reporter: david, the president handed out several copies of the letter. according to a republican member of congress that was there, the speaker took her copy and put it facedown on the table before reading it. the white house gives a much different version of what happened. they say that the president, quote, was measured, factual and decisive and that the speaker s decision to walk out was baffling. they also point out that other democrats at the meeting stayed behind. jon karl tonight. thanks, jon. and all of this comes as the impeachment showdown intensifies tonight. all eyes tomorrow on the u.s. ambassador to the eu, expected to testify. gordon sondland was negotiating with ukraine, along with the president s personal attorney, rudy giuliani, even though ukraine is not part of the eu, obviously. it was sondland who wrote in a text to a senior american diplomat, insisting there was no quid pro quo. we now know sondland had talked with the president before he texted that respo
also tonight, the harshest sentencing yet involving a parent in the varsity blues scandal, who spent $100,000 and used a photo of someone else s daughter playing water polo. the pictures coming in. a massive plane slamming into the ground. rescue teams swarming the crash site. a survivor pulled from the wreckage. plus, the jurors in the amber guyger trial breaking their silence about that high-profile sentencing. and what the victim s brother said about that emotional courtroom embrace. and can you feel the heat? the summer swelter now deep into fall as millions suffer through record-breaking temperatures. and good evening. it s great to have you with us on a very busy friday night. i m tom llamas, in for david. we begin with several breaking stories, including new major developments in the impeachment showdown.
political war over this impeachment inquiry. the question is how many of the republicans on the hill are going to follow his lead? the washington post reports the president s reaction is, quote, part of a scorched earth strategy that he s directing for the republican party at the outset of an impeachment showdown. let me bring in craig miller and heidi przybilla. tim and heidi, thank you for being with me. this is the initial reaction from the two leading republicans on the hill. yes. what in this case rises to impeachment? this is a president of the united states that had a conversation with a leader in another country.
here, there is a feeling that president trump for months has been preparing for impeachment. he s almost in some ways been goading nancy pelosi to take this step. now that she has taken this step, this is a very uncomfortable and troubling reality for the president, and it s something he s going to have to be dealing with in the months ahead. and you talk to people in the white house and there is a fear that this is not a team ready for an impeachment showdown. they are understaffed, they have been habitually undisciplined from the very beginning of this presidency, and now they re in a phase that really could bring peril to the president. katy, let s take a look at this memo that s sort of a reconstructed conversation between presidents trump and zelensky and some of the questions it raises in particular, and we mentioned this in the intro there, the name of the attorney general william barr came up during this conversation, the president saying to zelensky that he was going to have
now that she has taken this step, this is a very uncomfortable and troubling reality for the president, and it s something he s going to have to be dealing with in the months ahead. and you talk to people in the white house and there is a fear that this is not a team ready for an impeachment showdown. they are understaffed, they have been habitually undisciplined from the very beginning of this presidency, and now they re in a phase that really could bring peril to the president. katy, let s take a look at this memo that s sort of a reconstructed conversation between presidents trump and zelensky and some of the questions it raises in particular, and we mentioned this in the intro there, the name of the attorney general william barr came up during this conversation, the president saying to zelensky that he was going to have william barr call him, get in touch with him. talk about what it was the president seems to have wanted barr to be doing here and what the justice department is s