this is "cnn tonight" i'm don lemon. we're hows away from key moment in american history. the opening of public hearings in the impeachment proceeding. the proceedings will gavel at 10:00 a.m. eastern.

the witness withes, bill taylor who has already given bomb shell testimony hind closed door george kent who overseas all u.s. policy in ukrain he called rudy giuliani's attacks on the ousted ambassador to ukrain outright lies. what iech brings to the table for democrats and republicans. and i'm going to ask the ambassador nicolas burn what he's expecting to learn in the testimony. all vocal supporters of the president, we're going to look at their influence on trump was foreign policy, plus the state of play in the democratic election. we're going to begin with breaking news from the "washington post." they're reporting rudy giuliani

associate who president trump claims not to know says he discussed ukrain with the president in 2018. joining me now is a national security reporter for the post. thank you so much. let's talk about giuliani associates recently eindicted for allegedly funneling foreign money into u.s. elections. what exactly about ukrain did they dish cuswith the president? >> eessentially firing ambassador yovanovitch as earl ea as 2018. there's a trump super pack nungz in washington and they bring bring up that they have heard that the ambassador is disloyal to trump and trump, by the account hans his account, exploetsds and says we shoulder fire her, which takes them abackup of course some time

later she is are moved from her post and that's the key focus of the impeachment inquiry. our reporting takes it back to april 2018 when they maybe plant one of the uly seeds about yovanovitch and trump. >> they thought yovanovitch should be fired on what he was haring from someone who likely has an agendau not in line with u.s. interests? >> this isb maybe one of the reasons he thought that and i should clarify right away. there's no tangible evidence that she was actually disloyal to trump in a way that was apparently being suggested at this dinner. but the mere suggestion of it, at least in this instance, sends it over the edge and they would work for rudy giuliani in

pressing this thing further. they were surprised he wasn't fired right away but eventually she's removed from the poets and we know what happens next. >> he barely knows these guys and we have photos of associates over the years with president trump. >> and this is one of those key moments that president trump is saying i don't know these guys, maybe they came to a campaign or pack event and i took a picture with them but you have them as far back as april 2018 discussing ukrainian foreign policy and that same story we quote a senior trump administration official saying tlats just not true.

he knew these guys really well and then your guys reporting today showing photographic evidence that president's -- >> thank you. public hearings get underway in just hours how do we get to this point? >> reporter: the road to impeachment started with a summer-time phone call. on the morning of july 25th, president trump spoke to the newly elected leader of ukrain. only min thts to conversation u.s. officials on the law. it's that phone call that sits that heart of the first congressional hearings that could lead to the president's impeachment. trump has repeatedly used one word to describe the call. >> i made a perfect call. >> reporter:icisting nothing was out of the ordinary even as he

told president zelensky i would like to do a favor. he also asks to investigate the bidens. the timing of that call is important. it came one day after special counsel mumer testified on the hill. they tried to help trump but trump was looking ahead, seeking zelensky's help by asking him to investigate unfounded accusations about one of trump's top reelection rivals. >> the president must be held accountable. no one is above the law. >> reporter: since then several diplomats have testified behind closed doors. a process they've blasted as

unfair >> we've had three unique perspectives people haven't been able to see. and they'll hear from key government witnesses who say the controversy was actually brewing inside the investigation for months before that july phone call. more than 2600 pages reviewed by cnn review how the president's personal lawyer was side stepping the state department to deal directly ewith ukrainian officials. the president signed off on giuliani's work according to a trump worker who testified about an oval office meeting with the president. he just kept sawing talk to rudy, talk to rudy. at the center of it all was freezing aid to ukrain. 1/10th -- a top advisor inside the white house testified it

came as direction from the chief of staff's office. both sides harken back that july morning. >> it's a witch hunt based on a single phone call of congratulations to thes of ukrain, which they fraudulently mischaracterized to sound absolutely horrible. >> reporter: but it's become clear the investigation is far deeper than that single phone call. that phone call still stands out. "i've sat in an awful lot of calls and i have not seen anything like this and i was there for two and a half years so i was just shocked." and you'll hear testimony about the whistleblower with the president and his allies saying trump should be allowed to confront his accuser. this has moved far beyond the whistleblower and now a series of officials inside trump's team and the government amplifying

the original complaint from that july phone call. >> thank you so much for that. with the clock ticking to the opening of public hearings, adam schiff says they'll have to evaluate if it shows briberyx treason, high crimes and misdemeanors. appreciate both of you coming on o. hours away from the televised impeachment hearing. what started as a whistleblower being quashed either way has brought us to this point. it's been shockingly quick in a way, don't you think? >> it has. the complaint was -- i think it speaks to t speaks to the strength of the complaint and ohow much detail that provided a road map to the three house committees that investigated this and they were able to very quickly identify

senior government officials who could speak to what the whistleblower was concerned about. so in a sense the whistleblower is not really important in this investigation because he or she is basically the person who called 911, right? you don't need that person k3w78. anymore. but as a reporter, if you need that complaint and look at the testimony that's been are elyssed. almost all of it has now been corroborated. so the original account of what went inside, what went on inside the administration based on the second-hand forceds, was incredibly accurate. and really was a road map to this investigation. >> i want to talk about the "washington post" reporting we got tonight.

aids are counseling president trump not to fire mick mulvaney who's furious over the oct27th news conference. what would he fleed need for the impeachment inquiry? >> the fact he's angry about the press conference after the fact is unusual. if you think he did something wrong, why not get rid of him right away? if mulvaney is outside the administration he's slightly less protected about where or not he can testify and could create bad blood between him and the president and maybe he wants to go to the hill and tell his side of the story. there has been arguments that trump could insulate himself by

distancing himself from giuliani and all the rest. but if you have them in your circle and giuliani is still your lawyer and mulvaney have your chief of staff, that doesn't hold water, because if you were really shocked by the conspiracy, you would have got rid of all these people around you. >> tomorrow will be histor oreck. this will be one of the most consequential days in trump's history? >> absolutely. every moment from this time on is where they'll say the story changed from one way to another. what's fascinating is how it's changing from the white house and republican supporters, who really have moved their discussion from the question of whether or not the president did something to essentially conceding that something was done and asking tuse consider what the means and the reason that's significant is each of

the previous three impeachment cases, johnson in 1868 and nixon and bill clinton, there was more evidence he did what he was accused of. the question was whether or not that net criteria of high crimes and misdemeanors. and it's whether or not is evidence and more importantly whether they should use that for what they consider the good of the country. >> what do you think about chairman schiff saying one of the impeachable offences is bribery? >> that's reallyinatesting because it you want to go back the founding fath rtz, they used the word bribery in a different sense and one more applicable to the circumstance. we think of bribery as someone receiving money to change what

they might do in office. the founders thought completely opposite. they were concern would somebody who had office, had power using money from the office to get something they wanted. so in a sense, the sense that donald trump is puhappeerhaps g of bribery, harkens back to the original definition in the '70s. really fascinating. >> on the eve of the first public testimony where they're learning about the attorney who will be asking the questions and how they'll shape what happens tomorrow. cindy, that cold's gonna keep you up all night. and tomorrow, you're gonna be a zombie! forget that, i'm taking a new nighttime cold medicine. ha! there's nothing new. 'fraid so. new mucinex nightshift cold & flu fights my worst symptoms so i can sleep great and wake up human. so, you don't want to be zombie. no, i've gotta work tomorrow. don't eat me, i taste terrible!

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lawyer who spent years prosecuting mobsters. and doug who work would with caster. gentleman, good evening. goldman was on this program for some time, he work withed -- >> introduce me as well. >> he's going to be asking questions for the republicans, rights? how do you know him and what is he like? >> when i worked in the house majority leader's officex he was at the oversight committee. he's worked on so many big issues whether it's performance enhancing drug, irs targeting off conservatives and benghazi. and benghazi, he's somebody smart and focussed, detail oriented and the greatest thing you can be low speed, not

wanting to be a part of the story. you can be a big part of the story over the next week or two but if anybody i can think of and folks in and around the investigations, there's no one better that republicans can go to and as you know i've been pretty critical of a lot of republican members and questioning they've been doing. it's a new role with staff in its place but tlirbts best pick they can do. they're going to with the best they've got right now. >> let's talk about goldman. what do you know about him? >> he'ser been in highly pressureized situations before. he and i together tried a jev gen eve style case. he knows what it's like the have all eyes on you and he will not shrink from the situation tomorrow. i don't know mr. caster but it

sounds like we'll have an interesting study in contrast. both sound enormously qualified. but he sounds more like a by the book straight shooter. dan has been in more high profile media situations than mr. caster. >> interesting. some of the things you mentioned about caster, doug, attorney for the republican investigations into benghazi. esaid that. fast and furious the gun program. you say using someone like him may help limit jack asry by members. what do you mean by that? >> i alluded to it a little bit and debated whether to use that word but since it's been used. unfortunately when the lights go on they like the perform for the camera and more and more for

their base and more and more they like to perform to one person more than anybody else. and so it's some of the history why we see some of the name calling and these are things not constructive. tomorrow and this week and if this goes on to a second week, a very furious thing and i think he is someone who realizes that and doesn't have to play to a political base or do anything but play to his job. >> you said goldman, you believe goldman has more experience with high profile cases and especially caseinize volving the media. both of them have been interviewing people behind closed doors for hours and hours. >> this is going to be greatest hits. both witness withes have already testified for hours and hours, day long testimony. you have to make an impression.

it has to be strong, off the bat. 45 minutes is not much time. you have to grab the attention right away, explain what happened in an understandable way and why it matters. so i would look for both of them to come out strong. >> as someone who has staffed through a tnumber of congressional hearings, what are some of the mistakes you make? >> i would start with over performing. as democrats started the process, i worried they would over extend themselves and want to find trump guilty before anything began and that same time republicans often resemble more of a referee at a professional wrestling match where they don't see anything wrong despite a lot of trunling evidence and this is where having staff do it is not something i've dealt with.

and but there's a difference between being in court rooms and the congressional arena. you have multiple bosses watching you eeth on that diet in the room behind it. very different environments in a court room. your are doing things similar you would do in a court room. >> three career diplomats testifying on capitol hill next week and my next guest knows all of them. former ambassador nicolas burns tells us who. did you really need the caps lock? mucinex cold and flu all-in-one.

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diplomat in ukrain will be testifying. and now he'll publicly testify along side state department official george kent in the impeachment inquiry into president trump. let's discuss with a former ambassador. three career diplomats are testifying this week. let's start with bill taylor. you've work would him for three decade said. what do you expect to hear from him tomorrow? >> bill was a real veteran, nearly 50 years in the u.s. government. he's are an expert on russia and ukrain. he's had just about every job, very self assured and very modest and a very nice sort of way. i think bill is going to be forth riet and honest.

he took copious notes and so he has total recall of a lot of the complicated events and he's a patriotic american, a vietnam war vet, nearly 50 years in the yoougs government. and he's not going to look like a politician. he's going to look like someone who's devoted his whole life on a bipartisan basis. i think he served in the johnson, nixon and ford administration. think about the bipartisanship. >> think about state department official george kent. he said potus wanted nothing less than president zelensky to go to a microphone and say investigation biden and clinton. taylor and kent back up each other's testimony. two career diplomats up first. what does that show you they're trying to show. >> >> frankly that there was an extortion plan by donald trump

and rudy giuliani to extort the ukrainian government, convince them to go after formerer vice president joe biden for the president's personal gain. that's the story that as i read the testimony they observed, they were pushed to the sidelines but in the key position. george kent, the senior person in the state department following ukrain. bill taylor, our ambassador, watching all thissen fold and it takes them f you read their testimony, a couple of months to put together what happened because there was a lot of slight of hand, secrecy but the thoughts were compelling. they know the most, they chronicled the most and spoke very forth rightly in their private hearings. >> you're saying they're the two strongest russian experts in the u.s. government and they won't be easily intimidated?

>> that's right. they have spent really their entire careers focussed on these two countries, the former soviet union. there are a lot of cynical people, especially in the russian government and so they've dealt with these kind of people. i think we can expect pyrotechnics from some uth republican members and i would encourage people watching to threat story unfold. let the two individuals and ambassador yovanovitch tell us what they learned, saw, heard and most importantly as nonpartisan americans, what do they conclude? and i think the facts are go to oog be very difficult for president trump to refute the basic story of what happened and that's why year going to see

questions about diversionary tactics to take our focus off the main story. >> he's accusing witnesses of being never trumpers. but you say career diplomats are theos. why do you say that? >> because they've put the country first. and you know us, the foreign service. i'm a foreign member of the foreign service. we're accustomed to serving both parties. we gave 100% effort for which ever they elect but we don't play politics. youbl are seen their testimony, everyone has read them. they're straight down the middle of the fairway. they're telling the truth as they see it and frankly efor the american people having witnessed the sorted actsx these dishonest acts to see ethree people who are upstanding i think is the

silver lining on this very dark cloud of the impeachment scandal. >> i want to talk about rudy giuliani. how do you think that will sound to the pub wlk they hear that president's pusinal attorney, what he was up to? >> i think it's going to sound offensive. they exect the people who take the oath of office, confirmed by the senate, the sec reeitary of state, the ambassador to ukrain, the principal deputy assistant secretary, they're going to be the people in charge. instead you have the president's lawyer in a major contradiction. he says i'm acting as the president's private attorney and takes over the public business towards ukrain and dist orts it for the president was own political advantage. they must fear joe biden to go to these lengths to concoct this

incredible strategy and i'm one of the 133 people who came out in support of vice president biden for the presidency. i think he can defeat donald trump one on one and you see the laser focus that trump and giuliani have had on vice president biden in the get go. it comes forward in all the contacts he ehad with ukrainian officials. >> thank you. >> thank you, don. we all know the president watches a lot of tv, specifically fox news. maybe that's why fox news and other conservative outlets are all over the transcripts. so what's going to happen when they're happening on live tv. cough? dry works on that too. and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long?! only mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs for 12 hours with 2 medicines in 1 pill.

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so when you lead to transcripts from the closed door testimony in the impeachment inquiry you notice they're fill would with some of the most common names in right wing media. sean hannity. they seem to have been telling the president just what he wants to hear. this is from hannity. >> breaking tonight. according to the hill john solomon we now have major evidence of election collusion in 2016, real evidence to back it up that's not all. you crane's top prosecutor

accused the u.s. embassy of interfering in corruption prosecution inside the country, including one probe into the alleged misuse of an american aid and a letter surfaces from a senior member of congress accusing the current ambassador of kiev of bad mouthing the trump administration. >> marie yovanovitch has bad mouthed thes of the united states this woman needs to be called home to the united states. >> wow. that sounds like a major scoop for the hill's john solomon, right? except none of it is true. he's what george kent said in his testimony in october. kent is asked that original john solomon article, is that based on accurate information? he replied, that was based on an

interview with mr. lutsenko. >> and if not entirely made up, was primarily nontrue. let's discuss now. good evening. you've been doing a lot of research into this. how closely woven is this? >> i think right wing media's finger prints are all over this. this is where the seeds were laid in march and april before most of us have heard about the crazy conspiracy theories and about the prospect of interfering in ukrain. i think sean hannity and tucker carlson are certainly involved. and john solomon who did work for the hill no longer does. he is now a paid fox contributor. he worked to get this stuff in the media and the result is what we're seeing now, the president

has bought into a phoney line of thinking about ukrain and that may well end up ruining his presidency. >> the monitors in our office are different. it's like a big scoop and this is going to happen and theyler investigating this and this and then -- >> it never comes. it's always tune in tomorrow. part of this alternative universe of information but it is powerful millions buy into it and that's why i think we have 250 analyze the way we do. >> maybe we should put a big opinion thing on the top. when you see the completely baseless claims on fox news sited by members of congress, they are fully mobilized to respond tomorrow and the days to come, aren't they? >> yeah. it's so interesting though. you might expect fox news to have a counternarrative but as

bryan was saying this actually goes back a long time. they were talking about ukrain when nobody else was. and it's entirely possible this happened, that donald trump got misinformation and that he started asking the president of ukrain to look into the 2016 election because of misinformation he was provided. so you basically have -- they're feeding the president information, feeding the public information. there's reamy this -- there's no separation between campaigns governing and journalism oreven opinion journalism and quite interesting. >> here's another example of a fox's influence. democratic congressman asks there was a story in the hill newspaper. pete sessions wrote a letter and there are apparently illegal campaign contributions all

related to you, isn't that right? and you von vich says yes. so listen, it's not just that fox was broadcasting the conspeeacy theories for their audience. we see in that exchange it was actually making an impact on our foreign policy, right? >> right. and part of the operation here is that you've got john solomon who's or was a respectedest. he was at the associated press for years, did a stint at the "washington post" and he's writing until recently at "the hill." they had a pretty good reputation for a long time toer are. so that was giving them the venear of credibility and being a mainstream news story. i suspect he was working with giuliani in crafting the story

and then pushing it out and they could -- fox news could say hey, this is an us thing and it's john solomon's thing. >> this is about abuse of power, fitness for office and fact verses fiction. there's so many fiction spread boy the president and his allies. they've not been heltd accountible for the past almost three years. impeachment is a way to hold people accountable for lying to the public. i wonder how much they'll be held accountable tomorrow. a new poll shows mayor pete buttigieg up 13 points in iowa. what's this? cindy, that cold's gonna keep you up all night. and tomorrow, you're gonna be a zombie! forget that, i'm taking a new nighttime cold medicine. ha! there's nothing new. 'fraid so. new mucinex nightshift cold & flu fights my worst symptoms so i can sleep great and wake up human. so, you don't want to be zombie.

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good news for the youngest candidate in the presidential race. mayor pete buttigieg, a 14-point jump from august. elizabeth warren and biden 18 and 19%. wow. good evening, gentleman. important to note there's no clear win wither. buttigieg is suggesting compared to the summer. what does that say about the state of the race? >> certainly we're seeing the trend line. bun bun and ebiz bgt warren holding stable and joe biden is

starting to drop. fwlrs you take this poll and a couple of other polls you see this race is extraordinarily close especially with the top four candidates. even if they say they like one of the four candidates they say their minds aren't can completely made up and they could change their minds before they cast their vote in february, essentially telling us this is a wide open race. >> as i sit here with you night after night, here's the criticism or assessment. trr that iowa is predominantly white and buttigieg does not hold well with african-americans. can he translate this nation wide? >> he's doing well in iowa and new hampshire, although it's a speed dating thing with the voters. they keep changing their mind. i think the real thing is the most influential part of the democratic base is

african-americans and he is not on the radar at all. if you look at south carolina and nevada he's in low single digits. winning iowa and new hampshire will get him a look from everyone in the democratic base including african-americans but right now that's really the acan killies heel of for him and for elizabeth warren who i think is facing the same dynamic. >> in a stuit tistical tie with warren in this pole. and in the most recent national president obamaing. he also had a very strong performance in a cnn town hall last night. so are reports of his demize greatly exaggerated? >> there are other candidates that would love to be in joe biden was position, even a few thinking about getting in the race. and to joe's pointx he has strong support with

african-american voters and polling strong in south carolina. he doesn't necessarily for to win iowa and new hampshire. yes, joe biden is stale formidable force and his name recognition is as good as any in the country. the idea that we should write off joe biden i think a fantasy. >> joe does remain resilient and steady so why are we told democratic donors are worried about him? >> i think democratic donors are genetically programmed to be worried. we go through this process, this cycle all of the time and i think it's a lot of rich people with too much time on their hands. this will sort itself out. one thing about pete buttigieg is he seems to have captured the votes of a lot of the 17 or 18 others that

rallying aruined him as an alternative for the top three. but what weave are seen tlutd this process is everybody takes a ton at the top and gets knocked off. we'll see how he does with his new found lead in iowa and strong show oi strong showing in new hampshire. >> thank you for your time. and thanks for watching everyone. in fact, tremfya® was proven superior to humira® in providing significantly clearer skin. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya®. uncover clearer skin that can last. janssen can help you explore cost support options.

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history unfolds today. impeachment hearings begin in just a few hours. will gripping testimony resonate in public. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this issettette. i'm dave briggs. >> good morning. it's wednesday, november 13th, i'm christine romans and it's 4:00 a.m. in the u.s. donald trump is accused of leveraging $400 million in much needed military aid to ukraine,

demanding in