Transcripts For CNNW New Day With Alisyn Camerota And John Berman 20191119

With four key witnesses set to testify and a day that could bring some of the most contentious moments yet. This morning well hear from two Top National Security officials who heard the july 25th phone call between President Trump and the president of ukraine, and they both say they were troubled by it. Also, both witnesses have been attacked already by President Trump and his allies. Will the president resist. Now republicans are expected to mount an aggressive line of questioning with one in particular, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman. And former special envoy to ukraine kurt volker, they will testify. They released two transcripts of two other key witnesses. David holmes, the u. S. Diplomat in ukraine. Hes the person who overheard President Trump asking ambassador sondland about the investigation into joe biden during that loud cell phone call in a kyiv restaurant. He told lawmakers he was stunned by that call. Hed never seen anything like it he said. A source tells cnn serl republicans were shaken by what holmes had to say. All of this as cnn learns that mr. Trump has considered dismissing aides who testified against him. Suzanne malveaux is live on capitol hill with our top story. Reporter good morning, alisyn. At this very moment Capitol Police are huddled inside that room as they get ready for a security sweep. We are three hours away from those four witnesses testifying, key witnesses, all of this following late last night when new transcripts release damning testimony, new testimony that poke major holes in trump and his allies arguments. Four key witnesses will take the stand today starting with Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman and Jennifer Williams who both listened in on the july 25th phone call between President Trump and ukraines president. Vindman testified last month that he raised concerns to the Top National Security council lawyer within hours of the call. As a former air force pilot, air force officer i know that just because youre in the military doesnt mean youre beyond reproach or question. You have to be held responsible for the comments youve made and we think well be able to do that. Williams, a state Department Employee detailed to Vice President mike pences told impeachment investigators trumps request for specific investigations struck her as unusual and inappropriate. Former special envoy for ukraine kurt volker will testify this afternoon with tim morrison, the former top russia adviser on the National Security council. Volker told investigators he was unaware of a quid pro quo, but he said he was troubled by the rough transcript of the call. Morrison who was on the july 25th call has said ambassador to the eu Gordon Sondland said the military aid was conditioned on publicly opening certain investigations. This is shocking behavior of the president. These witnesses have served their country both as military leaders, as leaders in the Foreign Service. They are incredible patriots. According to new transcripts, david hoemlmes testified behind closed doors last week that he overheard a phone call between trump and sondland where the president asked the ambassador about whether ukraine was going to agree to carry out the investigations he wanted. Holmes says the conversation was so loud that he could hear it. Holmes told investigators ive never seen anything like this. Holmes reveals that he reported the phone call to his superior at the embassy and even mentioned it briefly to friends soon after. I thought he was an excellent witness. Frankly his revelation was jaw dropping. Holmes also testified that it was clear to him that ukrainian officials, quote, gradually came to understand that they were being asked to do something in exchange for the meeting and a Security Assistance hold being lifted. A republican source tells cnn that several members of the gop were privately shaken by his closed door testimony. David hale, the highest ranking state Department Employee to testify so far, saying after hearing that the aid to ukraine was halted, hale said he wanted clarity on who ordered the freezing. He testified it took him two days to get an answer before omb stated on the record that it was the president through chief of staff mulvaney. Reporter first round will be vindman and williams to testify. That will be at 9 00. Theyll be side be side, a democratic aide telling me the format is the same as last week because they felt it was very effective. It maximizes on momentum, allows the process to go as quickly as possible. It also allows them to tell a story that compliments one another putting together a piece of the puzzle that forwards the case for impeachment. It promises to be a very interesting day. Thank you very much for the preview. The public will hear from two witnesses with direct knowledge. Well break down what they are expected to say next. Early gum disease, and killing up to 99. 9 of germs. Try listerine®. Need Stocking Stuffers . Try listerine® ready tabs™. Itheres my career. s more to me than hiv. Need Stocking Stuffers . My cause. And creating my dream home. Im a work in progress. So much goes into who i am. Hiv medicine is one part of it. Prescription dovato is for adults who are starting hiv1 treatment and who arent resistant to either of the medicines dolutegravir or lamivudine. Dovato has 2 medicines in 1 pill to help you reach and then stay undetectable. So your hiv can be controlled with fewer medicines while taking dovato. You can take dovato anytime of day with food or without. Dont take dovato if youre allergic to any of its ingredients or if you take dofetilide. If you have hepatitis b, it can change during treatment with dovato and become harder to treat. 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This is cnns special coverage of the impeachment inquiry. Four witnesses will take the stand today in the house hearing room including Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who has said he was alarmed by President Trumps request for ukraine to investigate the bidens. Both of the witnesses this morning vindman and Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President mike pence, they say they listened to the call and they were troubled by it, that it was inappropriate. I want to bring in cnn Senior Global Affairs analyst, bianee a go golodryga. Both were on the phone call listening between President Trump and president zelensky and both have testified they thought it was inappropriate. Ill read you sections. Vindman says i do not think it was proper to demand that a Foreign Government investigate a u. S. Citizen and i was worried about the u. S. Governments support of ukraine. Jennifer williams, i will say it struck me as unusual and inappropriate. And vindman from initially hearing that phone call was alarmed and remember, he went to the lawyer at the nsc to express his alarm about that. He told his brother about that as well. He has a background. Hes from ukraine as a ukraine expert, and remember he had been there for the meeting at the white house with sondland and others from ukraine where sondland said he was talking about investigates and bolton said i dont want to be part of this drug deal. So fiona hill, whatever republicans are going to say about vindman today, i guarantee what were going to hear from fiona hill on thursday to back up the credibility of vindman will make this an ab berration. She stands up for vindman. She was alarmed and he was alarmed by what they heard from this phone call and that they brought this up to the lawyer. The lawyer, of course, we know said that nobody else should know about this. Vindman is also the person who heard other things in the call than was reflected ultimately in that transcript. He heard burisma, and that wasnt reflected in the transcript. Hes vital. This will be a fascinating moment of television. I think hell also sit there in his uniform as a military man, and i think that gives him a sense of nonpartisanship that hes not out to get anyone. Hes just telling people you know, the interesting thing, i think people listening might say, oh, they were troubled by it. That doesnt seem like such a big deal, but now that both of these witnesses have seen the scope of everyone elses testimony and are clued in on this pretty massive effort using back channels to get these investigations started in ukraine, i think that could be i think their testimony could be even more interesting than their depositions. And the one commonality youre going to see from all of these witnesses is what we saw last week as well laying out the significance of having a strong u. S. Support for ukraine right now and what that means for russia if we dont support ukraine, and we saw that from yovanovitch, we saw that from taylor and kent last week. Its what youre going to see from all of these witnesses when theyre going to be asked why is it so important that ukraine receive that aid, why was it so important that zelensky have a meeting with President Trump and it lays out the narrative for the American People as to why u. S. Foreign policy, u. S. National security was on the line because it countered the president s actions counters what our traditional National Security policy was when it comes to ukraine. Rudy giuliani tweeted late last week, you know, wheres the crime . Wheres the victim . There doesnt have to be a crime and the victim was ukraine, and our policy, and our efforts to stem russian influence in ukraine and around the world. So weve seen some aggressive moments from republicans on the committee leading up to today. I think it will all pale in comparison to what you will see in a couple of hours. Republicans are gearing up for a fight. They are gearing up to go after colonel vindman. They did it on this show weeks ago. They did it last night. Theyre starting to question whether or not his Foreign Policy goals were different than President Trumps, and then ron johnson, the senator whos been involved with ukraine policy and involved with this whole situationi situation wrote a letter to the house where he said a significant number of burkts have never accepted President Trump as legit maimate and resed his style. Americans did not elect President Trump knowing that hes an expert on ukraine Foreign Policy or russian Foreign Policy as well. You have advisers there to help guide you. This happens in every single administration. What doesnt make sense from johnsons letter is listen, if the president has a different view of Foreign Policy on ukraine, if he doesnt care about ukraine as we heard from some of the testimony, let him come out and say that to the american public. Let him say, listen, i dont think we should give them that aid. I think it would benefit us if we had closer ties to russia. Let him come out to the public and say that. It makes zero sense that ron johnson is casting aspersions because hes saying some irregularities were taking place in terms of traditional u. S. Foreign policy and what the president was proposing and then a few paragraphs down ron johnson says he too was trying to convince the president of what was in the u. S. s National Best interests, and that went against where the president was taking this investigation. You know, i think its actually a little bit more pernicious what ron johnson is doing because hes throwing this out there. Maybe hes a never trumper is basically the sub text of this is what hes saying about colonel vindman. Hes saying thats possible. Hes not presenting any evidence of that. Hes just throwing it out there to besmirch. The whole argument that the president gets to set Foreign Policy, the democrats arent arguing there. The democrats are arguing youre not allowed to use the Foreign Policy to promote your own political interests. Thats the public testimony thats coming up in a few hours. Overnight there was some of the closed door testimony, the transcripts released that were incredibly revealing, and cnn has learned that republicans are shaken by the testimony of the man youre looking at right there. Well tell you why next. You wouldnt do only half of your daily routine so why treat your mouth any differently . Listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99. 9 of germs. Try listerine®. Need Stocking Stuffers . Try listerine® ready tabs™. 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Breaking overnight house investigators releasing new transcripts from two witnesses who will testify later this week. One is david holmes, hes that senior diplomat at the u. S. Embassy in ukraine who overheard President Trump asking ambassador sondland about the investigations into the bidens on that loud cell phone call. He told lawmakers, quote, ive never seen anything like this. Someone calling the president from a mobile phone at a restaurant and then having a conversation of this level of candor, colorful language. Theres just so much about the call that was so remarkable that i remember it vividly. Back with us, Bianna Golodryga and joe lockhart. Yeah, i guess youd remember Something Like that if you were in an outdoor cafe and overhearing the president of the United States loudly issuing instructions about the investigations are going to happen, right . When you work in the Foreign Service and youre a diplomat, im sure youre prepared for many circumstances, this not being one of them. Im sure the russians were surprised too when they intercepted the phone call. The take fwrae this is that the president clearly, the day after that phone call, the president clearly wanted an investigation into the bidens, and the president could care less about ukraine, so that defeats the republicans narrative that he was just so interest instead corruption overall in general, and he was skeptical about ukraines past history with corruption, and he wanted to make sure they did away with it before this money went through. You hear it loud and clear as many others did at this restaurant, that the president cared about one thing and one thing only. And cnns reporting, joe, is that republicans were shaken by this closed door testimony. So its no surprise that democrats scheduled david holmes to go public on thursday, but why do you think republicans were shaken by this . Because one of their major arguments was no one could tie this directly to the president. Nobody who was going to testify ever heard the president say anything beyond the transcript or the rough transcript of that phone call, and this is, you know, the simple fact that the president took the call early in the morning, its not easy for a diplomat to get through to the president. Except for Gordon Sondland. Hey, girl, im in a restaurant in ukraine. Yeah. Hey, girl. The point is that shows the president s state of mind. He was fixated with this. He wanted to know, okay, ive had this call. What are they doing . What are they doing . And that is what has republicans shaken . It just destroys all their arguments that he wasnt part of this. It also shows how close, what access Gordon Sondland had to the president , and of course he is going to be a star witness this week, and the president has tried to distance himself from Gordon Sondland and pretend that they he barely knows him. Yeah, and you know, my guess is theyre probably not very close and what this tells us is that trump was very interested in this subject, that this was very important to him and the fact that, again, getting a call through the president is not a very easy thing, and the fact that trump early in the morning wanted to pick up the phone and talk to him tells you about trump. And two things that republicans should be worried about from this new information is that, a, the president did have a closer relationship with sondland than we knew. Even if you go back to ron johnsons letter, i dont know how helpful that is. He himself describes a phone call he had with the president in september where he asked them if there was some sort of quid pro quo. The president said i barely know him. Ron johnson early on in the letter says in a may 23rd meeting he was in with the president following the zelensky inauguration, sondland was in that meeting. Sondland arranged that meeting, and sondland stayed behind when everyone left. There was a closer tie. Sondland wasnt truthful about it, and as we know the president constantly says he doesnt know somebody when they question his credibility. Sondland testifies tomorrow alone. Wait for that. I want to play some sound from yesterday. Rex tillerson who was the president s first secretary of state was interviewed, and was asked about everything that has come to light over the last month or so. I want you to listen to what the secretary of state said. Clearly asking for personal favors and using United States assets as collateral is wrong. Theres just no two ways about it, so if youre seeking some kind of personal gain and youre using whether its American Foreign aid or american weapons or american influence, thats wrong, and i think everyone understands that. Everyone understands that. Thats wrong. There are no two ways about it. Thats Rex Tillerson who at one point we believe called the president a moron behind closed doors among other things, but does this mean maybe general mattis will come out . Does this mean maybe more people who have left the administration on not so great terms will start speaking out about this . I wouldnt hold your breath in anticipation. Tillerson has said other colorful things in interviews with reporters. I believe last time he said he many times told the president he shouldnt do something if he thought it was illegally. I dont think were going to see tillerson and pompeo go hunting together at any time soon, but its a clear slight not only against the president but also against pompeo for not speaking up. Its interesting to hear him say its crystal dleclear. I think the republicans know that it was wrong, and i think theyre mounting the effort they are as political, you know, triage or damage control, and theyre going to continue to do that. In an honest moment theyll tell you this was wrong. All right, how will the president behave this morning. Will he be live tweeting todays hearings . Will he go after the witnesses as they testify, and what has the effect been of his attacks on Jennifer Williams youre looking at right there, Marie Yovanovitch who testified last week. Well discuss next. If your gums bleed when you brush, you may have gingivitis. And the clock could be ticking towards bad breath, receding gums, and possibly. Tooth loss. Help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. 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Tell your doctor if youve had Mental Health problems. The most common side effect is nausea. Quit smoking slow turkey. Talk to your doctor about chantix. With pronamel repair toothpaste, we can help actively repair enamel in its weakened state. Its innovative. My go to toothpaste is going to be pronamel repair. They hope President Trump shows some restraint as for white house and state Department Aides testify today. The president has already attacked one of this mornings witnesses Jennifer Williams before she spoke to investigators. One Campaign Official tells cnn they have their fingers crossed that the president does not tweet specifically about Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman who is a purple heart recipient and an iraq war veteran. Joining us now is michael smerconish, host of cnns smerconish. Michael, good morning to you. We heard President Trump or we saw, i should say President Trump tweeting about Marie Yovanovitch last week while she was testifying. We saw the president going after Jennifer Williams over the weekend, and weve heard the allegations from democrats that this constitutes witness intimidation. You dont see it quite like that. Why . I dont think that the president s intent, and its hard to get into his head but from the sidelines, i dont think that his intent is to deter or to influence these witnesses to discourage them from coming forward. I think instead its to discredit them. I think that he views this as hes got a First Amendment right, and he needs to defend himself and thats what hes seeking to do, and john, he doesnt just treat his impeachment opponents that way. He treats every opponent that way. Its totally in character for him to constantly be on the attack, so i dont think thats where hes coming from. Of course its impossible to know for sure. What are you watching for today, michael . Well, i want to get in on the david holmes conversation that youve been having because what he offers in that newly released testimony is very significant, but i dont think that its significant for its substance. You know, the telephone conversation that he overheard, no, no, no, the significance of holmes testifying on thursday is the message that it sends to Gordon Sondland on wednesday at 9 00 a. M. Eastern. You know, mindful im sure of roger stone just having been convicted of lying to congress. Heres sondland who already has amended his testimony one time, i think that sondland to me is the most important witness were going to hear from this week because alisyn so far a number of the pieces of the puzzle have come together, but you really dont have a witness with firsthand information who can tell the whole story, and as a trial lawyer, i always like to have that one linchpin, the person who can lay it all out for the jury, and then have their testimony corroborated. Taylor was an awfully impressive witness, but he was two degrees of separation. Sondland was a guy who had the seat at the table. I think that the whole case can be built around Gordon Sondland. If Gordon Sondland is forthcoming. Well, i think its going to be very hard for him not to be forthcoming now because he knows what youve been reporting today about what david holmes is going to come forward and testify on this hurthursday. The whole love your ass conversation, whats he going to say . That never took place . I dont remember it. I found it incredible already that he had his recollection refreshed as to what he told yurmac. Some of this doesnt pass the smell test. Which is why david holmes is there on thursday basically saying i see you Gordon Sondland and im going to speak here so watch yourself. On the president tweeting, it may not be witness intimidation, the question is it counterproductive . Because we almost have seen the president doing the opposite of what he might want to do. Hes elevating Jennifer Williams. He helped elevate Marie Yovanovitch. Right, so now youre asking me a different question, which is if you were his lawyer first of all hed never listen because hes his own attorney, but would you tell him not to do it because its counterproductive. Yes, i would make that argument, although those tweets set the narrative for the whole spin machine that defends him. Hey, john, take a look at the cause and effect between his tweets and what youll hear on fox at 9 00 p. M. You know, theres the time line between the two. Yep. Michael smerconish, thank you very much for giving us what you are watching for today and beyond. Well, nancy pelosi said it directly to President Trump. She said all roads lead to putin. Coming up, we can go inside the last three years of the Trump Administration to see how russia looms large, so large over this impeachment investigation as well. You wouldnt do only half of your daily routine so why treat your mouth any differently . Listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99. 9 of germs. Try listerine®. Need Stocking Stuffers . Try listerine® ready tabs™. Even though i find you so captivating and im done with hesitating lets see where this goes . Save on a gift that says it all. Jared im a verizon engineer, and im part of the Team Building the most powerful 5g experience for america. Its 5g ultra wideband for massive capacity and ultrafast speeds. Almost 2 gigs here in minneapolis. Thats 25 times faster than todays network in new york city. So people from midtown manhattan to downtown denver can experience what our 5g can deliver. woman and if verizon 5g can deliver performance like this in these places. Its pretty crazy. Just imagine what it can do for you. Being prepared is a part of who you are. But its especially important in the case of a disaster. Be informed about possible emergencies in your area. Make a plan that covers where youll go in an emergency. Build a kit with the things you need to survive. There is no one more capable of planning for your situation, than you. Start your plan today. Go to ready. Gov myplan so why treat your mouth any differently . Listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99. 9 of germs. Try listerine®. Need Stocking Stuffers . Try listerine® ready tabs™. Developing this morning, the u. S. Embassy in israel is warning americans about traveling in jerusalem, the west bank and gaza. This after the secretary of state mike pompeo announced that jewish settlements in the west bank do not violate International Law. Cnns Oren Liebermann is live in jerusalem. This is a reversal of decades of u. S. Policy and an issue really thats been the linchpin of middle east peace discussions for decades as well, laura. Absolutely, and its certainly not the first time that weve seen the Trump Administration simply reverse what has been decades of u. S. Policy. In that sense, this is a major announcement, but one thats not too much of a surprise. Over the course of the past couple of years, weve seen the Trump Administration stop calling the occupied west bank occupied. Weve seen one of the leaders of the peace team say he doesnt want to call them settlements. He wants to refer to them as cities and towns and this is an extension of that with secretary of states mike pompeos announcement that the u. S. Would no longer consider israeli settlements in the west bank a violation of International Law. It is a process of normalization of israels occupation of the west bank that were seeing from the administration. It was immediately hailed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who, in fact, just visited settlements in west bank a short time ago and said israel has been working on this for years, and it was slammed by palestinian leaders who say that no matter what the administration decides, the u. S. Administration that is, the settlements are still a violation of International Law and that the u. S. Is replacing International Law with the law of the jungle. Why the timing and who benefits here . Well, there are two noteworthy elements of the timing. First, this seems a slap in the face to europe whose high court of justice just ruled that products produced in israeli settlements have to be labeled as such. They cant simply say made in israel. This is a rejection of that from the u. S. This is a Major Political gift with netanyahu. Whos the real winner here . That would be president donald trump. One evangelical leader here in jerusalem said based on this decision, america has finally decided that the bible is no longer illegal. Really interesting, thank you very much for your reporting. So russia may not play a direct role in the impeachment inquiry, but ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch suggested that President Trumps actions on that july 25th phone call played rite into Vladimir Putins hands. This is just the latest example of Vladimir Putin reaping rewards from the trump presidency. Cnns jim sciutto explains. It is the dark mystery at the heart of Donald Trumps presidency. Why is he so chummy with Vladimir Putin . The russians must have something. He is creating a hero out of Vladimir Putin. What the hell is going on . Speaker of the house nancy pelosi summed it up this way. All roads lead to putin. Questions about the two men started when trump as a candidate began singing putins praises. I respect putin. Hes a strong leader, i can tell you that. So smart. Run by a very smart cookie, much smarter, much more cunning than our president. More importantly there were trumps actions. Why would he hire a ukraine lobbyist as his Campaign Chairman . The core question about Paul Manafort is whether he was working for donald trump and the American People or whether he was really working for Vladimir Putin. Paul manafort had worked in american politics years ago, but for more than a decade he had advised a putin ally, then ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovy yanukovych. Are there any ties between mr. Trump, you and your campaign or putin and his regime . No, there are not. Thats absurd. Soon the manafort led campaign made a mystifying change to the Republican Party platform. The deadline for amendments. Language that had promised weapons for ukraine in its war against russia was blocked. Reveal that donald trump jr. Went into a meeting with a russian lawyer. There was another strange russian connection at trump tower, donald trump jr. , Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner all attended the mysterious meeting amazing hospitality and support. Reporter the Russian Oligarch was behind it offering Campaign Dirt on hillary clinton. Information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia and would be very useful to your father. Reporter then came wikileaks, once again courtesy of russia. Thousands of emails stolen from the democrats flooded the air waves. It was designed to help donald trump and hurt hillary clinton. Reporter Donald Trumps response . Russia, if youre listening, i hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails. Reporter donald trump wins the presidency. In november 2016, truchs victory was a political earthquake in the u. S. , but in moscow it sparked joyous celebrations. We are the champions of the world in washington, President Trump was meeting outgoing president obama. Settle down, guys. You all right . And obama gave his successor a piece of advice, do not hire michael flynn. Trump did it anyway. The new National Security adviser lasted just 24 days. Flynn had lied about russia, specifically about a conversation with then ambassador sergey kislyak. They had discussed what putin hated the most, u. S. Sanctions on russia. They want the sanctions lifted. They made no secret of it. Reporter and soon donald trump started talking down those sanctions. He told the wall street journal, if we get along, why would anybody need them . The United States of America Needs to send a strong message to Vladimir Putin. Reporter congress, however, was having none of it. The yeas are 98, the bill is passed. In august of 2017, a tough sanctions bill passed overwhelmingly. You know, wouldnt it be a great thing if we could actually get along with russia. Reporter throughout the trump presidency, the biggest conflict at the heart of the u. S. russias relationship has been russias attack on the 2016 election. What this represented was an attack on a fundamental underpinning of our democratic system. Reporter an attack which u. S. Intelligence assessed was done to help donald trump and hurt hillary clinton, but repeatedly trump denied that it was real. I dont think anybody knows it was russia that broke into the dnc. Shes saying russia, russia, russia, but i dont maybe it was. I mean, it could be russia but it could also be china. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay . Reporter trump would soon discuss the attack with Vladimir Putin himself at a private facetoface meeting in helsinki. There was nobody else in the meeting so we have no knowledge of what went on. I can tell you one thing, the russians know what went on in that meeting. Reporter after the meeting trump did not condemn putins attack on the election. In fact, he sided with putin against americas own intelligence agencies. President putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. He just said its not russia. I will say this, i dont see any reason why it would be. Perhaps one of the most disgraceful moment by a u. S. President on the world stage certainly in my lifetime. The only possible explanation for this dangerous behavior is the possibility that president putin holds damaging information over President Trump. Reporter trump also began going after nato an alliance the u. S. And its allies depend on respected by the world except of course by Vladimir Putin. They kill us with nato. They kill us. Were paying anywhere from 70 to 90 to protect europe. Putin craved membership in another international institution. The g7 group of world leaders. Should be the g8 because a lot of the things we talk about have to do with russia. Reporter throughout putin has taken an increasingly prominent place on the world stage, particularly in syria. Last month when donald trump announced that u. S. Forces would leave the country, many saw it as trump giving russia a free hand. For Russian Armored vehicles to drive into these places with the russian flag flying high and the american flag, you know, headed out of town. Those are all just huge, huge propaganda gains for a guy like putin. On an absolutely perfect phone call. Reporter now it is trumps action in another country that is threatening his presidency, and there is, again, a connection to russia. His alleged attempt to extort the president of ukraine has sparked impeachment hearings, and it may also be yet one more gift to Vladimir Putin. Donald trump has wittingly or unwittingly, you know, walked straight into the warm embrace of viewed putin with how he dealt with ukraine. Reporter trump held desperately needed aid to ukraine, aid it needs to defend itself against an ongoing russian invasion. I have been far tougher on russia than any president in many, many years. Reporter trump has now made that claim repeatedly. I would certainly think about it. President putin invited me. Reporter and still he says he may accept an invitation to join putin in moscow next may for a parade showcasing russias military might. Jim sciutto, cnn, new york. What a look when you lay it all out there in one place. This morning there is a republican politician who seems to be suing a when he will lole people over ridiculous things for a ridiculous amount of money, and its not donald trump. Find out who that politician is ahead in our reality check. You wouldnt do only half of your daily routine so why treat your mouth any differently . Listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99. 9 of germs. Try listerine®. Need Stocking Stuffers . Try listerine® ready tabs™. So why treat your mouth any differently . Listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99. 9 of germs. Try listerine®. Need Stocking Stuffers . Try listerine® ready tabs™. Need Stocking Stuffers . [upbeat music] no matter how much you clean, does your house still smell stuffy . Thats because your home is filled with soft surfaces that trap odors and release them back into the room. So, try febreze fabric refresher febreze finds odors trapped in fabrics bubbles popping and cleans them away as it dries. Use febreze every time you tidy up to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. Fabric refresher even works for clothes you want to wear another day. Make febreze part of your clean routine for whole home freshness. La la la la la. Football, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs held off the chargers for a win in mexico city where neither team is actually from. Andy scholes has more in the bleacher report. Good morning, john, the field at the stadium was good enough to play this time around. Last year they had to relocate the mexico city game because of poor field conditions. This was the fourth regular season game to be held in mexico, and Patrick Mahomes, he was looking to get the chiefs back on track after a loss to the titans last week, and in the Third Quarter hes going to find Travis Kelcey for a 23yard touchdown. That put the chiefs up 239 at that point. The chargers would mount a comeback, down 7, under 30 seconds left. Philip rivers picked off. That was his fourth interception of the game. Chiefs win 2417. Chargers have now lost seven games this season by just one score. New england patriots, a big win over the eagles on sunday in a rematch of super bowl lii check out how smiling Bill Belichick rewarded his team. It wasnt perfect, but it was better than what they had, and thats what really mattered, all right . You know what i think were ready for . Uhoh. I think were ready for victory monday. Belichick giving the team off on monday, and john, i love the kwoel quote. It wasnt perfect but it was better than what they had. Words to live by. Which happens to be the truth if you watched the game. Ive never seen john more riveted than playing that little bit of roll. Bill belichick when you saw the sides of the lips turn up like that, that was a smile. Thats unusual. Thats unusual. Rare sight, yep. All right, andy, thank you very much. All right, there is a republican politician out there filing lawsuit after frivolous lawsuit, and it is not donald trump, but there is a deadly serious side to this story. John avlon has our reality check. Lemmings with suicide vests, thats what Congress Devin Nunes called colleagues who were charging towards the Government Shutdown cliff in 2013. But nunes has been singing a different tune in the trump era. His opening remarks during the impeachment inquiry was a litany of trump talking points. They accused the Trump Campaign of colluding with russia when they themselves were colluding with russia, now they accuse President Trump of malfeasance when they themselves are culpable. Its an example of how tone comes from the top. Thats also what weve been seeing in an absurd string of lawsuits against journalists and social media accounts. Nunes trickling down to one of his former staffers working in the trump white house. You may be aware of Donald Trumps long history of suing journalists including an architectu architecture critic and journalist tim obrien for saying he was not a billionaire. Recently the trump family sued a maryland blogger for comments about melania and threatened us at cnn with a suit that never materialized materialized. Taking a page out of trumps play book, nunes sued two parody twitter accounts including one claiming to be his cow. Yes, you heard that right. As well as twitter itself for more than a quarter of a billion dollars, and if that seems ridiculous, thats because it is. The suit claimed among other things that devin nunes cow published hundreds of false and defamatory statements against the the congressman. An account called devin nunes mom falsely stated that the congressman was voted most likely to commit treason in high school. Talk about snowflakes. Selfevidently absurd satire against public figures is protected by the First Amendment. This is also especially ironic because nunes once sponsored the discouraging frivolous lawsuits act, but there is a serious side to this absurdity. He is also suing two individuals personally, liz mayer in the 200 million lawsuit and reporter ryan lizza whos also a cnn contributor for 75 million. Nunes brought the suits in iowa and virginia rather than his native california because they dont have strong protections against frivolous lawsuits. Just yesterday his lawyer filed another odd lawsuit on behalf of a white house staffer who once worked for nunes. At issue is a political article detailing patels influence on ukraine of President Trump. He says he never supplied any materials to the president and for this he is suing for 25 million. A reasonable person might conclude that patels case may have been compromised by subsequent no evidence experience was his principle ukraine adviser. You could conclude that this, like the other lawsuits is intended to have a Chilling Effect on journalism tying up reporters, publishers and critics with potentially crippling legal costs. After all as donald trump told the Washington Post looking back on his suit against obrien, i spent a couple of bucks on legal fees. They spent a lot more. I did it to make obriens life miserable, which im happy about, and thats your reality check. Really enlightening. Didnt he also sue bill maher for saying he looks like a chimpanzee. An orangutan. Facts matter. A pivotal day in the impeachment investigation. New day continues right now. The next round of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry just hours away. Jennifer williams. Lieutenant colonel Alexander Vindman. Kurt volker. Tim morrison will testify today. His testimony from over a dozen witnesses makes it clear that the president was using a meeting at the white house and taxpayer dollars in order to try to get a Foreign Government to benefit himself politically. Vindman himself had so many problems