intensifying legal danger for Trump, whose actions face scrutiny in New York and in Mueller's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Overall, 42 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 56 percent disapprove. Those numbers have held steady for most of the year. About 8 in 10 Republicans approve of Trump's job performance, while just 1 in 10 Democrats say the same.

The swirling investigations are helping define public opinion, creating clear divisions about whether and for what Trump should be impeached and to what extent he might be culpable of wrongdoing.

A majority of Americans _ 58 percent _think the president has tried to impede the Russia investigation, while 4 in 10 say he has not. An overwhelming share of Democrats, 90 percent, say the president has sought to obstruct the probe, compared with 22 percent of Republicans.

The survey also shows that if Mueller's investigation finds that Trump did not personally have inappropriate contacts with the Kremlin but nonetheless tried to obstruct the FBI's work, 51 percent of Americans think Congress should take steps to remove him from office, while 46 percent think it should not.

The special counsel's obstruction investigation has shadowed the president for a year and a half, unfolding alongside his inquiry into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the election and the separate campaign finance probe in New York. The last month has produced bombshell developments in the investigation, including Cohen's sentencing, allegations that Trump's former campaign chairman lied to prosecutors and a judge's unexpected upbraiding of ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn.

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,067 adults was conducted Dec. 13-16 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods, and later interviewed online or by phone.

1.Graphic: Trump job approval, approve 42%, disapprove 56%

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

++PARTIALLY COVERED++

"So on overall job performance, 42 percent of Americans approve of the job that the President is doing. Fifty-six percent disapprove. What's interesting is that despite all of the tumult that's occurred over the last 12 months in the White House, those numbers have held fairly steady since this time last year. There is a stark partisan divide about that, so we have 8 in 10 Republicans who approve of the President's job performance and just one in 10 Democrats say the same."

3. Graphic: Trump Russia Probe, Tried to obstruct investigation 58%

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

++PARTIALLY COVERED++

"On one of the questions about whether the president tried to obstruct the Russia investigation. Fifty-eight percent of Americans say they believe he did. Then a whopping 90 percent of Democrats who were surveyed say that he did. That really reflects again what we what we think of as a divide among Democrats and Republicans. And one of the central questions of the Mueller investigation. That 90 percent is compared to just 22 percent of Republicans."

5. Graphic: If Trump directed hush money payments to women, Impeach 45%, Don't impeach 53%

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

++COVERED++

"The survey shows that if Mueller's investigation finds evidence that Trump had inappropriate or illegal contacts with Russia, 51 percent believe that Congress should initiate some sort of proceedings to have him removed from office. Forty six percent say no."

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

++PARTIALLY COVERED++

"And then on the last sort of question as to the hush money payments that went during the campaign to two women. The idea was to of course cover up extramarital affairs that they were presenting. Forty-five percent say Congress should take steps to remove the President from office if there's evidence that he indeed directed his attorney Michael Cohen to arrange those payments. Slightly more, 53 percent, said Congress should not take steps to do that."

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

++PARTIALLY COVERED++

"One of the things that struck me about this poll is the consistency of viewpoint in terms of how Americans perceive the President and the investigations. So, for instance, if you were inclined to believe that Mueller's investigation is baseless in the Russian context then you similarly don't believe that there's evidence that he tried to obstruct it and then you similarly also do not believe that there is evidence of illegal hush money payments. And so you wind up getting, in our survey at least, a lot of no's across the board. And then conversely a lot of yeses across the board among people who believe yes, there was potential collusion; yes, there was obstruction and yes there's a problem in the hush money payments that could lead to impeachment. And so you don't see much discrepancy and I think that speaks to the strength of opinions that people have about the president at this point."

9. Medium of President Donald Trump speaking at the signing ceremony for an agriculture bill

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus109328

A majority of Americans say they believe President Donald Trump has tried to obstruct the investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia, though the public is divided on whether he should be removed from office if he's found to have stymied the probe, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Meanwhile, the survey shows Americans are somewhat less likely to say Congress should remove Trump from office if he directed his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to arrange hush money payments to cover up claims of extramarital relationships during the 2016 campaign.

Still, opinions on both matters see a stark partisan divide.

The poll was conducted just after federal prosecutors in New York implicated Trump in illegal payments to a former Playboy model and adult actress and after special counsel Robert Mueller revealed that discussions over a possible Trump Tower in Moscow extended longer than had been previously known. It was done amid signs of intensifying legal danger for Trump, whose actions face scrutiny in New York and in Mueller's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Overall, 42 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 56 percent disapprove. Those numbers have held steady for most of the year. About 8 in 10 Republicans approve of Trump's job performance, while just 1 in 10 Democrats say the same.

The swirling investigations are helping define public opinion, creating clear divisions about whether and for what Trump should be impeached and to what extent he might be culpable of wrongdoing.

A majority of Americans _ 58 percent _think the president has tried to impede the Russia investigation, while 4 in 10 say he has not. An overwhelming share of Democrats, 90 percent, say the president has sought to obstruct the probe, compared with 22 percent of Republicans.

The survey also shows that if Mueller's investigation finds that Trump did not personally have inappropriate contacts with the Kremlin but nonetheless tried to obstruct the FBI's work, 51 percent of Americans think Congress should take steps to remove him from office, while 46 percent think it should not.

The special counsel's obstruction investigation has shadowed the president for a year and a half, unfolding alongside his inquiry into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the election and the separate campaign finance probe in New York. The last month has produced bombshell developments in the investigation, including Cohen's sentencing, allegations that Trump's former campaign chairman lied to prosecutors and a judge's unexpected upbraiding of ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn.

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,067 adults was conducted Dec. 13-16 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods, and later interviewed online or by phone.

Washington, DC - 20 December 2018

1.Graphic: Trump job approval, approve 42%, disapprove 56%

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

++PARTIALLY COVERED++

"So on overall job performance, 42 percent of Americans approve of the job that the President is doing. Fifty-six percent disapprove. What's interesting is that despite all of the tumult that's occurred over the last 12 months in the White House, those numbers have held fairly steady since this time last year. There is a stark partisan divide about that, so we have 8 in 10 Republicans who approve of the President's job performance and just one in 10 Democrats say the same."

3. Graphic: Trump Russia Probe, Tried to obstruct investigation 58%

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

++PARTIALLY COVERED++

"On one of the questions about whether the president tried to obstruct the Russia investigation. Fifty-eight percent of Americans say they believe he did. Then a whopping 90 percent of Democrats who were surveyed say that he did. That really reflects again what we what we think of as a divide among Democrats and Republicans. And one of the central questions of the Mueller investigation. That 90 percent is compared to just 22 percent of Republicans."

5. Graphic: If Trump directed hush money payments to women, Impeach 45%, Don't impeach 53%

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

++COVERED++

"The survey shows that if Mueller's investigation finds evidence that Trump had inappropriate or illegal contacts with Russia, 51 percent believe that Congress should initiate some sort of proceedings to have him removed from office. Forty six percent say no."

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

++PARTIALLY COVERED++

"And then on the last sort of question as to the hush money payments that went during the campaign to two women. The idea was to of course cover up extramarital affairs that they were presenting. Forty-five percent say Congress should take steps to remove the President from office if there's evidence that he indeed directed his attorney Michael Cohen to arrange those payments. Slightly more, 53 percent, said Congress should not take steps to do that."

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

++PARTIALLY COVERED++

"One of the things that struck me about this poll is the consistency of viewpoint in terms of how Americans perceive the President and the investigations. So, for instance, if you were inclined to believe that Mueller's investigation is baseless in the Russian context then you similarly don't believe that there's evidence that he tried to obstruct it and then you similarly also do not believe that there is evidence of illegal hush money payments. And so you wind up getting, in our survey at least, a lot of no's across the board. And then conversely a lot of yeses across the board among people who believe yes, there was potential collusion; yes, there was obstruction and yes there's a problem in the hush money payments that could lead to impeachment. And so you don't see much discrepancy and I think that speaks to the strength of opinions that people have about the president at this point."

9. Medium of President Donald Trump speaking at the signing ceremony for an agriculture bill

Agitated and angry, President Donald Trump squared off against Democrats on Wednesday, unloading a rambling string of name-calling attacks as lawmakers deepened their impeachment inquiry.

Democrats put the White House on notice that a wide-ranging subpoena would be coming for information about Trump's actions in the Ukraine matter as they try to push past the stonewalling of a probe that's testing the limits of the constitution's system of checks and balances.

"I believe that our constitutional responsibility rises above politics and that we have all sworn an oath of office," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren Wednesday during a gun policy forum in Nevada.

"We need to get out there and do what the Constitution requires of us and that is hold this president, who believes he is not subject to the law, to hold him accountable."

Las Vegas – 2 October 2019

1. Wide of Sen. Elizabeth Warren

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"A hostile foreign government attacked our 2016 election for the purpose of helping Donald Trump. Part two, then-candidate Donald Trump welcomed that help. And then part three, when our federal government tried to investigate part 1 and part 2, Donald Trump did everything he could to interfere with that investigation which is a violation of the law. No one is above the law."

3. Cutaway of Warren

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"I believe that our constitutional responsibility rises above politics and that we have all sworn an oath of office and we need to get out there and do what the Constitution requires of us. And that is hold this president who believes he is not subject to the law to hold him accountable."

5. Sen. Cory Booker walks to gaggle

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Cory Booker, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"The President of the United States, forget this investigation, on the Mueller investigation was not allowing the subpoenaing of documents, not allowing people to come and testify before Congress. That is not allowing Congress to do its job. That is problematic. That's why I moved, not as quickly as many others, but that's what made me move to calling for impeachment proceedings because the Constitution sets up checks and balances. It is against our Constitution when a president thinks he's above those checks and balances. That's like he's not behaving like the leader of the free world he's behaving more like a dictator would. So yeah. Mueller did not clear him of obstruction. He gave 10 examples of behavior and actions that could constitute obstruction. We have an obligation in Washington to investigate those things and now the clarity with which we see the president in his own words pointing to a potential impeachable offense. So we need to investigate him and we need to have the authority with which to do that and impeachment proceedings give us tremendously more legal leverage to make sure that this investigation can continue. The American people deserve to know the truth."

7. Wide of Booker

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"I am deeply troubled and saddened that the United States Congress, with all of the work that we need to get done on everything from smart gun safety laws, to what we need to do to have an infrastructure plan to what we need to do to deal with the climate crisis that we are going to have to spend our time holding accountable a president who is lawless and who is evidenced no respect for the oath of office that he has taken. Oh that it didn't have to happen. But it does in defense of our democracy and in defense of the construct of our democracy which says that when you have a member of any branch of government in this case the executive who has violated the trust and abused their powers they have to be held accountable. Am I looking forward to this? I absolutely wish we were not at this moment. I wish so many things that are just not possible because Donald Trump is not capable of what I believe a president should be."

9. Wide of Harris

Agitated and angry, President Donald Trump squared off against Democrats on Wednesday, unloading a rambling string of name-calling attacks as lawmakers deepened their impeachment inquiry.

Democrats put the White House on notice that a wide-ranging subpoena would be coming for information about Trump's actions in the Ukraine matter as they try to push past the stonewalling of a probe that's testing the limits of the constitution's system of checks and balances.

"I believe that our constitutional responsibility rises above politics and that we have all sworn an oath of office," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren Wednesday during a gun policy forum in Nevada.

"We need to get out there and do what the Constitution requires of us and that is hold this president, who believes he is not subject to the law, to hold him accountable."

Las Vegas – 2 October 2019

1. Wide of Sen. Elizabeth Warren

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"A hostile foreign government attacked our 2016 election for the purpose of helping Donald Trump. Part two, then-candidate Donald Trump welcomed that help. And then part three, when our federal government tried to investigate part 1 and part 2, Donald Trump did everything he could to interfere with that investigation which is a violation of the law. No one is above the law."

3. Cutaway of Warren

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"I believe that our constitutional responsibility rises above politics and that we have all sworn an oath of office and we need to get out there and do what the Constitution requires of us. And that is hold this president who believes he is not subject to the law to hold him accountable."

5. Sen. Cory Booker walks to gaggle

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Cory Booker, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"The President of the United States, forget this investigation, on the Mueller investigation was not allowing the subpoenaing of documents, not allowing people to come and testify before Congress. That is not allowing Congress to do its job. That is problematic. That's why I moved, not as quickly as many others, but that's what made me move to calling for impeachment proceedings because the Constitution sets up checks and balances. It is against our Constitution when a president thinks he's above those checks and balances. That's like he's not behaving like the leader of the free world he's behaving more like a dictator would. So yeah. Mueller did not clear him of obstruction. He gave 10 examples of behavior and actions that could constitute obstruction. We have an obligation in Washington to investigate those things and now the clarity with which we see the president in his own words pointing to a potential impeachable offense. So we need to investigate him and we need to have the authority with which to do that and impeachment proceedings give us tremendously more legal leverage to make sure that this investigation can continue. The American people deserve to know the truth."

7. Wide of Booker

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"I am deeply troubled and saddened that the United States Congress, with all of the work that we need to get done on everything from smart gun safety laws, to what we need to do to have an infrastructure plan to what we need to do to deal with the climate crisis that we are going to have to spend our time holding accountable a president who is lawless and who is evidenced no respect for the oath of office that he has taken. Oh that it didn't have to happen. But it does in defense of our democracy and in defense of the construct of our democracy which says that when you have a member of any branch of government in this case the executive who has violated the trust and abused their powers they have to be held accountable. Am I looking forward to this? I absolutely wish we were not at this moment. I wish so many things that are just not possible because Donald Trump is not capable of what I believe a president should be."

9. Wide of Harris

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus124540

Agitated and angry, President Donald Trump squared off against Democrats on Wednesday, unloading a rambling string of name-calling attacks as lawmakers deepened their impeachment inquiry.

Democrats put the White House on notice that a wide-ranging subpoena would be coming for information about Trump's actions in the Ukraine matter as they try to push past the stonewalling of a probe that's testing the limits of the constitution's system of checks and balances.

"I believe that our constitutional responsibility rises above politics and that we have all sworn an oath of office," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren Wednesday during a gun policy forum in Nevada.

"We need to get out there and do what the Constitution requires of us and that is hold this president, who believes he is not subject to the law, to hold him accountable.

Las Vegas – 2 October 2019

1. Wide of Sen. Elizabeth Warren

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"A hostile foreign government attacked our 2016 election for the purpose of helping Donald Trump. Part two, then-candidate Donald Trump welcomed that help. And then part three, when our federal government tried to investigate part 1 and part 2, Donald Trump did everything he could to interfere with that investigation which is a violation of the law. No one is above the law."

++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Cory Booker, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"The President of the United States, forget this investigation, on the Mueller investigation was not allowing the subpoenaing of documents, not allowing people to come and testify before Congress. That is not allowing Congress to do its job. That is problematic. That's why I moved, not as quickly as many others, but that's what made me move to calling for impeachment proceedings because the Constitution sets up checks and balances. It is against our Constitution when a president thinks he's above those checks and balances. That's like he's not behaving like the leader of the free world he's behaving more like a dictator would.

++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"I am deeply troubled and saddened that the United States Congress, with all of the work that we need to get done on everything from smart gun safety laws, to what we need to do to have an infrastructure plan to what we need to do to deal with the climate crisis that we are going to have to spend our time holding accountable a president who is lawless and who is evidenced no respect for the oath of office that he has taken. Oh that it didn't have to happen. But it does.

Heated town halls peppered moderate Democratic lawmakers as they took a two week-recess from Washington to hear straight from their constituents about the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

There's been nothing quiet about their first visits home.

In front of New Hope Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, supporters of President Donald Trump hollered for his re-election and inside, Rep. Elaine Luria personally delivered her call for Trump's impeachment, drawing a standing ovation from more than half of the 200 or so people attending her town hall - and a few jeers, shut down quickly by church security officials.

"I got no problem throwing you out," the Rev. James Allen, the moderator, told one heckler. "If you can't sit here and be respectful, get out."

The man, a Trump supporter, agreed to quiet down and stay. But the signs were there that Luria's call last month for Trump's impeachment sits uneasily among some of her constituents in one of the most deeply split congressional districts in the country.

It's not clear, though, that the calls for formal charges against Trump have generated a voter backlash, even in districts like Luria's.

Luria, along with six other freshmen who flipped Republican districts in 2018, played critical roles laying the groundwork for the impeachment inquiry.

They had resisted calls for the Republican president's impeachment over Russia's election interference. But details of Trump's pressure on Ukraine's president to investigate the Biden family was, Luria and the others wrote in The Washington Post opinion article, a clear abuse of power and an impeachable offense. Their column, in part, freed up House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch formal impeachment proceedings.

In Luria's district, national security is understood perhaps better than elsewhere: 1 in 5 people are active military personnel, veterans or their families are.

"You do have very heavy military and veteran presence there and it remains to be seen how persuadable a lot of those voters may be who may be Republican leaning but maybe again persuadable on, on questions of the president's conduct," said Kyle Kondik, an elections analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and national Democrats are closely watching districts like it for clues to whether their drive to impeach Trump supports or imperils the party's congressional and presidential ambitions in 2020.

In Michigan, another front line Democratic freshman and co-author of the Op-Ed, Michigan's Elissa Slotkin, faced boos - and then applause - when she started explaining why she, too, had called for an impeachment investigation.

Slotkin's district was carried by Trump by 7 percentage points in the 2016 election.

"For me, involving foreigners in our political affairs was beyond the pale," she said. "All I can tell you is I did not come to this lightly, and I did not want to be doing this, I felt compelled to do it. "

She was confronted by one town hall attendee who said a decision to impeach Trump will cost Slotkin her seat.

Back in Virginia, Luria also acknowledged the impeachment decision may cost her.

"I feel very strongly that I made the right decision," said Luria, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and black belt in taekwondo. Her home, a short walk from spectacular views of the Virginia Port Authority and not far from Norfolk Naval Station, is adorned with ceramics and other souvenirs that she and her husband, Robert Blondin, picked up on their global travels.

It's was sentiment Luria repeated that night at the town hall at the E. Ray Cox Sr. Convocation Center. Eight miles away, 12 people were killed during the May 31 mass shooting at Virginia Beach Municipal Center - including Ryan Keith Cox, the pastor's son. Luria opened the event by noting that the last time she spoke there, it was for the younger Cox's funeral. His coffin rested where she now stood to answer questions.

But the moment did little to ease the crackling political atmosphere in the room.

The retired naval nuclear engineer, 44, pointed out four people in the front row helped by her office on immigration, health care and veterans issues. And she mentioned work she's doing leading House subcommittees on seapower and disability assistance as a member of both the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees. She also said she's working on "common-sense universal background checks" for gun purchases.

Then Luria took questions, drawn from a plastic box and read by Allen. A bit more than half were supportive of her call for Trump's impeachment.

"Bravo," said one questioner, noting Luria's "brave patriotic decision on the impeachment inquiry."

Luria won the race over Republican retired Navy SEAL Scott Taylor by a little over 2 percentage points, while Trump won the district by more than 3 percentage points.

That makes the district, which straddles the place where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean, a key bellwether in a state where people don't register by party.

Virginia Beach, Virginia - 3 October 2019

1. Pan, Congresswoman Elaine Luria walks into New Hope Baptist church for town hall meeting

2. Close-up audience applauding

3. Various town hall meeting

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. James Allen, town hall moderator, reading comments and questions:

"Bravo Zulu on your brave patriotic decision on the impeachment inquiry."

5. Mid, some members in the audience give Luria a standing ovation

6. Cutaway meeting

7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Elaine Luria, (D) Virginia:

"And this instance is a clear instance of the President of the United States enlisting the help of a foreign leader to influence and malign a potential political opponent to affect the outcome of our next election, all under the guise of trying to fight corruption in another country.

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. James Allen, town hall moderator, to Trump supporter in the audience:

"I will throw you out, I don't have no problem about throwing you out. Now, if you have a question, we'll ask your question but you are not going to sit here and heckle the Congresswoman. We don't want to hear that. If you can't go, if you can't sit here and be respectful, get out."

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Washington - 4 October 2019

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Kyle Kondik, University of Virginia Center for Politics:

"If the Democrats tell the story right, it is probably an easier one to explain (than the Mueller report) and that maybe that's why some of these national security Democrats were willing to go along here, because one, they may have legitimately felt that the behavior was more egregious but it might also be that the behavior is easier to explain."

Hartland, Michigan - 3 October 2019

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Elissa Slotkin, (D) Michigan:

"For me, involving foreigners in our political affairs was beyond the pale. It just was beyond the pale."

11. Pull back of some in audience giving a standing ovation in the Cromaine Library

12. UPSOUND (English) Town hall attendee:

"There's anger out there. They are tired of this president being undermined and this is just another phase of this."

13. Slotkin listens to an attendee

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Elissa Slotkin, (D) Michigan:

"All I can tell you is I did not come to this lightly, and I did not want to be doing this. I felt compelled to do it. And I understand that there's disagreement, obviously."

15. Wide, town hall meeting

Washington - 4 October 2019

16. Wide, President Donald Trump standing in front of White House taking reporter questions

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"This is about corruption and this is not about politics. This is about corruption. I really believe that they (the Democrats) are going to pay a tremendous price at the polls."

Hartland, Michigan - 3 October 2019

18. UPSOUND (English) Town hall attendee:

"If you guys go ahead and impeach him, we may never have this meeting again because you might be outa here."

19. Slotkin poses for a photo with constituent Larry Parsons

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Parsons, Slotkin Constituent:

"I think she's under control and influenced by (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and not her constituents. There's nothing that the president has done that is impeachable. And I totally respect people's opinions. That's why we vote. And we don't impeach presidents, because we didn't vote for them."

21. Various of Slotkin constituent Tom Moran and others outside the library

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Moran, Slotkin Constituent:

"I salute Elissa Slotkin for standing up and being willing to risk her career on a principle."

Norfolk, Virginia - 3 October 2019

23. Close-up sign of Norfolk

24. Various views of navy ships

Washington - 4 October 2019

25. SOUNDBITE (English) Kyle Kondik, University of Virginia Center for Politics:

"You do have very heavy military and veteran presence there and it remains to be seen how persuadable a lot of those voters may be who may be Republican leaning but maybe again persuadable on on questions of the president's conduct. But yeah, I mean that's ... of all the congressional districts in the country, of course, many of them are super Democratic or super Republican not really competitive. Virginia 2 is right about right near the center of the country in terms of the median and you know average House district."

Norfolk, Virginia - 3 October 2019

26. Pan view of Congresswoman Elaine Luria's home

27. SOUNDBITE: (English) Elaine Luria, (D) Virginia:

"You know, people sent me to Washington to make tough choices and you know, I spent 20 years in the military.  I didn't spend 20 years in the Navy to watch this happen, to watch the Constitution be trampled on and I feel very strongly that I made the right decision."

Virginia Beach - 3 October 2019

28. Pan, people arriving at the New Hope Baptist church for town hall meeting

29. SOUNDBITE (English) Francine Humphrey, Virginia Beach resident:

"For the community that we serve, you know,  there are going to be mixed feelings about it but I think it will make us stronger because we are actually doing something and not waiting for something to happen."

30. SOUNDBITE (English) Patrick McShane, Virginia Beach resident:

"One of the reasons I wanted to thank her, because it is not an easy district. A lot of military here. We are very moderate.  But sometimes the right thing is the right thing, but it is hard to do and I appreciate her doing it."

31. Pan of meeting

32. SOUNDBITE: (English) Elaine Luria, (D) Virginia:

"You know, I think it is pretty clear, pretty clear from my opening remarks that we are focused on a lot of things. We are focused on a lot of things for this district and a lot of things for this country and it is very unfortunate that we find ourselves in this situation where we have to be focused on this. And it is not Adam Schiff and it is not the Democratic Party that got us here, it is the actions of President Trump."

33. Close-up audience applauds

34. Various, Luria addressing town hall meeting

35. Various, pro-Trump demonstration outside town hall meeting