Sen. Lamar Alexander's Democratic colleagues are 'disappointed' with his no-witnesses vote, see a silver lining

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced Thursday night that he will vote against calling new witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial, but he also said Trump's actions were "inappropriate." His decision means there will likely be at most 50 votes for witnesses, and since few people think Chief Justice John Roberts would break a tie, Trump's trial is expected to come to a swift end.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told CNN's Anderson Cooper he's "very disappointed" in Alexander's decision, though it appears the GOP senator "essentially said that the House case has been proven but it doesn't rise to the level of impeachment." Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) told CNN's Chris Cuomo that he's also "deeply disappointed" in Alexander's decision to allow "the first impeachment trial in history that has no witnesses at all, and it's hard to imagine that this is a fair trial under those circumstances." On the other hand, he said, it's "refreshing to hear somebody on the other side describe it as inappropriate."