Republican lawmakers meet with President Trump following impeachment resolution vote

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Republican lawmakers meet with President Trump following impeachment resolution vote

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Guy Reschenthaler says he cannot disclose what the meeting with Trump was about. Reschenthaler says he is proud that every House Republican voted no on the impeachment resolution.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," October 31, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF.: What is stake in all of this is nothing less than our democracy.

REP. STEVE SCALISE, R-LA: Madam Speaker, when you look through this resolution, and you see how one-sided, how Soviet-style this is running, this is the United States of America.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF, D-CALIF.: This resolution sets the stage for the next phase of our investigation, because no one is above the law.

REP. DOUG COLLINS, R-GA: This is a sad day. The curtain is coming down on this House because of the majority has no idea about process and procedures. They're simply after a president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL CAVUTO, ANCHOR: Trick or treat. Happy Halloween -- not.

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto.

And FOX on top of some pretty scary stuff going down today, whether it's an impeachment inquiry that is still very much on, or stocks very much off, way off, or China sounding off on trade, and the president on them, and North Korea firing off still more missiles.

Well, today, we have got the whole scary bunch of it, because we are on top of all of it, with Mike Emanuel on Capitol Hill, where Democrats and Republicans are still going at it, and John Roberts at the White House on how the president is responding to it.

We begin with Mike.

Hey, Mike.

MIKE EMANUEL, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Neil, good afternoon.

Yes, a closed-door deposition continues at this hour with a senior National Security Council official on Russia. Tim Morrison testifying behind closed doors has told lawmakers in his opening statement that he was on President Trump's call with Ukraine's President Zelensky, listening from the White House Situation Room.

In his opening statement, reviewed by FOX News, Morrison told lawmakers -- quote -- "I want to be clear. I wasn't concerned that anything illegal was discussed on the Trump-Zelensky July 25 call."

Today, a leading House Republican called this entire process a political circus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OH: I want you all to think about something.

This morning, I was in an impeachment deposition, but then had to leave that to come to the floor for a vote on the rules for impeachment.

(LAUGHTER)

JORDAN: That's what -- that -- that says it all about this entire process. And it is -- it is a sad day, it really is, for this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: The resolution in the House to set the procedures heading into a more public phase of the impeachment probe passed without a single Republican vote. It was 232-196, with Democrats and one independent voting in favor.

After it was done, the House Intelligence chairman talked about next steps.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHIFF: The resolution today sets out the procedures going forward with that impeachment process.

The founding fathers understood that a leader might take hold of the Oval Office who would sacrifice the national security, who would fail to defend the Constitution, who would place his personal and political interests above the interests of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: Open hearings are expected in the coming weeks, but leading Republicans say this vote today leaves way too much power in the hands of Chairman Adam Schiff -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Mike, thank you very, very much.

All right, to John Roberts at the White House, where the president didn't waste a nanosecond to slam the impeachment vote today.

Hey, John.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He certainly didn't.

And the White House reacting to this as well. The president is hosting Republican members of the House over here to the White House to talk about next steps. The White House communications team held a surrogate conference call to talk about where to go.

And then the president also weighing in on this on U.K. radio with his good friend Nigel Farage. Listen here.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: The Democrats are desperate. They're desperate. They have nothing. They have got nothing going.

We call them -- we really call them to do-nothing Democrats. And we -- it's really sticking, because they're doing nothing. And it's the only way they're going to try and win the election this way, because they can't win it the fair way.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The president appearing to, without coordinating, to concur with what Mike Emanuel has been reporting about the Tim Morrison testimony today, that there was nothing wrong with the phone call that the president had with Volodymyr Zelensky back on July the 25th.

Listen to what the president said here.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TRUMP: When you know the line is crowded with people listening, intelligence agencies, military people, they're all listening, would I say something inappropriate?

I'm supposed to be a -- they even say a very smart person, right? I don't think I'd be -- I don't think I'd be doing that.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROBERTS: And the White House continues to insist that this House resolution continues to deny the president due process.

Now, the reason for that is that the president and his counsel can't be involved until the third phase of the investigation, which is when the Intelligence Committee hands it off to the Judiciary Committee.

And even then, the president's participation is subject to the discretion of the committee chair. The White House is talking past Democratic members of Congress all the way to voters, suggesting that the president is much more focused on the needs of the country than Democrats are.

Listen to the press secretary here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I keep seeing all these Dems on the floor talking about how this is for the good of the country.

The president just authorized the kill of the founder and leader of ISIS. That's what's good for the country. This president's good for the country, and we're going to keep working and they can continue to do their sham.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Some interesting polling in battleground states as well that seem to support the president's position.

A new New York Times/Siena poll conducted in six battlegrounds, including Florida, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, the majority of people, Neil, 52 percent, oppose impeachment. But at the same time, 51 percent of people support the investigation that's going on in Congress.

So, a little confusion there as to what these numbers are showing, but I think the bottom line for the president, 52 percent of people oppose impeachment. And that's in the key states that will decide the next election.

CAVUTO: Just like they decided the last one.

All right, John Roberts, thank you very much, my friend, John at the White House.

Well, two Democrats joining Republicans to vote against today's resolution impeachment, but many didn't, even in some districts where the president won handily. Could that then backfire on Democrats? Depends on your perspective, of course.

We have got Democratic strategist extraordinaire Antjuan Seawright, ditto Republican strategist Joseph Pinion, both sartorially splendid, I noticed.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: That goes without saying for my next guest, The Wall Street Journal's Jillian Melchior.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Jillian, end it with you.

Let me get your take about, not their fashion, which is...

(CROSSTALK)

JILLIAN MELCHIOR, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Sartorially splendid.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: But the fact that the process has begun, but it's all one way.

MELCHIOR: Yes.

CAVUTO: What do you think?

MELCHIOR: Well, this is really irregular.

So an impeachment is a serious thing. It's overturning the will of the American voter. This is happening very close to an election. And so I think that puts the pressure, or it should, on Democrats to do this in the most open, transparent, normal, straightforward, bipartisan way.

Instead, I think we're seeing the political impeachment process hyper- politicized, in a way that Democrats are able to subpoena, call witnesses in a way that Republicans aren't.

So I think this makes it...

CAVUTO: Well, they say it's the same process that was enjoyed by Republicans when they went after Bill Clinton. Is it?

ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it's a process that Republicans put in place.

And I want to push back on one thing you said. This is not about overturning the last election. This is in fact about the next election. We have the leader of the free world who asked Ukraine's leader to dig up dirt on his political opponent.

That has nothing to do with the next election. Today's vote, Cavuto, was more about putting guardrails in place and shedding light on a process that 25 percent...

MELCHIOR: Why do we need guardrails on the process? Was it because the process had already gone off the rails?

CAVUTO: More importantly, why call me Cavuto?

SEAWRIGHT: Absolutely not, Neil.

CAVUTO: Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

MELCHIOR: If this is going to influence the election, we need the transcript.

(CROSSTALK)

SEAWRIGHT: I can't let you do that.

Twenty-five percent of the Republican Caucus sat on the committees that were doing the work. You can't say this was done in the dark. This is not true. That's 47 or 48 members.

MELCHIOR: Then why wasn't the American public able to listen in on a lot of this?

SEAWRIGHT: The same reason it didn't happen when the Republicans were in control? You can't dismiss the fact that we won the elections.

Elections have consequences, in the words of Lindsey Graham.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: It's a fair point.

But, Joe, help me with this. Without getting in the weeds of the process, because it is pretty involved, what I'm asking is where you think it is going. In other words here, if it is all one party doing it, and even those who -- Democrats were in districts that the president won and most of them went along with this vote today -- it's not an impeachment vote.

It's a nod on the impeachment process. Is that something the president should be concerned about, that even the ones who should be a little reticent are not?

JOSEPH PINION, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Look, I think that the problem that we -- we just witnessed it right now, is that I think that impeachment is, again, a political process. We have to remember that.

And Democrats have shown up to a bare-knuckle political brawl with legal briefs and no pads, right? That's the problem we're facing right now.

You have American people who realize that right now you have a duly elected president who has the will of the people behind him, even if Democrats want to convince Americans that they should hate him for the reasons that they hate him.

But, really, this has turned into one massive Dorian Gray conspiracy, where you have...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, I might point out Watergate started with seven out of 10 Americans thinking it would be a waste of time.

And it evolved into something. Now, I'm not saying history repeats itself, but do you see anything there, Antjuan, that the Democrats have got to have something here to justify this?

SEAWRIGHT: I think the caucus has been very clear.

And my leader, Jim Clyburn, would have not been able to whip the votes he had, including swing member districts, if there was nothing -- nothing good about this process. This is about shining light, gathering information.

CAVUTO: But doesn't your base want this?

SEAWRIGHT: It's not even about the base.

This is about corruption, abuse of power.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: No, no, but the base wants this. They're salivating, right?

SEAWRIGHT: I think the American people, Democrats and Republicans, want to make this -- the democracy work.

And I think this was about...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, in those battleground states, more than half are not.

SEAWRIGHT: It's not politics.

CAVUTO: OK.

SEAWRIGHT: And I think Pelosi has been very clear.

If it was about politics, then we would have never been to this point.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, let me talk about the politics...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: ... with you, is that there is a sense here that it could backfire on Democrats, in that it pushes this vote, if it comes to a vote, around the holidays, maybe slightly thereafter, wham-bam, we're right into the caucuses and the primaries, and all those senators who are running for president -- I think there are six of them -- they're a tad distracted.

So does it boomerang on them?

MELCHIOR: Yes.

I mean, what are they going to do, go out and be campaigning and then have to come back for -- sitting in on an impeachment inquiry? So I do think that there are some political risks with this.

But, look, I want to say I think the important thing here...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: But is there a political risk for the president and Republicans ignoring it?

MELCHIOR: Yes, I think there is.

But the thing here is, I think it's really important that the American public be able to understand what's going on here, be able to have this conducted in a transparent way, because it is something that is going to happen, yes.

CAVUTO: But, to Antjuan's point, these things typically don't start out that way, because they're gathering information, interviewing people behind closed doors.

SEAWRIGHT: Ken Starr?

CAVUTO: And so I guess what I'm saying -- I'm not taking sides here.

MELCHIOR: Yes.

CAVUTO: Do any of you see -- and maybe this is a good question for you -- that whatever you say about the process, this is about accumulating stuff, and, secretly, Republicans are a little concerned about how this could just sort of get away from other stuff?

PINION: Look, I think that there has been an exhaustive amount of time spent on whatever the good deeds or misdeeds of this administration are going to be.

This notion that somehow that there's going to be this floodgate of information coming forward that somehow tips the tide, I think, is misplaced.

But I think, again...

CAVUTO: It's happened before.

(CROSSTALK)

PINION: But here's what I will say to this.

Look, and I understand where you're coming from and where Democrats are coming from in saying, it's not about politics. But let's be very clear. This is about politics.

And if you look at right now, the fact that we have Democrat -- you look, you want to talk about polling, let's talk about the fact that...

(CROSSTALK)

SEAWRIGHT: I don't care about polling, Joseph. That's the point.

(CROSSTALK)

PINION: Well, America is talking about polling.

And the reality is that you can have presidential polls all across this country that say that Hillary Clinton is going to beat Donald Trump. Well, guess what? That has nothing to do with swing districts. And we have got people saying that the tide is turning on...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, you're saying, really quickly, much ado about nothing.

You're saying?

SEAWRIGHT: Let's be clear.

If we would have not gone down this road, we had Trump's lieutenants in his own camp testifying about the wrongness that he has done, i.e., with this phone call.

So you can't sit here and press the ignore and chill button about the corruption that comes from this administration.

(CROSSTALK)

SEAWRIGHT: I'm sorry. You cannot. It's a national security issue.

(CROSSTALK)

MELCHIOR: I think, at best, at this point, what we have seen is poor judgment. I don't think that we have seen high crimes and misdemeanors. And that's what an impeachment is about.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: All right, Melchior, Pinion, Seawright, we're done.

SEAWRIGHT: Cavuto, thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: I love that. I love how he does that, because I feel like...

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: All right, meanwhile, Republicans are slamming today's vote, saying that it fails to give the president due process. We got into that. But are they overstating that?

We're on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ANDY BIGGS, R-ARIZ.: After they introduced the resolution, they have another week's full of hearings behind closed doors, and they schedule another week's full of hearings behind closed doors.

If this is about transparency, then open it up. If you want the American people to see it, open it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: Shut out and now ticked off.

Republicans are slamming the impeachment process, the basic grounds of which rolling out today with this lopsided, largely partisan vote in the House.

But John Banzhaf says, you know, it isn't Democrats who are out of line on this one. In this case, it's Republicans.

John, good to have you.

Could you explain that for me?

JOHN BANZHAF, ATTORNEY: Sure. And I'm not going to criticize either party.

What I will say is that the argument based on due process simply has no legal foundation. I teach due process, when it applies, when it doesn't. And it always applies at the last stage, when somebody is literally, in the words of the Constitution, going to be deprived of liberty or property.

In the criminal case, that's the criminal trial. In an administrative proceeding before a regulatory agency, it's at the final trial hearing level, when the evidence is presented.

In the case of impeachment, that's in the Senate. That's when the evidence will be presented. Both sides will present their side. Both sides will cross-examine. Due process doesn't apply to the investigatory side.

And, by the way, as a practical matter, most congressional investigations of executive wrongdoing or possible wrongdoing are conducted in secret. We don't want one witness listening and comparing his testimony to the other.

We want to avoid the usual grandstanding and speechifying that both parties tend to engage in when the hearings are televised.

CAVUTO: So what is to stop Republicans from thinking, all right, then let us, at least in this investigatory process, talk to the people who aren't all the people you're talking to?

Because they argue that, by the time it gets to this level, it's a stacked deck. Is it?

BANZHAF: I don't think it's a stacked deck.

According to the resolution passed today -- by the way, nobody else has pointed this out. The president calls this a hunt for witches. What better way to start -- start it off than to do it on Halloween?

CAVUTO: There is that.

BANZHAF: In any event, the Republicans have been in every hearing, every closed hearing that has been held so far. The resolution passed today provides the transcripts will be made available.

So far as I can tell, the procedures and protections for the president in this proceeding will be at least as great as those for Nixon and those for Clinton. In fact, they actually get one extra one. They get to examine the witnesses.

But, Neil, there's a hidden thing in here which nobody else seems to pointed out. And that is it provides that, if the president unlawfully withholds documents or withholds or prohibits people from testifying, then the chairman, particularly of the Judiciary Committee, can punish him.

And he can punish him by cutting off their right, the president's right, the right of president's counsel, to present witnesses and to cross- examine. And that could be a very serious threat hanging over his head, a lot more effective at producing documents and getting witnesses than holding them in contempt of court or threaten them with fines or whatever they have been doing so far that hasn't worked.

CAVUTO: So, if you think about that, John, I mean, regardless of your view, legal or otherwise, if that gives Chairman Schiff that kind of power, and he's already made it very clear that he thinks that impeachable offenses have already occurred, and he is the one who can decide whether Republicans can subpoena anybody, and if he doesn't like it, and it's a Democratic committee, it's a Democratic House, to your point, then there's the breaks and it doesn't happen.

You can understand the president turning around and saying, hey, what -- what -- what's going to happen to me?

BANZHAF: I can understand him saying it, but that's always been the way it is.

The majority party does control whatever happens in a committee, whether it's Republicans or Democrats. As somebody once said, the election...

CAVUTO: So, when they're free, John -- I'm sorry to jump on that.

So when they're free to say, the Republicans, we want to subpoena this witness, we want to subpoena this individual, and they're open and allowed to do that. The majority rules, though, because they're free -- that is, the majority -- to say, no, go stick a fork in it, right?

BANZHAF: That's true.

But let's be realistic. I think everybody seems to agree that the House is going to impeach. The Senate, with a two -- very unlikely to have a two- thirds majority to vote to throw the president out.

So what is going to happen is that there will be open hearings, at which both sides will present their evidence, and the voters will finally get a chance to see all this evidence. If they...

CAVUTO: But you're saying very clearly, John, that it will likely end up that way, House votes to impeach -- that's the direction, it seems, it's going in -- and the Senate, and given the numbers, at least now, not, again, exactly what happened in the Clinton situation?

BANZHAF: Well, the bottom line, I think, is fairness is in the eye of the beholder, like beauty.

CAVUTO: Right.

BANZHAF: And it's going to be up to the voters.

If they think the procedure is unfair, and that the president's being railroaded, they won't hold it against him.

CAVUTO: Fair enough.

BANZHAF: On the other hand, if they think what he did was wrong, even though it may not be impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors, and that he wasn't railroaded, that the procedure was more or less fair, then they are likely to hold it against the president and Republicans in the coming election.

That's what's most likely to happen. Everything else is much sound and fury, signifying nothing.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Well said.

John, always good having you. Thank you very, very much.

BANZHAF: Thank you.

CAVUTO: Meanwhile, there's this. Take my word for it.

Lots of October treats for stocks, but did China just take a big bite out of our market for the rest of the year?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: Well, did China just pull a Freddy Krueger on trade -- see the Halloween theme here -- slicing and dicing a long-term deal with the United States?

Looking at the corner of Wall and Broad, we had a big sell-off today, not as big by day's end, still largely on concerns that things are getting antsy on the trade front, and also a little bit antsy on the factory front.

But, be that as it may, the read on all of it with Gary B. Smith and Tim Anderson.

Tim, what do you think? I mean, what was rattling these guys?

I keep telling people who are asking, it's got to be impeachment, Neil, got to be impeachment. It has everything to do with China for the time being, huh?

TIM ANDERSON, TJM INVESTMENTS: Well, for the market today, I think it was the combination of a little bit some comments from China, a little bit of a sell-on-the-news reaction from the Fed, a little bit of profit-taking the last day of the month.

I mean, the S&P is up 5 percent since October 2. So stocks have had a great month of October. You know, we had some profit-taking today. Some of the major averages were pressed right up against some very serious resistance levels.

And maybe it's just time for a pause for a couple of days to decide how much investor enthusiasm there's going to be going into the last two months of the year.

CAVUTO: You know what is interesting, Gary B.? We are always scared of the month of October. It's the month that brought us the great 1929 stock market crash, the 1987 crash.

There have been a whole host of problems, dealing with an Asian contagion and a Russian crisis. So it's probably nice that October is put to bed now, but how do you think of the way it -- the way it ended up?

GARY B. SMITH, CONTRIBUTOR: I think it's positive, Neil.

You know, Tim hit on a couple good points. I just think the -- today was more just a -- kind of a squaring of the ledger, if you will, some profit- taking, some repositioning. I didn't really think it was that big of a deal.

And on the flip side, as Tim pointed out, we had a good October, what, up 5 percent from the lows, about 2 percent from the beginning of the month. And that's facing all the headwinds of the tariffs, of Brexit, of the economy slowing.

The drip, drip, drip of the bad news just keeps coming in, impeachment, of course, or potential, I suppose.

CAVUTO: Yes.

SMITH: And yet, with all that, where the S&P is a half-a-percent from all- time highs, you got to look back and think, boy, something's going on here that must be pretty good that is just not in the news.

CAVUTO: Yes, we just reached those records on the S&P yesterday.

So let me ask you a little bit about impeachment, guys. I have told people it looks like a non-event right now, because -- and the market is built on expectations and not being surprised. And their expectation is worst-case scenario, Tim, the president might get impeached in the House, but it's not going anywhere in the Senate.

They're not worried. I always like to say that these guys in the markets, they're not red or blue. They're green. They love making money. And they have been making a lot of money with this president, just like they made a lot of money with the last one who was impeached, Bill Clinton, and that -- and they don't want to see that disrupted, and they don't think it will be disrupted.

Do you feel that way?

ANDERSON: I definitely agree with you.

I think if they -- if the market thought that the impeachment process would result in the worst-case scenario for the president, we would be nowhere near all-time highs.

CAVUTO: Gary, the shopper, the consumer is the lifeblood of this economy.

You always remind me that he and she account for 70 percent of the business activity we see, the overall economic activity, wired to spend more this holiday season. Everything seems to rest with the consumer.

That's a good sentiment indicator. I don't know if it's a good voter indicator. How's the consumer looking?

SMITH: Right.

I think that it boils down always to three things for the consumer, home, the value of their home, if they have a job, and what they're making. And while all three -- I mean, especially the have a job part -- you look at the unemployment rate, it's very strong.

CAVUTO: Yes.

SMITH: Wages continue to creep up. Home values have at least stabilized.

Certainly, they're up off the -- a lot of people that used to be underwater are now not underwater. In fact, they're going great guns in a certain part of the country.

So all three of those are pretty solid. So you would have to say the consumer right now is feeling pretty good. I think it's going to be a pretty darn good holiday spending season, which, of course, is good for retail. And, as you point out, it's going to be very good for the economy.

CAVUTO: We will see, because, last year, my wife had the burden of carrying the season alone. It can't be just her, guys.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: Exactly.

CAVUTO: So, we will see what happens.

Gentlemen, a very happy Halloween to both of you.

In the meantime, Republican lawmakers are heading to the White House after this impeachment resolution vote. We're going to have the latest from Washington on all of that -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: Do you know that adults spend more on Halloween stuff for themselves than they do their kids, and that we spend more at Halloween than almost any other event any time of year, save Christmas?

What the witch is going on?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, Tim Morrison, the president's former Russia adviser on the national security team there, has left the Capitol. This was just a few moments ago.

We're told he was largely supportive of the president and what he said and what he said he said to the leader of Ukraine. Don't have much more details on that, but he's out of there. The questioning is over.

Chad Pergram has been watching all these fast-moving developments, between votes on an impeachment process and who's talking to whom as they advance that process. No one knows it better.

Hey, Chad, what's the latest?

CHAD PERGRAM, SENIOR CAPITOL HILL PRODUCER: Hey there.

Well, Morrison's going to be the last a witness this week. We were told this afternoon we're not anticipating any witnesses tomorrow.

What we learned today with this impeachment process vote in the House of Representatives is, we got into the mechanics. And who has ball control in this process? It's the House Intelligence Committee, not the Judiciary Committee. They might eventually get to that.

Jerry Nadler, for the time being, is not part of this process, as these hearings that they will have maybe in two or three weeks and release these transcribed interviews, that is still under the aegis of the House Intelligence Committee. And that's rare in an impeachment inquiry.

Right now, Adam Schiff has ball control. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHIFF: The resolution, from the perspective of the Intelligence Committee, sets out important procedures for how we may conduct our open hearings.

The resolution will also permit me, as the chair, to release -- to begin releasing the transcripts of the depositions. And I think that you will see, when those are released, just what equal opportunity members of both parties have had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM: Now, let's talk about the mechanics of this vote.

There was unanimity on the Republican side of the aisle. And that's important to note as you look toward a prospective Senate trial. Again, these weren't articles of impeachment, but the idea that Republicans mounted a united front, that kind of influences Republican senators.

We weren't having people exactly jump off the ship to run away from President Trump over in the Senate. But, that said, by putting up a strong vote there, that probably influences the other body.

Also, look at the two Democrats who jumped ship. You had Jeff Van Drew, a freshman Democrat who flipped a district from red to blue in New Jersey, and Collin Peterson, a moderate Democrat from the western side of Minnesota, one of the more conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives.

Very interesting thing about Collin Peterson, his district was carried by President Trump by 31 points in 2016. The other thing that's interesting about Collin Peterson, there's only two Democrats left in the House who voted for the impeachment inquiry in 1998 with President Clinton. Collin Peterson was one of them. He didn't vote for it today, Neil.

CAVUTO: Very interesting.

All right, Chad, thank you very much, Chad Pergram.

PERGRAM: Thank you.

CAVUTO: So, Republicans are holding tight and unified in all of this.

House Judiciary Committee member Pennsylvania Congressman Guy Reschenthaler joins me from outside the White House.

I think you just wrapped up a meeting with the president. Is that right, sir?

REP. GUY RESCHENTHALER, R-PENN.: I did, Neil. And thanks for having me on.

CAVUTO: Thank you for coming.

How did the meeting go?

RESCHENTHALER: It went well. I can't discuss what we went over.

But I can tell you that what we're seeing in Washington right now is the Democrats just keeping everything behind closed doors. The administration has been very transparent and open.

And I'm glad to see that all Republicans voted no. Today, we voted to go back to work. We voted to pass USMCA, work on other free trade deals, lower the cost of prescription drugs. The Democrats are the ones who are just dragging this out.

CAVUTO: Obviously, you can't reveal all details. You can feel free to whisper them to me now.

(LAUGHTER)

RESCHENTHALER: Yes.

CAVUTO: But one of the things that has been remarkable is the unity among your fellow Republicans.

Was this a message ,or did the president say it would be a message to senators, should it get to them, to be the same way?

RESCHENTHALER: Well, look, a lot of us were just looking at how this impeachment inquiry has been handled.

And it's being handled in secret. And we shouldn't be focused on that. We have got the remember...

CAVUTO: But, sir, isn't it being handled the exact same way it was when you guys were in charge, not you specifically, during the Clinton impeachment process?

You interviewed witnesses and key players behind closed doors. You were the majority party. That was the way it was. Same thing here. No different.

RESCHENTHALER: There's -- Neil, there's a lot of differences.

For one, there's no transparency this time around. Everything's in closed doors. And I'm fortunate I'm on the Foreign Affairs Committee. So I'm in a lot of these depositions.

But the American people should know what's going on behind these closed doors.

CAVUTO: But I was there to cover that at the time, sir. And that's how the whole Clinton thing started out, behind closed doors.

I'm not saying it's a good or bad thing, but there is a precedent to this, right?

RESCHENTHALER: Well, look, Adam Schiff can release the transcripts today, if he wanted to.

That was the vote on the House floor. That vote, unfortunately, passed. But Adam Schiff can release whatever he wants to. And I would call on him to release the transcripts, make this all open to the public and let the public decide.

But also, Neil, members of Congress are going to be deciding this issue of impeachment. And most of my colleagues are not in these depositions. So how are they going to make an informed decision?

CAVUTO: So you think that the power granted the chairman, in this case to go yea or nay on subpoena request or demands that you and your colleagues have, it's -- it's a kangaroo court? I think that's how the president defined it, right?

RESCHENTHALER: Not only is it a kangaroo court. It's also Soviet-esque.

Why isn't this being done in the Judiciary Committee, which is where all the other impeachments have taken place before? Why isn't the press involved? Why aren't all members of Congress being given these transcripts? Why aren't they allowed to ask questions?

Why doesn't the president have representation behind closed doors? There's a lot of questions I have.

But, Neil, you know what was so disturbing today was just how giddy the Democrats were when this vote passed. This should be a serious matter. This shouldn't be something that is celebrated.

This is just a complete distraction from having free trade deals, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, fixing our roads and bridges.

CAVUTO: Right.

RESCHENTHALER: There's so much more that we could be working on.

But, instead, we're dealing with this, with an election, again, about a year away. The American people can decide this in a year. Instead, we're wasting all this time.

CAVUTO: So, let me ask you.

Does the president using his office and influence and stature to compel a foreign leader to essentially get dirt on a prospective opponent, is that an impeachable offense to you?

RESCHENTHALER: Well, remember, the president has the obligation to actually investigate corruption.

And if there was interference in 2016 with the elections, then the president should investigate that.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: So, that act alone, Congressman, if he did that, for whatever reasons, talked to a leader of a sovereign nation to insert itself potentially into a U.S. election, Democrats have been telling me that's impeachable.

RESCHENTHALER: Right.

CAVUTO: You're saying it's not?

RESCHENTHALER: Well -- well, look, the president has the obligation to investigate corruption and interference in our elections.

And he was looking into what was going on with Ukraine and their interference with the 2016 election.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Would he have looked into that if the corruption involved -- didn't involve a former vice president running to potentially challenge him in the next election?

RESCHENTHALER: Right. Right. That, I can't speak about.

But if there was corruption, that should be investigated. And if there was interference in our election, we should be looking at this.

If the tables were turned here...

CAVUTO: But, to you, those are not impeachable grounds?

I don't mean to be a pest.

RESCHENTHALER: Right.

CAVUTO: I just want to clarify that.

Others are saying, it might be unpleasant, but it isn't impeachable. Are you in that camp?

RESCHENTHALER: I -- I think the president had an obligation to investigate corruption.

CAVUTO: OK.

RESCHENTHALER: But we have got to remember too that Joe Biden's son was getting paid $50,000 a month. He had zero experience in oil and gas, zero experience in Ukraine. That needs to be looked at.

CAVUTO: All right.

RESCHENTHALER: That's wrong.

CAVUTO: We will see.

All right, sir, thank you very much for taking the time.

RESCHENTHALER: Thanks, Neil.

CAVUTO: I do appreciate it.

RESCHENTHALER: Thank you.

CAVUTO: All right, well, North Korea testing some new missiles again, two of them, yes, on Halloween.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: How is this for a little Halloween scare?

North Korea firing not one, but two missiles into the waters between South Korea and Japan, certainly spooking the region.

John Hannah with us, the former Dick Cheney national security adviser.

John, they keep doing this. Why?

JOHN HANNAH, FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Yes, hi, Neil.

This is a bad sign. I do have a have a sense that we -- with everything else going on, between Syria and impeachment investigations, we could be now moving toward a new crisis with North Korea.

Kim has been saying since the collapse of the Hanoi summit in February with President Trump that, if the United States didn't introduce some new flexibility into its negotiating position with respect to easing sanctions on North Korea, that North Korea was going to take its policy in a new direction, which most people think is building up towards ending the nearly-two-year-old freeze on testing nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles, which, of course, the president has claimed as one of the important successes of his foreign policy during the first term.

CAVUTO: Well, is this a violation of promises they have made to the president?

HANNAH: They're not violations of promises they have made to the president.

Those only concern the freeze on testing of nuclear weapons and the freeze on testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the United States. That said...

CAVUTO: But aren't we splitting hairs here?

I mean, I know -- I know that's very distinct, I grant you, but it's almost like they're provoking us.

HANNAH: Oh, there's no question that they are engaged in a systematic campaign of escalation to build pressure on the president.

This is the 12th rounds of testing they have conducted since May, primarily of shorter-range missiles and rockets, but, earlier this month, of a very worrisome medium-range submarine-launched missiles that are all...

CAVUTO: Right. Right.

HANNAH: These are all violations, Neil, of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

And there's no doubt that they all represent an increase in the threat of - - North Korea pose to not only our best allies in Asia, Japan and South Korea, but to all of the U.S. forces deployed across the Asia Pacific region.

CAVUTO: All right, John Hannah, a little scary stuff here. Well, hopefully, it calms down, but it never seems to, John Hannah in Washington.

In the meantime, you're looking live right now -- or will be soon -- at Fort Dodge, Iowa. The 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden, he is set to hold a town hall there.

And to hear Republican Senator John Kennedy say it, on this very show, Democrats are already pre-positioning a very nice campaign gift for him, and it has to do with this impeachment thing.

I will connect, then you decide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: So you think this entire process is actually -- this is kind of Machiavellian on your part -- meant to help Joe Biden?

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY, R-LA: With the Iowa caucuses starting in February, you're going to have Senator Warren, Senator Sanders, Senator Klobuchar, Senator Booker. Let me go down the list.

All of them are going to be in the Senate six days a week Monday -- most of the day Monday through Saturday.

Now, you don't have to be Mensa material to figure out who that helps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, Republican Senator John Kennedy, always an interesting guest, taking a very interesting view of this impeachment thing, that it's going to be distracting for a lot of the presidential candidates, six of whom are U.S. senators, and would have to be back in Washington for much of the impeachment trial, if it comes to that.

Lo and behold, the vice president would lead a group of non-working or regularly working and employed candidates, who would be able to take advantage of that by doing nothing but campaigning.

The Washington Examiner's Tiana Lowe on that.

I haven't heard it framed that way before, Tiana. What do you make of that?

TIANA LOWE, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: So I think that Senator -- that the senator is correct, but for the wrong reasons.

I don't think that there was some Machiavellian plot at the beginning to ensure this, especially considering that Democrats pushed up the rate of the impeachment inquiry, meaning that it will be cleared hopefully before the primaries for those candidates who would have to be on the Hill in order to vote.

However, it clearly does benefit Biden, because it brings back the electability question that has been an issue for a candidate like Elizabeth Warren, who is doubling down on punitive wealth taxes and doubling down on a Medicare for all bill that abolishes private health insurance.

So, in that way, with the focus on Trump and not on the unpopular Democratic agenda, then, yes, it does help a candidate like Biden, whose only message is that, I'm electable and I will continue the Obama administration.

CAVUTO: Well, he's also been saying and trying to rein in the more aggressive spending plans of people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, i.e., those who are senators, who would have to be back in Washington for this, that, look, I'm your moderate alternative. They're distracted. I'm not. I'm focusing on you.

What do you think?

LOWE: Well, certainly.

If you look at the polling for Medicare for all, I mean, a minority of Democrats want a bill that abolishes private health insurance. I mean, even the supposedly modern Mayor Pete's public option plan, that was too radical for Barack Obama.

So Biden's pitch really is the return to normalcy campaign.

CAVUTO: Interesting.

LOWE: And especially with this impeachment inquiry that does put the focus on, was Trump -- was Biden a victim of Trump's corruption, that is a -- that's a positive selling line for him in a Democratic primary where he's been criticized for not being enough to the left.

CAVUTO: Yes.

And if you think about it, even Barack Obama, Tiana, I think he was the guy who said, health care for all. I didn't say Medicare for all.

So we will see how it all plays out. Thank you very much.

LOWE: Thank you.

CAVUTO: Meanwhile, is Halloween getting too scary? Forget about more expensive. Is it just so over-the-top frightening?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: I love this time of year.

But, you know, the weather notwithstanding, is it me, or is it just getting a little over the top? When I was a kid, you just ran out with your bag. You had a ghost outfit or whatever.

I found them to be very fat -- very fattening, because just a white sheet, like -- anyway, that was it, and you got candy. It was a great time. People got together and all.

Now it's getting a little morbid, with really kind of super kind of gruesome costumes and events and all. Maybe that is just the way of the world, and I got to get with it.

But I want to get my young perspective from Kat Timpf, "Sincerely Kat" on FOX Nation, much, much more, FOX News contributor and all. She has her finger on the pulse of America.

And it is a bloody pulse, Kat. It's just out of control, just morbid.

What's going on?

KATHERINE TIMPF, CONTRIBUTOR: I honestly disagree. Personally, as a misfits fan...

CAVUTO: Can we cut her mic, please, then?

No, go ahead.

TIMPF: I am a misfits fan who threw a funeral for herself last year to celebrate her 30th birthday.

CAVUTO: Really?

TIMPF: So I can't really say that I'm ever going to be on the side of anyone who says that something has gone too dark.

If you don't like the scary decorations, you don't like the scary masks, that's OK. But instead of going out, maybe you can stay home and roast pumpkin seeds in your footie pajamas and watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

CAVUTO: How did you know I did that? How did you know I did that?

TIMPF: I'm not knocking it. That actually sounds like fun to me, if you just add a little bit of whiskey maybe.

CAVUTO: So you don't...

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: You don't notice that -- of course, your life is a shorter perspective than mine.

But I remember back in like the 1800s, it was just a celebration, just having fun, getting some candy and all of this. And you're holding funerals for yourself. You're nuts. It's weird.

TIMPF: Just one funeral.

CAVUTO: Just one funeral.

TIMPF: Let's not get crazy.

CAVUTO: Did people think it was real when you did it?

TIMPF: No, no. I'm not dead. Check it out.

CAVUTO: Yes. No, I know that.

But, I mean, how did you invite people? Like, I hope you can make it to my wake?

TIMPF: Oh, I said, save the dates that were -- said in memoriam on them. And some people's children did get freaked out, but that's neither here nor there.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Wait a minute.

So, you had -- well, this is even worse than I thought. You would have kids come to this event?

TIMPF: No, no kids came, but some of my friends have kids, and they saw it on their fridge.

I came out of a coffin. I arrived in a hearse. It's all good fun.

Listen, when I was 3 years old, and all the other little girls were dressing up like puppies and princesses, I went as a bloodthirsty vampire, as in, I made my mom put blood on my face, and I insisted on creeping behind all the family photos.

But guess what? I have grown up. I have never sucked anyone's blood. I'm still not a vampire. It's OK to have fun with this scary horror stuff.

I don't think it has any larger implications.

CAVUTO: I don't mind the scary horror stuff and all.

But it gets -- it's gruesome things, like this Tennessee haunted house or whatever it is, where no one is taking -- because it's just over-the-top nuts.

TIMPF: Yes, I wouldn't do the Tennessee haunted house.

CAVUTO: Yes.

TIMPF: I completely agree with everyone who has called it a torture chamber.

However, I don't like that the government's trying to shut it down, because, although it is a torture chamber, it is a consensual torture chamber. These people agree to do it.

And this is supposed to be a free country. So, if that's what you want to do, Godspeed.

CAVUTO: I don't know, Kat. Every time I think you have addressed all the issues I feared, you bring up some new ones.

We will see how it goes. Happy Halloween, nevertheless.

TIMPF: Thank you. You too.

CAVUTO: Yes.

I'm dressing as Hannity this year, just for the hell of it. We will see what happens.

Here comes "The Five."

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