ukraine deliver specific investigations in order to secure the meeting with president trump. followed this meeting there was a short meeting in which ambassador sondland emphasized the 2016 elections, bidens and ba ruris burisma. what did ambassador sondland say to tell you that he told mr. yermak? that the ukrainians would have to have the prosecutor general make a statement with respect to the investigations, as a condition of having the aid lifted. after this larger meeting with vice president pence and president zelensky, you testified at your deposition that you saw ambassador sondland, immediately go over and pull andre yermak aside and have a conversation, is that right? president zelensky left the room, vice president pence left the room. and in sort of an ante room, ambassador sondland and vice
biden or these things i considered to be conspiracy theories that have been circulated by the ukrainians, including the former prosecutor general are they re not things that we should be pursuing as part of our national security strategy with ukraine. at the one in person meeting i had with mayor giuliani, mayor giuliani raised and i rejected the theory that vice president biden would have been influenced by money paid to his son. as i previously testified i ve known vice president biden for 24 years, he s an honorable man and i hold him in the highest regard. so rudy giuliani and other officials allege as vice president biden pushed tour the removal of the ukrainian prosecutor to prevent the investigation into burisma, the ukrainian gas company that employed hunter, both ukraine and officials have confirmed
it is wednesday, november 20th, i m yasmin vossoughian. ayman is out sick. this morning, we ll hear from one of the most consequential witnesses yesterday, ambassador gordon sondland will testify at 9:00 a.m. this morning. people close to the administration telling the new york times maggie haberman that sondland is the one they re most concerned about. one of the first witnesses to testify behind closed doors but later amending his testimony that he now remembers that a white house aide and new testimony was sought by the president. sondland s name came up several times during yesterday s marathon hearings, identified as one of the main officials who carried president trump s message to the ukrainians. ambassador bolton cut the meeting short when ambassador sondland began to speak about
forward with the process, and try to get this all wrapped up and on the house floor by christmas. john bolton is significant, because in that same july 10th meeting that i referenced, he raised concerns. he abruptly ended the meeting according to vindman and williams over this idea of the investigations that sondland had mentioned. and so, bolton is significant. he s de. he would be a strong witness for the democrats. all right. scott wong, thank you as always, my friend. thank you. i want to get to exclusive new reporting from nbc news out just this morning. the state department is being asked to investigate the use of personal cell phones by senior u.s. diplomats in the wake of the impeachment hearings. joining us now the reporter behind the story, nbc news national political reporter josh letterman. josh, good morning to you. thanks for joining us on this.
the impeachment testimony has been speculation or hearsay. sean patrick maloney pointed out yesterday that those arguments were not applicable for lieutenant colonel vindman and for williams. let s do the substance, can we do that because we ve had a lot of dust kicked up. miss williams, you heard the call with your own ears, right? yes, sir. not second hand, not hearsay, you heard the president speak, you heard his voice on the call? correct. and your delusion about what he said about the bidens was in your words unusual and inappropriate, am i right? that was my testimony. mr. vindman, you were treated to a july 25th meeting in the white house where you heard sondland raising conditions on investigations that you thought were unduly political, i believe that s how you described them. and you went to nsc council and you reported it, correct? correct. later, you two were on the white house call, am i right? correct.