Demonstrations. Sri lankas former defense chiefs come back stairs ethnic tensions before saturdays national elections. Begin with the 2nd day of testimony in the u. S. Impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and the testimony of Marie Evanovich the former u. S. Ambassador to ukraine she served as a diplomat for 33 years and says she was shocked and devastated when she learned shed lost the confidence of the president and her job she says the claims in a Smear Campaign against her orchestrated by Donald Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani were based on false information from people with questionable motives when you returned to washington from kiev in may she says the deputy secretary of state told her she. Done nothing wrong but had to leave and then when President Trump tweeted that during todays hearing about her fate is in previous 10 years yvonne of its responded by saying she felt very intimidated and just a moment our White House Correspondent kimberly how it will join us this 1st lets go live to heidi castro who is outside the hearing room on capitol hill so heidi were about halfway through all of this were expecting to hear from the republicans as they get to question. In a few moments from now but so far shes given some pretty damning testimony of the administration. Thats right has them and democrats have really used the former ambassador to ukraine marie of on a bench as a sympathetic figure you know they played up her background at the beginning of this hearing today she told her story about the child of immigrants who were in fact flee from the soviet union and then the great distinction and privilege she felt to be serving as a Career Foreign Service officer for more than 30 years and to be named the ambassador to the ukraine and then she laid out how she was the subject of what she calls a Smear Campaign that was orchestrated be beef between the president s private attorney re giuliani and ukrainian officials who she had been targeting for corrupt activities and she says that when those 2 elements came together the corrupt ukrainians and giuliani that she wasnt surprised that the corrupt to reclaim ians took up took advantage of that moment to try to oust her but that she did find it surprising and alarming that americans who were helping them in that effort and she made this argument that this effort was tar. Getting her remove all because it would benefit those ukrainian officials and she said that there were americans involved who also had business interests in ukraine who would also have benefited all of which is to say she is trying to direct line between corruption that she was tasked with fighting in ukraine and implying that there was also elements of corruption in the way that attorney and his aides were conducting their business in ukraine to the benefit of President Trumps Reelection Campaign so how do you how does this narrative of a former u. S. Diplomats who according to her was unjust viably removed from her position fit in with the central crux of this inquiry which is that july 25th phone call between. President trump and the president of ukraine voted. Well there is the argument in the public court of opinion right and then theres that of course the legal argument for impeachment you could say that before the American Public the role that. Place today is to lay the scene what is the background of these allegations that democrats have leveled against President Trump that involved bribery as theyre saying now and extortion of the Ukrainian Government now whether or not they convince the public of that story of the background of that story may not matter because for that other track that democrats are trying to prove the legal argument that trump should be impeached and removed from office while theres constitutional hurdles that must be met for that to happen and republicans are zeroing in on that as the weakness of todays witnesses as well as previous witnesses theyre not able to put President Trump in. In the room making the decisions that democrats say were corrupt and in fact in memory of on a vicious case she was out of the picture by the time that trump made the phone call to the president of ukraine in july yvon of which with ousted from her ambassadorship back in in may and so she was really a spectator for the rest of thing that happened which democrats have to have said was trump asking zelinsky the president of ukraine to do him a favor and opening investigations into his political rivals and the key part is that the president was withholding u. S. Security aid to ukraine while he made that ask and all of this boils down to the intent of the President Trump has said many times that he was not trying to use the aid as leverage he said that he was pressing ukraine to be Anti Corruption and thats what his defenders have been voicing as well and todays testimony from the real vonage gets nothing to the intent of the president or even the timeline and when all of these decisions that are critical to the impeachment argument were made heidi thank you lets bring in our White House Correspondent kimberly how cute now and kimberly the president has wasted no time reacting to this with the tweets what do they have to say. Yeah the u. S. President according to the white house was not going to watch these proceedings hard to believe thats the case considering he was tweeting from his own personal twitter account in real time at one point in a very powerful moment during the start of these hearings the president in fact attacked the witness directly it was so astounding perhaps to the house intelligence chair adam schiff that he interrupted the proceedings to read the tweet to the witness mary give on of it it was also suggested by adam schiff that in fact that the president may even be intimidating the witness take a listen you show him the courage to come forward today testify notwithstanding the fact you were a white house or state department not to notwithstanding the fact that as you testified earlier the president implicitly threatened you in that call record and now the president real time is attacking you. What effect do you think that has on other witnesses willingness to come forward and expose wrongdoing. Its very intimidating to dine designed to intimidate is it not. I mean i cant speak to what the president is trying to do but i think the effect is to be intimidating yeah that was certainly a dramatic moment in that testimony this morning kimberly and its been a major talking point for a lot of people its been suggested as well whether President Trump how do you know advertently just added another counts of impeachment against himself. Yeah theres no question that the fact that the house intelligence chair felt it was important to highlight this in real time it is certainly building in the case another piece of evidence by democrats that this president needs to be impeached now we should also know another aspect of the legal argument that is being built is obstruction of justice and well have that hasnt been a big focus today it certainly was a big focus on wednesday in the 1st day of hearings because well we are seeing a number of witnesses that have been subpoenaed in appearing there are many more that are not appearing that the public is not getting to hear from so what we discussed perhaps weaknesses in the democrats case part of those weaknesses are because some of those people with firsthand knowledge have been instructed by the president instructed by this white house not to appear and so obstruction of justice is the other argument that is being crafted but theres no question this is a white house trying to get ahead of the story not only is the president tweeting in real time in such powerful form and fashion that its interrupting the proceedings but also there was a release of another transcript that took place has him another phone call between the u. S. President and the ukrainian president in this when it seems relatively innocuous except for one part where the president talks about an invitation to the white house we have lots of things to talk about this is a call that took place back in april before the infamous july 25th call the the foundation of these hearings and why this is important is because once again the president is talking about the invitation to the white house something we know that the ukrainian president very much wanted that he wanted that sit down with the president in the United States and this is what the democrats argue the president used as leverage to try and secure investigations against a political rival so well the president has been trying to get ahead of the story some of it at his actions as you point out may not be the most helpful. All right kimberly how could live for us there outside the white house more news out of washington to tell you about within the last few minutes former advisor to the us president roger stone has been found guilty of 7 offenses including lying to congress and witness tampering stone was charged earlier this year joining the house of representatives intelligence committees investigation into russian interference in the 2016 election lets cross now to have a cold hand in washington for us so patty what more are we hearing on this. Well the jury has just come back they didnt deliberate for very long just about 7 hours over 2 days so now we know roger stone the self labeled dirty trick star of politics is facing some time in prison as you mentioned guilty on all 7 counts that he was charged on that included obstructing an official investigation obstructing justice and lying to congress which is a crime so the bottom line here is the connection between wiki leaks and those hacked democratic emails that roger stone publicly would go on twitter before they were released and say somethings coming but then when he was asked about it in congress as part of their Ongoing Investigation into russian interference into the u. S. Election he basically said it wasnt me it was coincidence i was looking at public statements didnt have any emails didnt have any phone calls and talk to the campaign wasnt me so then because of the Robert Mueller investigation special counsel he was brought up on charges these 7 charges because they actually produced Text Messages emails phone calls witnesses who said yes that was in fact roger stone he was trying to be the go between between wiki leaks and the campaign and one testified that he even directly told the president who was then a candidate that wiki leaks was about to do these dumps so what now well hes facing some pretty serious time in prison potentially up to 50 years in prison but that said theyll go through federal guidelines and theres all sorts of line items that they go through hes not been convicted before is no it wasnt a Violent Crime so hes probably facing a lot less time than that this is roger stone and this is a man who basically thought that he could he likes to think of itself as being able to talk his way out of things but he didnt really put on much of a defense a lot of legal analysts were wondering what exactly the strategy was he didnt try to defend himself on the stand his lawyers basically played some of his testimony and that was basically it so his strategy of saying little didnt work now he can hopefully hes probably hoping that the president his old friend will give them apart. Yeah and this as we were saying this is this is a case that grew out of the special counsel Robert Muller as investigation into alleged russian meddling in the 2016 elections so. How how how significantly does this affect President Trump where does he fit into this in terms of legal hot water. Well it very much significantly impacts him not necessarily that hes going to be brought up in charges or any of the having ties to this because again as we know the Justice Department has a long standing rule that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted for a crime but the question is if he doesnt pardon him does that send a broader signal to all of the people who are now in the focus of congress the really giulianis of the world who may actually decide you know what its probably time for me to testify so far theyve basically been stonewalling congress saying im not going to talk to you if he doesnt step in and help stone avoid what could be some serious prison time that would send the message to all of these people in his orbit that he wont be there for them if they get into trouble and it is widely believed that Rudy Giuliani is facing some serious legal challenges 2 of his associates have been already indicted by a federal prosecutor for Campaign Finance violations theres questions about how much he was being paid by ukraine if he was being paid by ukraine so he could be in a lot of hot legal water he has the president s loyalty to count on for this because remember when it comes to federal crimes which is what roger stone is facing the president has Carte Blanche ability to do what he wants with pardons he can pardon him he can commute is sentence so those around the president are going to be watching closely to see how the president responds to stone so on for his part obviously a very flamboyant character known for his interesting suit choices and the fact that he has a tattoo of Richard Nixons full face on his entire back he likes to talk this is going to be hard for him when he leaves court youre going to be thinking hes going to really unload you know he can the judges are issued a gag order on him until hes sentenced in february so you might try to defy it but well wait and see what he does he doesnt likes to stay quiet. All right patty cohen live for us there in washington thanks betty lets go back to failand gray now assistant professor of Political Science at texas a and m. University joins us live now from doha studio good to speak with you again so last time we spoke we were we were discussing the pietschmann hearings that have been taking place earlier in the day but i want to ask you about raja stone and what do you make of the the news that he has been found guilty on all 7 counts and what sort of damage could this potentially do to President Trump politically in terms of the damage can do him politically. I suspect it and i suspect it probably wont cause much political damage just in terms of those who either very much are in support of him this is going to really make that much of a difference those who are not in support of him this will be additional ammunition i would say it would probably be very embarrassing for them but certainly the correspondence point i suspect one thing that will not happen is i strongly doubt the trump would actually pardon roger stone i think roger stone is going to be looking forward to quite a bit of time in jail at this point really why did why did why do you dont why do you say he wont pardon him. For a few reasons the 1st being that politically as embarrassing as this conviction is actually pardoning him would be would be something that would cause political problems and that would be something that most likely would make people think ok this seems like more of a Richard Nixon move than anything else if he was trying to get people away from thinking those sort of ways leaving roger stone to prison is probably his better bet honestly the 2nd is in many ways the. Conviction of other stone is sort of tying up one of the loose and last ends of the mueller investigation. In effect theres probably not much else to. That much more damage this can do trump in many ways so leaving him to leave him stone to prison is probably a wise bet the 3rd being that i doubt that this are going to be political damage in terms of if he doesnt pardon him will other people think well my gosh were on our own most likely they may be looking at waterstones case of saying ok the president is going to pardon him but on the other hand they may look at other cases of say other individuals who have spoken to the f. B. I. Who at least the accusation from say the trump side of that is that they are every time they talk to the f. B. I. Or criminal investigators theyre affectively walking into perjury traps that even if they may not if theyd like the president to pardon them theyre better off just saying nothing because inevitably theyre going to get prosecuted if it may just be from. Mis remembering something stone as the corresponding mentions is kind of a torturous clown in a lot of ways. Trip not pardoning him will probably have not much of an effect on others who are in a circle in many ways but if the president chooses not to pardon him i mean doesnt that isnt there a danger then because patty was making this point earlier that the message that this could potentially send to others around the president who have been loyal to him up to this point i mean it could it most certainly could send a message of that but there are 2 factors are involved with this 1st is again of those who have been in trumps orbit roger stone is is among those who is more unique i guess you could put it mildly he is tortillas for being somewhat of a rather unique character. Those who are tend to be a little bit more diplomatic subtle or or just a little more cautious may figure ok that stones mistake was he was being too flamboyant and in fact the 2nd is the against that earlier point so they may say yes hes not pardoning someone like stone but i could try talking. Like general flynn and still end up getting convicted of of or being charged and convicted with issues on relating to or things of that type they may just say ok were better off just not be being quiet because if we say nothing maybe we just will be harmed and as and as were talking to you there philip that were just putting out that tweet there from from donald trump because hes wasted no time in tweeting about this news as well and saying they now convict roger stone of lying and want to jail him for many years to come well what about crooked hillary komi straws off the page mckay brennan. Shifty schiff or a Nellie Steele and all of the others including even mullah himself didnt they lie a double standard like never seen before in the history of our country is going through you know what you might call a kind of greatest hits of the people that that hes targeted in the pasta you know some of them career offices in the f. B. I. Former diplomats and so on here so he certainly hasnt pulled back on that has he not a bit not a bit and admittedly that is probably something that will be part of the argument in terms of if this comes up dealing with roger stone of saying ok doesnt this show there are corruption problems some of the people he specifically chosen that tweet. Are interesting so we bring some clinton of course you expect clinton to come up but will most likely be bringing up the issue of ok all right sorry to interrupt you fairly were going to philip were going to go back to washington now where those hearings are resume investment if thats true how does that comport with a tourist. In the fairness that is reportedly so sure of that resolution. Gentleman the t. V. For the way this is wasnt working so they were given copies this morning it is now 45 minutes to write remember new has to do what you said at the screen in front of them some work and my understanding is the screen was not working in front of them so they were given a copy so they could read along since they cant see the screen. Mr news you recognize for 45 minutes along with minority counsel. First chair i want to submit for the record senator grassley his letter to the department of justice dated july 20th 2017 i read a portion of that into the record during my Opening Statement without objection. Basser i congratulate you youve been down in the secret deposition meeting rooms youve graduated for your performance today. Later this afternoon i should note that the public that we will be back down in the basement of the capitol doing more of these secret depositions. Bastardize have a i dont really have very many questions for you you have made it in your Opening Statement that. You dont have any 1st hand knowledge of the issues that were looking into. But i do want to talk a little bit about senator grassley very briefly i assume that you know who senator grassley is. Yes sir. Do you believe that senator grassley is a serious and credible elected official i have never even to think otherwise were you involved in the july 25th trip selenski phone call or preparations for the call you know it was not were you involved in the deliberations about the pozen military sales to ukraine as the trumpet ministration reviewed newly elected president skis commitment to corruption reforms. It for the delay and for the pas pas. No i was not were you involved in the proposed trump selenski later pencil in scheme meetings in Warsaw Poland on september 1st you know i was not a jew ever talked to President Trump in 2019 you know i have not Mick Mulvaney you know i have not thank you ambassador. Not exactly sure what the ambassador is doing here today this is the House Intelligence Committee that snout turned into the house and pietschmann committee this seems more appropriate for the subcommittee on Human Resources at the Foreign Affairs committee if theres issues was with employment disagreements with the administration that would seem like this be a more appropriate setting instead of an impeachment hearing where the ambassador is not a material fact witness to anything any of the accusations that are being hurled at the president for this impeachment inquiry im a. Question is i think mr castor wants to get to know mystify nick you had a few quick questions for the ambassador yield to you mr panic thank you mr nunez and asked are you gonna bitch thank you for being on a limb here and gentlewoman was suspend what is the interruption for this time it is our time the gentleman will suspend your not recognized mr nunez you are my kind of soul i just recognized under the house resident 660 youre not allowed to yield time except a minority and a Ranking Member yelled at times im not a member of congress i was not accurate your gag yet is that here you are a master you gonna bitch i want to thank you for gentlemen and are not recognized this is the 5th time you have interrupted members i want calmly let recognize on gravel that will suspend. Mr chair we control the time. And customary this committee that whoever controls the time can yield to whoever they wish and we have members of congress that have a few questions it seems appropriate that we be able to let mystify nic. Ask your question. And then as you or minority counsel recognized. Mr caster you recognized thank you and mr newness bassett are welcome thank you for thank you for your service 33 years an extraordinary career. It really has been a remarkable. A 10 year for you at the state department so id like to thank you for participating here today this is. A crazy environment this hearing room is turned into a Television Studio before today you spent on the friday the 11th you were with us for early in the morning until i believe it was 8 oclock at night people miss trains back to new york and it was a complete. Very complete days of thank you. You were serving a 3 year assignment in the ukraine is that correct yes and it began in 2016 and was scheduled to to end in 2019 yes thats correct. And you know nobody disputes that its up to the president to decide who is envoy who is envoys are to posts around the world cracked as to that clearly in my statement. And you returned from the ukraine on may 20th 21000 thats correct and your return coincided with inauguration of president selenski yes. And you remain employed by the state department i do. And. After you return to washington the deputy secretary John Sullivan asked you what you wanted to do next is that correct yes thats correct and then you met with the director general ambassador perez yes thats correct. Danny identify a meaningful new assignment yes and you now serve in Georgetown University as a fellow thats true and this is a rewarding position for you. Im very grateful to be in that position after what happened today is the 2nd big hearing. For the democrats and an impeachment initiative. But we dont understand or we do understand that you you dont have a lot of facts and information relating to the the the part of this that were were investigating. And those are the events from may 20th up until. September 11th the release to Security Assistance fund secor act yes thats going so you were not part of. The delegation to the inauguration i was the day you returned you were not part of the Oval Office Meeting may 23rd correct yes thats correct. And you were not part of the Decision Making relating to whether there would be a white house meeting with president slutsky thats correct and. You were not part of veni Decision Making in the lead up to the july 25th call thats correct and you 1st learned about the call on september 25th is that correct well i heard about the call as i indicated in the 1st deposition from Deputy Assistant secretary george cant. And what did what did he what did he tell you about the call well. As it turns out it wasnt correct but what i recall is that he said that President Trump had asked president selenski whether he could you know help him out and which i understood to be these investigations and that presents a lansky had said that he is putting in a new prosecutor general and that he doesnt control. I mean this is approximately what he said that that that that person is an independent individual ok and you learned about that before the call was made public thats correct. Likewise you were not involved in any discussions surrounding the Security SectorAssistance Funds to ukraine that they were pas for about 55 days from july 18th as number 11. No discussions. In your. Opening statement on page 9. You stated although then and now ive always understood that i served at the pleasure of the president i still find it difficult to comprehend that foreign and private interests were able to undermine u. S. Interests in this way individuals who apparently felt stymied by our efforts to promote stated u. S. Policy against corruption that is to do the mission were able to successfully conduct a campaign of this information against the sitting ambassador using unofficial back channels do you believe that president trap was aiming to weaponize corruption in ukraine by removing you. I i dont know that ok. You believe your removal was part of some scheme to make it easier for elements of the ukrainian establishment to. Do things counter to u. S. Interests i think thats certainly what the ukrainian establishment hoped i think that in addition there were americans these 2 individuals. Who were working with mayor giuliani mr parnell sinister freeman who have recently been indicted by the Southern District of new york who indicated that they wanted to change out the ambassador and i think they must have had some reason for that do you think they were seeking a different type of master that would allow them to achieve some of their objectives i dont know what other reason there would be ok is ambassador taylor the type of person that would facilitate those objectives now so an ambassador taylor is a man of High Integrity absolutely and hes a hes a good pick for the post. He is i would note that he is the shark day out there is as of course you understand so no ambassador has yet been or no candidate has yet been named to the position but he certainly has had a decorated career serving his country absolutely a man of the highest integrity. You testified about when you 1st learned that mayor giuliani and some of his associates were. At a Concerted Campaign against you when did that 1st come to your attention. We were picking up rumors from ukrainians i think you know kind of in the November December 20th 100 time period. But then in january february of course march it became obvious. Its some point i believe you testified that the minister of iraq