Ridiculous charge that i urged the Ukrainian Government to investigate corruption well, i did and im proud of it you got to watch that whole interview. Its 30 minutes worth taking in. Meantime, our team is covering all of the latest details from across washington. Lets begin this hour with our Kaitlan Collins who joins us at the white house. Good morning, kaitlan. Look, i mean, i dont want know who the president is going to call on today, but whoever he does should certainly ask all about this phone call. And its hard to see how the president doesnt get asked about it when hes standing there next to the australian Prime Minister. And this is something that is really hanging over what you described as, yes, the second state visit of Donald Trumps protest. Something he was tweeting about just moments before he came out to greet the australian Prime Minister and his delegation here on the south lawn just moments ago. The president accusing this whistleblower of being partisan, though its unclear if the president knows the identity of this whistleblower who has filed this complaint, knows any of their personal politics. But thats a similar argument to what his attorney, Rudy Giuliani was saying just last night. Not only accusing this person of potentially being a democrat, trying to take down the president , but also contradicting himself when he was asked, did he direct the ukrainians to investigate who could potentially be the president s political opponent . Did you ask the ukraine to investigate joe biden . No. Actually, i didnt. I asked the ukraine to investigate the allegations that there was interference in the election of 2016 by the ukrainians for the benefit of hillary clinton, for which there already you never asked anything about hunter biden, you never asked anything about joe biden . The only thing i asked about Joe Joe Biden is get to the bottom of how it was that ewe senco, who was appointed would dismiss the case so you did ask ukraine to look into joe biden . Of course, i did. You just said you didnt reporter its unclear how ukraine fits into this whistleblowers complaint. But its important to keep in mind that also in that winding interview that Rudy Giuliani gave last night, he made the argument that it actually would be okay if the president did tell the Ukrainian Government to, quote, straighten up in order to receive that aid money that they received, that military aid money, which is to protect ukraine from russia. Thats an argument he made there last night. Well see if the president makes a similar argument when he speaks with reporters. Were going to see him in the oval office in just a few minutes from now. Okay. Were waiting. Kaitlan collins, thank for that great reporting. For the latest on the whistleblower complaint, cnn National CorrespondentAlex Marquardt joins me now. The president this morning without basis alleging that the whistleblower is highly biased. But the Inspector General deemed that complaint urgent, by his own judgment. Thats right. This complaint was filed by someone from the Intelligence Community on august 12th. And if we look at this timeline, now with this new reporting that this has to do with ukraine, we know that in the final days of july, specifically on july 25th, that there was a phone call between the president of ukraine, zlinski and President Trump. That complaint then filed on august 12th. Now, this was of such urgent concern, the Inspector General found, that he went to the director of national intelligence, the acting director, Joseph Maguire, who is in theory supposed to forward that then on to the congressional oversight committees. Instead, he went to the department of justice, who counseled him that this was not, in fact, part of intelligence activity. It was not part of his jurisdiction. But the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community was so disturbed that he himself went directly to congress. And yesterday, we saw him briefing the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors. Now, he was very careful this is michael atkinson, the Inspector General, to not delve into the details in this complaint. He talked about the process, he talked about the law, but what he did say is that there were multiple acts of concern to this whistleblower. Now, we know that this centers around communications between the president and a foreign leader. And a promise that was made. The new york times, the Washington Post saying this has to do with ukraine. We do not know what the promise made was. But, jim, i want to read part of the Inspector Generals letter to the House Intelligence Committee that underscores how urgent he felt this complaint was. He writes that the subject matter involved in the complaintants disclosure not only falls within the dnis jurisdiction, but relates to one of the most significant and important of the dnis responsibilities to the american people. Now, the House Intelligence Committee had subpoenaed Joseph Maguire to testify yesterday. He declined, but he will now be appearing before the house and Senate Intel Committees next week. You can be assured that they have some very significant questions for him then. Jim . No question. And the language from the Inspector General there, very clear about just how seriously hes taking it. Alex marmarquardt, thanks very much. Lets talk about this with our experts. Cnn legal analyst, Michael Zeldin is with us, former federal prosecutor, and rachael bey, political reporter for the Washington Post. Good morning to you both. Thank you for being here. And michael, let me begin with you. A number of the president s allies are comparing this to president obama. And theyre specifically bringing up that sort of hot mic moment when president obama told medvedev essentially, let me get through this and ill be much more open to negotiate postelection. Listen to matt schlapp and his argument on that front. He has very wide authority, really, Unchecked Authority, to talk about to World Leaders about anything he deems appropriate, as hes representing the United States of america. If this were able to go forward, any staffer in an agency could constantly hobble a democratic president , duly elected. Michael zeldin, Unchecked Authority . Is that what the president has . He has broad authority, but that authority is checked by his obligation to act on behalf of the United States and not on behalf of himself. And the allegations here, the facts of which we dont know, all seem to imply that the president may have been acting on behalf of his own interests, his own campaign interests. And not the interests of the United States. So were it the case that he was only acting on behalf of the United States, then matts argume argument, but its not known yet how the president was acting and what gave rise to the complaint. Rachael, it strikes me listening to Rudy Giuliani last night that in a moment, even, his position moved from defending and denying to justifying, frankly. What he did here, which was, you know, go there and try to pursue, pressure the Ukrainian Government to further investigate someone who happens to be a political opponent of the president. Is that where this administration is on this now . Sort of like foreshadowing what their position would be, should these reports, you know, these suspicions be true, right . I mean, giuliani has done this before with the Mueller Report where he said, oh, you know, the president didnt do anything wrong. But if he did something, it wasnt illegal. So you know, weve sort of heard that argument before. But its interesting, because on capitol hill, you know, democrats, theyre trying to get a copy of this complaint to see exactly what the allegation is. And we have seen the white house over and over again stonewall congress. And this is just sort of following in that vein. And i talked to a lot of democrats between Corey Lewandowskis appearance on tuesday, where he was very defiant, talked over members, promoted his own campaign, and was otherwise very disregarding of congressional authority. And this, where the whistleblower complaint, theyre not allowing it to come to congress when it should, theres a real frustration. And democrats, they dont know how to hit back right now. And theyre in this real pickle where theyre having to wait for the courts to rule in. They could take this to the courts, but it could literally be months, if not years until we see what this complaint actually is. That seems to be part of the administrations strategy. Drag it out. Michael zeldin, simple question, but i think an important one. If you were the first reporter to get called on in the press conference today, what would you ask the president about all of this . What did he say to this foreign leader that may have triggered the determination that this was an urgent matter that required congressional oversight. Explain to us, what is at the heart of this complaint to your understanding. Fair question. Simple, will he give a straightforward answer . Yeah, rachael, to be clear, if you look at past precedent on this, the president has, in the past, said that he would accept, for instance, foreign help in a campaign. Hes justified that. Well, listen, if they offer, this is something that we would have to look at. So its possible the president goes that path here, is it not . Yeah, no, hes really its clear that the white house and the president in particular feel emboldened. I mean, the Mueller Report, the russia investigation was sort of hovering over his head, his whole presidency so far. After that wrapped up, you know, weve just seen him make comments like that. Well, well see if a Foreign Government offers help. Well see what it would be, instead of saying, absolutely, i wouldnt do this. The g7, talking about having the g7 at one of his hotels in florida. You know, people saying that 100 goes against the emoluments clause that said a president cannot be accepting any sort of gifts from a Foreign Government. And over and over again, he is showing that he doesnt care about defying congress. And you know, its were getting a sense from the white house that they feel like the democrats arent going to do anything in the house, and they can pretty much do whatever they want. And you know, poppy, the phone call with the ukrainian president came one day after bob muellers less than exciting testimony on capitol hill. To rachaels point about the possibility of feeling emboldened. Yeah, absolutely. Michael zeldin, just as we go, something that struck both jim and i this morning is the difference between the readouts of that call with the ukrainian president , between the white houses readout and ukraines readout. This line was not in the white house version, where the ukrainian readout said the ukrainian president is convinced ukraine can improve its image by, quote, complete investigation of Corruption Cases, which inhibited the interaction between the ukraine and the United States. Is there a there there. Because Rudy Giuliani last night was talking about corruption, anticorruption. And the white house didnt include that party. Right. So if the president of the United States said to the president of the ukraine, look, your country is filled with corruption, if you want to be our ally, if you want to receive our foreign aid, straighten up, clean up your house. That would be, i think, appropriate. If, however, it was more along the lines of, look, i know youre investigating the bidens or hunter biden, if you pursue that more aggressively, then well release the foreign aid money, that would be inappropriate. And so the statement boldly is not clear, but the implications are of what one wants to read into it. It could have been a positive promise as opposed to a demand. Michael zeldin, rachael bade, great to have both of you. Other news, senator Mitch Mcconnell says he will now support an amendment that gives 250,000 for states going into 2020. Its good they will have this extra amount of resources, but this is an aboutface for the Senate Majority leader who has resisted for months that additional funding. Our Congressional Correspondent lauren foss joins us on capitol hill and he took a lot of flack for this. I mean, this is what got him that nickname, moscow mitch. Reporter right. And i was in kentucky in august and moscow mitch had really caught on, even in the local sphere of politics there. I saw a lot of signs, a lot of buttons, a lot of tshirts. So obviously, mcconnell announcing yesterday on the floor that he supported this amendment. Then they voted on it in committee. It passed out of committee. Now the question is, will it go to the senate for a full vote, and how do they conference that with the house . And will the president sign it . But ultimately, this is a substantial amount of money. Mcconnells team is pushing back, saying, this is not a reversal for the majority leader. In fact, he has supported more money for Election Security in past appropriations bills. And he was simply waiting for the appropriations process to unfold on capitol hill. Thats what theyre doing right now. Thats why he was willing to introduce this amendment right now. But democrats claiming that the majority leader relented. That their pressure over Election Security, this nickname that he doesnt like, all were too much pressure and that mcconnell ultimately had to change his mind about giving more money for Election Security. Poppy and jim . You think it might have been an easy call given how seriously u. S. Intelligence agencies are taking the threat to the upcoming election. Lauren fox, thanks very much. Still to come this hour, we are expecting to hear from the president very soon. Will he address the growing whistleblower scandal . Plus, new doubts about the political future for canadian Prime Minister justin trudeau. He has apologized again after those new images of him in blackface surfaced. And he actually admits that he doesnt know how many times he may have worn blackface. And it may be the biggest day of climate demonstrations ever. 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Right now, President Trump and the australian Prime Minister are sitting down for a bilateral meeting at the white house. The two are expected to discuss security and trade, as the president hosts Scott Morrison and his wife. It is only the second state visit of trumps administration. But a big question, will the president address the growing questions about a whistleblower . Joining me now, congressman eric swalwell, democrat from california and a member of both the house intelligence and judiciary committees, who are very much in the middle of it. Congressman, thanks so much for taking the time this morning. Of course, good morning, jim. So first question, you were in the room yesterday for testimony from the Inspector General of the office of the director of national intelligence. I know this was a closed session, though, not classified. Can you tell us, did he reveal anything about the nature of this whistleblower complaint . Jim, it was so frustrating, because hes been silenced. And you could just sense the frustration that he had, because his job, as the Inspector General, is to be a channel that a whistleblower can go to, if they see something wrong. And then he is, you know, to put a report together that ultimately makes its way to congress and his job is being impeded right now by the