U. S. Negotiated cease fire expired. They are plotting the way forward now that the u. S. s influence in the region has been vastly diminished. A Top Administration official will be widely criticized. Republican in congress including Mitch Mcconnell are not happy about that situation. As historic as those developments are, there is yet another piece of breaking news that is just as damaging if not more so for the president. It reads like a road map for the apparently quid pro quo with ukraine. The Washington Post is the only news outlet that has obtained the full Opening Statement from bill taylor whose deposition is hes behind closed doors. Right now, hes the current acting u. S. Ambassador to ukraine and he is providing what appears to be bombshell testimony testifying that its made very clear that the president was making both a white house meeting and the hundreds of millions of dollars in the military aid contingent on ukraine publicly committing to investigate his political rivals. Taylor testified that one of the point men on ukraine who of course testified last week spoke to him after a conversation with the president and said that the president wanted ukraine, quote, in a public box by committing to those investigations and that there would be no military aid without those public declarations of those investigations. President meanwhile seems desperate for a distraction. He said he was a victim of a quote lynching which forced republicans to try to explain yet another racistrope from the president. We have a lot to unpack. I have hanscorrespondent on cap our chief Foreign Correspondent in Northern Syria and one of the reporters to break the story of taylors bombshell testimony. Ann, start going through this bit by bit. Youre the one with this that actually has it. The rest of the news organizations are trying to get our own confirmed copy of it. So let me go to one piece of taylors testimony. President trump said it was not a quid pro quo. Ambassador sondland said he talked to president zelensky and told him although this was not a quid pro quo if president zelensky did not clear things up in public, we would be at a stalemate. I understood that would mean ukraine would not receive the muchneeded military assistance. Thats a confusing piece of testimony because he said he was told it was not a quid pro quo while he described a quid pro quo. Yeah. I think thats the way to make it not confusing. Bill taylor kept meticulous notes of all of these conversations. He really charts in his Opening Statement how he became increasingly concerned over the summer and then really started to have his hair on fire in august and Early September at what he calls a second line of diplomatic inquiry and diplomatic contacts. Hes trying to manage the official ambassador of the United States to the ukraine part of the relationship. He keeps getting dragged into the other part of it. He really becomes aware the longer hes there of how transactional that second part is. And he starts keeping really, really close records which he clearly brought with him to the committees today. Lets roll back here a second to remind people. You had the original ambassador. She gets pushed out. We know that. She gets pushed out sometime in may. How did bill taylor get brought back into this . He actually tells the committee very specifically that secretary of state mike pompeo came to him and said would you do it . And that taylor said well, you know, im paraphrasing here, look what happened and im worried about that. And then pompeo tells him dont worry. The United States is committed to the relationship with ukraine. And i will support you in your efforts to make that relationship the most important part of this entire operation. Separate from that, taylor talks in his Opening Statement about what he thinks happened. And in that, he says he was concerned about the external mash nations around her and names rudy giuliani. No pun intended. Let me move in. Bill taylor became famous for those following this very closely. He seemed to be the skeptic in the Text Messages. We have the original Text Messages plus an explanation from taylor underneath. Are we saying this famous text that the security assistants and says call me. Well, taylor now tells us the phone call, during the phone call ambassador sondland told me that the president had told him that he wants president zelensky to state that ukraine will investigate this Ukrainian Energy company and alleged ukrainian interference in the 2016 u. S. Election. Ambassador sondland told me everything was dependent on such an announcement including Security Assistance. So wow. Thats a lot of info in the call me. And taylor describes how originally he thought maybe there was a more innocent explanation to this, that it would be sort of normal diplomatically for the u. S. President to with hold a personal meeting which is one of the most important things that a u. S. President can bestow on another leader. And to with hold that personal meeting until the u. S. President had some assurances about how this new government was going to go. And taylor talks about how he sort of is operating at least partly under that theory. And then sondland tells him no. It isnt just the meeting between trump and zelensky thats on the table here. It is Security Assistance unless and until zelensky goes on camera and says he is going to investigate. He puts it in pretty colorful terms here. Let me put up full screen. Remember the Text Messages from bill taylor. I think its crazy to with hold Security Assistance for help with a political campaign. He says i believe you are incorrect about President Trumps intentions. The president has been crystal clear, no quid pro quos of any kind. This is the gap of five hours. And then sondland talked to the president. He says then taylor explains, before the Text Messages, during our call, ambassador sondland tried to explain to me that President Trump is a businessman and with a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check. Quid pro quo. Bill taylor has a lot of he seems to define quid pro quo three or four different ways in this testimony, no . Well, he basically just gives verbatum what sondland told him. And obviously, hes letting the house investigators draw their own conclusions. But you can tell by the kind of Record Keeping that bill taylor did that he was supernervous about all of this. His tone changes in the Text Messages as does sondlands. Let me go to garret. All day today before the Washington Post got hair hands on the actual Opening Statement text that certainly reads like a road map here, the buzz had been taylor was delivering a bombshell testimony. A lot of democrats and sounds like even some republicans are a little nervous. It was interesting, starting in late morning, we had democrats starting to dribble out the hearing room down below the capitol here saying this was disturbing and really upsetting and perhaps the most complete testimony that they had heard. And in fact, the long history of taking such copious notes of everything he was involved in really throughout his career provided the back bone to this testimony to the point where i think we are seeing this as almost a pattern here. No one is questioning the vorasity of anything that hes said. What we have seen in the last few days and even more pronounced is republicans who are trying to poke holes in the inquiry are focussing exclusively on the process. No one has said anything that any witnesses have said including some witnesses for whom they had prepared talking points have come out to try to discredit the witnesses. It has been talking about adam schiff. It seems to me like bill taylor is getting the benefit of the doubt on his testimony. And republicans who want to defend the president i think are left wondering how to do it. Im curious, today was also a day that it seems as if the Democratic Leadership wanted to start to remind people this might take longer than they had first said. What do they mean by that . Before they are they still targeting the end of the calendar year . The bottom line is nobody knows exactly how long this process is going to take. Right now, not one word of one article of impeachment has been put down on paper yet let alone in front of the full house. Nancy pelosi has been very clear from the word go that they want to get done ideally with the whole process potentially before the end of the year. That continues to slide whether because of Memorial Service for Elijah Cummings to the government which still has to get funded before the end of the year. There are a lot of things to have to get done here. As one member put it to me late last week, they keep finding new avenues they feel like they have to explore. They dont want to leave stones unturned knowing this is the one big shot on impeachment. Its a very long way of saying still nobody knows. They would like to get this done fast, but there is no deadline. There is no hard cap in which this process will stop. The president used a racistrope to try to express grievance of the day. More importantly, are they aware of how damaging the testimony appears to be . Well wait for him to weigh in later. I was just talking to some officials moments ago. They seem more concerned with the process and the timing that garret is talking about than the actual substance of whats coming out each day of all this testimony. We should note that a lot of this testimony corroborates other testimony. Today we got a second source on this idea that fiona hill was saying jon bolten was referring to giulianis drug deal. It seems as though the investigators are bracketing in these conversations, theyre getting closer and closer. That really only works if you have good visibility. And the big question here is what will happen when nsc officials are called to testify . They were supposed to do it later this week because the funeral arrangements. That will be next week. Tim morrison, they were at the center of the white house version of these conversations. Were getting a really good readout of whats happened in ukraine and the europe yn union. We dont have the white house version just quite yet. Thats an open question. They are worried about timing. Theyre worried that this process can go on. It will drag on and lead into closer to 2020 and the election campai campaign. The president never expresses regret but any regret for him using the word lynch. They think this is a madeup media fantasy. And when they discover the then senator joe biden used similar language in 1998. Two wrongs dont make a right defense that so many times they hang their hat on which i dont understand. Lets go to the other giant story of the day. Richard engel, youre in Northern Syria. The turkish president is in moscow with putin. The president s sort of chief diplomat jim jeffrey that helped broker the supposed cease fire testifying in capitol hill right now and getting hammered and grilled on the decisionmaking process there. The cease fire has expired. What have you seen . What do you see on the ground there . Explain what we are learning out of moscow. Reporter so the u. S. Brokered cease fire expired. That almost feels like ancient history because now there is a new dynamic. You had Vladimir Putin and turkeys president in russia announcing their own cease fire. And they announced their own terms. And they said this is what is going to happen in syria as the United States leaves. Vladimir putin became the new king maker of syria. And president erdogen and president putin carved up syria between them. They issued a declaration. There was no mention whatsoever of the United States. And now here the kurds are following that declaration. Geopolitically, the u. S. Was pushed aside here. President trump opened the door to turkeys invasion, announced he was pulling u. S. Troops back from the border and out of this country, making the u. S. Presence irrelevant and making previous promises to the kurds irrelevant. Vladimir putin presented his terms and those terms are being accepted. The kurds themselves are very, very worried about their future. They had a promise from the United States, a promise that President Trump broke. Now their future is in Vladimir Putins hands and it is not at all certain. So there are still people leaving their homes still worried that they will face a campaign of ethnic cleansing. What is putins end game here . Is it simply to keep a foothold in the middle east so he has a role, too . Or is there something more he wants out of this . Reporter there is a lot more hes getting out of this. Small conflicts matter a great deal in world history. What happened here is the United States credibility was on the line. For the last five years, u. S. Troops have been working with kurdish allies here in Northern Syria. They came here with the mission to fight isis and they did. They defeated the caliphate. They locked up tens of thousands of isis supporters and made this bond with the kurdish people. It was the best ally they had in the entire middle east. Russia hated this. Russia did not like that the United States had such a powerful presence here, was never a large presence. These were special, elite u. S. Troops in very small numbers who were working with the curds against isis. Russia hated it. Turkey hated it. The Syrian Government hated it. With the u. S. Presence the kurds were able to carve out their own autonomous zone. Today turkey and russia, Vladimir Putin carved that autonomous zone directly in half with turkish and Russian Troops soon to start patrolling and syrian troops. They cut it in half and divided it between them. They redrew the map with no concern for what the u. S. Was doing because President Trump made his word irrelevant. Anytime souds eoutsiders areg the lines in the middle east, it doesnt go well usually. Thank you all. What a way to kick start things to try to get a sense of all that has happened today. We will stick with this story. With me now is someone who is uniquely capable of talking about all of these stories all in one, former u. S. Ambassador to russia. Im struggling here what to lead with. To me, this is an historic day for america in a way that not necessarily good history. And i think its not the lead because of what were hearing on capitol hill, but try to put into terms what turkey and russia are doing today with the United States not there. This is a n. A. T. O. Allied nation working with the country that n. A. T. O. Has created in order to keep at bay. Chuck, i actually think the syria story and ukraine story are related. What you see here is you see the president of the United States, somebody with zero National Security experience, zero experience in diplomacy making it up as he goes along, not trusting his advisers, not trusting the interagency process. You sit down in that white house situation room with your generals and secretary of defense and secretary of state and discuss and debate what are in americas National Security interests. Thats the normal way it happens, democrats or republicans. What we have had happen here is that the president in one phone call capitulated. He has pulled out and said youre coming in . You need this buffer zone . You want us to pull away from our allies that weve been fighting side by side for four years against a major american enemy . Okay. Thats what he does. Today that has now been codified. The russians and the turks and the assad regime are deciding whats happening and we are not at the table. Thats what happened on ukraine, as well. Not talking to his National Security advisers, not bringing in a guy like bill taylor, decades of experience. Not bringing his National Security adviser. He just decides to do what they now call a drug deal. By the way, thats some slang from the obama era. We used to use that phrase, too, for the side deals, and a drug deal that has nothing to do with American National tropical storms and has to do with President Trumps personal interests. Bill taylor will get a used of being a member of the deep state in all of this. I have known bill for about 30 years. He has served his country from vietnam all the way to kiev today. He is not a democrat or republican. He is somebody that came into the government first as a civil servant. I want to emphasize that, and later as a political appointee for george w. Bush as you were talking about. He was appointed by bush to be ambassador back in 2006. I remember when we came into the white house you get to choose your ambassadors when you win the election. We decided lets keep this guy for a while. Hes a straight shooter. The stuff about the note taking that you guys were talking about reminds me of a meeting i was in with president in moscow. I took notes and one career person took notes. They had three times as many words as i did. Bill taylor is one of those professionals. He is documenting this because he knows that it was wrong. We knew that before, but his testimony is devastating, i think, for President Trump. And this privatized giuliani and the other people that they brought along to run this parallel process that has been Eastern Europe and you know about the concerns about the rise of sort of the authoritarianism in Eastern Europe. I want to get to hungary. To me a stunning part of the reporting overnight about how the hungary leader was able to sour President Trump on zelensky and ukraine. Here is the times. Mr. Trumps conversations exposed him to a harsh indictment of ukraine at a time when his personal lawyer was pressing to provide information of democrats and set the stage for events that led to the impeachment inquiry against him. The spokesperson put out a statement this is so typical to the fake news factory to advance your narrative, disregard facts. Hungary knows its place in the international order. Its absurd to believe Prime Minister would have that kind of influence on the decisions of the United States. Not denying that he went into the oval office to trash zelensky, but more importantly, the stories noted the people around the president were afraid of bringing to the white house because of how influential he could be on the president. What are we doing here . Chuck, whats going on in europe and now america, for a decade now going back to Vladimir Putin is the alliance, i call it the illiberal international. They are a group of people in europe that believe in nationalism, conservative values. They think that were the liberal decadent west. They are against multi lateralism. For years it has been percolating. They have been meeting, bolstering each other up. Lately, they also have been keened into the ideas, meeting at various different conferences. For them trump is one of their soul mates. So it doesnt surprise me in the last that if he gets a straight shot to talk about trump, there is good people and bad people. They are moving people and the liberals and zelensky is on the other side of that. And here you have it. You have alliances. Whats striking about it is that we used to be, the United States, we used to be the leader of the free world. There would never have been a doubt a decade ago that we would be on the side of the zelenskys of the world. Thats what is disturbing and unique about this moment in history. Today you were professor. That last answer there, a Political Science seminar that everybody feeds to be attending right now which is this Global Movement on the right that is actually more connective than i think sometimes we realize. Always good to see you. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me. Much more on this devastating day for the Trump Administration. And taylor is not the only diplomat making headlines. The president of syria has been facing intense scrutiny over the socalled cease fire. The socalled cease fire. dramatic orchestra performance comes in lots of flavors. Theres the ampedup, overtuned, feedingfrenzyof sheetmetalkind. And then theres performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result. Thats the kind lincolns about. If ylittle thingsate tcan 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. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Corrupt president in our nations history. When i called for his impeachment two years ago, washington insiders and every candidate for president said it was too soon. But i believed then, as i do now, that doing the right thing was more important than political calculations. And over eight Million People agreed. We proved that there is no challenge that americans cant meet when we work together. Im tom steyer, and i approve this message. Hey allergy muddlers. Achoo . Do your sneezes turn heads . Try zyrtec. It starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Zyrtec muddle no more. Im about to capture proof of the ivory billed woodpecker. What . . . No, no no no no. Battery power runs out. Lifetime Retirement Income from tiaa doesnt. Guaranteed monthly income for life. Nooooo turning now to the other breaking news story, the u. S. Envoy to syria is testifying before the u. S. Relations committee and on the same day that erdogen met with putin to essentially divide up control of Northern Syria that is being seeded. It has been a rare show of unity as democrats and republicans have criticized the decisions in syria. To try to understand why the president pulled troops from syria so suddenly. Russia and the assad regime are calling the shots. We dont have clarity about whether, where, how many u. S. Troops might remain. He basically said were coming in, get out of the way. America blinked. Am i reading that wrong . If we had our troops there today, you think we would have the same consequences . If america wont stand with the kurds, why should we trust that america will stand with us . How should we answer those friends and allies . When he said bipartisan, we told you it was bipartisan. Joining me now, another familiar face from 2016. He also took part in that hearing. This is one of those days it felt like we have three branches of government. This was a very skeptical group of senators. Do you feel as if ambassador jeffrey was a credible witness . Well, he was credible. Part of the reason he was credible is he was so candid. One of the opening questions was ambassador jeffrey, you have been tasked by the Trump Administration to lead our policy in syria and to lead the Global Coalition against isis where you consulted with by the president or the administration before this action and he said i wasnt consulted with. When thats his opening testimony that President Trump didnt even talk to his own hand picked envoy who came out of retirement to do this job to get his advice, that told us everything we needed to know, what the action has done is it has emboldened american adversaries, bashar al assad, it leads to the chance of a resurge in isis. And as senator cruz asked, why would other allies trust us if we say we need you to join with us seeing that we back away from the allies who do that. Could he at all explain how this all could still work as a policy . How this could not be as bad as everybody in the room thinks its going to be . What was his best case . His best is probably we pray it will work out okay. We dont even have now the ability to know whether the cease fire is being complied with. We have to trust the turks and the kurds for that because we dont have the assets to make that determination. I think the point that i made in my questioning is if the administration had come to us three months ago and said we have a plan that will emboldened our adversaries and abandon the kurds, we would have laughed them out of the room. The fact is they didnt talk to us about it. They didnt give us a plan and then took this step thats very difficult to reconstitute. Did he at all explain what it is, why did he want to do this now and why did trump think this was the time to back off . The u. S. Military has said in earlier hearings that they were worried that he was about ready to come across the border and the u. S. Troops would be in harms way. Ambassador jeffrey said we were having really good discussions with turkey in august and september where the u. S. Was going to work with turkey together to provide them that kind of safe zone, but a safe zone where they could be free from attack but that would not involve an ethnic cleansing or clearing of kurds. In two weeks with the turkish inkurgz, 180,000 kurds have been displaced from homes. We were working on the plan where we could have provided turkey this protection without displacing the kurds. He said his key disappointment was i thought we woere working n a deal with turkey and they decided to go a different direction. He didnt have a good understanding for why. Its almost as if he got information from another source indicating Something Else was going to happen sfwl he is having these conversations with the president and who knows what message the president sent. We believe the president green lighted turkey to do this when you say you have to let them fight and they can fightment i think the president sent a green light that he can do this. Its also my understanding that ambassador jeffrey confirmed that we suspect turkey has committed at least one war crime already. There have been a number of reports of atrocities, just because its a report doesnt mean there have been many reports. Certainly ambassador jeffrey is very, very worried about that. And the kurds, this is an issue for them that turkey wants ethnic cleansing in this region. They want to resettle millions of refugees on kurdish land pushing the kurds out. The u. S. Should never facilitate that. What i guess why is turkey an ally now . At what point do we not consider them one . We have our nukes there. This is a disaster. I mean, in a way, if you think about it, n. A. T. O. Grew out of the u. S. Right at the end of world war ii deciding that they needed to invest in both turkey and greece to keep the governments being toppled from pro soviet elements within the countries. Turkey is not only a member, n. A. T. O. Started because of threats to turkey and greece. Recent actions by Missile Defense systems from russia instead of u. S. Systems and other steps, theyre not an ally now. What do we do . How do you trust do you trust turkish soldiers standing next to american psoldier es for a n. A. T. O. Mission . The mill to middle relationship has life blood in it. The political relationship is completely shot. There is this tie because many Turkish Military leaders have trained in the United States over the years. So there is some mill to mill tie and some strong communication. Turkey has decided that they want to be putins ally. This is a real serious problem of President Trump. Hes pushing our adversaries together. Turkey and russia have had historic there were multiple russian wars to get turkey and russia to be on the same page has taken a lot of work by this administration. Trump is chasing our adversaries. Turkey and russia, russia and iran, theyre all doing much more together now than at the start of this administration and its because of President Trump. One political question for you. I know youre a reader of the new york times. There is apparently a lot of hand wringing among some Democratic Leaders that dont like the direction of the democratic primary. Are you one of those democrats . Hand wringing i know youre shocked at this. This is just normal. Maybe we have it to a degree where we wouldnt have in the past because the field is so large and the stakes are so high. The democrats feel like the stakes are so high in this election, we believe the future of this country and fidelity to our constitution is at stake. Thats going to make people worry. That means weve got to engage. If we engage, this race is ours to lose in 2020. We should win this race. Is the democratic nominee in the race . I believe so. But i think there is a lot of unpredictable. I believe the democratic nominee is in the race. That was not emphatic. I get it. Fair enough. Fair enough. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate your patience and for sharing your views. Be right back with more on the taylor testimony. That will be next. That will be next. The calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. Laundry isnt done until its done with downy. Hey allergy muddlers. Achoo . Do your sneezes turn heads . Try zyrtec. It starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Zyrtec muddle no more. Ayou listen to advyour clients goal ofen. Sending her daughter to the music school of her dreams. And you help her turn it into reality. Principal. We can help you plan for that. Start today at principal. Com. Lashmakes every lash fullyrom maybsensational. Ork. Our fanning brush volumizes every kind of lash. For a sensational fullfan effect. Lash sensational. Only from maybelline new york. I get it all the time. Have you lost weight . Of course i have ever since i started renting from national. Because national lets me lose the wait at the counter. And choose any car in the aisle. And i dont wait when i return, thanks to drop go. At national, i can lose the wait. And keep it off. Looking good, patrick. I know. vo go national. Go like a pro. Here, hello starts with hi mple. How can i help . A data plan for everyone. Everyone . Everyone. Lets send to everyone [ camera clicking ] wifi up there . Ahhh. Sure, why not . Howd he get out . a camera might figure it out. That was easy glad i could help. At xfinity, were here to make life simple. Easy. Awesome. So come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today. Welcome back. Ambassador bill taylor is still testifying behind closed doors. We have been able to confirm this independently of what the post has posted. According to mr. Morrison, President Trump told ambassador sondland that he was not asking for a quid pro quo, but as military aid was being withheld, President Trump did insist that president zelensky go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations into biden in 2016 election interference and zelensky should do this himself, again dont call this a quid pro quo quid pro quo i guess. Were all just on the west coast today. Is it all right if we are invading your turf . Welcome to l. A. East or west. Youre the west coast local here. Let me ask the question that ive gotten the most since being out here which is how much before we get into the details, how much is whats happening in washington penetrating out here . I mean, to a large degree, i think a lot of it is. The thing is out here were concentrating on i think resisting the impulses of the Trump Administration to interfere with our impulses to just live our lives. I think certainly here in california were trying to make sure that we dont burn up. Were trying to make sure that we resist the encroachment of climate change, trying to deal with the homelessness crisis for instance here in los angeles without the interference of washington. But i think that what we see here is more crimes every day by thistration. And its been hard to keep up with it. Theyre still concentrating on resisting it. I want you to try to explain something to me and the viewers. Why is it that for folks like ted cruz and mitt romney and all the folks that have expressed outrage over the decision in syria, why there seems to be at least a public hesitants to connect it with ukraine, a public hesitance to note i was alarmed that white house staff was trying to block a visit for fear of him bonding with donald trump. Why is that not impeachable in their minds, all of those things are not as troubling as the syria situation . What would you say to that . I mean, its a good question that they seem to be i mean, its fair to be as alarmed by the cravenness of the administration as one should be by the corruption. My sense is that when the ukraine inquiry started a kind of knee jerk impulse took hold of the Republican Party which was to say this is just a media overreaction. This is sort of within the sphere of a jackson yn president s right to behave as he would like. It didnt upset them idea logically in the way that his shameful withdrawal from syria has upset them. I suspect that that may begin to change after ambassador taylors testimony. I just spent the last 45 minutes reading the testimony. Its devastating. Its a smoking gun. Its 18 minutes of tape. And its coming from someone whose character and background is really unimpeachable. Here you have george w. Bushs former ambassador leveling an indictment which strikes me as so detailed, so unequivocal and so damning that it ought to change republican minds. I think they are so far gone in their cravenness when it comes to sucking up to the president that theyre not going to be able to see it for what it is. It sounds like it might be about to change. Beth, i get that sense, too. Im not saying there are 20 republican senators there. There might be four. I dont think mitt romney is alone. That is where bill taylor could be very devastated. Right. We have to wait and see the republicans coming out of this testimony which is still going on. They havent been able to yet. They have prespun. Almost everyone of the testimonies they have prespun. We havent seen any of them yet. It will be very interesting to see what they have to say to reporters. I would say to bretts point, its always been easier for the republicans to really voice frustration and anger about the president s decision around the kurds and the situation on the syrian border. And almost as in place of having to get involved in the impeachment discussion, because that ones easier. Its a layup and also something that voters dont get as upset about, because its still very far away and arent sure perhaps what the relationship is supposed to be. They can get very upset with trump. We saw that with Mitch Mcconnell. He posted that oped in the Washington Post. On impeachment they have held back. It was as though they could express frustration. This time they cant get away from the impeachment issue. Ambassador taylor is placing is on their table. This is hes an unimpeachable witness who had very detailed information. I heard Elizabeth Warren use similar language as donald trump did. Shes not criticizing him for pulling out of syria. I noticed she almost said thats not to say it is you have people that want us out of there but are criticizing how hes doing it. This is a little bit of a challenge here for the democrats because theyre angry at a move he made that is not that unpopular when it comes to pulling troops out. I was mad that lebron james left cleveland. I was mad at how he did it. You can criticize a move and how someone does something, but not be mad at the move itself. I think that the point here is this. Republicans arent making a move yet. We havent seen one senator make a move. I would say romney has. He is raising his hand and saying im likely to vote to oust this guy and may work to get others with me. They havent seen the evidence yet. Until we see a firm no vote, even condemn the lynching comment this morning. We cant have a senator say President Trump, you shouldnt actually compare impeachment, a constitutional process to a joany earnest said she wouldnt have used that condemn it. What did you make of mitt romneys i feel like the left has gotten angry at mitt romney saying he hasnt done enough. Im thinking he is the only one that seems to take more risks than you realize. What do you make he knows what he was doing with that interview. He knows what hes doing when he goes public with its a terrific what is romney up to here . How fearful should the president be . Mitt romney is toying with the sense of honor and duty which doesnt come naturally to him. Hes a highly calculating figure. But his distaste for donald trump has been evident for a long time. Hes obviously a compromised figure. You know, mitt romney is a new senator. And hes not someone who will need to be reelected to the senate. I think there is something in romneys mind that is asking a larger question which is what is his obligation toward history perhaps and at least toward his personal legacy . Remember, i dont think we will get 20 republican senators to convict if impeachment happens. If mitt romney brings along, say, senator murcow ski, ben sass and creates a majority in favor of conviction, i think that will have a devastating effect on the president s reelection chances. One republican not named romney that you think most likely. If we get to this point, if were in january and this continues to drip out, drip out, we can be in a very different place. Stick around. We have much more on the president and his affinity for autocrats next. S affinity for autocrats next. As a cio, you want to move your business forward. But when your team is always dealing with device setups, app updates, and support calls. You can never seem to get anywhere. Thats why Dell Technologies created unified workspace, powered by vmware. A revolutionary solution that lets you deploy, manage, support and secure all your devices from the cloud. So you can stop going in circles, and start moving forward. Doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. I felt i couldnt be at my best for my family. In only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured and left those doubts behind. I faced reminders of my hep c every day. But in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. Even hanging with friends i worried about my hep c. But in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. Mavyret is the only 8week cure for all common types of hep c. Before starting mavyret your doctor will test if youve had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. Tell your doctor if youve had hepatitis b, a liver or kidney transplant, other liver problems, hiv1, or other medical conditions, and all medicines you take including herbal supplements. Dont take mavyret with atazanavir or rifampin, or if youve had certain liver problems. Common side effects include headache and tiredness. With hep c behind me, i feel free. Fearless. And theres no looking back, because i am cured. Talk to your doctor about mavyret. At humana, we believe your healthcare should evolve with you. And part of that evolution means choosing the right medicare plan for you. Humana can help. With original medicare, youre covered for hospital stays and Doctor Office visits, but youll have to pay a deductible for each. A Medicare Supplement plan can cover your deductibles and coinsurance, but you may pay higher premiums and still not get Prescription Drug coverage. But with an allinone humana Medicare Advantage plan, you could get all that coverage plus part d Prescription Drug benefits. You get all this coverage for as low as a 0 monthly plan premium in many areas. And humana has a Large Network of doctors and hospitals, so call or go online today. Find out if your doctor is part of the Humana Network and get your free decision guide. Discover how an allinone humana Medicare Advantage plan could save you money. There is no obligation, so call or go online right now. Did you know that feeling sluggish or weighed down could be signs that your digestive system isnt working at its best . Taking metamucil every day can help. Metamucil supports your daily Digestive Health using a special plantbased fiber called psyllium. Psyllium works by forming a gel in your digestive system to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. Metamucils gelling action also helps to lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. So, start feeling lighter and more energetic by taking metamucil every day. Welcome back overnight. We learned that they were suspicious of meeting with the president because they were afraid the president would hit it off with the unitarian leader. White house and state Department Officials had sought to block an trumps presidency, concerned that it would legitimize a leader often ostracized in europe. They also worried about orbans influence. Basically, everyone agreed, no orban meeting. We dont always understand trumps idealogical motives sometimes, but there really is an idealogical movement of sorts between your orbans, your putins, your erdogans, and they see trump as a kindred spirit. Right, because he represents a form of liberal populism, which orban represents as well. Democratically elected leaders who dont like civil rights. Thats what trump and orban have in common along with people like penn in france and efrdogan, fo that matter. They seem to have a fixation on strong men, and erdogan and putin fits that so i can see why the white house staff would be so apprehensive, because this would be impossible for trump or difficult for trump to resist the lure of people who preach this kind of a liberal politics, and sure enough, it shows up in the fact that trump seems to trust orban more than he trusts zelensky. Trusts orban more than he trusts bill taylor. I mean, this is i dont understand sometimes where you have folks who are actively concerned about the same things that many of these democratic elected officials are concerned about, yet it doesnt seem to the right seems to be able to compartmentalize. This is a president who says hes in love with kim jongun. We perhaps have lost our capacity to be shocked, but when it comes from europe the white house people are people he hired. Weve seen these National Movements growing in europe. Theyre closer to us, perhaps, than north korea. And to see him sort of be attracted to what has been, you know, roundly said is an Alarming Development in europe is certainly concerning. The social scientist in me also is like, this is a Larger Movement globally and i do think we are experiencing both forms of this populist movement. A desire of strongarm, i think there is a desire by people who want a more libertarian. There is a social movement on the left around the world thats going, hey, wait a minute, capitalism hasnt been working right, we have to formulate it or change it. So we are in this battle of ideas right now take place. Whats odd is the american president does not seem to be on the same side. There is a difference between taking radical action to save the planet and make it habitable for human beings and do things like Greta Thunberg is asking us to do. Theres a difference between that and doing what orban and trump are asking us to do, which is reverse action of the progress of civil rights and make it safer for white men throughout the world to impose their empires throughout society. That is really what we need to be talking about. Its not just about being anticivil rights, its about beating down marginalized populations throughout the world. Are you concerned that Donald Trumps base doesnt really believe in small l liberal, small d democracy . Thats one of the reasons why i remain a never trumper, because i think every healthy democracy is going to need a conservative party, but it needs a conservative party that believes in the fundamental tenets of liberal society, including free speech and all of the civil rights. Unfortunately, trumps wing of the party has never subscribed to that. Its a liberal, populist nationalism that has been suspicious of all the concepts that underlie the open society and that have been foundational for the United States at least for the last 50 years, if not for its entire history. So trump is moving republicans into a nativist direction, and i dont think they realize how quickly they are being led down an extraordinarily dangerous path that, as you said, were witnessing as a worldwide phenomenon. I would say hes accelerating the movement. Republicans have already been moving in for generations. I guess there have been moments i dont know how this tide gets turned because the leaders of the Republican Party are certainly not where trump is headed, but i dont know if thats where the people are. Exactly, and thats why trump was elected. We found the paul ryans and so on had no touch with the people who were actually republican voters. Voters dont want what they wanted. They didnt want big tax cuts and have Social Security cut. They want money being spent on them. They were basically parrotting a message that was popular among trump donors. A west coast addition. Jeff, thank you for traveling to San Francisco to make me not a liar about that. Much appreciated. Thank you all for watching. Back tomorrow with more meet the press. Im going back east. We cant go without wishing our nationals good luck in the world series. Lets steal the game from houston. I didnt know the world stgel was tonight. Is that for real . Out here in l. A. , theyre talking about kawhi and lebron. Thats big, too. My thanks to chuck todd, and i thank you for joining us this hour on the beat. Im excited to be back, i will tell you that, and its a busy news night, including the mounting impeachment evidence against President Trump. Today one of the most significant witnesses from inside the administration hitting capitol hill with what is truly described as a bombshell piece of testimony. That evidence our top story. Im going