Odonnell the n. F. L. Star who lost his cool says he deserves to play again. And why is the player he attacked now also apologizing . A hockey teams m. V. P. How this pup gets his shot. And as the Democratic Candidates for president debate tonight, theyre taking aim at a new target. This is the Cbs Evening News with Norah Odonnell reporting tonight from ghashington. Odonnell good evening, and thank you for joining us. President trumps handpicked ambassador to the European Union sent shock waves across the u. S. Capitol today, changing his story and directly implicating the president in the Pressure Urmpaign against ukraine. Gordon sondland told congress there was a quid pro quo, an attempt to trade Military Funding for an investigation of mr. Trumps rivals, and it was
done at the direction of the president. Sondland insisted everyone was in the loop, including the Vice President and the Secretary Of State, and he dramatically shifted the timeline, saying the attempts to push ukraine to
how many conversations with the president of the united states have you had? ca is prly in that range.yvaaboe con don t recall. i don t recall who told me. you don t recall? i don t recall. at reporter: that gave to a scheme to withhold aid from ukraine in exchange for these investigations? other than my own presumption. which is nothing. reporter: democrats tried to refresh his memory. t holmes then said he heard president trump ask, is he, meaning zelensky, going to do ns the investigation, to which you replied, he s going to do it. do you recall that? i probably said something to that effect. who would benefit from an investigation of the bidens? i assume president trump would benefit. there we have it! see? ( applause )
these investigations in order to get the aid, did you not? i likely did. reporter: sondland said he came to understand that ukraine s new president would not get a coveted white house meeting or crucial military aid unless he announced an investigation into burisma, the u mpany that employed the son of former vice president joe biden. this is not president trump s personal bank account he s writing a check from. this is $400 million u.s. taxpayer money, is it not? absolutely. and there was a logjam in which the president would not write that u.s. check you believed until ukraine announced these two investigations the president wanted, correct? co that was my belief. how did you know that? ldo told you? well, when the president says, talk to my personal attorney, and then mr. giuliani as his personal attorney makes certain requests or demands, we assume it s coming from the president. so the president never told you about any preconditions for
done at the direction of the president. sondland insisted everyone was in the loop, including the vice president and the secretary of state, and he dramatically shifted the timeline, saying the attempts to push ukraine to investigate joe biden and his son began as early as last may. we have a team of correspondents covering today s dramatic developments, and we re going to begin tonight with nancy cordes at the capitol. and nancy, sondland s testimony went further than many expected, right? reporter: it did, norah, starting with that admission that he was part of something that he now considers improper. he did appear to throw the president something of a lifeline, downplaying all the times that other witnesses say mr. trump directly egged him on. was there a quid pro quo? the answer is yes. reporter: ambassador sondland said he became a reluctant messenger this sum rg an ultimatum on the president s behalf. you informed mr. yermak that they would need to announce
the aid to be released? o. no. reporter: still, he said knowledge of the scheme went all the way to the top and that he kept vice president mike pence, acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney, secretary of state mike pompeo, and others apprised of his efforts. here is my exact quote from that e-mail: i talked to tlensky just now. se is prepared to receive potus s call. will assure him that he intends to run a fully transparent investigation and will turn over every stone. . eryone was in the loop. it was no secret. reporter: the hotel mogul can t be dismissed as a disgruntled bureaucrat o never trumper. as a lifelong republican. reporter: he donated $1 million to president trump inaugural committee, which helped him submit his diplomatic post.