You are recognized. Thank you. Madame ambassador, like a hallmark movie. You ended up at georgetown, this is all okay. [laughter] but it was not your preference seven or eight months ago, correct . No, it was not. It was not your preference to be a victim of a Smear Campaign, was it . No. It was not your preference to be defamed by the president of the United States including today, was it . No. It wasnt your preference to be ousted at seemingly the pinnacle of your career, was it . No. You wanted to finish your extended tour, correct . I did. What did you want to do after that . Did you know . I was not sure. There is nothing wrong with georgetown, it is a fine place, right . It is a wonderful place. But it is your only choice at the end of a distinguished career after all of that. It is not the end of a hallmark movie. It is the end of a really bad reality tv show. Brought to you by someone who knows a lot about that. [laughter] why did you, you previously testified that you sought a
I really mean it when i say i could talk to these friends for another hour. My thanks to all of them, and mostly to you for watching. Chuck todd with mtp daily starts now. Welcome to tuesday. It is meet the press daily. Good evening. Im chuck todd in washington where another round of potential bombshell testimony as the president and his allies once again struggle to defend him as democrats unveil their official road map for the next phase of the impeachment inquiry. This afternoon the house laid out a resolution that will lay out the rules and procedures that will govern the next phase
that will include public hearings and the official rollout of the impeachment. It will include an ability for President Trump to have attorneys around. Meanwhile, there was more potentially explosive testimony in the investigation itself from Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman. He is a purple heart recipient, a National Security official who was in on the infamous phone call with the ukraine president
It was not in any record i july 25th call. And this is consistent with the reported comments from received. But when you did see. Ambassadors volker and taylor. After the zelensky meeting, i yes, i saw that in september, also met with zelenskys senior correct. So on this continuum, the aide, andre yermak. Beginning of the continuum begins on may 23rd when the president instructs you to talk I Dont Recall the specifics of our conversation, but i believe the issue of investigations was to rudy . Correct. And you understood that as a probably a part of that agenda direction by the president that you needed to satisfy the or meeting. Concerns that Rudy Giuliani would express to you about what also, on july 26th, shortly the president wanted in ukraine . After our kiev meetings, i spoke not to me. By phone with President Trump. To the entire group, volker, perry and myself, correct. The white house, which has now, in your opening finally, finally shared certain statement you confirmed that
That it indicated to you that he had been prepped for the call, to expect this issue to come up. What led you to that conclusion . It seemed unlikely that he would be familiar with a Single Company in the context of a call that had that was on the broader bilateral relationship, and it seemed to me that he was either tracking this issue because it was in the press or he was otherwise prepped. Mr. Goldman. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Good morning to both of you. Good morning. On july 25th at approximately 9 00 a. M. You both were sitting in the situation room, probably not too much further away than you are right now, and you were preparing for a longawaited phone call between President Trump and president zelensky. Now, Colonel Vindman, in advance
of this phone call, did you prepare Talking Points as you did for the april 21st call . Yes, i did. What were those Talking Points based upon . They were so this is not in the Public Record and i cant comment to deeply, but what is the areas tha
Was the white house visit in return for the 2016 dnc server and burisma investigation. When you heard burisma, you did not see that as code for biden, the bidens . I did not. When did you even know that . Is it your testimony that you only realized that burisma included the bidens when the readout came out . No, i really dont recall the date. It was very late in the game, though. September . I dont recall the date. So if i told you that the Legal Definition of bribery was an event of offering, giving, soliciting or receiving of any item of value as a means of influencing an action of an individual holding a public or legal duty, do you believe that not only was it quid pro quo, but it was bribery . Im not a lawyer and im not going to characterize what
something was or wasnt legally. You also said in your Opening Statement that Secretary Perry and yourself as well as Ambassador Volker worked with giuliani on the ukraine matter at Express Direction of the president , is that right . That