Bitter exchanges and incriminating evidence rock Trump's impeachment trial

Late-night rancor erupted at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial on a first day of formal arguments that previewed a divisive and fact-bending showdown that epitomizes the nature of his presidency and will cause years of aftershocks.

Democrats forced 100 senators sitting as Trump's jurors to endure repeated and futile votes to over witnesses testimony and evidence, stretching well into the early hours of Wednesday morning and driving home their view that Republicans are thwarting a fair trial that would dig up the truth about the Ukraine scandal.

"Yeah, we're making it hard for you, we're making it hard for you to say no," lead House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff told senators who became increasingly tired and restless as the night wore on.

"We making it hard for you to say 'I don't want to hear from these people, I don't want to see the documents,' ... Our job is to make it hard to deprive the American people of a fair trial," Schiff said.

At one point early Wednesday morning, Chief Justice John Roberts was forced to intervene to cool ugly exchanges between the rival legal teams.

"I think it is appropriate for me to admonish both the house managers and the president's counsel in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world's greatest deliberative body," Roberts said. "One reason it has earned that title is because its members avoid speaking in a manner and using language that is not conducive to civil discourse.

None of the bitter exchanges in the well of the chamber on Tuesday are likely to change the reality that there's no two-thirds majority in the Republican-led chamber to convict the President and throw him out of office.

And any dim hopes that the trial could stir a moment of national catharsis and a path out of the most bitter political crisis in decades are already dead after a rancorous day. The debate stretched long past midnight into Wednesday morning.