Transcripts For KNTV Today 20240713

What did she think it was about. She didnt know. She said that she was going to try and find out more but she had wanted to give me a heads up. In fact, i think she may even have been instructed to give me a heads up on that. And so i asked her kind of what is the next step here . So she said she would try to find out more and she would try to call me by midnight. What happened next . Around 1 00 in the morning she called me again and she said that there were great concerns, there were concerns up the street, and she said i needed to get come home immediately. Get on the next plane to the u. S. And i asked her why. And she said she wasnt sure but there were concerns about my security. I asked her, my physical security . Because sometimes washington knows more than we do about these things. And she said, no. She hadnt gotten that impression that it was a physical security issue but they were concerned about my security and i needed to come home right away. You know, i argued. This is extremely irregular. And no reason given. But in the end, i did get on the next plane home. You said there were concerns up the street. What did you understand that to mean . The white house. Did she explain in any more detail what she meant by concerns about your security . No. She didnt. I did specifically ask whether this had to do with the mayor guilianis allegations against me and so forth. And she said she didnt know. It didnt even actually appear to me that she seemed to be aware of that. No reason was offered. Did she explain what the urgency was for you to come back on the next flight . The only thing thats pertinent to that was when she said that there were concerns about my security. Thats all. But it was not further explained. Now, prior to this abrupt call back to washington, d. C. , had you been offered an extension of your post by the state department . Yes. The undersecretary for Political Affairs had asked whether i would extend for another year, departing in july of 2020. When was that request made . In early march. So about a month and a half before this call . Yes. Did anyone at the state department ever express concerns about your Job Performance . At your deposition you said the deputy secretary of state told you you had done nothing wrong but there was a Concerted Campaign against you. What did he mean by that . I am not exactly sure. Im not exact loy sure but i took it to mean that the allegations mayor guiliani and ears were putting out there that thats what it was. Who else was involved in this Concerted Campaign . Some members of the press. In the ukraine, i think his predecessor, certainly. And at this time mr. Lutsenko was the lead prosecutor general is that right . Thats right. Had president zelensky indicated whether or not he was going to keep him on after the election . He had indicated he would not be keeping on mr. Lutsenko. I believe you testified earlier that mr. Lutsenko had a reputation for being corrupt, is that right . Thats correct. Now, during this conversation did the deputy secretary tell you about your future as the ambassador to ukraine . He told me i needed to leave. What did he say . He said that i mean, there was a lot of back and forth but ultimately he said the words that, you know, every Foreign Service officer understands, the president has lost confidence in you. That was, you know, a terrible thing to hear. And i said, well, you know, i guess i have to go then. But no real reason was offered as to why i had to leave and why it was being done in such a manner. Did you have any indication that the state department had lost confidence in you . No. And were you provided any reason why the president lost confidence in you . No. Now, you testified at your deposition that you were told at some point that secretary pompeo had tried to protect you but that he was no longer able to do that. Were you aware of these efforts to protect you . No i was not until that meeting with deputy secretary sullivan. Did you understand who he was trying to protect you from . Well, my understanding was that the president had wanted me to leave and there was some discussion about that over the prior months. Did you have any understanding why secretary pompeo was no longer able to protect you . No. It was just a statement made that he was no longer able to protect me. So just like that you had to leave ukraine as soon as possible . Yes. How did that make you feel . Terrible, honestly. I mean, after 33 years of service to our country, it was terrible. Its not the way i wanted my career to end. You also told the deputy secretary that this was a dangerous precedent. What did you mean by that . I was worried about our policy but also personnel, that and i asked him how how are you going to explain this to people in the state department, the press, the public, ukrainians, because everybody is watching. And so if people see somebody who and of course it had been very public, frankly, the attacks on me by mayor guiliani and others and mr. Lutsenko in ukraine. If people see that i, who have been, you know, promoting our policies on anticorruption, if they can undermine me and get me pulled out of ukraine, what does that mean for our policy . Do we still have that same policy . How are we going ourallacy . How are we going to affirmatively put thatter it forward, number one. Number two, when other actors, in other countries see that private ininterests, foreign interests can come together and get a u. S. Ambassador reminedx whats going to stop them from doing that in the fuch in other countries . Offen the work we do, we try to be diplomatic about it but as george kent said it can getepal angry with us, uncomfortable. We are doing our jobs but sometimesepal bebecome very angry and if they realize they can just remove us, theyre going to do that. How did the deputy secretary respond . That those were good questions and he would get back to me. Did he get back it to you . He asked to see me the following day. The conversation was more and again im grateful for this but to see how i was doing and what would i do next . How could he help. But he didnt discuss the dangerous precedent . No. You understood, of course, the president of of the United States could remove you and you served at the pleasure of the president , right . Thats correct. Have you heard of of a president recalling another ambassador without cause based on allegations the state department itself knew to be false . No. Now, you testified in your Opening Statement that you had left ukrain by the time of the july 25th call between President Trump and president zelensky. When was the first time that you saw the call record for this phone call . When it was released publicly eat the end of september. And were you aware that President Trump had specifically made reference to you in that call . No. Learning that . I was shocked. Absolutely shocked and devastated, frankly. What it do you mean by devastated . I was shocked and devastated that i would feature in a phone call between two heads of state in such a manner where President Trump said that i was bad news to another world leader and that i would be going through some things. So t it was a terrible moment. A person who saw eme lead to transcript said the color drained from my face. I think i even had a physical reaction. Even now words fail he. Without upsetting you too much, id like to show you the can excerpts from the call and the first one, where President Trump says the former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in ukrain were bad thuz. So i just want to let you know. What was your reaction when you heard the president of the United States erefrefer to you bad news . I couldnt believe it. Shocked, appalled, devastated that the president of the United States would talk about any ambassador like that to a foreign head of state and it was me. I mean i couldnt i couldnt believe it. The next excerpt when the preside president references you is a short one. He said well, shes going to go through some things. What did you think when President Trump told president zelensky that you were going to go through some things . I didnt know what to think bout i was very concerned. What were you concerned about . Shes going it go through some things didnt sound good. Sounded like a threat. Did you feel threatened . I did. How so . I didnt know kaktly. Exactly. Its thought a very precise phrase but i think it didnt feel like i was i really dont know how to answerer the question any further except to say it felt like a big threat and so i wondered what that meant. It concerned me. Now in the same call where the president , as you just said, threatens you to a foreign leader, he also praises rather the corrupt ukrainian ros kurt who led the false Smear Campaign against you. I twuwant to show you another excerpt or two from the phone call where the president of the United States says good because i heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and thats really unfair. A lot of people are talking about that. The way they shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad people involved. And he went on later to say i heard the prosecutor was treated very badly and he was a very fair prosecutor. So good luck with everything. Ambassador yovanovitch after nearly three years in ukrain where you tried to clean up the office, was it your view that the prosecutor general was a very fair and good prosecutor . Though t was not. In fact he was rather corrupt, is that right . That was our belief. The Prosecutor Generals Office is a long running problem in ukrain, is that right . Yes. So how did you feel when you heard President Trump speak so highly of the corrupt ukrainian prosecutor who helped to execute the Smear Campaign it to have you removed . I was it was disappointing, concerning. It wasnt based on anything the state department would have recorded or anybody else. There was an interagency consensus that we were hopeful he would do the things we set out to do including retorming the Prosecutor Generals Office. But that did not materialize. So this was not the uniform position of the official u. S. Policy makers, is that right . Right. Now lets go back to the Smear Campaign you referenced and in march when you said it became public and you previously testified that you learned that Rudy Giuliani, President Trumps lawyer and r79 representative also mention said in the july 25 25th call was in regular communication in late 2018 and early 2019. And at one point in your deposition you said they, that being giuliani and the it foreign prosecutor general, had plans to quote do it things to me. What did you know by that . I didnt know but thats what i had been told by ukrainian officials. Did you subsequently understand a little bit more of what that meant . With the advantage of hindsight i think that meant removing me from my job in ukrain. Who do you thing was working with mr. Giuliani as his associates in ukrain . Cert. Enly mr. Sa, the ko and ukrainian ahaircons that had recently been thedited. Those were the two that had been indicted in thork . Southern district of new york. At the end of march we to sums are sh of the allegations ahung others three different categories. One cat dwoirer included the attacks against you which you referenced in your Opening Statement to give the ros kurt general a dothought prosecute list and one that included ukraini ukrainian interference in the 2016 election and one including the bidens. Is that correct . Yes. Did these seem to be ruhoted by those in the United States . They seemed to be around Rudy Giuliani. A tweet here by President Trump himself on march 20th, the first day that one of the articles was published. It appears to be a quote that says john sol 00 is the author of the articles. As russian fads, plot to help clinton emerges and it i could dwe to another tweet tour days later. This is thess son, donald trump jr. Who tweets we need more Richard Grenells and thats amwasder of germany . Thats right. And less of these jokers. And its are a retweet of the article referencing the allegation that says calls grow to it remove obamas u. S. Ambassador to ukrain. Were you aware of the tweets at the time . Yes. What was reaction to eseeing this . I was worried. What were you worried about . These attacks were being repeated by the president himself and and his son. And were you aware whether they received attention on fox thuz as well . Yes. Was the allegation you were bad mouthing President Trump true . Though. Was it true you gave a no prosecutor list to ukrain . Though. In fact didnt the ros kurt general later recant those allegations . Yes. When they were First Published did they issue a eresponse . As you said there was a series of articles. So after the first article, which was an interview was only really about me and made for allegations about me, the state department came out the following day with a very strong statement. Saying that these allegations were fabrications. So it addressed the falsities itself . Yes. It didnt say anything about your Job Performance in any way . I havent looked that in a long time. I cant recall. Did anyone in the state department raise concerns or express any belief in these allegations . No. I mean people thought it was ridiculous. Now after these false aldwagzs were made against youx did you have discussions of anyone in leadership about a potential statement of support from the it department or secretary himself . After the tweets you showed he, it seemed if the president s son is saying things like this, is going to be hard to continue my position in ukrain unless the state department came out very strongly behind he. I think march 22nd there was a lot of discussion on email among a number of people about what could be done. I and the undersec reeritary for Political Affairs called me on sunday and i said its really important the secretary himself come out and be supportive. Because otherwise its hard for me to be the kind of representative you need. And he said he would thats my recollection of the call. That may not be exactly how it played out. Thats my recollection. This is david hale, the number three person at the state department . Yes. Did he indicate he had such a show of support for you . I think he must have because i dont think he would have gone to the secretary if he didnt support it. I mean you wouldnt bring a bad idea to the secretary of state. Your understanding is you did have the full support of the state department, right . Yes. In fact during your 33year career, did you ever hear of any serious concerns about your Job Performance . No. Was the statement of support ultimately issued for you . No t was not. Did you lun why not . Yes, i was told there was concern that it a statement of support was issued by the state department or secretary purse that he will that it could be undermined. How could it be undermined . That the president might issue a tweet like that or Something Like that. You were one of the senior most people in the state department, been there numerous years, up with rr numerous awards, appointed an ambassador three times by both republican and democratic president s and the state department would not issue a statement in support of you against false allegations because they were concerned about a tweet from the president of the United States . Thats my understanding. If i could follow up on it that question. Seems like an appropriate time. Ambassador yovanovitch, as we sit here testifying, the president is attacking you on twitter. Ill read part of one of his tweets. Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in somalia. How did that go . He goes on to say later in the tweet is u. S. President s absolute right to appoint ambassadors. First of all, ambassador yovanovitch, the senate has a chance to confirm or deny an ambassador, do they not . Yes, advise and consent. Would you like to respond to the attack that everywhere you went turned bad . Well, i i mean i dont think i have such powers in somalia or other places. I actually think where ive served over the years i and others have demonstraebl mated things better for the u. S. As with well as for the countries i served in. Ukrain, for campn example where there are huge issues, including the topic were discussing today, corruption huge challenges. But theyve made huge strides and the ukrainianepal get the most credit for that. But a part of that credit goes to the work of the United States and to me, as the ambassador in the ukrain. Ambassador, youve shown the curtj to come forward today and testify. Not with standing the fact that you were urged by the white house or state department thought to, not withstanding the fact that as you testified earlier, the president implicitly threatened you in that call record. And now the president in real time is attacking you. What effect do you think that has on other witness willing ifness to come forward and expose wrong doing . Its intimidatinging. Designed to intimidate, is not . I cant speak to what the president is trying to do but the effect can be intimidating. I want you to know that some of us here take witness intimidation very seriously. Ambassador yovanovitchx y, y indicated the same articles in march that included the Smear Campaign also included allegations related to ukrains interference in the 2016 election and the Barisma Biden connection, correct . Yes. So i want to go to the july 25th call. President trump references these two investigations. First, immediately after President Trump thanks president zelensky on his great job on defense, quote unquote. I would like you to do a favor because our country has been through a lot and ukrain know as lot about it. I would like for you to find out what happened in this whole situation with ukrain. They say crowd strike. I guess you have one of your wealthy people, the server. They say ukrain has it and he goes on to say whatever you can do, its very important you can do it if thats possible. Now as your experience to ukrain for almost three years and understanding that president zelensky was not in politics before he ran and was a new president on this can call, how would you expect president zelensky to interpret a regres a favor . The u. S. Relationship for ukrain is the single most relationship. And so i think president zelensky, any president , would do what they could to lean in onb a favor request. Im not saying thats a yes. Im saying they would lean in and see what they could do. Fair to say ukrain, which is so dependent on the United States, would do everything in his power to pleases the president of the United States if he could . You know f he could. Im sure there are limits and i understand there were a lot of discussions in the Ukrainian Government about all of this. But, yeah. I mean we eare an important relationship on a security and political side. Stow the president of ukrain, one of the most important functions he has is to make sure the relationship with the United States is rock solid. Are you aware of ukrainian interference in the 2016 election . I mean there have been rumors out there about things like that. But there was nothing hard. At least nothing i was aware of. Nothing based in fact to support these alligations . Yes. And in fact who was responsible for interfering and meddling in the 2016 election . Well, the u. S. Intelligence community has concluded that it was russia. Are you aware that in february of 2017 Vladimir Putin himself promoted this theory of ukrainian interference in the 2016 election . You know, maybe i knew that once and have forgotten but im not familiar with it now. Let me show you a press statement that president putin made in a joint press conference with victor orbon of hungary where he says second, as we eall know during the president ial campaign in the United States, the Ukrainian Government adopted a unilateral position on one candidate. Certain oligarchs funded this candidate or female candidate to be more precise. Now, how would this theory of ukrainian interfeerence be in Vladimir Putins interest . He must have been aware of russian meddling in the 2016 election and what the potential was for russian meddling in the future. Classic for an the Intelligence Officer to try to throw off the scent and create an alternative narrative that might get creedance. That would have absolved his own wrong doing . Yeah. And when he talked about an oligarch and he talks about the support of the Ukrainian Government, theres also a reference in the july 25th call to a wealthy ukrainian. It your understanding what Vladimir Putin is saying in 2017 similar to what President Trump said in relation to the 2016 election . Maybe. Now let me show you anath exhib another exhibit from the call. Theres a lot of talk about bidens son, that biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that. So whatever you could do with the attorney general would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution, so if you could look into it, it sounds horrible to me. Are you familiar with the allegations related to former President Biden . Yes. Do you know if he ever went round bragging that he stopped the prosecution of anyone . No. And in fact when vice President Biden acted to remove the former corrupt prosecutor in ukrain, did he do so as part of official u. S. Policy . Official u. S. Policy that was endorsed and was the policy of a numberf other international stakeholders, other countries, other monetary, financial institutions. And in fact if he were helped to remove a corrupt ukrainian prosecutor general who was not prosecuting enough corruptionx that would increase the chances that corrupt companies in ukrain would be investigated, correct . I would think so. And is it your understanding that President Trumps request to have vice President Biden investigated, was that part of official u. S. Policy as you knew it . I should say at the time of the phone call i had already departed ukrain two months prior. Didnt change that much in two months . It certainly would not have been the policy in may when i left. Were these two investigations part of the anticorruption platform that you championed in ukrain for three years . No. Was to match the political interests, rather than the National Interests . They certainly could. Returning to the allegations in the hill publication in march that were promoted by mr. Giuliani, the president s lawyer, were those similar to the allegations the president wanted president zelensky to investigate . Yes. So ultimately in the july 25th phone qual with the ukrainian president , president of the United States endorsed the false allegations against you the bidens. Is that right . Yes. I yield back. Votes are fairly imminent. Were going to take a brief recess. I would ask everyone to allow the witness to please exit the room and we will resume after votes. The gentleman can seek recognition recognition after we resume. So what adam schiff is saying. Theres other business of of the house, votes they have to take. So theyre going to take break when they can come back. Weve been listening to Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador of ukrain, how she felt about the president calling her out in negative terms in the july 25th conversation with the president of ukrain. First of all, andrew weiszman, one of of the questions we asked is how would she play in the narrative that the president democrats tried to lay out wednesday. One of the questions is how did she come off in terms of of credibility and shes spectacular. If youre calling had her as a witness, this is the kind of witness you want. Poised, credible and emotional in a really sincere way. In terms off substance, she also gave the democrats something really terrific in terms off making their point because she was the regular channel verses irregularer. She was an example of the regular channel that needed to be removed to carry out their scheme. The july 25th phone call in which they asked for investigation the to it bidens to the 2016 democrats. If thats the culmination here. Shes kind of of the back story. Shes sort of laying out the background of how that phone call ever could have happened. As someone who covered the area for many years, can you explain how she fits into the background . So she was a ambassador getting in the way. Represents the official policy and her policy was to represent the United States and fight corruption in ukrain which also helps u. S. Interests because it makes government more transparent, better partners, etc. So shes pursuing one channel and then comes along Rudy Giuliani with his team and theyre looking into hunter biden, old allegations because they want to dig up dirt on the biden family. Shes getting in the way. So a Smear Campaign is lauchbnc and removed, threatened. The blood drained out of herself as she felt threatened. The theory of the case was to continue with you that she would have been an obstacle, presumably, according to this theory that she would have been an obstacle to the investigations that giuliani wanted undertaken of biden . And by extension an obstacle to the president s objectives to dig up dirt. Not only is the president reaching down and removing an ambassador from the state department and shes not getting any support from the secretary of state and several have resigned in protest of mike pompeo for not doing that. But the president of the United States is getting the state department to remove her in the middle of the night. To call an ambassador in a place that has just been violent, weve been attacked and killed as a result by the mob, if you will and theyre telling her your security is at risk. Take the next plane out. This never happens. People are evacuated but theyre never told youre put on a plane commercially and being removed from office. They are among the congressional investigators how unusual this was, why she felt threatened. Why her 33year career and the fact the president is tweeting against her in real time we didnt see him tweet against george kent or bill taylor. He says everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She went to somalia. How did that go . And t is a u. S. President s absolute right to appoint ambassadors. That is clear but its not his right to remove an ambassador for corrupt reasons. That would say, they would say, an Impeachable Offense. About somalia. Her first post under ronald regan was somalia. It ended up going badly, as the president suggest ess. But to suggest everything she wentz have went badly. Shes won many awards for fighting corruption. He didnt tweet anything in particular about george kent and taylor. The white house also trying to get ahead of it by releasing the transcript of the earlier april call. I suppose to say we have calls and not all of them have the investigations of the bidens and democrats. Is that the point . Reporter the president is one for the congratulatory call. He made two important points. The framing adam schiff used was notable. When the president tweeted in real time as the hearing was unfolding about ambassador yovanovitch, only took him 20 minutes or so to bring them up. She says i dont have that power to make somalia turn bad f you will to the point andrew is making and she said she felt intimidated by what the president was saying. You saw the chairman try to make the point that president was conducting, as we speak, witness intimidation of people part of othis impeachment inquiry. It directly contradicts what we heard less than 90 minutes ago, which is that he was watching devyn nunes Opening Statement and continuing with the work of thoamerican people. But hes keyed in on this. Unlike ambassador taylor or kent, the president has taken a notable interest in her. You also mention this call and lets be clear. The transcript of the call that was released, that is not the call at the center of the whistleblower complaint. It was in april. It was a congratulatory phone call. Nobody expected anything nefarious. A short call a few pages and mostly complimentary, etc. They said President Trump specifically talked to president zelensky about rooting out corruption. This transcript shows no such referen reference corruption, corruption investigations at all. Why the discrepancy. They said in april its one thing and now based on the paperer they released, its something else. And it raises more questions for the white house. Well hear from the president in a bit of counterprogramming about a health care initiative. And ill turn to richard. The defense has been this white house was all about rooting out corruption in ukrain. So what is corruption . Who is fighting corruption is at the center of all of this and its important to break down a couple of these things. There were two prosecutor generals we keep hearing bout time and time again. One is victor shoeken he was widely European Countries wanted him removed and thats the ambassador general that u. S. Policy. That u. S. Policy wanted to remove. He was removed. He was then replaced by and its not just the top cop, its like an attorney general and an fbi director in one. Very powerful. This person gets to choose who gets investigated who doesnt and has the ability to carry out investigations. In any country thats a powerful person. It was the second prosecutor who cleared and he is enjoying this position hes a a bit of an unusual character. But he likes the power that he has. Years pass and then he is udenly is facing the end. His job is ended and he wants to keep his job. And this is where it kwam wicam ambassador. The u. S. Policy was to weaken his portfolio, have judicial reform in ukrain and plsplit up things in the portfolio. Which he didnt like obviously. And then he meets with Rudy Giuliani and the giuliani is looking for information about burisma and said vee have to get out. It was the sitting prosecutor still when he started dealing with giuliani or is he out of office . No, he was still in. It matters because who gets investigated matters who can investigate biden and thats why this issue of corruption, thats what it stands for in this context. I think one point you make for the democrats of the president trying to root out corruption. If that was true, that explains why he says im going to hold congressional hearings. It does explain the relief. If youre trying to root out corruption, is the president going to say in the few weeks between the hold and release there was no longer a corruption problem . So that reasoning i think is going to have a hard time explaining the timeline. Were privileged to have former ambassador served in russia during the Obama Administration with us. I thought there was an interesting point in the end where the it feels like a court of law but it isnt. Where he put up something Vladimir Putin himself said. And it looked like he was trying to draw a big picture about where does all this come from . And it sounds like he was trying to lay it right at putin was feet. Is that how you read it . Absolutely. I remember when he said that in real time, Vladimir Putin. Change the narrative, create disinformation on the side that ukrainians were involved in the 2016 election and low and behold, the president off the United States has bought in. Let me bring in chuck todd. When we spoke the other day you said after wednesdays testimony it left you wanting more. Obviously democrats have a long way to build this complete nair itative but give me your thoughts based on what weve seen this morning. I think for the first time the first two witness withes wednesday steered clear of why theyre testifying. Is the president abusing his office . What is the impact of this . She has voiced the rational for why she thinks were here which democrats, if theyre going to prosecutor the case and through the impeachment process, have to start making a case for why theyre using impeachment. Why is it that a potential removal from office is at stake. Something she said and i think its very key. After these events what foreign officialx corrupt or not, could be blamed for wondering if the ambassador represents the presidency and what u. S. Ambassador could be blamed for harboring fear to defend u. S. Policy and interest. And those in her Opening Statement she incapsulates why were at this point. Why this is a constitutional crisis and why this is so serious. Whats ironic is ive not heard a democrat put it as sustingtly. Anybody on the day asking questions put it susinkly as she did. She said any ambassador is under threat because they know the United States is not playing by the traditional rules of our values. That any ambassador can be removed at will and as she was. And that makes the point as just to how this has corrupted Foreign Policy and what, if anything, does justify rehuvimo the president from office this close to election. Her Opening Statement was an indictment about where they look today. Shes saying shes the cautionary tale. Everyone knows an ambassador does serve at the pleasurer of the president and can be removed at any reason but what shes saying is people who wanted to see her gone were able to co opt this side channel of u. S. Person in the form of Rudy Giuliani and actually make it happen. I think to chucks point and yours the other day. Many republicans say look, i dont love what happened on the call. It makes me uncomfortable but does it really rise to the removal of a president , something that has never done in our countrys history . Democrats have to make that case. Its not just about establishing facts. But establishing the magnitude of this moment to remedy the situation. Before hand we were thinking what would she really add because theres a side issue and its a lot of background. She emotionally, in terms of makinging it emotional resinateo listener and she used the phrase hollow out the state department and how important that is to the country. And with secretary pompeo so much in the orbit of of President Trump and the only survivor in the National Security team. Bolton is gone, madden is gone, h. R. Mcmaster going back. So for pompeo not defending her for months and being asked by mckinley, by taylor. Remember William Taylor said once with in 40 plus years he had sent a cable to a secretary of state and it was to say this is not right. You have to defend her. Shes being removed for no cause and the night pompeo did not respond. Nor did he respond to any thoufgter appeals. The closest advisor resigned. So it just says there were no guardrails left. And thats the strongest argument. Lets look at what adam schiff says in terms of corruption. Did you pick up on that . Is this the ultimate aim right he is to make that point . I think thats one of them and if the congress will be looking at obstruction, she is a great witness to hang that on so you have the intimidation of this wngs witness and adam schiff saying what is the message theres a real knowledge of threat and inittimidation. I can tell you being tweeted about by the president of the United States is not a comfortable feeling. It youre thinking about what message it sends, its deteres it. As i turn to you in the few minutes we have. Lets look at it from the other side. A lot of republicans mentioned say even if you accept this essence of the facts that theyve been laid out, particularly in the white house transcript. I mean that is an undisputed piece of evidence. They still dont think it amounts it to an Impeachable Offense and democrats are exhibiting a desire to remove the president through a way other than the election. That theyve always wanted him gone and whats the republicans best argument . I think its their best argument to make the case but because when they go on the merits and facts, it doesnt work. This is where the best argument the president s supporters are coming up with is hes too incompetent to come up with this scheme. Its amazing to me the president s best defenders are not defending his actions and . Stead questioning whether hes capable of having this sophisticated of an operation. It was a running excuse during mueller. I think Lindsey Graham says these guys couldnt collude on figuring out how to eat a hamburger. I dont understand why they think this is their best defense. Its a way to keep him from being ousted from office. But at the same time i think theyre basically making the argument he shouldnt be reelected. How many republicans have made the incompetent argument as they basically grasp for something because they dont want to deal with the facts at hand because the facts are uncomfortable as weve been pointing out. Er they dont like how he handles it. Which i think will undermine his reelection. Whats the buzz in the hallway during this break . Ive been texting with Democratic Forces and they think yovanovitchs testimony lifts the lid off of the abuse of power argument they say is at the core of the impeachment inquiry. In addition to the obstruction of congress piece you were talking about earlier. They say yes, ambassador, political appointees serve at the pleasure of any president but what is clear is she was removed on baseless grounds and had to do with that she knowingly ran afoul of the back channel that pts President Trump deputeized those oficials to execute that would be beneficial to him. The other reason they say its so key is because of the timeline she helps establish. Republicans have tried to narrow the focus. If youre only talking about one or perhaps two phone calls, that looks better for him. But it makes clear there was a coordinated campaign and continued through september when the aid was ultimately released under pressure. And house keeping, theyre voting on nonrelated matters at the break . Exports import banks. Were in the midway point of Marie Yovanovitchs testimony. Republican counsel will question for 45 minutes and then members of congress will get a shot at it when we return thrum break. So we will take break and return to our coverage when they get back to it. Now, im lester holt and on behalf of of the entire team, thank you for watching and well see you later on. Its 8 00 on today, coming up, heartbreak and heroes. Ove its 8 00 on today, coming up, heartbreak and heroes. Kids were just over night, residents of a california town come together after a gunman opened fire at the local high school killing at least two students kids were just running and crying just ahead well hear from a teacher who helped a young girl shot multiple times. I dont think theres any sort of training that can prepare you for this plus, saving the koalas. There is some indication that in 20 years without koalas. How australian zoo keepers are helping preserve the species from disappearing in the wild. And we need them now. I just need you now fresh off their show stopping performance at the cmas, Lady Antebellum will be here for a Live Performance to help kick off your weekend, today, friday, november 15th, 2019. From knoxville. Columbia, south carolina, on a girls trip from florida. Madison is turning 16 and reno is turning 60. This is a party out on that plaza today. Will you look at that crowd. A heck of a crowd sure to joa yes, the Christmas Tree in the backdrop but the foreground is what we want to focus on. Look at the cute faces, all the folks coming out, stand in the cold and say good morning to you, and we say good morning to you back thats one of our biggest crowds in a long time. Be sure to join us all next week as our all new november rolls on we have crazy huge stars, on monday, brace yourself ms. Guthrie, the cast of the crown gives us a sneak peek at the return also ms. Guthrie, youre going to sit down with tom hanks, that happens on tuesday wednesday, you guys, we have to brace ourselves, the legendary dolly parton. I cant take it. In studio. Good month. Really good. At the stop for us, Police Still Searching for a motive in the California School shooting that left two students dead, others scrambling for safety and three others wounded Miguel Almaguer has the latest on what authorities are looking into this morning. Hey, miguel, good morning. Reporter savannah, good morning, this high school in Santa Clarita remains a crime scene. Investigators say their work here will continue meantime we know today that two students are dead. Three are in the hospital still fighting for their lives said to be in much better condition today as the suspect remains in grave condition investigators still dont have a motive for this school shooting. Police say this all unfolded in 16 seconds they say the gunman simply walked on to campus, pulled a gun from his backpack, then unloaded on five students before turning the gun on himself and running out of bullets investigators say their search into the motive could take quite some time. They are poring over the suspects digital footprint, trying to see what kind of information they can glean from that theyre also interviewing his mother meantime, those victims are still recovering in a local hospital later on today we hope to have more information on their conditions as investigators, again, scour for that motive. Savannah. Miguel almaguer, thank you, miguel. The former u. S. Ambassador to ukraine testifies today as public hearings resume in the house impeachment inquiry. Marie yovanovitch has already told investigators that she was forced out through a Smear Campaign led by President Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani meanwhile, House Speaker nancy pelosi is now using the word bribery to describe white house pressure on ukraine to conduct political investigations President Trump said thursday that the impeachment process has been unfair and very hard on his family well have live coverage of todays hearings on most of these nbc stations starting at 9 00 eastern still no word on punishment this morning after that ugly fight during last nights game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns in the closing seconds, steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph is tackled by the browns myles garrett. They start to wrestle on the ground and then as the two steelers try to pry them apart, garrett tears off rudolphs helmet, swings it, hits the quarterback in the head. More players come into the fight. Garrett and two others were ejected. Rudolph who was hit with the helmet said he was okay. Scientists are recruiting 10,000 dogs for the largest study on k9 ageing. Dogs chosen for the fiveyear project will live at home. Dna samples will be taken, and owners will have to complete regular surveys on diet, exercise, some will test the pill that could slow the ageing process. Researchers hope some of what they learn can help humans live longer by the way, they are looking for candidates, if you want to nominate your dog for the study, find a link to the dog ageing web site on today. Com. Maybe well find out if dog years, if thats true. 10,000, thats a lot of dogs. We have the news covered, would you like a little boost. It can be a beautiful moment when the child meets the newest member of their family for the very first time. Heres what happened when 3yearold molly went to the hospital for the first chance to hold cora her little baby sister take a look. I wont drop you. I wont let you go anymore i wont let you go anymore. She looks so proud, so protective i mean, if thats not a sister bond right there, nothing is. I love how shes cradling her. Kissing her its a well swaddled baby. Super sweet. You can get an extra boost every saturday morning, hoda has a weekly news letter sign up, let me tell you how, go to today. Com morning boost. Im on it thats a great idea. Coming up, a National Treasure in danger were going to show you how australia is trying to do for koalas what america did for its bald eagles. But first, a today exclusive, revolutionary procedure involving Virtual Reality to save the life of a little boy in need an incredible story right after this makeawish volunteer ok, hes coming, cmon cmon. Here we go. little santa and. Somali. somali thank you, santa. little santa . Alika . alika me little santa . Liam. . liam right here. Thank you, santa. little santa open it wheres kiara . vo when you grant a childs wish, you change lives. little santa i got this for you. vo you can choose makeawish to get two hundred and fifty dollars from subaru when you get a new subaru during our share the love event. Get 25 off home decor, target holideals bedding, bath and more. This weekend only. Save on everything you need for when Friends Family come home for the holidays. New holideals arrive all season long. Only at target. Natures recipe knows a dogs big life is measured in wags. So we carefully choose every ingredient like chicken, sweet potato and pumpkin to fuel their best life. Also try natures recipe true treats and prime blends. When i think of what my imagination looks like. [laughs] i mean, wow. The surface is a tool that helps me realize beautiful ideas. Making the most of Holiday Family time means making a dinner that brings everyone together. But when theres a long line of picky eaters in the family, its important to have something everyone will love. Make the most of family time with pillsbury crescent rolls. And take an extra 15 off save on cuddl duds sheets starting at 25. 49. An air fryer 84. 99. And a singleserve coffee maker just 33. 99. Plus save even more on your home sale purchase . Plus get kohls cash this weekend at kohls. music playing this is the first day of my life i was born right in the doorway now i dont know where i am, i dont know where ive been but i know where i wanna go were back now, 8 10 with todays talker, this morning an exclusive look at a medical breakthrough, a revolutionary procedure at stanford to save the life of a brave little boy. This is really amazing. Nbcs Ayman Mohyeldin joins us with the details. It is an up lifting it is an up lifting story, a team of neurosurgeons performed this high stakes and skilled procedure to remove a tumor from a 2yearolds brain to prepare for the operation, doctors at Lucille Patrick Childrens Hospital at Stanford University, this is the interesting thing, they used Virtual Reality which is a surgery video game and a 3 d printed model of the patients skull. This morning, an exclusive first look at the Ground Breaking surgery for a little boy named ari ellman with a rare and dangerous brain tumor. Virtual reality and a 3d printed replica of his brain changing the direction of this toddlers life when he started having seizures his parents feared the worst 24 hours of violent vomiting. And at some point we were like, this is not just a virus, like a stomach bug or something. Tests revealed a life threatening tumor growing deep at the base of aris brain and now the boy whose name means lion in hebrew was preparing for the fight of his young life. To save their son, the family turned to hospitals around the country. Some suggesting open brain surgery. Others radiation but a team of surgeons at Stanford University in california wanted to try a Ground Breaking approach. We have never done an operation in such a small kid. Actually, most people thought it was not possible to do the impossible, doctors wanted to go through aris nose, a so called Endoscopic Skull based surgery to reach and remove the tumor. Look at the anatomy, what it can also do is i can simulate my approach. Using the 3 d model which included the tumor and surrounding vessels, surgeons spent hours practicing the procedure. If you are 1 millimeter beyond and you are not careful, you can injure the carotid artery. Im bawling, i cant handle, its too much. Its like handing your kid and not knowing if hell ever come back. For 16 hours, doctors removed aris tumor, piece by piece. There were multiple times his life was saved no question. Reporter months after this Ground Breaking operation, a miraculous recovery. The young lions, they feared they would lose has come roaring back to life. He recovered himself. No question. We were there to support him and the doctors but this is a powerful animal. Yeah. Hes a real lion. Hes also very determined. Wow oh, my gosh. Remarkable story. That is incredible. It really is. The courage of these doctors and then the resilience of that little boy are we seeing you in a different set . How did you get on to this story. The first rule in journalism school, never reveal your sources. My brother is training in that form of surgery himself, so he called me and told me about this story, and i thought it was remarkable its is not something i normally cover and everybody was moved by it, and we had the chance to go out there, and its an amazing story because the parents as well deserve a lot of credit they were very persistent in sending this all across the country, and when people said heres the only way to do it, they wanted to try this Ground Breaking approach. They went to stanford, and the doctor thats the leading expert in the field of skull based surgery performed it, and the tumor has been largely removed. This is a hollywood movie you should play the doctor. 16 hours. I asked the surgeon, how do you prepare for it, do you do exercises, mentally physically, what do you go through. It was a moment he has been training for his whole life. They have been practicing for hours on the skulls and 3d replicas, even with that there were setbacks in the operation the father was saving you know what they saved his life more than once. There was an unexpected outlook, but they had seen it in 3 d, done the replica. How is he doing today hes doing great. We were there on tuesday, he had an mri scan, everyone is optimistic about how this is going, and you see the video, running around, definitely very different a year ago when he was essentially diagnosed with it. Superheroes. Tell your brother to keep the stories coming we love hearing what theyre doing. They are doing Ground Breaking things there and across the country. Your parents have to be pretty proud they introduce me as a neurosurgeon and im the younger brother. When youre competing with a neurosurgeon whose saving kids lives, its a whole different ball game. There is no competition thank you. Thank you, guys. Lets go to mr. Roker with a check of the weather. Wet weather making its way into the pacific northwest, and parts of northern california, they use that rain were also looking at a lot of wet weather along the southeastern Atlantic Coast. Chilly temperatures stretching from the great lakes and the northeast, the only place were seeing above normal temperatures as we get to the southwest and southern california. For today, a milder afternoon in the northeast, heavy rain along the southeastern Atlantic Coast good morning, im ka rierks hall. We still have clouds over the Golden Gate Bridge and much of the bay area throughout the morning. Well see sunshine as the day goes along. Temperatures on the cool side as we see upper 50s in San Francisco. 65 in san jose. Warming up to the upper 60s in a antiok. Weather. Best part of the morning oh, you guys. Come on, big boy. There you are, you liars, table of liars, first up, Alex Rodriguez, the former baseball star sat down with jimmy fallon where the two eventually got to talking about his famous fiance jennifer lopez, and jimmy reveals the ultimate throw back thursday. I found a video, an old video of you in an interview you gave and i want to show it tonight. This is from 1998, i believe heres Alex Rodriguez. What would be a dream day with Alex Rodriguez be. Jennifer lopez. That means that dreams actually do come true in america. Alex calling it there in 98. The sexiest man alive, john legend, his victory lap brought him to the ellen show, he filled in as a guest host and he was feeling so much swagger that he decided to take a lucky audience men and serenade her only as john legend can. You wear a sexy yellow blouse, while you dance at the ellen show oh, the way your body moved and grooved, i just had to say my at my wife is hello. I want to give my all to you but my wife is chrissy and she would kill me so i think were through. Speaking of his wife chrissy, it wouldnt be the ellen show without a few surprises. Dont tell chrissy, guys, shell be very very very jealous of ellen how long were you stuck under there. A long time even when johns scared, hes still cool right. That would freak me out so good next up, sterling k. Brown, this is us star, he talked about his role in the upcoming frozen 2 movies and how his kids can watch his projects. They dont get to see a lot that daddy does, its nice when they can see something he does and vibe with it i took my oldest to see the first frozen ice when i would play the sound track, i want to hear the first song over and over again, and the first song, the guys are like chopping the ice. Cold and winter air and mountain rain combining wow, another talent but, i was like, you want to build a snowman, no, i just want to hear the first song. My son loves that song too. Getting ready for frozen 2. The full interview is this weekend, check out sunday today with willie geist. And harry styles, the singer set to be host of snl. He was a musical guest they did put him in a couple sketches he did a great mic jagger. If the lines around the building are any sign, these are people hoping to get in one girl was all the way from atlanta. Another group of girls came from sydney, australia. The line goes down 6th avenue, wraps around 48th street its freezing outside. You saw him this morning they said some of them had been out since tuesday. They have in sleeping bags. And only about 50 on the line, i think, actually get into snl. N thats the streets of new york. Where do they go to the bathroom, anybody know probably a starbucks. Thats funny. Yeah surprise. Youll get warm real quick they throw you in jail all right. Well, now let me turn our attention to something we were all surprised to learn, the koala, the iconic symbol of australia is in serious danger. Experts are warning if something isnt done and done in a hurry, the koala could soon disappear from the wild, a situation made even more dire by massive wildfires that are ravages australia this week. Nbcs tom costello has more. Reporter good morning from sydney, this is archer, a 6yearold koala, and this is chad, he is the zoo keeper and also. Archers best mate. Reporter archers best mate. He takes care of archer. Its illegal for somebody whos not a zoo keeper to hold a koala. Were here because if something isnt done, experts say they may not be in the wild in 20 years outside sydney, yet another koala has arrived at the pet hospital. Hes a young one but obviously sometimes clinging to a big stuffed koala she thinks is her mother, poppy is just a year old she was found alone on a road at night. Her real mother, likely killed by a car or a dog. The belly is not producing any sound. Its soft, theres nothing that means shes not okay. She looks healthy, absolutely healthy. Poppy is lucky. Veterinarian, lorenzo says australias wild koala population is in extreme danger from Climate Change and urban sprawl the trees they live in are being torn down for new developments or burning in australias record heat and massive brush fires and a respiratory chlamydia infection is ravaging entire colonies today there could be fewer than 80,000 wild koalas, down from a peak of 20 million there are some indication that in 20 years, we might be without koalas. Reporter without koalas. Its very sad but it is like this it can happen. Can really happen. Reporter tracy mcguires Group Rescues and tries to rehabilitate orphan and injured koalas. They are wild animals they do cause damage we do get bitten we do get stretched because they dont understand that were here to try to help them, and fix ha two thumbs, Three Fingers and two thumbs. As them reporter chad staples is the chief zoo keeper at sydneys featherdale park when archers mother abandoned him as a baby, he clung to chad and hasnt let go in six years. When you look at his hand, two thumbs, Three Fingers and two thumbs as you can imagine, they are designed to live in trees. Reporter koalas sleep 20 hours a day, digesting a diet made up of eucalyptus trees. While parks are trying to breed koalas to maintain the population, they cant keep up with a loss of wild koalas. Even if australia, i dont think we have come to terms with the fact that they are endangered or at threat of being lost in the wild. Debra has dedicated her life to saving koalas, she warns they could be functionally extinct, unable to produce three generations. I want every american who hears the story to write to our Prime Minister that we love koalas and we want them protected because its a global species. We are very careful with antibiotics, we are very careful with diet. Reporter the university of sydneys avion hospital which needs private donations to save koalas, they fear the clock is ticking fast. We will eventually have no wild koalas in the wild, youll have to go to a zoo. You think that is a real possibility. I do think it is. Reporter now at extreme risk so back here with archer and sydney and chad. Theres an effort in australia to create something similar to the bald eagle protection act in the states that brought the bald eagle back they would like to do something similar with the koala because without that kind of a big national effort, they fear that the koala is very much in danger guys, back to you. Get on that letter. Id sign that in a second. Do you recognize archer i dont, but i feel like he lives in my soul. You should recognize him because you actually played with archer back in 2015. Remember that same koala. Youre kidding me. Arthurs heart is broken, you didnt recognize him. You just said, we have to save these koalas. We have to write the letter today. Get on it. Archer. All right. Your spirit animal. Still ahead, that really blew me away, the people respond to great smells and music in our studio this morning. Valerie bertinelli and Lady Antebellum. I joined the band we love you all so glad youre here. A very good morningco to yo theru may be a bright spot inn the south bay c]mounity today. Expressnini lanes are opennr fo business. Timeonr saver plusco 237nrnico can expect tinr save up to 20 here is a map of what is newco today. ni that area of 237zvnr up there red. co . Ixdnr miles betweenjf ni101 and the dixoncojf landing. That green area is set to w3coc. Rememberninr you have to hav der. Overni hericonini we have the slowing for xdnioakland, anoi the same as you travel toward the bay bridgeconicand the othe side of the bayni a jamni oncoc northbound 101. Upni towards 280co andnini th s 5ti jt day. A crash was clearednrni involvio motorcycle. Thank you veryw3 much, anoth update in half an hour. 6, 7, 8 big dreams start with small steps. But dedication can get you there. So just start small. Start saving. Easily set, track and control your goals right from the chase mobile® app. Chase. Make more of whats yours®. It is 8 30 on friday morning, november 15th, it is 8 30 on friday morning, november 15th, 2019, we stepped outside to join quite the massive crowd on the plaza just look at that. By the way, i would say this is our biggest crowd so far. Happy birthday. I dont know if you realize but a lot of people in this crowd are lady a fans. They really are. Of course they are. We were saying why is this such a big crowd. Because Lady Antebellum is here. Ive got a crowd moment where is mary beth from georgia. Mary beth where hold on, mary beth from georgia. Hi girl, how are you Lady Antebellum they sang at your graduation they did oh, my god, whats your favorite song. Run to you. Original. I know theyre performing inside which is kind of a bummer, and its hard to hear through the glass, but we are wondering if you wanted to come inside were going to head inside with mary beth from georgia, by the way, the guys from lady a are from georgia well come instead in a bit. Okay stay right there, well come back and pick you up, take you inside all right. Guys very cool get to see lady a and get out of the cold thats a winwin right there were looking forward to lady a, and a huge concert lined up, black friday, the 29th of november, and its another reason to wake up early. K pop sensation, ncc 127, theyre going to be here live. Outside the fans are ridiculously dedicated. Its going to be a huge morning on the plaza their fans are lining up. On black friday its going to be a blast. First, how do bacon bites sound. How about delicious stuffed mushrooms. How about Valerie Bertinelli, how about recipes for football watching finger foods. Its all coming up. Meanwhile, we have heard youre taking the 3rd hour on the road. One week from today yes, you can were going to reveal where were going on monday. Were going to reveal it on monday, we want everyone to send their best guesses to 3rdhourtoday on instagram. Dylan and sheinelle are heading there now. They sent this clue from the airport. We are at the airport, and we are about to board our flight for the very place 3rd hour will be live from next friday and we want you to guess where were going. You want a clue, here you go, the today show makes its journey south to a city steeped in history with chicken that will burn your mouth, it has songs and beer and mystery we dont know where to go first but well drink the whiskey, this city sure sounds great. Make your guesses. I dont think dylan is drinking whiskey go and vote. And by the way, we want to mention that one of our producers did us quite proud, quite proud last night at the new York Association of black journalists awards gala last night for her stories on girls of uganda, she did that show with jenna bush hager, took home a well deserved award. Congratulations. Love her. Congratulations mr. Roker, you got a check of the weather for us but first, this sunday night football weather is brought to you by verizon the network more people rely on. All right were going to get to sunday night football in just a moment, but first, lets look at your weekend ahead. Heres what were expecting, a look for bitter windchills in the northeast tomorrow coastal impacts from that storm along the southeast coast. Western third of the country,. Good morning, im kari hall, we have sunshine as we wake up and head out the door in the south bay. I have seen some clouds in parts of the coastal areas as temperatures there stay in the upper 50s to the San Francisco and half moon bay. For palo alto and san jose, expect 65 degrees and upper 60s for the inland. Well have mid 70s going our way and expect some cooler weather, back to fall by the middle of next week. That is your latest weather. But now weve got the weather for the best night of the week, because its going to be sunday night football night in america. Weve got the bears, theyre going to be making their way into l. A. Memorial coliseum as they take on the rams. But its a big one. Coming up on its going to be clear its warm. Its 85. Its l. A but its a big one coming up on sunday night starting at 7 00 eastern hoda, back to you. Al, thank you savannah has a bit of business to take care of this morning. The impeachment hearing starting at 9 00 a. M well have a special report. Ill see you monday. Just ahead, were about to meet Christmas Karen and the woman behind the wildly popular made for tv movies, we have lady a coming up, Valerie Bertinelli coming up, we have a great half hour coming up but first this is today on nbc. But first t so, as you can see, saving can be quite simple. Case in point, if you get xfinity internet and mobile together, big savings on your wireless bill. Write this down, this is important. Amy, this is actually a life saving class. What a nice compliment, thank you save on fast internet and the best Wireless Network together. What can i say, i love what i do. Thats simple, easy, awesome. Get xfinity internet and mobile together and save hundreds on your wireless bill. Youll get unlimited talk and text and no activation or line fees. Switch today. Welcome barck, for most of us, christmas is a little over five weeks away. If your business is the holiday, the movie, the books, its a year round endeavor. Joe fryer has a closer look at the business of christmas, whats up, joe. Consider this, if you add up all the new holiday movies airing on lifetime, hallmark, and hallmark movies and 70 new holiday movies on just those three channels a few of them premiered last month. This morning, we want to introduce you to one of the writers behind some of these movies, someone who knows that holiday entertainment is big business. We barely know each other i have never been more certain of anything. For so many, those made for tv holiday movies are christmas comfort food with ideas cooked up by writers like karen shale. I think with everything going on in the world and all the negativity, we need these christmas movies and novels as an escape, something feel good, and thats why people are gravitating toward them. In a span of 18 months, karen wrote three of those christmas movies and three christmas novels, a prolific feet earning the nickname Christmas Karen. Its 24 7 i feel like im living in christmas all year round. Reporter is that a good thing or a bad thing. I told people i went down the christmas rabbit hole, and pop up and go back down. Im happier down here. Reporter we caught up with karen in new york in front of the met museums Christmas Tree, a soaring 20 foot blue spruce that perfectly reflects her spirit for you christmas is in your blood. I found out from my grandma my great aunt was born on Christmas Day, named her merry, and her last name is day shes in ripleys believe it or not for being named Merry Christmas day. Reporter she put her reporting skills to work a few years ago before writing her first christmas movie. I watched all the hallmark movies and the first kiss is here, they have to have a near miss kiss. Hey, no fraternizing with the enemy. You know, i really studied it. Reporter that research inspired her to write a christmas prince arent you worried theyre all talking about us and saying youre out of my league. Reporter the popular romantic comedy set in the fictional land of el dovia was streamed on netflix in 2017, introducing younger folks to the genera. Different generations are like what is this cheesy, crazy, silly movie. Reporter you acknowledge its cheesy. I say uplifting and heartfelt. If somebody says thats movie is cheesy, if that means uplifting and heartfelt, you call it whatever you want. Watch it and read it. Next came a lifetime film, every day is christmas like so many movies it was inspired by a Christmas Carol with toni braxton channelling scrooge. Reporter i hallmark tapped her to write her third movie, christmas about an ad executivh her to write her sent to a rural retreat. They even take her phone. Its called disconnecting to reconnect to christmas. Reporter prompting karen to have create chris mat themed classes. More books and movies are on the horizon. Christmas karen keeps on going, a yuletide assembly line. Your world is 12 months of christmas a year, and youre good with that its an honor to do what i do its a big responsibility. Christmas 24 7 works for me. I love it, as long as i can keep bringing people joy, im not stopping. These holiday movies which are quick and cheap to make do get good ratings last year, hallmark was the Number One Cable Network in the 4th quarter in women in the key demographics these movies do especially well on saturday night. My sister is leading the charge when i walk into her house right now, hallmark is locked. Thats it thats all shes watching. How about that womans relatives name who was born on Christmas Day is Merry Christmas day. Thats insane. Of course. Joe, thank you. Coming up, Valerie Bertinellis recipes for a fun bertinellis recipes for a fun paread for a football my parents never taught me anything about managing money. The amount of Student Loan Debt i have, im embarrassed to even say. We just decided we didnt want debt any longer. I didnt realize how easy investing could be. Im Picking Companies that i believe in. I think sofi money is amazing. Thank you sofi. Sofi thank you, we love you. We are back with today loves food football, sunday nights game sure to be a battle between the Chicago Bears and l. A. Rams. Our good friend Valerie Bertinelli featured in the new food net work, perfect snacks for the occasion. Valerie, i have to say when we look at your name on the run down, and youre here were happy because we know its going to be food and want to chow down. Im so glad. I love cooking for you guys. Fun football snacks for your sunday afternoon and evening. So ive got these sriracha bacon bites, brown sugar, sliced bacon, or you can use a scissors and make your life easier. Any kind of bacon. This would be your favorite bacon. I like the center cut. All right. You get everything in a plastic bag and you mix it around. Not going to get your fingers all dirty. You are because youre going to pull them out, and then put them right here. Youre going to get them into the oven and about ten minutes, five minutes, before theyre ready, youre going to take these black and white sesame seeds and sprinkle them all over. And then you put them back in. Is that honey, whats going on on top. This is the brown sugar and sriracha. I dont know what that is. Nobody knows. I dont know. I dont really cook. This is what they end up looking like, and theyre so ridiculously good. Theyre spicy, a little sweet. Fantastic. So good. Hes already got them. You mixed them with popcorn. Your team came up with this, mixing the bacon bites with popcorn. I lowe yove your team. Really good. Hes taking the whole thing. Well take care of that. Really good hes taking the whole thing well take care of that something a little bit healthier, lets go to the mushrooms and i know people get scared of mushrooms, you cant put them in water. Would you rather them be clean or eat the dirt. I would rather them be clean so you take the stem out. Take the stem out and youre going to use the stem and chop it up and saute everything together im doing quick versions of everything go to the web site you take the mushroom cap. Chop them up, other ingredients, onions, spinach, tomatoes, all of that sauteed up and while thats happening, youre going to be prebaking your mushrooms, but what i would like you to see is see how the water kind of mushrooms are filled with a lot of water you want to bake them like this, and bring them over so they are not filled with water, and put all the filling in lets do a little bit sprinkle a little bit of panko on there panko and back in the oven for about how long, valerie. I dont know. Whats happening here, valerie . I dont memorize everything. Well we love you, for real. I have eaten one. Have you . I think you might like this, though i think its maybe its like 12 minutes. Thank you how did you know. I read your book. You have a better memory than i do and then we have, asparagus dip which i love because again its healthy and a little bit cheesy. Serve with crackers, you can clean with the stems, a lot of people like to find the bendy point and take off the woody stem just go like this. What are you doing . There now you have all the woody stems off. You dont need the end, theyre yucky. Then what do you do with thethee asparagus . We dont hello cups and so you put it so you put it with some cheese and panko and get it into a nice, you can do it in individual serving cups and you dunk your veggie in. Healthy. Tastes like artichoke. When it comes to asparagus, its got a lot of antioxidants, tons of vitamins, d, k. Who do you like, bears or rams. She likes the saints and the browns. Head to today. Com for the recipes, catch the game sunday night here on nbc. Were so excited, you all, lady a is here in studio 1a, but first, this is today on nbc. The citi Concert Series on today is proud by presented to the citi Concert Series on today is proud by presented to you by winners Lady Antebellum, they are releasing their new album today. We are so excited its called ocean hillary, dave, charles, good morning, the title ocean, tell us. The record is full of the upt and downs of what its been like to be in lady a for the last couple of years, and so i think ocean brought up a lot of the waves of life. You can feel like youre flying and sailing on an ocean. Such a great performance. Youre going to do your single be patient with my love is one of the best songs i have heard in my life if thats not one of the more raw, vulnerable lessons you have written, i can relate to it lyrically, that song is special. Like hillary said, with kids and marriages, we go through so many up and downs and struggles and we just really wanted to be honest and vulnerable in this record song is incredible. Take it away. Lady a. Is broken heart but the moving on is the hardest part it comes in waves but the but memory is memory is Everybody Knows eyed i close my eyes and lost dosef i never get o what its supposed to do, but if i never get over you maybe years from now and working out, every now and then he can see right through cause when i look at him yeah all i see is you what if im trying but then i close my eyes and then im right back lost in that last goodbye goodbye and what if time doesnt do what its supposed to do what if i never get over you what if i never get over . You what if i never get what if i never get closure y . What what if i never get back all the wasted words i told you . What if it never gets better what if this lasts forever an and what if time doesnt do what its supposed to do what if i never ever and ever im trying but then i close m eyes and then im right back lost in that last goodbye and what if time doesnt do what its supposed to do what if i never get over you what if i what if i gave you everything i got what if your love was my one and only shot f i never what if i end up with nothing to compare it to what if i never get over you what if i never get over you what if i never get over you what if i never get over you what if i never get over, ove you thats a hit song number one country. By the way, mary beth was our fan from out on the plaza, shes actually singing at Carnegie Hall with a choir, and she was just harmonizing with you. Oh, my gosh, thats awesome. The album is ocean, thanks to lady a and the band well be back after your local news you all want to harmonize. Thats great. Love you all. That was awesome. Thank you thank you good morning to you, im marcus washington. There may be a bright spot in the south bay commute today and express lanes are opening for business. Happening now, they are banking on it being a time saver for people that suffer slow downs in that pabt of 237. It could save up to 30 minutes in each direction. Each person must have a fast track transponder. They will spend 30 cents to 8 depending on the congestion. Authorities revealing there was five arrests in four counties after a shooting. And talk about a close call, part of an old mall in coopertino came crashing down. A man that lives near by caught the whole thing on camera. Amazingly no one was hurt. No comment to far. The develop is very controversial. They are currently deciding whether or not though opportunity it into housing, office, or retail space. Plus, kari hall is tracking your workweek forecast, join us monday morning 30 to 7 00. Discover all that california has to offer from the bay area to los angeles and san diego. California live takes you where the locals go and helps you live your best california live weekdays at 11 30 a. M. On nbc bay area. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza, this is the 3rd hour of today. And good morning, everybody. Tgi friday, welcome to the 3rd hour of today. Al along with craig, natalie, sheinelle and dylan are on a secret assignment which well give you a clue about in a few minutes. By t way, a shout out to our production team. Our stage hands who, if you just saw the end of our second hour, there was a full set up for Lady Antebellum. It is all gone. Just like that. Which they will have to set