So, Bianca you’re a new journalist at The Times.

So it feels like people have been getting a little bit exhausted from all the impeachment coverage, and the hearings haven’t even begun.

But I actually found someone this week who was excited to hear more.

Yeah. And I recorded a call with him, so let me play it for you.

Yes. I’m trying to figure out a lot more about it, so I can — yeah, I’m very interested in it.

So I heard that you are interested in the impeachment. Is that true?

Hey, Leo. Can you hear me O.K.?

So on Monday, I went to Leo’s house and we talked a bit more. Where are you with understanding the impeachment now? Do you feel like you understand everything that’s going on?

Most of it. Most of it.

And where was this?

Leo doesn’t really have other kids he can talk about the impeachment with.

So I came up with an idea.

I was thinking the person you could talk to is this political reporter named Mike Schmidt.

I talked to her, and she said it’s O.K.

I can ask my mom about that.

I was thinking that since you have more questions, you could come to The New York Times and talk to one of our political reporters.

We were checking out his accomplishments.

We spent 45 minutes coming up with his top questions.

What is “quid pro quo?” How many people are listening when the president makes a phone call? What are the hearings?

And then we spent another 45 minutes picking out his outfit.

And what did he ended up going with?

You remember the name of the host?

Great. Well, so Mike is on a train from Washington, D.C. that gets in right at 10:00, and he’s going to rush here. And so yeah, do you want to come in? Great. O.K., this is us. So are you feeling nervous?

Did you work on your questions anymore or just —

Hi, Leo. Welcome to The New York Times.

From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.” Today, the House of Representatives begins public hearings this morning in the impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Before those hearings get underway, Mike Schmidt sits down with someone who’s unafraid to ask all the questions we’ve been too embarrassed to ask.

leo

It’s Wednesday, November 13th.

michael barbaro

Bravo. Do you feel like you’re at the right height? Do you want anything?

leo

No, I’m O.K.

michael barbaro

O.K. You’re a very unfussy guest. So how is it that you got interested in the impeachment?

leo

Well, I was in the car with my mom, and I was driving to my grandma’s house, and she was listening to the radio, and I heard them talking about it on the radio.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm.

leo

I asked my mom about it, and I think I asked, like, can you explain what’s happening to me is? Because I don’t really understand it.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm.

leo

There were a lot of words I didn’t really know.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm.

leo

At first I didn’t know what the whistleblower was.

michael barbaro

That word?

leo

Yeah. She explained it in a really good way, so now I know.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm. What’s your understanding of what a whistleblower is?

leo

It could be anyone. Whistleblower can be anyone, who was either in the room or doing something that let him hear what the president was saying to the president of Ukraine.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm.

leo

And he knew it’s very bad. He can’t threaten another president to help him win the next election. So he reported it to the House of Representatives.

michael barbaro

Do you know where that phrase comes from, whistleblower?

leo

Oh, because, for example, in sports, if someone does something wrong, like breaking the rules of the game, they would blow a whistle or something like that and —

michael barbaro

Right.

leo

They would m you can’t do that. That’s wrong.

michael barbaro

Right.

leo

Yeah.

michael barbaro

Yeah, I have the image of being at a pool with the lifeguard. And the lifeguard’s like —

leo

Yeah, yeah. [WHISTLES]

michael barbaro

Hey, knock it off.

leo

I was at Delaware Beach once, and we saw dolphins. Someone tried to go swim after them, and he had to blow his whistle and say, you can’t go that far. Come back.

michael barbaro

Right, same concept. Do not chase after dolphins. Do not ask the president of Ukraine to do you a political favor. Right.

bianca giaever

Leo, do you want to show Michael the drawings of the impeachment you made?

leo

O.K.

michael barbaro

Yeah, what do you have in this bag?

leo

I only did one, but — [UNZIPPING] There’s all of this.

michael barbaro

Hey, can you tell me what this is from your backpack?

leo

This?

michael barbaro

Yeah.

leo

It’s a book about the parts of the government.

michael barbaro

What’s it called?

leo

What Are The Parts of Government.

michael barbaro

And where did you get it from?

leo

The library.

michael barbaro

Was it in high demand? Was there a competition to get it?

leo

No.

michael barbaro

No.

leo

Barely anyone who was even in the aisle.

michael barbaro

Do you have other people in your life friends, classmates, who are also interested in the impeachment?

leo

No.

michael barbaro

No. Like your brother, right?

leo

Yeah, he doesn’t really care.

michael barbaro

What does he care about?

leo

He really likes animals, especially reptiles.

michael barbaro

Hmm. Which is why this is exactly the right place for you to be. Because we are very interested.

leo

Yeah. Yeah, if you want to like at — do you want to look at that questions?

michael barbaro

Yeah, sure, let me review them for you.

leo

These are questions for Mike.

michael barbaro

These are questions for Mike Schmidt?

leo

This was the original one, but then I typed it.

michael barbaro

Smart thinking. Great. These are great questions. So I think Mike is close. So maybe we’ll have you do the “we’ll be right back” thing. Do you want to try that?

leo

O.K. “We’ll be right back.”

michael barbaro

Nice job. Mike Schmidt.

michael schmidt

Hi, guys.

bianca giaever

Hi.

leo

Hi.

michael schmidt

Hi. What’s happening? How are you?

leo

Good.

michael schmidt

Nice to meet you.

leo

Nice to meet you.

michael schmidt

Thanks for coming in.

leo

You’re welcome.

michael schmidt

Thanks for waiting for me. I’m sorry I’m late.

leo

It’s O.K.

michael barbaro

Yeah.

michael schmidt

It’s good to see you, too. [LAUGHTER]

michael barbaro

Welcome. Leo, Mike. Mike, Leo.

michael schmidt

What grade are you in, Leo?

leo

Third.

michael schmidt

Third? What do you learn in third grade?

leo

I learn division and, um —

michael schmidt

Division, as in math?

leo

Yes.

michael schmidt

Not the division of the country.

leo

No.

michael barbaro

Leo, you have these questions for Mike. Do you want to read some of them?

leo

Yeah.

michael barbaro

Go.

leo

So first, how many presidents have been impeached? I think it’s three.

michael schmidt

So it’s two. It’s Clinton.

leo

Oh, yes. Bill Clinton.

michael schmidt

Bill Clinton. And it’s Andrew Johnson.

leo

Yeah.

michael schmidt

I think I know why you think that it was three, because there was this other President, Richard Nixon, who —

leo

Yeah, he did something very bad, and he knew he was going to get impeached. So he quit being president, because he knew even if he didn’t quit, he would be impeached. So —

michael schmidt

Nailed it.

leo

He quit before he could even get impeached.

michael schmidt

Right. Do you know what a quid pro quo is?

leo

That’s actually one of my questions, but now I know. I heard it on a podcast. It means “this for that.”

michael schmidt

That’s right.

michael barbaro

Yeah, it’s the Latin.

michael schmidt

That’s right.

leo

Yeah, it’s in Latin.

michael schmidt

Favor for a favor.

leo

I don’t really think it is, because the president of Ukraine is really just doing a favor for Trump. He just said that if you don’t, then he’ll stop giving you money. So he’s basically threatening the president.

michael barbaro

So you don’t — it’s interesting, Mike. I wonder if you’d agree with this. It feels like what Leo is saying is, I’m not so sure this is a quid pro quo, because it’s more like a threat without a favor back to Ukraine.

michael schmidt

No, you hit on one of the biggest criticisms of how this thing is described. Which is essentially that a quid pro quo doesn’t really capture what it’s all about. A quid pro quo is like, hey, if I do this for you, I’ll give you my Cheeze-Its, and you give me half of your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This is not that good of a deal. This is more like, I’ve been giving you lunch money every day. But if you want me to keep giving you lunch money, you have to go throw this banana peel on the ground, so this person I don’t like will come along and slip and fall.

leo

Yes, it’s not fair to the president of Ukraine.

michael schmidt

And when you heard about it, what was your first reaction to it? What did you think?

leo

I thought that, well, it’s a bad thing to do, what Trump’s doing. And also, I thought about who the whistleblower was, if it’s a boy or a girl, or who or what.

michael schmidt

Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?

leo

No, that’s actually one of my questions.

michael schmidt

O.K.

michael barbaro

But you do know?

michael schmidt

I do know.

leo

Really?

michael schmidt

Yeah. It’s a boy.

leo

O.K.

michael schmidt

The whistleblower worked for the C.I.A., and at one point worked inside the White House.

leo

Yeah, Mike, one of my questions was, does the whistleblower work for government?

michael schmidt

He does. So Leo, why do you think that it is that Ukraine isn’t saying they’re upset with Trump?

leo

Well, the president of Ukraine might be kind of scared, because they need the money. And when Donald Trump threatens the Ukrainian president that he’s not going to give them money anymore, they get kind of scared. If he says that and reports it and Trump gets in trouble, he’ll get really mad, and he can say — while he’s still in office, he can say I’ll stop giving you money. Which I think the president of Ukraine is scared of, because he wants the people in Ukraine to be safe and feel safe there.

michael schmidt

That’s really smart analysis, Leo.

leo

But this is a question. Does other countries, other than America, Ukraine, and Russia, do they know about this, that they could also go to Trump and do what Ukraine could do?

michael schmidt

Totally. It’s almost certainly being heard around the world by other countries. But you raise a good question, which is, hey, if this is going on with Ukraine, why wouldn’t it go on with any of the other dozens or hundreds of countries in the world?

leo

And also, has this happened to other countries before?

michael schmidt

We don’t know. I mean, the funny thing is that we even forget that in the middle of this whole story. Donald Trump came out and basically said that the Chinese should do the same thing that he wanted the Ukrainians to do. But I had forgotten about that.

michael barbaro

Which is to investigate connections between Joe Biden and China.

michael schmidt

Correct.

michael barbaro

And Hunter Biden.

michael schmidt

He said it right outside the White House.

leo

I didn’t know. That’s new to me. I didn’t know that yet.

michael schmidt

What do you think of that?

leo

So he’s trying to get China to do what he tried to get Ukraine to do?

michael schmidt

Yes.

leo

Investigate Joe Biden?

michael schmidt

Joe Biden’s son.

leo

All right. When and why did America start giving Ukraine money? And all the other countries, too.

michael schmidt

So a few decades ago, there was this big thing called the Cold War. And the United States wanted to help the Ukrainians. Ukraine had been part of the U.S.S.R., which was the old version of Russia. And the Ukrainians were sort of going out on their own and trying to become their own country. And the United States went to them and said, hey, we can help you. We can help create a democracy in your country, and we can give you money to get off the ground to sort of build yourself up as a country.

michael barbaro

And protect yourself from Russia.

michael schmidt

Correct. Well, it was to strengthen the country. It’s not until many, many years later that we start giving them military aid, this whole thing that’s come up in the quid pro quo call. But we were becoming friends with them. We thought if we could create more democracies in Europe and next to Russia. we could contain the Russians and help people have the same freedoms that we do.

leo

All right, what are the hearings? The next one’s good.

michael schmidt

So the hearings start today. And the hearings are these public events, where the Democrats are going to bring different witnesses, people that were working in the government on Ukraine issues. The Democrats are going to bring them forward in public on TV and ask them questions. so they can say what they knew what was going on with Ukraine and the aid and Trump pressuring them. Does that make sense?

leo

Yeah.

michael barbaro

Why are they public? And why is that important?

michael schmidt

The Democrats are trying to build an argument for the country that there is a good reason to impeach the president. And they think doing it in public where we can all watch on TV will have a greater impact.

leo

Yeah, all right.

michael schmidt

Does that make any sense?

leo

Kind of. [CHUCKLING]

michael schmidt

I get confused, too. I get confused, too. What do you think about the fact that the Democrats think they need to have public hearings to convince people that what Trump did was wrong, that a lot of people in the country don’t think that’s a problem?

leo

Because they think that it’s just doing like one thing. They know it’s bad, but they don’t think it’s bad enough for him to get kicked out of office.

michael schmidt

Mm-hm.

leo

They know it’s bad. They definitely know it’s bad, but I don’t think they don’t think it’s bad enough.

michael schmidt

I think the most recent argument from Republicans would be that simply doing what he did is not enough to remove him from office.

michael barbaro

Do you have any more questions for Mike?

leo

Uh, all right. So when will we know if the president gets impeached? If he does get impeached, when will the public find out?

michael schmidt

My editors ask me this question every day. I think we may have an answer by December or January. So just a couple of months away. And if he’s impeached, then this would be sent to the Senate, where there would be a trial, six days a week, national television, the senators deciding whether to take out Trump.

michael barbaro

And when would that be decided by?

michael schmidt

Well, early next year. But the problem, Leo, is, in Washington, everything always takes longer than we think it’s going to. So maybe it’s the spring when we get some clarity.

michael barbaro

Leo, I want you to ask this question, which I think might be one of our last questions in this conversation with Mike, do you mind asking that?

leo

What are we going to see this week, in the coming weeks?

michael schmidt

We’re going to see hearings. We’re going to see the first one on Wednesday, where a senior State Department official, who had big concerns about what Trump was doing, is going to testify publicly. And then on Friday, another State Department official who was involved in all this stuff is going to testify in public again. And then next week, we’ll see the same thing but with different witnesses. And this will be the Democrats trying to argue to the country why this is so important and why the president should be impeached.

michael barbaro

Leo, I have to leave and head to Washington to cover the first hearing that Mike just described, but I’m curious, what has been the most interesting thing that you have learned here today from Mike Schmidt?

leo

I think it’s — I learned this, and I didn’t know it until today. I didn’t know about the Cold War.

michael barbaro

Hm!

leo

Between America and Russia. I found that really interesting.

michael barbaro

Yeah, it’s a big part of the story, actually.

michael schmidt

Leo, what’s your prediction about what’s going to happen at the hearings?

leo

Yeah, I think he’s going to get impeached in the House, but he’ll be O.K. He won’t — not enough people will vote in the Senate.

michael schmidt

So you think he’s going to end up staying in office?

leo

Yes.

michael schmidt

So that’s your prediction?

leo

Yes.

michael schmidt

That’s what I think, too, unless something big changes.

leo

Yeah.

michael schmidt

Leo, I think you know as much as I do now. So I think we’re done here. You say some of this stuff in a clearer way than anyone else I’ve heard.

michael barbaro

Do you want to show Mike the impeachment drawing?

leo

O.K.

michael schmidt

Oh. [CHUCKLING]

leo

That’s a person. It’s a person in a suit blowing a whistle.

michael schmidt

With Donald Trump’s hair.

leo

That’s Donald Trump’s hair?

michael schmidt

I don’t know. I thought so at first. So this is the whistleblower, and he’s blowing his whistle.

michael barbaro

Anonymous no more.

michael schmidt

With the words “squee” coming out of his mouth. [LAUGHTER]

michael barbaro

Mike, thank you very much. Leo, thank you so very much. It was a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to some day coming on your podcast. Get it. [CHUCKLING] We’ll speak soon.

leo

Thank you.

michael barbaro