Depositions . Reporter and Catherine Croft is done testifying. She talked about the decision to withhold that military aid approved by congress that ukraine desperately sought that came just as the president was pushing for those investigations into were his political rivals. She did say that there was an informal hold that was placed on the release of that aid by Mick Mulvaney, acting white house chief of staff, and she said it came at the direction of the president. Now, she also indicated, we are told, that Rudy Giuliani, she tried to stay away from the role that Rudy Giuliani played in moving outside of normal diplomatic channels and said that she wanted to stay away from that mess referring to the push by giuliani to invest gays the bidens as well as the 2016 elections, but coming out of this closeddoor deposition, some democrats said there needs to be more explanation about key players roles including Mick Mulvaneys. Mr. Mulvaneys role gets deeper as we get into this. And it is puzzling that somebody from omb, the office of management and budget, would suddenly play a Foreign Policy role in making a decision about suspending aid to an allied country that is fighting active russian aggression on its territory. Reporter crist far anderson Career Service officer is behind closed doors right now and according to his Opening Statement he is saying john bolton, then National Security advisers also had concerns with the role Rudy Giuliani played. Theres still a question, brooke, whether john bolton himself comes and testifies. Discussion an bringing him in. The House Foreign Affairs committee involved in the impeachment proceedings i asked about subpoenaing him. If he prefers subpoena . He said its something they would consider but have not issued a subpoena yet but are getting to the end of these closeddoor depositions, waiting for public hearings to take place and hearing the key witness could come forward, bill taylor, former top, current top diplomat in ukraine for the United States who has testified behind closed doors, hes willing to testify publicly, were told. Right. Willing to testify publicly. Certain other repeat testimonies could happen again as they open the doors. Manu, thank you very much for the headlines as far as depositions go today. Amid the impeachment developments, a Key State Department official was in the hot seat on the senate side today. Deply secretary of state John Sullivan is the president s nominee for ambassador to russia. He was also the person who had to tell former ambassador to ukraine Marie Yovanovitch that she was being fired. And in his Senate Confirmation hearing today he was asked about what he knew about Rudy Giulianis involvement in that decision. You were aware that there were individuals and forces outside of the state department seeking to smear ambassador yovanovitch. Is that correct . I was. And seeking to remove her. I was. And did you know mr. Giuliani was one of those people . I believed he was, yes. Cnn National Security reporter kylie atwood is with me. So why, kylie, did sullivan believe giuliani was the one behind the ambassadors firing . I want to take a step back and look at sullivan and the fact you said, brooke, he was the one who had to meet with ambassador yovanovitch when she was recalled abruptly from her post as the u. S. Ambassador to ukraine and weve heard now from ambassador yovanovitch who told lawmakers that sullivan told her she had done nothing wrong and this wasnt like other situations where ambassadors were recalled for wrongdoing. This was a situation where President Trump had lost confidence in her. Probably a very tough situation for sullivan to be put in. He is, at the time, deputy secretary of state. It wasnt even pompeo who had that discussion with yovanovitch, but soon thereafter she was pulled from the post. And there were discussions that giuliani had been smearing yovanovitch publicly. But the other fact to consider here is that the state department did receive a whole packet of disinformation about ambassador yovanovitch. That packet came from giuliani, went to the white house, and then landed on the desk of secretary of state mike pompeo, and that is one of the things that is thought of as a potential trigger for why yovanovitch left, though we dont necessarily know that thats the case. Sullivan was asked specifically about that packet of information and if he knew it came from giuliani. Take a listen. You were given a packet of disinformation attempting to smear ambassador yovanovitch. Did you know it was mr. Giuliani who created that package . I dont know that. To this day i dont know that. You didnt ask where did it come from . I did, but, yes, i did ask, but i dont know. And no one told you where it came from . No. It happened by Immaculate Conception . Hence my referral of the package. Menendez also asked sullivan if he was implying that everything that giuliani was doing was kosher and sullivan replied saying, he didnt know exactly what giuliani was up to. There, a senior state Department Official no aware of the contours of what Rudy Giuliani was doing on behalf of President Trump. Hmm. Kylie, thank you. The public hearings in this impeachment inquiry could begin before thanksgiving. One of the first witnesses could be ambassador bill taylor pap source tells cnn he is willing to testify publicly, a career diplomat and he believed the white house tied releasing military aid to ukraine with Ukraine Holding investigations that could help trump politically. And joining me now, serving as Senior Adviser to the National Security adviser under president obama, here we are all are in washington. Let me begin with bill taylor, because as i mentioned, he took these meticulous notes. Had proverbial receipts. Remind everyone when he testifies publicly why it would be so damaging . Bill taylor, the perfect leadoff witness. Putting together a trial you want tore first witness to be someone who is a. Credible. He has an incredible resume and backed up by the text. Withholding aid in exchange for political favors . Paraphrasing, and his testimony goes to the heart of the case democrats want to make. The real diplomats were pushed aside in favor of the shadow group with rudy and sondland. This is going to happen. We could see bill taylor in public on camera waith fithin a weeks. He believes in this. Theres a reason the information is classified and not typically put in front of the public. The whole world will know more about the dysfunction of their own government as well as potentially the inner most workingss the National Security council, the white house, the state department and other key officials. We dont have that same benefit with respect to other Foreign Governments and so that gives them a leg up in many ways. What about, manu mentioned john bolton . Former National Security adviser and congress is maybe considering a subpoena . Right . Hes a key witness in all this too. The news out today is that he saw giuliani i think the word was as an obstacle to the u. S. Imp pro improving relations with ukraine. Youre nodding. Obstacle. Sure. And we know deputy defied subpoena to testify. Back over to you. How significant could his testimony be assuming he doesnt cite executive privilege . More than a feeling. He referred staff to nfc lawyers who report to him by the way. Appears john bolton was offloading concerns rather than deal with him which is his taxpayer funded duty. Bolton did not just cover ukraine. His mandate, the world. He would know if the president asked other countries to investigate other rivals and also had a birdseye view of the full range of resources, carrots and sticks, that the president or Mick Mulvaney or other koss have used to try to blackmail or intimidate other countries. The scope of questions i think asked to john bolton will be really important to keep an eye on. I dont know when this whole idea getting a subpoena became optional. Right . Its a like, will he or wont he . Will he feel like it . Thats what make it is a subpoena. You have to comply. Maybe be able to negotiate it. One way or another bolteden needs to come forward and i wish more of these, dedicated career Public Officials would follow the example weve seen from vindman yesterday from bill taylor from dr. Fiona hill and ambassador yovanovitch. All people who defied the white houses stonewall, came forward and presumably told the truth, testified, did their jobs. Talk about the colonel on the hill a total ten hours testifying yesterday. There he was in full army dress and told the committees he tried to make changes to that july 25th phone call transcript, tried unsuccessfully. The changes werent made contributeding the white house saying the ellipses in the transcript did not represent missing words or phrases. His testimony doesnt change the substance of the call, but how much does this really matter . By the way, i never saw ellipses when i saw readouts. Use inaudible or document a sneeze for accuracy. Wow. There are multiple layers of eyes and ears on these calls to ensure theyre accurate. Vindman would have seen the draft readout from the situation room, made changes, gone to his boss, senior director for accuracy and likely then to the National SecurityAdvisers Office to review changes, and to document the readout for the record. At this point what we dont know is who decided no the to accept the changes, brooke. There is a reason why the readouts are supposed to be accurate. A counterintelligence issue here. Mom ever is on the other end of the call knows exactly what happened, they know what the president said verbatim. You never want a Foreign Government to know more than your own especially if it has to do with something potentially illegal or embarrassing. That becomes a manipulation point. Sounds like what was excluded according to vindman, a reference to biden, a tape of biden and burisma, but wouldnt have drastically altered the substance of the call. So why does it mooter . I agree. Left 0u69, those thing was minor. The question is, why were they left out or change jtd if they were because somebody was trying to protect the president or tidy up the record a little bit you have a problem here. What lauers caw consciousness of guilt. Doing it for a reason. Third graders understand it. Try togs hide something its because you know you have something to hide. I foundesting the president is doing strategic sleight of hand with this call saying that transcript youve seen is exactly perfect and exact. That transcript, no. It is not good for him. That transcript is incredibly damning. Even if it was wordforword, that is exhibit one in the impeachment case against donald trump. Dont let him flip it around. Thanks. Well do it again. Still ahead here on cnn a look at the impeachment calendar, how it could be on its way on course for another Government Shutdown just in time for the thanksgiving holiday, plus stunning pictures out of california. Fueling raging wildfires. We take you live to simi valley, to the reagan president s library as the flames are dangerously close. Later, well walk 2020 and why the four frontrunners on the democratic side are all white. Despite having the most diverse field of president ial candidate ever. Youre watching cnn. Im brooke baldwin. Well be back in a moment. Thats a zzzquil pure zzzs sleep. Our liquid has a unique botanical blend, while an optimal melatonin level means no nextday grogginess. Zzzquil pure zzzs. Naturally superior sleep. You dont let a cold ruin your day. You take dayquil severe liquicaps and crush it. Dayquil severe. The daytime, coughing, aching, stuffyhead, fever, sore throat, power through your day, medicine. Hi, my name is sam davis and im going to tell you about exciting plans available to anyone with medicare. Many plans provide broad coverage and still may save you money on monthly premiums and Prescription Drugs. 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Funding deadline to keep the government open for business and that has top democrat in the Senate Sounding the alarm. Im increasingly worried that President Trump may want to shut down the government again because of impeachment. An impeachment inquiry. He likes to create diversions. I hope and pray he wont want to cause another Government Shutdown to be a diversion away from impeachment. Worrisome to me. They want to avoid the Government Shutdown. Thinking impeachment versus this and do they think they have leverage . Reporter a few staffers focusing on this. A lot of people say impeachment is not on their mind really cant escape it because its 24 7, watching current and former officials ste s testify capitol hill. The president will welcome a shutdown for a distraction. Its not going to stop impeachment if there is a shutdown and they are still moving forward with impeachment. These members of Congress Still are paid. Theyre worried about the narrative that could emerge facing a Government Shutdown and trying to move forward with impeachment. How does it affect the process and how does the white house respond . So far up on capitol hill they are trying to actively avoid the shutdown. Of course, a stay tuned situation. November 21st. Right . Deadline. Right. Other breaking news regarding 2020. Senator Kamala Harris slashing sister and spe staff in rey lialignment of her campaign. Whats happening . Allin on iowa. Saying it quite some. I but gotten real in the last few days. Announcing a major change in staffing and how theyre structured. Essentially pulling back from other early states like New Hampshire and nevada, even california, her home state, to redeploy in iowa where theyre saying they want a top three finish for Kamala Harris. She has really struggled to gain traction, but this is a clear sign theyre having money issues. Theyre trying to do everything that they can so that she can start doing well in iowa. If she didnt, it could pose a challenge for her campaign. Back when they announced this allin strategy they thought he had enough money to do it. They didnt think they would need to redeploy staff. That has clearly changed. One other thing that the Campaign Manager said in addition to the fact hes going to be taking a pay cut as well as other top consultants, he said they want to do a major a spending bye onair in iowa in the final weeks before the Iowa Caucuses and trying to hold on enough money to do that. Clearly, a challenging situation for senator Kamala Harris who at one point was near the very top of this