House investigators have just released the transcript of their deposition with laura cooper. Shes the pentagon official whose testimony was delayed by five hours late last month when republicans stormed the secure hearing room. The transcript of coopers testimony reveals how some pentagon officials were sounding the alarm over the president s decision to withhold military aid to ukraine. Cooper testified that pentagon officials were increasingly worried about the aid being held up. And that they couldnt get a straight answer from the white house as to why. She also testified that some pentagon officials were worried about the legality of such a move. This transcript comes just two days before public hearings begin and as democrats are looking to sharpen their case, republicans are broadening their defenses. The president today falsely claimed that democrats were releasing doctored transcripts of the proceedings, among other twitter rants. Meanwhile, rank and file republicans are clearly signaling they will find a way to defend the president despite the mounting evidence against him. The quid pro quo, in my judgment, is a red herring. If he asked for an investigation of possible corruption by someone who happens to be a political rival, thats not over the line. I think its a big mistake for anybody to argue quid pro quo. It didnt have quid pro quo. I know thats what the administrations arguing. I wouldnt make that argument. I would make the argument that every politician in washington, other than me virtually, is trying to manipulate ukraine to their purposes. Ive never heard the president say, you know, i want to dig up dirt on a potential 2020 opponent. I believe that it is inappropriate for a president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival. I do not believe it was impeachable. This as republicans on the committees involved in the impeachment inquiry are trying to run towards the president s misconduct, not away from it because in a case about the president s efforts to investigate the bidens and the 2016 election, they want to call hunter biden and a dnc contractor as witnesses. They also want the whistleblower to testify publicly. Democrats are likely going to deny these requests as they confront a daunting challenge of their own. How do they lay out their case against the president while navigating a caucus of republicans who fiercely loyal to him . But we begin tonight with the latest. My nbc news colleagues in washington are reporting. Garrett haake is at capitol hill and jeff bennett is at the white house. So laura coopers testimony has just been released, garrett. Shes the official that was in charge of, i guess, the National Security funding with ukraine. What did we learn from her testimony that we had not known before now . Cooper describes being essentially dumb founded when she finds out that this aid to ukraine is being held up and not given any explanation why. Only that the chief of staffs office has ordered that the aid not be released. Over time, then, she describes discussions with dod and this interagency process of the u. S. Government to figure out why this happened and whether they can reverseengineer a way somehow that its legal. They struggle to come up with what possible reasoning there could be. Checking off, you know, that ukraine had met these other anticorruption goals that had been set for it. That indeed this was money legally mandated by congress to go there. Finally, she describes a couple of conversations with kurt volker, the special envoy to ukraine, in which volker says, look, we all want to get this money released. I think i have a way. Theres a statement that were talking about with ukraine. Cooper says she thought the statement it was her understanding that the statement was about election interference, specifically related to 2016. But at this point, they are looking for solutions here. Her testimony also includes the fact that its her belief, although she admits that this is only her strong inference, that the ukrainians knew about the Security Assistance hold before it had been publicly reported. Thats important, of course, because it rebuts one of the president s main talking points, which is this couldnt have been bribery or extortion or quid pro quo, pick your word, if ukrainians did not know something was being withheld and for what reason. Cooper says, in fact, they did know and, you know, believes that they, in fact, knew why. She also testifies, garrett, about why it was necessary that the aid be released to ukraine. She said if the aid is not released, it would weaken a strategic partner. Can you just explain to our viewers what the bipartisan policy toward ukraine was before this controversy thats come out in the last few months . And why it was bipartisan policy . Sure. Absolutely. This is the heart of the National Security argument here around why democrats believe this is an Impeachable Offense. Support for ukraine and particularly the military in ukraine and Good Governance rule of law institutions in ukraine has been a bipartisan priority of Congress Really since the fall of the soefviet union but especially since the country was invaded by russian separatists. When the crimian peninsula was essentially carved out of ukraine, support for ukraine along with other former soviet republics like georgia, latvia, lithuania, estonia. Has been a bipartisan think thing because members of congress believe the best defense an aggressive expansionist russia is for them to have strong pronato, prowestern neighbors supported by the United States. So the military funding, in this case, 400 million of it in two separate chunks, is not only important for what it buys. But its important for the signal that it sends to russia that the United States has ukraines back. And if that money is held up, if that signal is not sent, its not just bad for ukraine, its bad for the public facing diplomacy of the United States looking to stand up for its allies. I believe she also testifies that she was told that omb said dont release the funds and that that came from the president. Jeff, any reaction from the white house . Not just yet, katy. But generally, the reaction among republicans writ large is to rally around the president. Even as you saw some of those republicans suggest that President Trumps interaction with his ukrainian counterpart is inappropriate, if not wholly impeachable. So the strategy generally from republicans heading into this weeks hearings is to introduce confusion, to introduce as many extraneous and dubious arguments as humanly possible really. To take this ukraine investigation down as many rabbit holes as they possibly can. One reason why we know that is because of the republican witness list that you referenced at the top of the show. So on wednesday, we can expect to hear republicans introduce Hunter Bidens name ad nauseam to give the effect of basically launching the kind of investigation in that hearing room that democrats allege President Trump wanted ukrainian officials to launch into the bidens. But republicans will have their work cut out for them on wednesday and friday and heres why. A democratic source familiar told me that these hearings are intentionally choreographed so even if the American People tune in for just the first hour, they will have heard plenty. Thats what i was told by a democratic source familiar. That the that the first hour is designed to be a bombshell. And these hearings will look different than from any other congressional hearing the people have seen to this point because the first 45 minutes, adam schiff, the democratic leader of the house intelligence committee, will be able to make the case. He will be able to pursue lines of inquiry with both witnesses that would be different and longer than a traditional congressional hearing where you might have a lawmaker have five minutes here. Another one has five minutes there. And sometimes theres grandstanding. Sometimes theres lines of questioning that dont support the other. And so that is why one of the reasons why republicans will have a heavier lift in trying to do President Trumps bidding in trying to undercut the argument that democrats are trying to bring against him in this impeachment inquiry. Katy. Garrett haake, jeff bennett. Thank you very much. Joining me now is Pennsylvania Democratic congresswoman. She is a member of the house judiciary committee, which ultimate ultimately may be called upon to draft articles of impeachment. Congresswoman, thank you very much for joining us. As jeff bennett just laid out, he said the first 45 minutes, first housh of these public hearings, democrats believe they are going to be lay it all out if thats the only hour the public watches. Are the democrats basically saying that theyre going to be able to convince the public in that first hour on wednesday that the president committed an Impeachable Offense . I dont think its up to one hour. And its not up to just convincing the people by way of one witness. But what we are going to see and what weve already seen through some of the released transcripts is career, courageous, legacy employees. People who have worked in the state department and other departments for our country coming forward and corroborating the same pattern of abuse by this administration. They actually tried to extort the president of ukraine saying that we will withhold aid. Basically, they did withhold aid. And asked that he make sure he announces publicly, investigations into a political foe. Its not going to be about one hour. Its going to be about getting the facts before the American Public and these courageous people are coming forward to do that. First, they have done it through the investigations that are being done in private. And now, this week, you will see, in public, whether its mr. Taylor, ambassador yovanovitch, mr. Kent, and others, coming forward to tell the exact same pattern of extortion, the attempt by this president to ask, demand frankly, a foreign country to interfere in our elections. How sadly far weve come. Are democrats prepared for republicans to to gum up the process . We saw this a couple weeks ago when laura cooper, whose testimony was just released today, was supposed to testify. Republicans stormed the scif and held up that testimony for five hours. Weve gotten indications and reporting from republicans that they plan on doing just that when these public hearings start on wednesday. Try to slow up the process. Are democrats prepared for it . And what will they do . Americans saw that as the shameful stunt that it was. Storming a scif that most of those members had the right and really responsibility to be in, to be there, to listen to testimony, to ask questions, and then flippantly order pizza. Ill tell you what. Our caucus takes this very differently. We take this seriously. Soberly, somberly as nancy pelosi says, we take it prayerfully. We are on a journey for this country that is so serious and so grave that i hope our republican counterparts on my committee and these other committees of jurisdiction take it for that somber moment that it is. Its impossible to believe that stunts are the way to go forward on an impeachment inquiry. When the corruption and the wrongdoing of this administration has been corroborated by so many. So i call upon the republicans to make sure that they take it with the same seriousness and talk about the facts, not nonsense. Well, lets talk about the facts and the publics reaction to the facts. How much do you need the the public to get on the side of impeachment before voting on impeachment . Are articles of impeachment contingent upon poll numbers that show the American Public is behind impeaching the president . Does it need to be does it need to be overwhelming . I dont i dont watch the polls. But i do believe that this is a case that we have to put before the American People and make sure that they understand and believe the evidence. Believe the evidence of wrongdoing. Believe of evidence of a president on a phone call with ukraine asking this president , who has under foreign intervention five years of invasion by our foe and their foe, russia, to make sure that he comes forward with investigations of the bidens, a political opponent, before he will get the muchneeded aid he asked for. He asked literally for military aid. Talked about javelins and the need for it and the president said i will need a favor from you, though. The American People have a right to hear the evidence, to know the evidence. Yes. And and we need to put that before them. Before we come forward with articles of impeachment or the vote. Let me ask you this. I ask about poll numbers because right now, it looks like if there is an impeachment vote, its going to be down party lines. No republicans have shown support for the impeachment inquiry. And its, i think, a high bar for a republican to decide to vote to impeach the president as of now. So if the polling comes out that shows the public is overwhelmingly behind the democrats on this, my assessment of the situation shows that thats the only way that republicans might get on board. If it looks like their their seats are in peril in some way, if their constituents want them to vote to impeach. Oh, katy. Do you need to see those numbers to get the republicans on board . And if not if not are you comfortable having this be a partyline vote . Oh, dear. What you describe is is awfully seriously grave. I hope that is not the way this is considered by anybody, democrat or republican. Our founders put in the the the ability to impeach a sitting president only for the most serious of violations of his oath of office. So i hope that the republicans take their oath of office as seriously. I get when you say you hohope, you hope, you hope. Im not trying to be disrespectful but i do think we need to look at the landscape as it stands right now and what the republicans have said and are willing to do to defend the president. So it seems like it is a very high bar for them. And my question is, are you comfortable making this a partyline vote . Because that that is what it where it looks like it is heading. I will not leap to that conclusion because we have not completed the investigation. We have not completed putting the information before the American Public. I hope this does not come down to a partyline vote. I hope it comes down to the right vote. A vote based on the evidence and upholding my oath of office to the constitution and the president s oath of office to the constitution. I pray it does not come down to so cynical a party line vote. And ive never been one to say that no republican will ever vote for impeachment. Were not there yet. Lets get the evidence out before the American People in a public way. There are very good people on both sides of the aisle who have the ability to analyze the evidence, i hope, without consideration for the next primary. I hear what youre saying but so many republicans have said they refuse to read the transcripts. Look at Lindsey Graham as one of them. Congresswoman madelyn dean, congresswoman, thank you so much. We appreciate your time. Ahead, more on this newly released testimony and what to expect from this huge week on capitol hill. Plus, the Mick Mulvaney mystery. Why does the white house chief of staff want to join a lawsuit against the president . The latest on the Court Hearing thats going on right this moment. And former u. N. Ambassador Nikki Haley Says the president s former chief of staff and the former secretary of state were trying to undermine the president when they were still in their jobs. That is coming up. That is coming up. As a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. At liberty butchemel. Cut. Liberty mu. Line . 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This came as pentagon officials were apparently given no explanation from the white house as to why the aid was being withheld. Joining me now is gabe, National Correspondent for new york magazine. Zerlina maxwell. And elise jordan, former aide in the george w. Bush white house and state department and also ms