at the time, the white house, when ty cobb was the lawyer who was coordinating the white house response to the mueller investigation, the president was allowing people to testify. the president has not allowed people to testify before this congressional investigation, or any congressional investigations. so the question is will don mcgahn continue to honor the president's current ruling or go by either the district court opinion that came down today or his previous instruction to cooperate with mueller? that's really up to mcgahn. >> it's a pretty lengthy decision by this federal judge. >> right. i think the most important thing the judge is saying, just because you work for the president and work very very close, at the top of the food chain there at the white house doesn't mean you don't have to show up for what is a lawful subpoena. a part of it, as a matter of law, senior level current presidential aides including white house counsels must appear before congress if compelled by legislative process to do so. this means that such aides cannot defy a congressional subpoena on the basis

let's go to our chief white house correspondent. the president just spoke to reporters, answered a few questions. >> reporter: that's right. the president was just a few moments ago rallying against the impeachment process, sounding inkrei incredulous to how he could be impeached when the economy is doing so well. the president continues to lead a deeply divided country on the subject of impeachment. >> reporter: top aides are preparing for what may be inevitable. >> i'm prepared for the president to be impeached. i'm priepared for the votes to not go that way depending on what the evidence says. >> reporter: saying at some point i'm going to sit down. fra perhaps as a fireside chat. it's a straight call. >> you can't impeach a president who did nothing wrong. the gentleman that came in yesterday, morrison, he was terrific. he was supposed to be their primary witness. he was terrific. he said he didn't see anything wrong with it. >> reporter: that's despite more damage testimony in the inquiry. the latest administration official to

house or in the white house? >> i certainly heard along with colleagues that in the most recent sort of big story of the week which is impeachment that the communication between the white house and that he'll hasn't always been as robust as some republicans would like. i can't really testify from my own't reporting to the general feelings among senators and lawmakers on the hill because it isn't my beach and i don't have as much time there as many of my colleagues that have more of a beat then i have. but it's not surprising to me. i mean it doesn'tme come acrosso me as something that hard to believe. >> what i hear but i hear a lotm republicans is essentially i actually kind of agree with the president is trying to do i just wish he would intuitively that he is doing it and that is what i hear from a lot of the republicans in congress. and i think they recognize that in 2016, president trump then candidate trump put his finger on or maybe put differently walked through a door and foundd the result of the country

house -- to the white house call and the white house meeting, there was a quid pro quo. and we should note there has still been no white house meeting for the ukrainian leader. so it is interesting how the white house and the republican allies are picking certain parts of the testimony to focus on but ignoring everything else he said which is there was no secret there was a pressure campaign and the secretary of state was involved and the vice president, he discussed it with, the chief of staff, the energy secretary, just encompassing everyone who surrounds the president. and so that is the question here. as the democrats are saying -- or republicans are saying he didn't explicitly say it. based on his other testimony it didn't seem like he needed to. >> it is interesting, kylie, because ambassador sondland, you can't say he's a never-trumper or deep straight. he's a political appointee someone named by the president to be the ambassador to the eu, someone who donated a million dollars -- a million dollars to the trump inaugural committee. >> that is right. he's not folk

as i testified previously with regard to the requested white house call and the white housens meeting, ther is yes. judy: u.s.mbassador the european union gordon sondland has explosive testimony that he to work with rudy giuliani and implicates secretary of state pompeo and vice president pence in the pressure campaign against ukraine. we look at the highlights of this headline making moment in the impeachment inquiry. and taki the stage. with less than three months to go before votes are cast in the first presidential primary contest, what to w tch out for inonight's democratic debate. onall that and more tonight's "pbs newshour." announcer: major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ ♪ announcer: moving our economy the engine, bnsf, that connects us. consumer cellular. supporting social entrepreneurs and their solution to the woobd's most pressing prms. skoll foundation.org. the lemelson foundation. on the web at level.org. -- lemelson.org. supported by the john d and kathryn foundation. more information at mac found.org. these institutions.support of th progr

>> it's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the white house. it's another thing, i thought, to leverage security assistance, security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support. it was much more alarming, the white house meeting was one thing, security assistance was much more alarming. >> now, ambassador taylor, in your opening statement, you outlined a very detailed timeline. in fact, we have a written copy here and you included some phrases and words in quotations. did you take notes of this conversation on september 1st with ambassador sondland? >> i did. >> did you take notes related to most of the conversations, if not all of them, that you recited in your opening statement? >> all of them, mr. goldman. >> what are those quotations that you include in your opening statement reflect? >> they reflect my notes on the exact words that i heard on that call. so it was -- if i put those in quotes, it meant those are the words used on that phone call or in that conversation. >> did y

he was honored at the white house. here's kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: in a surprise ceremony, the combat canine getting a hero's welcome at the white house. >> conan came over from the middle east. just arrived with some of the great people from the special forces >> reporter: the belgian m alamo a was involved in the killing of the isis leader. he received a medal and a plaque along with some pats on the head >> the dog is incredible actually incredible. we spent some good time with it. and so brilliant, so smart >> reporter: the world first learned of conan in a tweet after the raid the president then teasing the white house visit. but could 1600 pennsylvania avenue be a permanent home for the pooch? >> melania, do you want to adopt the dog for barron >> no. >> reporter: so his future may not be his first pup, but in many minds, he is definitely top dog. kristen dahlgren, nbc news >> all right he's a lot of our first pups >> that is so cute i am so surprised melania didn't want a loyal companion in the white house

i'm no longer a white house employee. i think i have things to say that are unrelated to executive privilege. he could claim -- he's an attorney. he knows there is a crime/fraud exception to any of his conversations where if he has knowledge of criminal activity, he can go in and testify about it. so if he wants to, he can come forward and do so without this later case that he is connected with and another judge in the same court, and he could proceed. it's an excellent opinion incidentally, john. it's a strong opinion. she says, we've been here, done this before, and we're not going to mess around with it. >> jennifer, i want to read you another quote from this opinion. she writes, stated simply, the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded american history is that presidents are not kings. now, that is stark. it's also right from the federalist papers by the way, so she's quoting, you know, high school education to the white house legal team here. what did you make of that? >> well, it's really about separat

house and white house officials including gordon sondland. this all has to do with the alleged bribery or alleged quid pro quo where president trump has been -- the people around him have been demanding investigations, for ukraine to carry out investigations into the bidens in order to secure that $400 million of security aid. he will be critical, he will be able to speak directly to what it was like, what he interpreted on that july 25 phone call between trump and zelensky. host: talk about the pairing. at 9:00, it is he and jennifer williams, aide to vice president mike pence. why that pairing in the morning and then the second pairing of kurt volker and tim morrison? scott: republicans have had a chance to submit their list of the initiald witnesses will be democratic witnesses. the second group with volcker and tim morrison will be republican called. the reason republicans want to call these individuals is because they want to ask them, was there anything illegal on this phone call that you heard, was there anything that -- have you had s

and the white house. how far it goes is something we're waiting to hear play out here. >> joining us from washington martha and john roberts here in new york city. martha, i'll bring you in first. what we heard repeatedly there was that there was a quid pro quo. he asked the question in his opening statement, was there a quid pro quo? yes. he testified that everyone was in the loop. his words. he repeatedly said in his opening statement that they were taking orders. he was taking orders -- following orders on multiple other occasions through the questioning and the opening statement from president trump. your takeaways. >> there is a lot here, sandra. one of the early things that gordon sondland wanted to establish was that he and the so-called three amigos, mr. taylor and mr. volker, did not want to work with rudy giuliani. he said that several times. he said it became clear to him that was the only way that it was going to go forward. the only way they were going to get the meeting. the president insist

the white house is ramping up its route reach to senate republicans. one senator said the subject of needing republicans to better defend him did not come up. this after mitch mcconnell advised the president stop attacking republicans. one of his staunchest reporters is steve bannon, even though he left the administration, he has now begun a daily syndicated radio on podcast call "war room impeachment" which gives you an idea of the kind of political combat he expects and is participating in right now. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> first of all, what do you make of the white house's strategy thus far? >> look, it has a strategy. president trump believes he didn't do anything wrong. he is adamant about that. i think he is busy running the country. he has usmca, the chinese, what's happening in syria. he's got a day job. i think he feels he's got the team, a solid team, it's a good team. >> you think he is not focused on this? you think he is running -- he seems very focused on in the twitter world. >> i think he focuses on this the

ok heidi this post of there from capitol hill let's go now to the white house our white house correspondent kimberly how get kimberly the key words. from ambassador solomon i followed the directions of the president talking about the man in the house right behind you. that seems to be the beginning and end of all of this what do we know about what the white house is is watching is paying attention to. well the u.s. president is expected to leave the white house momentarily he's trying to shift directions away from the headlines on capitol hill to austin texas where he's headed to tout creation of jobs at an apple plant that he says is a direct benefit as a result of his policies but there's no question that what most people are going to be focusing on is this testimony that has just taken place on capitol hill and i should note the last few minutes as you were talking with our correspondent joe castro the chair of the house intelligence committee adam schiff spoke to reporters very briefly i did manage to catch a feed of some of that coming from capitol hill and he said that essentially thi

if he sits there in the white house he won't testify. the committee is not going to force him to testify. there are any number of white house officials who said, i'm not coming. the committee is leaving them alone. mulvaney can do the same thing. i don't understand why he feels obligated to go to court when the fact of going to court -- he still will not testify one way or the other. it's very strange. i wish i could explain it. the only thick i suspect, totally my suspicion, it's connected with a certain degree with mulvaney being on thin ice with the president after that disastrous news conference he had a couple weeks ago, the president asked a couple times and support for mulvaney is lukewarm at best. >> i think it is a result of the precarious situation the white house finds itself in. there is no legal provision that prevents somebody like mulvaney from going and complying with a congressional subpoena. that's been revealed with vindman and laura cooper and current official after current official has denied the president and gone a

we could abandon the efforts to schedule the white house phone call and a white house visit. residents trump and zelensky. which was unquestionably in our foreign policy interest or. we could do as president trump. we chose the latter course. because it was the only constructive path open to us. over the course of the next. acid or volcket and i. we're in communication with mister giuliani. secretary perry volunteered to make the initial calls with mister giuliani given their prior relationship. ambassador volker made several of the early calls and generally informed us of what was discussed. i first communicated with mister giuliani in early august several months later. mister giuliani emphasized the president wanted a public statement from lenski committing ukraine to look into the corruption issues. mister giuliani ssecifically mention the 2016 election. including the dnc server and very smart as 2 topics of importance to the president. we kept the leadership. of the state department and the nsc informed of our activities. and that included communications with secretary of

as i testified previously, with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting, the answer is yes. mr. giuliani conveyed to secretary perry, ambassador volker and others that president trump wanted a public statement from president zelensky committing to investigations of burisma and the 2016 election. mr. giuliani expressed those requests directly to the ukrainians and mr. giuliani also expressed those directly us to. we all understood that these prerequisites for the white house call and the white house meeting reflected president trump's desires and requirements. within my state department emails, there is a july 19th email. this email was sent -- this email was sent to secretary pompeo, secretary perry, brian mccormack who is secretary perry's chief of staff at the time, miss kenna who is the acting -- pardon me. who is the executive secretary for secretary pompeo. chief of staff mulvaney, and mr. mulvaney's senior adviser, rob blair. a lot of senior officials. a lot of senior officials. here's my exact quote from that email. i talked to zelensky just now. he

can you elaborate on what the white house is responding? one of the things he said about the three previous president to faced impeachment, he said he had done nothing. shifty clear in trying to that. they are going after the process. say they are not getting a chance to defend themselves. it's very clear in making a case, even if there was some kind of quid pro quo, the president has every right and the responsibility to inestigate corruption ukraine. it's interesting that nancy pelosi is making the comparison to richard nixon. whateversaying happened in that call, whether or not there was withholding of aid, that is the president's right to do that. everything has shifted in the past week. hearingsow gone to that will be held in public. the democrats are figured how they are going to go about this. the republicans are starting to hunchback and say -- hunchback -- punch back and say the president has every right to withhold aid. allegations. the is talk about richard nixon. ins is going to be right president trump's wheelhouse. he is going

house over a new reported insider's view of the president and the white house. nbc news has confirmed the department of justice is demanding in a letter to the publisher, of the new book "a warning" copies of the author's nondisclosure agreement. or the dates of the author's service and the agencies where the author was employed, all in an effort to undermine the author's credibility. joining me now is msnbc legal analyst danny cevvala. >> individuals have no first amendment right to public classified information that's what the courts have held for some time. to that end members of the intelligence community are routinely required to sign these nondisclosure agreements, which not only prevent them from disclosing classified information, but for their lifetime, require them to submit any publications for p prepublication review. and what's interesting about this is that the courts have held that even if the document, the thing submitted for p prepublication review, or something not submitted and published without review, even if it contains nonclassified informa

the white house blocked the witnesses that could have drawn the line to the president. >> the white house is saying there's no direct tie to the president. think about this interaction with gordon sondland and members of the white house. he was making the inference that military aid was being tied to these white house meetings. then he said mick mulvaney is in a position to know firsthand. that caused adam schiff to remind everybody about mick mulvaney's public press conference in which he talked about these two things being tied to one another and told everybody to get over it. there was quite a bit of clear evidence that showed that this was a policy being driven by the president personally. to the extent the republicans are going to try to go all in on s suggesting this is a bunch of people freelancing and this was not the president directing this, they'll have a hard time justifying why they're preventing people like mick mulvaney, secretary of state mike pompeo, what are they so afraid of? >> so, jackie, john bolton is back on twitter. >> certainly is. >> two months off. not going to

congressman, let me start with the no-shows from that white house. four official, i believe, did not appear today citing, i think, executive privilege. the white house not wanting them to appear. what's your reaction to that? >> thank you, chris, for your question. the american people should be asking what is the white house trying to hide? if they really thought that this was a perfect phone call, as donald trump alleges, then they would be happy to have the white house officials come and explain about that phone call, explain what the message was with regard to ukraine. instead, they're obstructing witnesses, they're telling them not to come and it's very unfortunate we're not going hear their stories today. >> what do you make about the revelations in marie yovanovitch's testimony that at one point the secretary of state says that he will call sean hannity to try to find out what

. >> -- from the white house today. do you think it would help to hear them testify to the public -- >> that's their call. >> that's the white house. >> thank you guys so much. >> would you like to hear from them? >>. >> seven hours after it started this morning, today's house intelligence impeachment inquiry wraps up with testimony from u.s. ambassador to the european union gordon sondland. also a major fund-raiser for president trump's inauguration in 2017. we will stay outside the hearing room. this is the longworth house office building. it's possible we'll now hear from some democratic members on that impeachment inquiry hearing. but we're only halfway done through the set hearings for today. another one, we understand, scheduled for 5:30 eastern coming up with two witnesses. laura cooper, the deputy assistant defense secretary for ukraine and also david hale, who is the under secretary for political affairs. that hearing 5:30 eastern. we'll have that live here on cspan 3. as we wait for that to get under way, we'l

now, rudy giuliani is denying any white house involvement. here's what he said on saturday. >> do you think it's appropriate for the white house to be involved? >> i don't know if it's appropriate or not, but they weren't doing it. the first thing, the white house wasn't coordinating anything. so the answer to that is no. thats a false premise. the second is what. >> did the white house arrange calls with you and secretary pompeo? >> no. i'm capable of making my own calls. i'm capable of using my phone. >> despite giuliani's denials, we have documents that show this communication, emails between madeline westerhought and jo owe zavante. it is difficult for her to deny this involvement. it offers more information of his knowledge to pressure the government of ukraine to investigate the president's political rival joe biden. we already learned earlier from the u.s. ambassador to the european union gordon sondland that secretary pompeo was in the loop at key moments he showed emails that included mentions of investigations. secretary pompeo was

>> didn't the white house arrange calls with you and secretary pompeo? >> no. i'm capable of making my own calls. i actually know how to use the phone. mike -- of course i'm not going to discuss my conversations with the secretary of state. >> reporter: i apologize, that was from one of our own cnn colleagues speaking with rudy giuliani earlier today. and despite rudy giuliani's denials, again we now have these emails that show rudy giuliani's assistant e-mailing president trump's then-assistant to organize this call with the secretary of state. what this really does is put a finer point on secretary of state mike pompeo's involvement in all of this. the secretary of state has really tried to stay as far away from this ukraine scandal as possible. despite that, though, beyond the e-mail with giuliani, we also know earlier this week from multiple officials who testified that mike pompeo was, indeed, in the loop at key moments of this effort by the president and his allies to pressure ukraine to carry out these investigations. the u.s. ambassador to the european

interesting statement out of the white house. democrats should stop these illegitimate sham hearings immediately. if they don't, president trump wants to have a trial in the senate because it's clearly the only chamber you can expect fairness and receive due process under the constitution. i take it as a tased admission this is happening. >> that he's going to be impeached by the house. but the white house seems to be getting a little ahead of things because that vote has not even taken place. we don't even know yet what the articles of impeachment will be. but the next step will be the trial in the senate and that's where the white house will be focussed in trying to defend the president and using the majority the republicans hold in that chamber, as well as the requirement that 2/3 vote in order to convict him, use that to his political advantage to re-create a trial . it could be as short as two weeks. but to use that to try to protect this presidency and protect him from being removed from office even as he's being impeached

that white house is failing. in the courts and because patriots are coming forward to testify no matter what the white house says and in that context, yesterday's ruling was another big step. >> let me read the ruling. this is exactly what the judge said. nor does it make any difference whether the aides in question are privy to national security matters or work solely on domestic issues. jump in. >> i would say this ruling is not surprising but significant none the less. it's not surprising because a district court in washington with the george bush hair et myers controversies had dealt with exactly this committee and had held that the white house counsel is not absolutely immune. the difference with bolton is if mcgahn testifies, it's not easy to see where executive prif leonel would apply to any of his testimony. he's not being asked to testify about national security matters. diplomatic matters. bolton is at the heart of the national security part of the government so even if he doesn't have absolute immuniti

trump to the white house in 2016. voters were asked to choose between the president and each of the leading democratic contenders in head-to-head matchups. the results are very interesting. only joe biden beats the president in fooive of those si states. harry entin will break down the numbers in a moment. >> four witnesses were scheduled to testify in the house impeac

talked to the white house about that this evening. was told essentially they're focused much more on the surrogates and these gop lawmakers who are using these white house talk bing points, these administration talking points. not so much blasting things out to the public or reporters like us. >> yeah, there's a way to block without them actually knowing you're blocking them. you can mute it. anyway, i'll send you a memo about it. >> i'll pass along that tip. >> all right. thanks very much. back with our political and legal team. >> i just need to make a point what jim said because it's just -- it's not correct. he said that the republicans are out there saying that it was a failed quid pro quo. that's not what they were arguing. they say it wasn't a quid pro quo at all because to have a quid pro quo, the person has to know that something's being threatened in exchange for something else. what republicans were saying is the ukrainians never knew. >> but we know -- >> so it's not an attempted quid pro quo. >> how about attempted briber

however, you view a tweet that affected the the white house staffer from the white house twitter account as at least equal to that, correct? >> this is the official taxpayer funded white house twitter

despite the white house efforts to block his testimony, a federal judge ordered former white house counsel don mcgahn to comply with the subpoena to answer questions before congress. mcgahn was a star witness in special counsel robert mueller's investigation. house intelligence chairman adam schiff announced he'll release a report shortly after thanksgiving. he also called the ruling a very significant victory for congressional oversight and for the american people. meanwhile, the justice department says it will appeal the judge's order keying up a precedent-setting case at the supreme court with implications for other witnesses in the impeachment inquiry. but schiff insists the investigative work continues and we are learning additional information almost every day. this all comes amid growing scrutiny of president trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani. giuliani dismissed suggestions he'll be the fall guy for the president. >> i've seen things written like he's going to throw me under the bus. >> right. >> when they say that, i say he isn't, but i have insurance. >> reporter: giuliani th

house or inside the white house? >> guest: i've certainly heard along with colleagues the most recent sort of big story of the week which is impeachment that the communications between the white house and the hills hasn't always been as robust as some republicans would like. i can't really testify from my own reporting to the general feelings among senators and lawmakers on the hill because it isn't my beat and i haven't spent as much time there as many of my colleagues who have more event across town beat then i have, but it's not surprising to me. i mean it doesn't come across to me as something that's hard to believe. >> guest: what i hear a lot from republicans is essentially a kind of agree with the president is trying to do, i just wish he wouldn't give it de way that he's doing it. that's what i hear from a lot of the republicans in congress. and because i think they recognize that in 2016 president trump, then candidate trump walked through a door and found there was a lot of the country that agreed with stuf

let's go to sarah westwood at the white house. sarah, any response coming from the white house about now these accusations? you know, characterizations in his word that's are, you know, witness tamperng and apartment. -- harassment. >> that's right but they're doubling down on the strategy of attacking the impeachment inquiry and house democrats and trying to under mind tmine the witnesses. and this came as the president's republican allies were focused on their efforts to try to chip away at yo van vick's testimony by repeatedly hammering home that for instance yo van vivano has been testifying. and she said she felt intimidated. the house democrats say they could consider witness intimidation as a potential article of impeachment, but president trump defended himself speaking to reporters saying he was exercising his free speech rights. >> were you trying to intimidate alabama door yovanovitch. >> i just want to have -- i want freedom of speech. that is a political process. the republicans have been treated very badly. quiet. >>

house2020 white house race. his team says he hasn't officially made the decision about whether he is going to run but the paperwork is a necessary step.

also john bolton using twitter to take shots at the white house and threaten the white house. i'll be talking about that and much more with white house press secretary stephanie grisham. stay with us, we'll be r r r r peyton, what are we doing here? welcome to peytonville. nationwide helps protect everything you see in here, brad. every family, every business. even mrs. hoffman's dream of retiring to become a yoga instructor. oh, they have backstories. here, i got more to show you. i am totally blind. and non-24 can make me show up too early... or too late. or make me feel like i'm not really "there." talk to your doctor, and call 844-234-2424. when you rent from national... it's kind of like playing your own version of best ball. because here, you can choose any car in the aisle, even if it's a better car class than the one you reserved. so no matter what, you're guaranteed to have a perfect drive. [laughter] (vo) go national. go like a pro. see what i did there? ( ♪ ) ( ♪ ) the enchanted disney fine jewelry collection. with exclusive bridal styles at zales, the diamond s

. >>> white house braces. sources say president trump's inner circle is increasingly concerned about the impeachment probe. tonight details of new hires for the impeachment team and what testimony they fear the most. >>> and path to 2020. democrats claim victory in elections including one where president trump's personal appeals failed to save a sitting governor in a strong red state. what does it say about the president's chances for reelection next year. >> and a search for suspects in the brutal slaying of nine american women and children in mexico. we have new details of the investigation and chilling new accounts of how some children survived. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> the public phase of the impeachment inquiry into president trump moving forward rapidly. house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff now said the first public hearings will take place next week with a witness including the current and former top u.s. diplomats in u

walk us through what happened and what is the white house saying. >> the white house says the president is fine and he had a portion of his annual physical on saturday. and that while he was at walter reed national military medical center in bethesda, maryland, he met with the family and a service member of special forces who was injured in afghanistan. the reason it's getting a lot of attention is because when the president had his annual physical before, there had been advance warning, it was on his published sked suchedule and th and details were longer. in previous instances, the exam lasted for four hours. there were a number of doctors identified as participatinparti. this was different. that's what raised some of the questions. just to make clear, obviously, a president may have certain personal health privacy, but the overall health of the president, whoever the president is, is always a national security matter. it is, of course, critically important. so any questions about the president's health always has a lot of attention. reporters based here at the white house yesterday,

and pat cipollone, the white house counsel here at the white house. there's some video of that right now. the president did not talk to reporters as he was deporting the white house for that rally. now, the white house is sizing up the next round of witnesses in the impeachment inquiry. a white house official raised questions about the next witness to appear at a public hearing. that's the former ukraine ambassador, marie yovanovitch, noting, this white house official said that the diplomat was not on president trump's july 25th phone call with the leader of ukraine and this official arguing that she could not lend any validity to any allegations of a quid pro quo. that's the line coming out of the white house. and aides to the president are anticipating that yovanovitch will tell lawmakers about an alleged smear campaign against her. that was in her closed testimony that was held behind closed doors, but officials here are asking how that could quladd wet to the impeachment inquiry. is that an impeachable offense? one official asked, adding, ambassad

house and life in the white house. >> because? >> maybe they don't remember whether you get away, and you make it all one panorama, drop out some details, i don't know. but that's pretty much the way it is. very few white house members have been enormously helpful, they are helpful in little ways, there is a particularly good interview with mrs. kennedy, which i never seen, the lbj library, the texas historian joe france, a wonderful interview. jack valencia did one of the most valuable interviews, i found, on the johnson administration. wily buchanan, the former director, or chief of protocol, was very good. but a lot of times it's just reiteration or, it varies. so i didn't pursue those. i talked to margaret truman a good deal, and she was interested in history. she's like her father. and you want to get things right. but she got things wrong. she admitted it. she says, i don't really remember if this is exactly the way it was. so i could have made the whole thing memoirs, and decided not to ... >> here's a picture of kelvyn coo

cnn's pamela brown starts us off at the white house. pamela, we want to start with your reporting on this information pipeline run from the scif, the secure room on the capitol, to the white house. what are you learning about this? >> reporter: john, my colleague jeremy diamond and i have learned that a pair of the president's closest gop allies are quietly offering guidance to white house lawyers responsible for crafting the president's defense strategy. congressman mark meadows and jim jordan have been informally helping white house lawyers in the counsel's office here sort through publicly reported aspects of the testimony to the extent that they can under house rules according to four administration officials. now, meadows and jordan are two of the only gop members we're told from a source that have been in every closed-door testimony until the end. and their conversations here with the white house, we're told, is primarily aimed at helping the lawyers here get a better grasp of the allegations being leveled at trump that are leakin

let's go to the white house. our white house correspondent jim acosta is working the story. the president is speaking out about the impeachment crisis that is clearly hanging over him right now. >> reporter: that is right, wolf. president trump was not in the mood to take questions from reporters at the white house about the impeachment inquiry but was on fox news this morning where he unleashed a tor ents of falsehoods to skirt accusations that he tried to shake down ukraine for the dirt on joe biden and facing the likelihood that he will be impeached he is daring democrats to put him on trial in the senate but there is one wild card in the mix, john bolton. still stinging from a week full of damaging testimony in the impeachment inquiry, president trump has dug in. one top white house official tried to stop us from asking the question. [ overlapping speakers ] >> fiona hill said that the idea that ukraine meddled in 2016 is false. can you respond to that? >> president trump -- [ inaudible ]. >> we're done. you're done. >> reporter: the president would not respond to testim

he left the white house back in september. just because he's breaking his silence on twitter doesn't necessarily mean he will break his silence in the court or before the house of representatives. what we do know is he may have a story to tell. and when he was asked on what he would say, he said he always tells the truth. he was also asked whether or not he was dismissed or fired. he made the point to say i resigned. peter? sheinelle? >> if it happens, it would be a blockbuster. hans, thank you. >>> a new warning from the federal health official that eating romaine lettuce could make you sick. a new outbreak of e. coli has sickened 40 people in 16 states. some people have been hospitalized. the fda is warning that this morning you should avoid romaine l l lettuce grown in salinas, california. throw it out or return it. >>> wild video just outside of los angeles. here's what happens when an r.v. on the tracks is hit by a computer train. the fiery collision caused widespread delays during rush hour there. there were no immediate

normal policy structure of the white house. this is not normal. i worked in the white house before. i worked in two different white houses. these views have been abhorrent. it should not be accepted by any americans. >> you have members of congress who called on stephen miller to resign and dismiss from his job. all have signed onto that letter. bannon was never dismissed on it. donald trump relies on stephen miller to help him make policies towards immigrants. he worked for jeff sessions, excluding all three of us from this table, from coming into this country. it does not appear that the white house is going to have high morality on this. is there a way for him to be moved? >> what donald trump does not like is someone to get more credit for the work that's getting done at the white house. what steve bannon was able to do was get on top of that magazine. there is been concerns of efforts to profile steve miller, he'll bring in someone else. disclose who steve miller was. the more we can cover and expose him to the american public, he's the one that's the puppeteer. thank you both

they go on to describe his briefing at the white house last month as a, quoting televised confession. but most white house officials have been refusing to go to these depositions even if subpoenaed and this isn't a subpoena. >> exactly. and it goes to -- to see whether they take that additional step to compel him to testify but even if he does, you could turn this to the courts which is what is going on with current subpoenas and with the courts sometimes the democrats do win the legal battle but what is working against them is time and i think considering that the various west wing advisers who have -- or administration officials who have declined to appear before congress so far, i would not -- be extremely surprised if mick mulvaney came along. >> and four white house officials refused to show up. two national security council

only the white house -- well, on not only the white house. but the white house did it. trump did it.us and that's an important point. i do think he may try to put this all on rogue rudy giuliani. but i think the democrats shoul keep coming -- >> $391 million, rudy giuliani could not control that. sam stein, the first full day of public testimony will happen onl november the 13th, a week from today. the president has announced that turkish president erdogan will visit the united states and theh white house on that day. what do you make of that? >> well, it could be ke coincidental. but at the same time we know that trump loves bu counterprogramming. you led off the show with the news he wanted bill barr, his e attorney general, to do a presse conference to exonerate him essentially, say you've done nothing wrong.ll if you go back to the origins of the russia probe, it was a push to get then attorney general w jeff sessions to make some public declaration along the same lines. trump operates through this prism in which the only things u that matter are tv moments. so that

the democratic approach to white house stonewaulg appealling appe the following. they're not going to bother. they say we have enough testimony of state department officials that defied the white house under oath without those people close to the president, and then use that resistance to back up a further article of impeachment that appears on obstruction of justice. i spoke to jerry nadler, the he head of the house judiciary committee, and they have information that's damning on the quid pro quo, et cetera, and then you use the white house resistance to back up another article of impeachment. the question remains where that goes with the house and the senate. is that an argument that republican lawmakers that any of them buy? that remains to be seen. >>> members of the state department describe rudy giuliani as, quote, running a campaign of lies. >>> but even as this impeachment inquiry plows ahead, reporting is just how loyal giuliani remains when we come back. so they can stay connected, on our newest, most powerful signal ever. and now, we are also offering h

as i testified previously, with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting, the answer is yes. >> second, as pence aide, jennifer williams, took the stand, we asked if president trump would tweet intimidating messages as he had before. he did not. but he did tweet about the probe all week long, as various witnesses testified. he urged the public to read the transcripts and blamed adam schiff and the democrats for corruption and dishonesty. and third we asked if fiona hill's testimony would mark the beginning of the end of the house inquiry. right now, it appears that way. but we don't know for sure. the house is in recess until december 3rd, and the intelligence committee has no public hearings or private depositions officially scheduled. joining me now to discuss all of this, eli stokels, l.a. times, christopher liu, former deputy council for the house oversight committee. and my dear friend, contributor to the bulwart. in your latest piece "queen fiona," you write she's not the hero we deserve. she's the hero we need. >> boy, she left me speechless yesterda

joining me now, white house press secretary, stephanie grisham. thank you very good have you on the story. thanks for coming here tonight. let's go through a couple of the things that were brought up in mike's report. one is that john bolton did not testify today. that might happen in the future. is the white house glad that he is so far resisting sitting down to speak to the folks on capitol hill? >> i think anybody who works at or has worked at the white house, you know, they have a lot of confidential information and so executive privilege is very, very important. we have concerns about national security information getting out there so we will see what happens. no matter what, no matter who ends up testifying, whether it behind closed doors or in public, the facts won't change that the president did nothing wrong so we aren't concerned about that portion of it but we do want national security mentors to stay confidential. >> martha: if the judge ends up saying that john bolton needs to testify and that he is no longer an employee of the white

the white house has now released the record of that call. did president trump ever mention corruption in the april 21st call? >> to the best of my recollection he did not. >> on the april 21st call, president trump told president zelensky that he would send a high level delegation to the inauguration, was it your understanding that the president wants the vice president to attend the inauguration in kiev? >> that was my understanding. >> and did he tell the vice president not to attend the administration. >> i was advised that the president told the vice president not to attend. i did not witness that conversation. >> and am i correct that you learned this on may 13th, is that right? >> that is correct. >> am i correct that the inauguration date had not been set by may 13th? >> that is correct. the preside instruct the vice president not to attend? >> i do not. >> colonel vindman, you were a member of the u.s. delegation to the inauguration on may 20th, is that correct? >> yes, chairman. >> and during that trip did you have an opportunity to

house, our senior white house correspondent is with us. give us context. saw the president listening's did he respond and what did he say? >> reporter: the president gave some of his most extensive comments regarding this potential ban on flavors for vaping really the context here is that the debate in the cabinet room was between some heads of vaping companies and health associations and at least one national lawmaker in mitt romney. very passionate about this issue. both sides had a very heated argument. mitt romney essentially arguing these flavors are meant to attract kids. counterargument from the vaping companies was that banning these flavors could lead to a loss of american jobs. the president effectively said he wanted to do what was best for kids but revealed a little bit about how he might move forward on this suggesting that a prohibition on these flavors might lead people to vape to going on the street to look for these products illegally. create a black market the kind as we saw for prohibition. it's a key issue for the presi

the white house chief of staff and the white house counsel. he went to one of those people if not more than one of those people. and they told him, you know, keep this under wraps. he is not freelancing. >> let me ask you about the politics here. lawmakers are going back to how momentum is going. tougher districts have to explain the vote they made this week. how do democrats do that? how do they keep that focus on the momentum going forward. >> i think obviously as we heard them say a million times they can go the same time. it's interesting hearing the different messaging already. they want to make sure the country is not giddy at the idea of going through this impeachment inquiry with president trump. i think they're going to talk about how this is a rule of law issue and how the president tries to get away with any number of things. this is another example of that is putting himself over the country. that's what they don't have to stand for anymore. >> what are we going to learn from the transcripts as they're released? the chairman of the

house. >> one of the big issues here, this is or was the talking point from the white house and the president, from the president's allies, and the republicans. they wanted to make sure, jim jordan said it, they wanted to make sure this guy, the new president of ukraine was up to snuff. he would root out corruption, that he had the chops for this, before we just hand over more aid. when you read the transcript of the first call, the president is, like, adores him on the phone call. you guys are great, someone high level will come to the inauguration, i can't wait for you to come to the white house. no question of his ability to do this job. >> just on its face, the call was a short and sweet initial congratulatory call. but the trajectory, we have to look at the whole picture. if anybody is really interested in seeing if zelensky was up to snuff, they could have invested in the ambassadors on the ground in kiev, and relied on the department of defense's benchmarks, to see if zelensky was meeting those benchmarks. and guess what, he was. our diplomats on the ground in ukraine reporte

a white house meeting here it is. and you say to morrison ready to get dates as soon as your ma confirms mr volcker or ambassador volcker says excellent how did you sway him you said not sure i did i think potest really wants the deliverable what did you mean there the commitment to do the investigations and how did you know that the president wanted the deliverable i don't recall i may have had a conversation with him or i may have heard it from someone else but i don't recall again without all these records going to the next exhibit exhibit 10 where are all these tents rather this is between you and andre your mock. what did you say initially in this exchange a low goodbye propose a no that's your mark how is your conversation and mr your mouth response hello good my proposal we receive date and then we make general statement with discussed things once we have a date we'll call for a press briefing announcing upcoming visit and outlining vision for the reboot of us ukraine relationship including among other things b