US split as country awaits 2nd Trump impeach trial

For the 2nd time in almost exactly a year, the nation is bracing for a senate impeachment showdown over Donald Trump's behavior... This time, house impeachment managers arguing the former president should be convicted and barred from future office because he endangered the lives of all members of congress when he aimed his angry mob of supporters at the U.S. Capitol last month. "We fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not gonna have a country anymore." But while a majority of Americans believe Trump bears at least some blame for the violent events on January 6th....only about half think the senate should vote to convict the former president. A new survey from the Associated Press-NORC center for public affairs research finds that 47% of Americans say Trump should be convicted... While 40% believe he should not. The poll also finds that about 6 in 10 think Trump has little to no respect for the country’s democratic institutions and traditions. "I think there are a lot of people who are just tired of Donald Trump. They wanted him to go away by voting against him,” Barbara Perry, UVA Presidential Historian said. “And so they just want him out of the public consciousness. So there may be some of that, along with his supporters who believe Joe Biden was not legitimately elected president." Trump's lawyers - and his senate supporters - reject that he incited the riot... Calling the proceeding unconstitutional, and insisting the senate can't put him on trial now that he has left the white house. "A sham, this is, a travesty. Impeachment is for removal from office and the accused here has already left office," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky said on Jan. 26. Trump's 2nd impeachment trial will be held in the very chamber where the insurrectionists stood on Jan. 6. House managers plan to lay out what happened that day in graphic detail -- presenting video evidence -- and even calling on Donald Trump to testify -- though his advisers have said he won't appear. Perry says the democrats' show is less for the audience of reluctant republican senators, and more for the wider public - and history. "The fact of the matter is, we can see that Donald Trump remains popular and Republicans simply don't want to cross him,” Barbara Perry, UVA Presidential Historian said. “But I think that if for no other reason, the trial needs to be held for that accountability to get to the facts, even if there's no conviction in the end." Conviction in the Senate will be an uphill climb, requiring a two-thirds majority -- or 17 Republicans -- to go along. With acquittal all but assured, many close to Trump expect him to lay low during the trial. But few believe he'll stay quiet for long. Vowing as he left Washington for the last time as president, he'll "be back in some form."