Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20191120

Attacking this, laura, saying well hes making a bunch of assumptions but that not a fact. It is not a fact. To distill down what they are saying for the better part of two and a half and three weeks unless you hear it with somebody from the direct knowledge of the president it is all hogwash and inadmissible even in an impeachment inquiry and now somebody is saying let me break down what you are calling a presumption. Im giving you evidentiary basis for my thought process and giving dates and receipts and what led me to conclude if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it is, in fact, a duck. And now the only viable strategy is to say, well, actually, youre basing this on an assumption of the mental state of the president was using his own mouth piece which is what one would surmise. What i was shocked by the real analogy here that reminds me of what was the defense to the Mueller Probe which is lets attack the origins of the probe as opposed to the substance of what is coming out. This tracked almost identically. Lets look at the origin to lead you to investigate the whistleblower, et cetera, the idea of the mental state when you dont have because the president s actions and team actual definitive statements about what he meant through his own testimony and people who knew or talked to him, you have this track and i think they thought it was successful then, lets use it again now. And you know what, it is hard to say what will come out in a senate trial but the idea were going to now say even though you have heard this clearly, even though it is, in fact, a quid pro quo, that is still not good enough to define it as a quid pro quo is laughable. And the idea the question they were trying to raise how do you know giuliani was acting with the president s assent and for several weeks they have told us to read the transcript, meaning the memo of the july 25th call and now the strategy is defense read that transcript because the president tells the president of ukraine, rudy is my guy. Talk to rudy. And he mentioned the bidens. So this idea. Investigate the biden. Well if he said burisma how do you know biden. We could take the president s advice and read the transcript. It is clear. And i get it politically afterward, why cant we have hunter biden. The republicans in the majority when hunter biden took his job in ukraine through january of this year, they had plenty of opportunity, if they the serious republicans and leadership would have supported a hearing they could have called hunter biden in when they were the majority of the senate. If Lindsey Graham wanted to do it they could do it tomorrow but they have to sell it to the leadership as a credible hearing that wont embarrass the party. Devin nunes is question not being answered about what was hunter biden being paid for and that is a perfectly legitimate question. He was chairman of the House Committee and called zero hearings. And tell us jen psaki, your overall impression about this blockbuster day . We expected it would be a blockbuster. It was a blockbuster and it tied President Trump directly to the accusations and that is one of the defenses that republicans had more most of last week. Well, yeah, this happened and he didnt know about it and it is a rogue operation by giuliani but by saying he followed the president s orders and desires of the president at the express direction of the president that blows it up. The other thing that was interesting is it brought a number of other senior people close to the president s inner circle into this. There is the the story that he told about having the meeting with Vice President pence. Obviously other people were in the meeting. Vice president s pences office put out that carefullyworded statement that didnt deny that he knew it or that he knew it just said he didnt have a meeting by himself sand a conversation. And secretary pompeo who we know and have suspected knew about this all along and approved of the activities and as they were happening even if he was annoyed by them. That makes it clear it is not a rogue giuliani wild west cowboy activity around the world, parts of the President Trumps inner circle were directing this operation. Amanda, ive known you for years, youre a conservative republican and what goes through your mind when you listen to congressman jordan and stefanik give the rendition of the hearing which sounds like they watched an entirely different hearing. I think were seeing what happens when a president gets caught up in the conspiracydriven giulianifueled, john solomon at the hill who i used to work for at the Washington Times dream land and theyve drug the entire nation into it. Yes, we could talk about abuse of power and obstruction of just but we need to talk about the president s fitness for office. Hes gone so far down the rabbit hole consuming weeks of government time and resources that to pursue this agenda he has to smear the bidens and also for some reason take the responsibility off russia for meddling in the 2016 election. That he is undermined consensus positions by the United States congress that ukraine should get funding. The u. S. Diplomatic intelligence and other security communities, hes throwing that all out of the window for this narrowminded focus that he has that only benefits him personally. And so i just find that deeply troubling and to watch everyone go down this rabbit hole so happ handidly. I bet republicans are embarrassed to lead the hearings. Maybe nobody else wanted to step up but no one could look at his handling and the counsels handling of the questions and sometimes they dont use their time and done in a competent matter. You see laura coop an undersect of defense or some sort of pentagon official with expertise in russia, shes going to be testifying this afternoon as well as well as david hale who is with the state department. John dean, you more than anybody here, in fact only one here at this desk know what it is like to testify before congress. Obviously watergate was different. You testified for days and not hours. What was your assessment of Gordon Sondland . Well, i saw i noticed on my twitter account that George Conway had a john dean moment trending for a while. And i thought about that. And we talked about it earlier, and there was another term from watergate called modified limited hang out and i think today we saw a modified limited hangout. Define what that is. The difference being when i testified, i had to turn on all of my colleagues to really tell the story. Most people dont understand that watergate wasnt about the bungled burglar for nixon, about the fact the same people involved in watergate worked in his white house and had undertaken similar activities for his white house. And that is what they were really covering up. So i had to open that door and lots of other doors and explain the context in which this is all happened. That was much broader testimony and much more incriminating for many more people. And you feel like sondland was pulling his punches he did not talk about the full scope of what was going on. Hes an intelligent man. He knew this was wrong activity. He knew they were really not in channels when they were doing this. Although they tried to paint it back in. So i say, i think it is a more modified limited important testimony, yes. Its change the dynamics. It is a key day in the trump presidency. But it is not necessarily the end. John makes a very important point. That sondland knew what they were doing was wrong but over the past week weve seen they all knew it was wrong. Volker knew it was wrong. Morrison knew it was wrong. They all knew it was wrong to condition aid to condition a white house meeting on getting dirt on joe biden. Now some of them convinced themselves that is not really what is going on. But who is kidding whom here . Does anyone believe remember i remember way back, back in the day, like last week when one of the defenses was the president really was upset about the other countries who werent stepping up to the plate. Look at the emails and the text. There is not one reference to that. There is no reference to any other issue except burisma, that is the bidens and this fantasy about 2016. That is the only thing that the president cared about. And in, fact, a quick fact check not on you but a claim by President Trump, europe has given more money to krairn than the United States has but that is why bother with facts at this point. Our coverage of todays pivotal impeachment hearings is just getting started. One of the key phrases that ambassador sondland testified to and why it could be key, thats next. If you have moderate to severe psoriasis, Little Things can be a big deal. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. 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Me bad. grover yoooooow oh what about monsters having accidents . I am okay by the way burke depends. Did you cause the accident, grover . grover cause an accident . Maybe. bert how do you know all this stuff . burke just comes with experience. all muppets yup. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum at the express direction of the president of the United States, i followed the directions of the president. The president directed us to do so. President trump directed us. Nonetheless, based on the president s direction that was United States ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland testifying claiming that everything he did in regards to ukraine was on President Trumps orders. Lets discuss. And jeffrey, sondland said multiple times he was acting on the president s direction but he also said that he said the quid pro quo white house meeting for investigations, that is established and that is from rudy and President Trump told him to do it but the military aid quid pro quo he presumed but he didnt know that for a fact. That is right. And the republicans quite appropriately begin their political strategy focused on that and they said it was not proven in any sense. It was just an assumption. Now if you look at the surrounding circumstances, its a pretty good assumption. It is funny, again, way back last week one of the things that the republicans were saying was read the transcript. Like read it is now a summary, partial transcript of the phone call between the president of the United States and the president of ukraine. That transcript lays out the quid pro quo pretty well. Im breaking my vow to speak only english. But today the republicans who were asking sondland questions pretended the transcript didnt exist. They thought the only evidence was the the conversations between sondland and well one conversation. The september 9th conversation. Right. Specifically where sondland said what do you want me to do. And President Trump wrote down what he said if we want to show the photograph, President Trump, i want nothing, i want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. Tell zelensky to do the right thing. That is the final word from President Trump on the matter. Now we should point out that that was september 9th, supposedly, that he said that. At least according to sondland and what do we know about what was going on on september 9th . That the whistleblowers complaint had reached the white house. It had reached congress. Not only did the president discover that quid pro quos were inappropriate, he also released the money. Again a republican talking point. September 11th, two days later. That period. But this idea that there is no harm to ukrainians and this is no big deal because they released the money any way and the only reason they released the money is they got caught. They got caught by the whistleblower and they were busted. Thats why they released the money not because they had an attack of conscious. And laura coates one of the points made was that the question that sondland said he asked President Trump was not, is there a quid pro quo . The question was what do you want from ukraine. And President Trump answers no quid pro quo. And that to House Democrats was significant. I also find that to be a little bit disingenuous that out of nowhere this discussion of how to really exculpate yourself and have the perfect language to say oh, no, here is what i actually meant. That it was automatically a kneejerk reaction to saying i didnt say anything illegal. You must have misconstrued. That feels like a lawyer had their hands on it. But you mention this notion, you heard representative jim jordan get up there with manu raju asking the question, are you saying it is purely coincidental this aid was released after the sirens were heading into your direction . He said, oh, no, people and top officials noticed that the new kid in town, the new kid in town, president zelensky, was actually legit and that is the reason for all of this. And you hear all of this information and you think to yourself, either people believe that nobody had the sound on during the actual hearing or for the last two weeks or that the talking point of a way to try to undermine what is very obvious, this is the lastditch effort. And final point on this. When you think about whether there were any real cuts to this Administration Today or donald trump about the actual impeachment inquiry, think of the overall strategy. If you know this is your first bite of the apple and in a senate trial is probably looming at this point in time, who else can you call to shore up and beef up the claim to prove the points theyre telling you they failed to do so. The people who are left on that list are the very people who refuse to appear. And so you create a selffulfilling prophecy you cant prove your case and i wouldnt give you who might be able to prove that case. Is that really how impeachment should work. The people who could say. The president didnt tie the aid to the investigations, if you want to follow the republican argument, hes skeptical about foreign aid and if zelensky was the real deal and the witnesses were key to that and mr. Blair were key to that and all have been subpoenaed to testify and all have refused. So if the white house has a story to tell to refute what weve heard over the last five days which is, ha very, very, v damning and the people they have to send up and the answer is not only no, but hell no go away. And people like david holmes should be a warning to the white house remind people who david holmes is. An aide to ambassador bill taylor and at lunch on the day with ambassador sondland and was broke open this story. He overheard the conversation. The conversation he was having with President Trump. Hes not someone people would know. He is not a house hold name. And there were people involved in putting holds on the aid and they dont say okay and they ask questions why. And they are intellectually curious. The information doesnt have to come from the top, but from the people from the job were doing. And one of the witnesses well hear from later said it was illegal. And the President Trump didnt wait for ambassador sondland to respond, that is next. 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Unlimited carryover data hey do you know you can get unlimited talk and text on americas best 4g lte networks for 20, no contract . Unlimited talk . I like that because on sundays you know i gotta talk to mama, then on. This is your wakeup call, people. The new Tracfone Wireless. Now youre in control. I dont know him very well. I have not spoken to him much. This is not a man i know well. Seems like a nice guy, though. But i dont know him well. He was with other candidates. He actually supported other candidates. Not me. Came in late. President trump reacting to todays testimony by claiming he doesnt know well the United States ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. Sondland said they talked about 20 times and gave to the inauguration for trump about a Million Dollars when told about the change of tune from President Trump in terms of effusive praise to what he said, ambassador sondland said easy come, easy go. And pamela brown at the white house, you have new reporting about how the president s lawyers are looking at todays testimony. Reporter that is right, jake. According to a source close to the president s legal team the view among lawyers working on the impeachment case on behalf of the president is essentially todays testimony by sondland was a draw. In their view the cake is baked and what he said today would not move the needle for the public. But i could tell you, in talking to sources, jake, there was concern early on among the lawyers but other officials here at the white house and in the Trump Campaign about sondlands open testimony where he drew the direct line to President Trump saying everything he did and other officials did regarding ukraine came at the express direction of the president through Rudy Giuliani who, of course, sondland testified the president told him to work with. And also, of course, sondland saying that, yes, there was quid pro quo. That Rudy Giuliani had directed him that zelensky, the president of ukraine, needed to announce those investigations the president wanted in order for the white house meeting to happen. So early on there was concern at the white house that the testimony would be damaging to them and at the end of the day they said it is a draw. And you saw the president hone in on the phone call he had with sondland in september when sondland testified the president told him there was no quid pro quo, that he didnt want anything from ukraine. But he also said on that call, jake, that he wanted zelensky to do the right thing. And based on sondlands testimony, that was what giuliani was expressing he wanted him to do. Of course, this white house meeting for the opening of the investigations. Jake. Pamela brown thank you. John dean, let me go to you. It occurs to me as we hear about the white house talking about how everything is going even though witness after witness is painting a picture as what Gordon Sondland called a continuum of insidiousness of what they were pushing the ukraine team to do. What happened during watergate . Did the white house continually say that everything was great and the witnesses were not hitting their mark at all . Not really. They constantly had talking points they put out. Nixon locked in on a defense very early. That he knew nothing about the coverup until i had told him in march of 1973 and said before that i knew nothing. It was an outrageous lie and when tape came out showing he was in on week one, that blew all of his defense. So they stuck with that defense. More importantly, during the clinton impeachment, the republicans were incredibly wellorganized. I happened to be sitting on a panel like this with Barbara Olson on one side, the late Barbara Olson and she would constantly pick up her phone during every break and finally she told me and i said why are you talking every break and she said, well we have an organization that we have somebody monitoring all of the shows, we have key talking points being issued and i make sure i hit my points during my next hit on air. So they knew exactly what they were doing. The Republican Party im seeing right now, amanda has no talking points. Jennings had no talking points earlier. It is not organized like that. So these are theyre just free floating out there and not as well organized as watergate or the Clinton White house. Amanda, here is the statement from White House Press secretary stephanie grisham, quote, ambassador sondlands testimony made clear in the few brief phone calls with President Trump the president clearly stated that he wanted nothing from ukraine and repeated to quid pro quo over and over again. In fact, she said, no quid pro quo ever occurred. The u. S. Aid flowed and the president has spoken with president zelensky. Democrats keep chasing ghosts. Actually were chasing the press secretary who doesnt talk to the press. Except to except to fox news. Be that as it may. Amanda, what do you think of that claim . Obviously the response from democrats led by adam schiff is the reason that the u. S. Aid to ukraine flowed was they got caught . Who cares what she said. What i saw today was hes trying to draw a distinction between the quid pro quo between the white house visits and the aid. He owns up to the fact, yeah, we held up the white house visits for the investigations. He doesnt deny that. But every every time the discussion got to the money, didnt want to hear anything about this. So i think there is a strategy coming together at play where they think they could scapegoat all of the crazy meetings and Conspiracy Theory on Rudy Giuliani but leave the discussion about aid somewhere else because there is one person that could answer that question and it is probably mick mulvaney. They are setting him up, i believe. And well see where that goes. But jen psaki, the meeting with the white house was also extremely important. David holmes, the u. S. Embassy in ukraine official said, i believe it was him, said there were two reasons why they really needed a meeting, one was to really show u. S. Support behind president zelensky and his anticorruption agenda so send a signal to the ukraine people and, two, to send a message to the kremlin and to help broker a peace deal with russia. And of course military assistance is important and theyve been wanting that. Theyve been getting assistance over the past couple of years, the Trump Administration and a different kind before that but for a new president in a country where he is a political newcomer, people are evaluating whether he was up to the task and he was a comedian six months before the election and it is important that he is perceived as being powerful on the world stage and having a meeting with the president of the United States who could stand beside and hopefully announce assistance or a package moving forward is incredibly politically valuable to him. John king, a new poll out of wisconsin asked voters about the impeachment inquiry from Marquette University law school, do you favor impeaching and removing the president and 40 favor and 53 , majority of wisconsin voters, very important battleground state, 53 oppose. And this question struck me from the poll, did President Trump ask ukraine to investigate his political rivals, 52 yes, 29 say no. That is just a fact. President trump asked ukraine to investigate his political rivals. That is not an opinion. That is just a fact. And yet you have 29 of the voters in wisconsin saying no, that didnt happen. And the president s hard core is around 33 . So welcome to tribal america. If the president said gray on a red day, 29 will say it is gray. That is the world we live in unfortunately and worse for democratic arguments too. We live in a tribal world. The 53 saying no is a bit of a warning to the democrats that they are on this is precarious political ground. They dont want that. Trump removed from office. Theyve decided to do this and nationally the polls are divided and support for impeachment is a little higher than now be we elect president state by state and in the key states the number are consistent with wisconsin. So this is risky. And people say democrats are doing this for political gain but this is risky for them and that is why the witnesses are important to build their case because they still have a lot of selling to do outside of washington to the american people. But also why nancy pelosi wants this thing over with soon. They are making a sacrifice of going to court and getting john bolton and other important testimony that they could perhaps get. Everyone stick around. Well talk to one of the lawmakers who questioned ambassador sondland today. What does he want to learn from the key pentagon and state Department Officials who are about to testify. That is next. Stay with us. Just seconds ago after telling the world there was indeed a quid pro quo, u. S. Ambassador to the European Union checked in for his flight back to brussels at dulles airport. He was asked by reporters at the airport how his testimony went and he simply replied i told the truth. During that testimony, as i said, sondland said the key figures across government understood what the president wanted. Investigations announced into his political opponent joe biden in exchange for the white house meeting and possibly in exchange for the military aid. Joining me now to discuss, democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee congressman mike quigley. Thanks so much for joining us. What is the biggest thing you learned today from ambassador sondland . Well, i think it is a package. There was a quid pro quo led by the president. Everybody knew it. And including the ukrainians. And after the fact the white house and state department covered it up. The ambassador detailed just how many of his own records he wasnt able to have access to. And we learned how important that was. Because he was remembering things for the first time because of other peoples text and said he would have remembered much more if hed been able to see his own text and information and notes that were passed back and forth. So the fact of the matter is the president and the white house are covering this up and it makes the investigation more difficult and it makes writing an article of impeachment involving objection easier. How exactly does that work . Where a u. S. Ambassador cant get access to his own text and emails and files given that he is still a u. S. Ambassador . This is those working under this administration have to live under this administrations alternative view of the universe, alternative view of reality and the fact is they are breaking the law. I think in one day theyre obstructing justice more than article three of the nixon impeachment and that details that last week or the week before we were told people would not appear and were aware of hundreds of thousands of pages of documents which we are not allowed access to des pie subpoenas and the president talked in grandiose terms about being the greatest, there is no greater obstructor of congressional investigations than donald trump. Your republican colleagues after the hearing came out, congressman jordan and congresswoman stefanik and talked about how on the september 9th phone call between President Trump and president zelensky when asked what he wanted from ukraine and he said nothing. I want nothing. No quid pro quo. What is your response to that . The white house and republicans say that is exculpatory. He said no quid pro quo and then he went on to say exactly what was a quid pro quo. And detailed what he wanted. We also have to remember the president s own words on the white house call record. That is quid pro quo. So they can say whatever they want. And i heard through the grapevine they thought this was a draw. Football coaches, when they lose a game by 50 points, dont say we got our ass kicked, they talk about this in admonishing fashion. A team with a draw probably got their ass kicked and that is what happened today. And congressman turner got ambassador sondland to admit the president never directly told him to carry out these quid pro quo orders that the president never express itaity complic said and does that damage your case. I think the biggest witness is the president of the United States again on the call detailing that. I think that the president s chief of staff said get over it. Detailing that there was a quid pro quo. So lets not forget the obvious. You take all of the witnesses and including ambassador sondland and understand theyre building a case, corroborating all that we already know. So, again, i dont want to forget the obvious. The president s own words and his chief of staff own words and all ambassador sondland did today was build upon them. Do you know of any republicans in the house or the senate where obviously it is more important if you want President Trump removed from office, you have the votes in the house, that have been changed by todays testimony or by any of the testimony . You know, i would like to think they have personally. Facts are stubborn things. But what i witness publicly is the stronger the case. More facts are built up against the president of the United States. The more emboldened my republican colleagues seem to be. I think they feel like they have to stiffen to this despite the fact of the reality. Do they personally feel otherwise . What weve seen sadly is as with speaker ryan, profiles encourage only seem to have happen on their side of the aisle when someone is leaving or about to leave congress with the exception of people like senator mccain. We need people like senator mccain today. Let me ask you one final question, sir, a friend of mine just texted me and asked, do you think todays testimony will matter . What do you think . I think it matters because this is an incremental building of the case. The fact of the matter, i dont see the jury as the senate. I see the jury as the american people. Which will hopefully drive the senate to do the right thing. And i see it moving the needle. Do i think were ever going to change the president s base, absolutely not. I think as the president said in the campaign, he could shoot somebody and they would stay with him. It is pretty clear were seeing an example of that. Democratic congressman mike quigley, thank you very much and appreciate your time. Key members of the Trump Administration are trying to distance themselves from impeachment witnesses after being named by Gordon Sondland under oath and on Live Television today. Stay with us. 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. At to cover the essentialsyou have in retirement, as well as all the things you want to do. Because when youre ready for what comes next, the only direction is forward. Tothe problem is corporationsfix anything. And the people who run and own them have purchased our democracy. Heres the difference between me and the other candidates. I dont think we can fix our democracy from the inside. I dont believe washington politicians and big corporations will let that happen. The only way we can make change happen is from the outside. For me, this comes down to whether you trust the politicians or the people. And if you say you trust the people, are you willing to stand up to the insiders and the big corporations, and give the people the tools they need to fix our democracy. A national referendum. Term limits. Eliminating corporate money in politics. Making it easy to vote. I trust the people. And as president , i will give you tools we need to fix our democracy. Im tom steyer, and i approve this message. Wean air force veteran made of doing whats right,. Not whats easy. So when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. Thats how you do it right. Usaa insurance is made just the way martins family needs it with hasslefree claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. Because doing right by our members, thats whats right. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa everyone was in the loop. It was no secret. Everyone was informed. The leadership of the state department, the National Security council and the white house were all informed about the ukraine efforts from may 23rd, 2019, until the security aid was released on september 11th, 2019. We kept the leadership of the state department and the nsc informed of ore activities. Again, everyone was in the loop. Ambassador Gordon Sondland testifying he was not a rogue actor in ukraine or working part of an irregular channel and he said he as the u. S. Ambassador to the European Union was keeping officials across the the administration from the secretary of state up to date on everything he was working on. Now speaking to reporters moments ago sondland said he is absolutely not going to resign and is going back to work. Lets discuss. Jen psaki, how tenable is it that he could just say there was a quid pro quo, rudy told me what to do and that is facts remain the president and everybody knew and now im going back to work. How long can he stay in that job . Im not sure hes getting a tickertape parade when he arrives back in brussels. Clearly this is hi dream. He paid a Million Dollars to get this job to the inaugural job. He is not the first person to do that. Maybe hes under some illusion it will all be fine but it is interesting just to touch on what he was just saying, pompeo secretary pompeo has carefully navigated his role in this world. Hes been very close to trump. A defender of the state Department Employees even though they dont see it that way and that blew this up. That was blown up today. It was clear that he knew about this all along. That he has been engaged and has been knowledgeable about this. It is hard now to navigate. He wants to leave to run for senate and how does he keep trump in his good graces and being honest and this is tricky for him. And we should point out that a spokesperson for the secretary of state mike pompeo said that he knew nothing about any sort of and was very specific, quid pro quo involving the military aid in exchange for the investigations announced. And sondland seemed to suggest this started with a quid pro quo involving the white house visit. For some reason they think they are on stronger ground if they deny any knowledge of the quid pro quo regarding the aid. I dont know why. Maybe that is for the lawyers to answer. What changed today . Things changed in a major way for two secretaries, perry and pompeo. That is a big deal. Not only do they have to answer for the aid question but why on earth were cabinet secretaries taking direction from Rudy Giuliani . Never confirmed by the senate. No security clearance. What business did they have consulting with him on their official duties, i would like to know. Because the president told them to. That is a failure of leadership on their level that they need to answer for. And which is why you heard adam schiff talk again at the end impassioned statement that he wont buy that the president was led by the nose by people like Rudy Giuliani and people who were his underlings. Why . Because he realized were in an impeachment inquiry which means it is his decisions and his actions and his inability to delegate appropriate and make decisions in a right way that need to be on trial here and he pointed it out. And john king, sondland testified that he asked President Trump on september 9th what he wanted from ukraine and he said nothing, i want nothing. No quid pro quo. Now sondland does not keep notes. He does deal with people who keep notes and one of them tim morrison, he remembered that conversation that sondland and the president had as told to him by sondland very different just a few i guess it was yesterday. Lets listen in. What did ambassador sondland tell you that President Trump said to him . If i recall this conversation correctly, this was where ambassador sondland related that there was no quid pro quo, but president zelensky had to make the statement and that he to want to do it. He had to make the statement. So there was no quid pro quo but there was a quid pro quo. Im going to use that term because i know people are not watching me very closely because the whistleblower complaint is up with congress but he has to make the statement. And that is a very key point for mr. Morrison as you build the fact case. Before we break, last word from you, john dean, how important was today. It was very important. And i think quigley made an important point on the comparison to the nixon impeachment article on refusing to cooperate with congress and today when you have a witness like today, just more evidence their collecting for that article. The state department wouldnt even hand over to him his own emails and Text Messages which seems weird. Hes still a state department employee. Were minutes away from the next round of hearings. Believe it or not. There are more witnesses. A key pentagon aide and a state witness. Dont go anywhere. Well be right back. Goes on it looks like jonathan on a date with his wife. Ladiladidi entresto is a Heart Failure medicine that helps your heart, so you can keep on doing what you love. Entresto helped people stay alive and out of the hospital. Heart failure can change the structure of your heart, so it may not work as well. Entresto helps improve your hearts ability to pump blood to the body. 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Plus 0 interest for 24 months on all smart beds. Ends saturday announcer this is cnn breaking news. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. Were standing by for the impeachment inquiry to resume with now testimony from pentagon official laura cooper and david hale. That is about to begin. But what weve heard so far today is truly remarkable. President trumps handpicked ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland testifying there was a quid pro quo with ukraine. Sondland saying in part what he calls the express direction of President Trump and that the Vice President , the secretary of state, and the acting white house chief of staff all knew about it. Lets bring in our reporters and