26th about investigations into the bidens. Also, the wall street journal reporting this morning there are a trail of emails where sondland kept acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Energy Secretary rick perry updated on the effort to start those investigations. Ahead of this pivotal week the president is on the attack once again taking aim at yet another witness, pence aide and Career Foreign Service officer Jennifer Williams, set to testify under oath tomorrow. The president is calling her a never trumper. There is no basis for that. Williams was on that now infamous july 25th call between president s trump and zelensky and found the call, quote, unusual and inappropriate. The Vice President s office declined to defend williams call her a state Department Employee. Theres a lot of throwing under the bus going on. Lauren fox joins us from capitol hill. Its a big week particularly because youre going to have firsthand witnesses top of the pack, Gordon Sondland. Well, thats right. Its a huge week really, jim, on capitol hill as democrats and republicans hear from eight witnesses this week, including tim morrison, the former nsc official who, of course, came to understand, according to closed door deposition transcripts, that Gordon Sondland was speaking directly with President Donald Trump about pushing the ukrainians to investigate the president s political rivals. According to morrisons deposition, he told congressional investigators that the president and sondland spoke five times between july 25th, the date of that call between trump and zelensky, and september 11th bwhens here in thely 400 million in u. S. Military add was released. Everything building to wednesday where he will hear from Eu AmbassadorGordon Sondland. Expect republicans and democrats to have very tight questions for him, especially democrats, who are going to be pushing him on what exactly he was telling the president , what were the conversations exactly like. A huge week moving forward. Well also hear from Jennifer Williams and nsc aide to mike pence, the Vice President , and also on the july 25th phone call and had concerns about the call and said it seemed more political than diplomat nick nature. Jim and poppy. Before you go, you have two key depositions happening behind closed doors this weekend. What do you think the most important thing is we learned from them . Well, i think david holmes testimony on friday, his opening statement, cnn obtained a copy of, was very crucial. Obviously he overheard the phone call between President Trump and Gordon Sondland, the Eu Ambassador. He said the phone call was so loud that sondland was having to pull the phone away from his ear so he had a very good chance to understand what the president was asking him about, and he was asking specifically about investigations. Holmes is, of course, a key witness in all of this, but expect that, you know, when he asked Gordon Sondland, what is the president actually think about ukraine, what he was told is the president cared more about, quote, the big stuff, meaning the investigations into his political rivals, than he did about the u. S. ukrainian relationship. Obviously very important testimony that happened behind closed doors. Jim and poppy. Lauren fox, thanks very much. Kaitlan collins covers the white house and joins us now. The president is tweeting now, wont read the whole thing, bud raise the possibility of testifying before this. Is that a credible claim . What that tweet reminds me of, nancy pelosi has called on me to testify, im going to strongly consider it. He saved he was strongly considering sitting down with the special counsel, robert mueller, something he never did against the advice of his attorneys, so the idea that this is likely does not seem to have gained traction. The white house right now. I wouldnt expect it, given the fact that the chief defense from the white house has been none of the top aides to the president , mulvaney, bolton, people lauren was referencing, those go before them. The idea the president would is unlikely. We have not heard any indication of that. Absolutely. Fair. As we look at what happened this weekend, Jennifer Williams, completely not backed up, an aide to the Vice President , completely not supported by the Vice President s office. I think their statement just said like, shes an employee of the state department. State Department Employee, raising more questions because thats run by secretary pompeo, still a trump picked person and his cabinet. Its interesting seeing the Vice President s office toe the line here. Jennifer williams is someone well liked actually as we were reporting who she was and what role she played, her colleagues heaped a lot of praise on her. However i think they anticipated the president could grow angry over something she testified about given she was on the call and the Vice President s trip. Theyve continue distancing themselves saying a state Department Employee detailed to our office. Where they run into issue with that defense they play a pretty big role in picking which detailees come into the office and his National Security adviser Keith Kellogg is one of the chief people who plays a role in picking those people. No one walks in the building without that approval. Wall street journal reporting this weekend that there are emails that show that Gordon Sondland, of course, the ambassador to the eu, was keeping highlevel Trump Administration officials alert and updated on investigations of the bidens. I mean what that does, does it not, is it shows that, you know, this stuff was not happening kind of out there. There was not a freelancing operation. Sondlands testimony became a lot more critical with this. One of the first questions is going to be, what did the president say to you. So far a lot of people have not been able to talk about what the president said to them directly. Hes going to be someone who can offer that insight, but also the fact that he has such close ties to the top advisors to the president , the Energy Secretary and the chief of staff. Who are both defying subpoenas to appear. The fact that emails got to the wall street journal means someone wants them throughout. Also the timeline because these emails were sent weeks before that july phone call. Their defense so far has been that ukrainians didnt know about the aid being stalled at that point. If its clear from these emails or his testimony that these ukrainian top ukrainian aides knew about that in early july its going to change the timeline for republicans and the white house. Thats great point. Thanks, kaitlan. Joining us to discuss kelly magmum, served under president obama and president bush. Michael gearhart, our legal analyst and impeachment expert. Good morning to you. Michael, let me begin with you and the week ahead. Eight public testimonies scheduled. The most at least in focus right now is wednesday when we will hear from ambassador sondland. Democrats need him, right, because they need someone that had a direct line to the president who says yes, he called for an investigation directly to me. Right . In exchange for aid. But is he credible at this point . Go ahead. Well, its a really good question whether hes credible or not. His testimony up until now has been somewhat inconsistent, and he is going to be pressed hard to establish his credibility. But youre exactly right its a crucial testimony because recall from watergate one of the critical questions howard baker asked back then, what did the president know, when did he know it . As we have more witnesses testify were going to get more information about what the president knew or to what extent he was involved in this. As you pointed out, there seems to have been a systemic effort at the highest levels of this government to investigate the bidens in an inappropriate and unconstitutional way. There was a proper way to do it through the mutual Legal Assistance treaty and an improper way to do it and its the improper way were investigating. Kelly, has the hearsay argument has fallen apart here as firsthand witnesses and really, you know, a web of officials who were concerned by this alternate track Foreign Policy with seeming political benefit there, some republicans are now moving from that argument to the it didnt work argument. Right . In effect this was ineffective extortion because the aid under congressional pressure was delivered. In your view does that matter . No, i dont think it matters. I think that the ukrainians certainly knew that they were under significant pressure to deliver on this investigation. Whether it was to achieve a white house meeting with the president of the United States or to get the Security Assistance i think the fact pattern has been well established. Ambassador sondland was essentially quarterbacking for the president of the United States this Pressure Campaign via Rudy Giuliani and himself, is already evidence that the ukrainians certainly knew what was on the line with respect to the assistance. Michael, is there any way i know its not a legal question, impeachment is a political process, is there any way that the white house can be or sondland can be compelled forced to hand over these emails that the wall street journal has alleging this communication between sondland, mulvaney and perry . Absolutely. The house can issue a subpoena and has issued a subpoena on a number of things. They havent gotten anything. Anything from state. Thats correct. But a subpoena is a lawful order. The United StatesSupreme Court in very famous case unanimously said Richard Nixon had to comply with a judicial subpoena to turn over the information that would help the defendants in that that were involved with the watergate breakin. Its the same thing here. Were trying to get people on the president who worked in the administration to comply with the law, to produce documents. When they dont produce those documents or come to testify theyre defying the law and may well be setting out the basis for another impeachment article against the president. Kelly, talk if you can about how significant this week is, because you really only have two weeks of public testimony at the end of the day based on the timeline. That could change, who knows, a court could rule john boulton could come out of the woodwork. This is the public testimony prior to a vote and senate trial if peoples opinion is going to change its going to happen now. How crucial is this week when you bring in folks like sondland directly involved and a conduit to the president . Its incredibly important. Tomorrow well hear testimony from Lieutenant Colonel vindman and general williams who were on the phone call with the president of the United States and the ukrainian president and these are career civil servants, active duty military. This is an important set of testimony to hear from people who were directly involved in the white house. I also think the sondland testimony is essential for all the reasons youve already stated. I mean its essentially his testimony will be able to elaborate how active and directly engaged the president of the United States was in trying to get these investigations started. So i think that the theyre getting closer to the heart of the issue, which is the president of the United States and his conduct. Kelly, michael, of course were going to be bringing this week to everyone so they can make their own judgment. Thanks very much to both of you. Mayor pete surges, buttigieg takes the lead in a new iowa poll. Is it his moderate message winning over voters there . Also an unannounced visit to the hospital raises serious questions about the president s health. The white house says he is healthy as can be. A gunman opens fire on group of people watching football in fresno, california. At least ten people were shot. Four are dead this morning. We have the latest developments. Cnn newsroom is brought to you by hi, im joan lunden. When my mother began forgetting things, we didnt know where to turn for more information. Thats why i recommend a free Service Called a place for mom. We have local Senior Living advisors who can answer your questions about dementia or memory care and, if necessary, help you find the right place for your mom or dad. We all want whats best for our parents, so call today. So why treat your mouth any differently . 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Ambassador to the eu, Gordon Sondland, who has already admitted he made clear to the ukrainians they would not get any military aid or a key meeting with the white house, makes a big difference for these countries, unless they launched an investigation of the bidens. Democratic congressman Sean Patrick Maloney of new york sits on the intelligence committee. Thanks so much for taking the time this morning. You bet. I want to ask you, youve been in the room for this testimony. Is there something that you heard in there that we havent seen out here that is material to this investigation . I dont want you to compromise any intelligence material, but in terms of making the argument that this was bribery as democrats are calling it . Look, i mean lets be real clear, we are going to have direct evidence this week added to whats already been made public, that the president of the United States used taxpayer funded military assistance to pressure a foreign leader to help him in his reelection campaign. That is soliciting a bribe and that is an Impeachable Offense listed in the constitution. The witnesses this week, sondland, is the guy who carried out the quid pro quo and youre going to hear hm testify to that and youre also going to hear other witnesses testify to those actions. Morrison witnessed the conversation he had with the president , taylor confirms it and david holmes is the latest witness who has Important Information about what sondland was doing. The republicans argument as you know has evolved, you might say, over time and some are now saying that well, okay, but the aid did make its way to ukraine in the end, under congressional pressure, therefore there was no bribery because the quid pro quo didnt happen. Is that a substantive defense in your view . No. It doesnt make a lot of sense to try to give the president credit for getting caught. After all, the aid was released only after the whistleblower came forward, three congressional committees started investigations, and, of course, the solicitation of the bribe is what occurred. At the president s instruction, Gordon Sondland who will testify this week, said directy to the ukrainians, you either get us a statement specifically negotiated with giuliani calling for an investigation about the bidens or there will be no military assistance. Thats a quid pro quo which is latin for bribery. As you know, republicans have requested their own list of witnesses to the hearing. Well put it on the screen here. You have said that you would be open to calling some of these witnesses as well. As we look at the list, tell us who on this list in particular would you be open to hearing from . You have kurt volker, Jennifer Williams, theyre actually sorry. We dont have the right list on the screen. I can do it for you. Here we go, the gop witness list, just for viewers who dont know, hunter biden, tim morrison, nelly orr a favorite target of the right wing media. Who would you be willing to hear from . Weve noticed three of the eight names on that list. 40 aint too bad for the minority when requesting witnesses. The ones weve ruled out are the whistleblower which is, of course, only an effort to further the president s goal of retaliating against the whistleblower. The whistleblowers protected by law in terms of being outed. And, of course, hunter biden is irrelevant to what the president did. Hunter biden has no knowledge of the president s actions. Thats an effort to change the subject. Look at tim morrison or ambassador volker, those are witnesses that republicans want called and theyre going to be here testifying under oath. You are aware as well as i am, that impeachment is a political process and that Political Support matters in an impeachment. What were seeing is that support for impeachment has settled around trumps approval disapproval rating to some degree and interestingly we noted cnn has a new poll in iowa that has shown, well put this on the screen, gop approval for trumps has risen by a few percentage points, hasnt fallen, since the start of the impeachment inquiry. Does the process getting more not less partisan weaken your case to the American People . Well first, one big point, i mean the founders didnt write into the constitution, you know, treason, bribery, other high crimes and misdemeanors as long as it polls well in swing states. What are we talking about . The fact theres an abc news poll out this morning that shows 70 of americans believe the president did something wrong. And the majority of americans in every National Poll ive seen, including fox news, says the American People support the impeachment inquiry. Look, my District Voted for the president. It gives me no pleasure to go before you and my constituents and say, the president abused his power. He abused his office. He solicit a bribe using taxpayerfunded military assistance to try to rig the next election. Thats a sad day in america. But its the truth. And we need to hold the president accountable. Final question on another topic, something that you and i have spent a fair amount of time on that is china and hong kong. Were watching cnn and where people on the ground in the midst of it, the protests, prodemocracy protests in hong kong getting increasingly violent, concerns about a Violent Police crackdown now, the use of live ammunition which has been used in a couple instances, how concerned are you that china will use violence here and are you disappointed that the Trump Administration has not been more clear in its public statements it wont stand for that . Im deeply concerned about it. I was in the region recently on a visit to taiwan. I actually had my visa denied by the mainland Chinese Government in an unprecedented act to try to bully a member of congress to try to influence me to not go to taiwan. This is the kind of overthetop aggressive action that has become the hallmark of president xis regime in china. Of course, hong kong and taiwan coexist with the situation with the uyghurs where more than a million Uyghur Muslims are being detained in the concentration camps in the west. Do you believe the Trump Administration has made it clear to president xi and beijing that u. S. Will not stand for a violent crackdown on those protesters . They need to be crystal clear. I give President Trump credit for toughening our stance across the board with china, but they have been silent on hong kong. And i think that that is very dangerous because president xi needs to get the message. Lets remember whats happening, hong kong is returning to chinese control, but on a timeline that the chinese are unhappy with and they have been attempting to break that deal and to exercise control before they have a right to. So the hong kong protesters are very much only asking that the chinese keep their word. We need to stand with those protesters because china is supposed to be moving toward an open rulebased economy, not towards a greater authoritarian system, which unfortunately is what were seeing. Thats right. Guarantees to one country two systems to 2047. Congressman maloney, thank you for joining the program. My pleasure. The president is calling it phase one of his yearly physical one, but his unannounced visit to walter reed is raising important questions. groans hmph. food grunting menacingly when the food you love doesnt love you back, stay smooth and fight heartburn fast with tums smoothies. Tum tumtum tum tums with tums smoothies. Wwithout it, i cannot write myl tremors wouldname. Xtreme. I was diagnosed with parkinsons. I had to retire from law enforcement. It was devastating. One of my medications is three thousand dollars per month. Prescription drugs do not work if you cannot afford them. For sixty years, aarp has been fighting for people like larry. And we wont stop. Join us in fighting for whats right. Hi honey, we got in early. Yeah, and we brought steve and mark. Experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. Sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first months payment. You may have gingivitis. When you brush, and the clock could be ticking towards bad breath, receding gums, and possibly. Tooth loss. Help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. Leave bleeding gums behind. Parodontax. Life isnt a straight line. Things happen. And sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. But at fidelity, we help you prepare for the unexpected with Retirement Planning and advice for what you need today and tomorrow. Because when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Trying to downplay President Trumps unannounced visit to Walter Reed Medical Center this weekend. The president stopped in to, quote, a quick exam and labs on saturday. The white house says he took advantage of some free time to knock out phase one, not clear what that means, of his annual physical. Our chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta has questions about that visit. Listen to this. This was unusual. What needed to be done at walter reed that couldnt be done at the white house . Why was this done so many months earlier than he should have probably had his physical, which would be next february . We know that he has this high cholesterol, which hes been taking medications for, and a form of Heart Disease as well, which hes been monitored for. There are certain types of tests to sort of assess the progress of how things are with his heart, for example, those are the types of tests that could be done at hospital probably could not be done at the white house. All right. Our kaitlan collins, white house correspondent, is back with us this morning. What do you know . What is everything important the white house is saying about this . Heres the reason we have so many questions. The way this was done. Last year when the president had his physical we knew about it in advance he was going to walter reed, he walked out, took marine one helicopter there. Saturday, this was not on the president s schedule. Thats why it raised eyebrows when he showed up and announced it was for portionsis physical. Last year he did it at once, a fourhour session. This past weekend only two hours. Those are the questions being raised. The white house has tried to downplay these concerns saying that president is in good health, that he was simply there for portions of it to get ahead of a busy 2020 schedule, though that raises questions as well as beyond what would there be . So thats essentially what the questions stem from, the way and about which this happened. It was done. We know the protocol it would be on the schedule. That is unusual about this. What about getting a briefing for the physicians who treated him afterwards . We have seen Ronny Jackson at the white house podium after previous ones and physicians briefings after president s have been shot. Right. Public information has been supplied about the health of a sitting president. They typically do that to reassure voters about their health. If theyre older typically president s have been and that is why they release the details. We did get a briefing and see the white house doctor Shawn Connelly get into the car with the president to go to walter reed. He got in on the left side. The president carrying this tan rectangular envelope on the other side. They havent leased details about what it was during the phase one unusual not to release any details. Typically takes a few days but they will say were going to announce details in the coming days. Typically they would wait until after the complete physical is done. We should note the timing here. This is not quite a year since his last physical typically when done. Thats why the questions have been raised what it was and why the president was there. We are not expecting to see him in public today, though we will tomorrow based on the schedule weve gotten because he has a cabinet meeting. An oped in the Washington Post by karen who writes, quote, medical privacy is something that should not be granted to the most powerful person in the world. Do we know, kaitlan, if there is anything that explicitly says any law by which the American Public needs to be kept abreast of a president s health . History shows us no. No, but history has shown that protocol has been to release their information because typically they just think it helps reassure voters going into an Election Year which when this has been a focus with what the president has said about people like joe biden and Bernie Sanders had a heart issue those ahave been the reasons. The president with Ronny Jackson, former white house doctor, he was quite assured about the president s health said he was one of the healthiest president s in history. That is why the concerns have been about the white house and, of course, whether or not their statements in the past have been accurate or not. Yeah. Different question, Different Health issue, not the president s. The issue of vaping. Enormous Health Concerns nationally about that and the president was forward leaning on this a number of weeks ago and said hes going to ban flavored vaping cigarettes particularly concerns about chirp, right, because theirs tyre the ones. He had gotten pushback meadely because it wasnt a well thought out announcement the president made two months ago from the oval office with the first lady next him to they were going to enact a rule for this. We have not seen the rule put forth. Questions about why is it stalled . Weve heard that advisors around the president have told him they do not think this is an issue that would help him, he went too far instead of just instituting a few rules, went too far with it. Thats the question going forward. Reminder there have been people who left the white house who have gone to work for vaping companies. That is interesting. So maybe theres a channel. Kaitlan collins, thanks very much. New testimony puts ambassador Gordon Sondland right at the center of the ukraine controversy and this wednesday, hell become the main event of the impeachment hearings when he testifies publicly. Tmobiles newest most powerful signal is here. Experience it with the amazing, new iphone 11. And right now, tmobile has the best deal on iphone. Get 4 lines of unlimited with 4 iphone 11 included for only 35 a line. All on a signal that goes farther than ever before. Thats right. Get 4 unlimited lines and 4 iphone 11 for 35 a line. Only at tmobile. 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This has been an intense period for the House Intelligence Committee and this coming week could be its final act. Reporter an increasing focus on one man, Gordon Sondland. Hes the one who seemed to have an awful lot of access to the president. Reporter sondland, the ambassador to the European Union and a Million Dollar trump donor, is scheduled to testify on wednesday amid new questions about his role. In the presence of my staff at a restaurant, ambassador sondland called President Trump and told him of his meetings in kiev. Reporter on that call, one day after the now infamous july 25th exchange that led to the whistleblowers complaint. I made a perfect call, not a good call, perfect call. Reporter ambassador sondland told President Trump ukrainian president zelensky would do anything trump asked, including launch an investigationp into the bidens. I understand you have knew information. Reporter a bombshell confirmed friday in closeddoor testimony by a staffer who overheard it. The Gordon Sondland testimony is going to be highly significant because he has already amended his testimony to say he told a top ukrainian official Security Assistance from the United States roughly 400 million was likely tied to the ask for investigations. According to multiple witnesses the reason why he knows that is because of a conversation he had with President Trump. Reporter tim morrison, a former National Security official set to testify on tuesday told lawmakers last month sondland was acting at trumps direction when he encouraged ukraine to announce the investigations and described the Eu Ambassador as a problem according to newly released transcripts. New details are piling up quickly. Reporter morrison listened in on the july 25th call as did Jennifer Williams an adviser to Vice President pence who will also appear tuesday and said the call struck her as unusual. Lieutenant colonel Alexander Vindman immediately raised concerns after listening to the july 25th call. He, too, is slated to appear on tuesday. There is no one star witness that this whole case will rise or fall on not that we know of right now, but i think vindman is another brick in the wall that House Democrats are trying to build. Reporter former special representative to ukraine kurt volker defended the president s actions in closeddoor testimony telling lawmakers there was, quote, no leverage implied. There was no linkage and i think further testimony and depositions will confirm that. Multiple sometimes. Weve got Text Messages from volker and sondland. Reporter volkers private text message the morning of the july 25th call revealed ukrainian officials pushing for a white house meeting. Volker, writing to an aide for zelensky, assuming president z convinces trump he will investigate and get to the bottom of what happened in 2016, we will nail down a date for the visit to washington. Good luck. On august 9th, sondland messages volker. I think potus really wants the deliverable. Going on to suggest volker should ask for the ukrainian president s aid in crafting a draft statement so we can see exactly what they propose to cover. Volker will also appear on tuesday. Kurt volker, remember, is a former Career Service officer. Kurt volker knew what normal Foreign Policy looks like. Reporter the weeks final witness fiona hill expected to describe what she saw as a nightmare scenario, private interests driving u. S. Policy. Where do you think Everybody Needs to be at the end of next week . I think democrats need to be in a position where they can say we are confident in this case and i think the republicans just need to be at place of either theres doubt about this case, doubt about whether its true, or maybe it happened, but its not serious enough to merit impeachment. Reporter high stakes heading into a potentially explosive week of testimony. Were adjourned. There you have it. This all tees up what begins tomorrow morning. Eight more witnesses. Erica hill, thank you for that. Ahead mayor pete surges, a poll puts him at the head of the pack in iowa, a look at that and the challenges his candidacy faces. Excuse me a minute. Hi dad. No. Dont try to get up. Hi, im julie, a right at home caregiver. And if id been caring for toms dad, i would have noticed some dizziness that could lead to balance issues. Thats because im trained to report any changes in behavior, no matter how small, so tom could have peace of mind. Well be right there. We have to go. Hey, tom. You should try right at home. Theyre great for us. The right care. Right at home. A new cnn Des Moines Register mediacom poll shows Pete Buttigieg ahead of all others in iowa. He climbed to 25 points, nine points ahead of senator elizabeth warren, a point ahead of former Vice President joe biden and Bernie Sanders, as well. They made a huge investment, his campaign, of money, of time in iowa. It appears to be paying off, at least at this point. He still faces significant challenges, namely picking up support from africanamerican voters. Lets talk about all of this. Abby phillip is with us. Good morning, abby. How are you . Good morning so a huge surge, a 16point surge in a month. The question is, can it last and what are the challenges he still faces . Yeah, we rarely see numbers like that in this race, which has been pretty tight for a long time, but for the Buttigieg Campaign, theyre viewing this as sort of one of those moments where you just keep the foot on the gas pedal. Theres no time now to sort of ease into iowa. Because theyve seen whats happened to some candidates who have risen and then fallen in the polls. But what youre seeing, i think, there is as you pointed out, a lot of time and investment on the ground. I was with the Buttigieg Campaign on his last bus tour through iowa, where he stopped by a lot of the places where he said, you know, barack obama won and where Hillary Clinton did not win against trump in 16, basically making the argument to moderate democrats, even to some republicanleaning independents that he is going after their vote. And i think thats the crux of the matter for him. Is this moderate to him. Hes really turned up the pressure on elizabeth warren, talking about how he prefers medicare for all who want it, versus medicare for all. And i think some of that is being is showing up in these polls in iowa. Poppy noted this from karl rove. Of course, republican strategist. Of all people. Who had something nice to say about buttigieg. Were quoting, he would be a fresh face with a message of unity and a more Traditional Democratic program thats not as scary to suburbanites, although rove, as we notice ed, noticed weakness among africanamericans as well. Iowa, we should overplay or underplay, because iowa is a uniquely undiverse state. Its extremely white, especially compared to some of the states that come after it. And thats a huge problem for buttigieg. Hes polling in the low Single Digits among africanamerican voters in states like South Carolina and also nationally. And its a problem that his campaign recognizes. Theyve taken a lot of flack for it, especially from some of the other candidates who are people of color, like cory bookers campaign and Julian Castros campaign and senator Kamala Harris campaign. And i think you should expect to hear more about that. Because they rightly point out that the democratic nominee cannot win without strong support from africanamerican voters, particularly africanamerican women. Abby, this struck me, because you look deeper into these poll numbers and his favorability rating is like off the charts. 72 favorable in iowa. Only 16 , i believe, unfavorable. And heres how he responded to the results. You can see it sometimes in peoples eyes, the difference between when theyre just getting to know you and sizing you up and when theyre deciding what kind of president you would be. What did you make of that . You know, i am not sure what to make of that, to be honest. I do think that he has really tried hard to increase his appeal, just on a very surface level. His rhetoric, when you talk to voters, people talk about his rhetoric, they compare it to obamas. The way that he makes people feel is what people talk about the most. They talk about how smart he seems when he talks. And so i do think that some of that is a little bit of the intangibles of campaigning, that his favorability has been higher, but i will caution, jim and poppy, people dont know him. Hes a lot less known than people in the campaign right now and a lot of people see opportunities to bring his favorability down by surfacing more information about his background than voters might know at this very moment. All right, abby phillip, its coming close, iowa is. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. Absolutely. Later this hour, a Football Watch Party turns deadly in california. Another mass shooting in america. Well bring you the latest. Even though we just started dating i find you so captivating and im done with hesitating lets see where this goes . Save on a gift that says it all. Jared amandas moms appointment hello mom. Just got rescheduled for today. Amanda needs right at home. Our customized care plans provide as much or as little help as her mom requires. Whether its a ride to the doctor or help around the house. Oh, of course tom, i am really sorry. Ive gotta go. Look, call right at home. Get the right care. Right at home. You may have gingivitis. 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Well, police in fresno, california, this morning are looking for at least one suspect after someone opened fire on a group of family and friends just watching a Football Game in their backyard on sunday. Four people were murdered, six others wounded. Yeah, its the kind of violence thats become so familiar in america. Cnns dan simon has been covering the story and joins us now with more details. Do we know, first of all, who were looking for and what sparked the shooting . We do not. Here you have another absolutely senseless killing. You have 35, 40 people, as you said, including several children, watching a Football Game in the backyard of a fresno home when a shooter or shooters sneaked into the backyard and just began opening fire. At this point, we know that four people have died, three people dead on the scene, a fourth person died at the hospital. Six people also injured with nonlifethreatening wounds. Now, what police were doing last night, they were canvassing the neighborhood, going doortodoor, trying to see if people had any Surveillance Video or may have seen anything. At this point, they say, they do not have a motive. No witnesses, no description of a getaway car, so at this point, it just remains a mystery. But again, people just enjoying a Football Game as somebody comes into a backyard and just begins firing shots. Poppy and jim . Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Dan simon, thanks so much. All right. It is the top of the hour. Good monday morning, everyone. Im poppy harlow. And im jim sciutto. Its a major week for the country ahead. Eight witnesses set to publicly testify in the ongoing impeachment investigation. The political stakes here for both parties, frankly, are high. Even higher for u. S. Ambassador to the eu, Gordon Sondland. He will testify on wednesday after other witnesses have described his direct talks with President Trump about efforts to pressure ukraine to investigate joe biden. And as more witnesses prepare to take the oath and face lawmakers, another witness is facing attacks from the president. This time, an aide to the Vice President , mike pence. Career Foreign Service officer Jennifer Williams said she found the july 25th call between President Trump and president zelensky, quote, unusual and inappropriate. Now the president is labeling her a nevertrumper. Pence defending her . No. Lets go to manu raju