Transcripts For CNNW CNN Tonight With Don Lemon 20190926 : v

Concerned President Trump sought to pressure ukraine to quote help the president s 2020 reelection campaign. Also today the white house released a rough transcript of that july 25th phone call which in part spurred the whistleblower to come forward. On that call, President Trump clearly and openly pressed ukraines president zelensky to work with Rudy Giuliani and bill barr to investigate his 2020 abone want joe biden and his son. President trump tried to argue today that the transcript, the rough transcript would exonerate him. Its a joke. Impeachment for that when you have a wonderful meeting or you have a wonderful phone conversation . But releasing the rough transcript did not exonerate the president. And though some republicans are sticking by the white house talking points insisting theres nothing to see here, there already appear cracks in that facade with republican senator ben sass who read the whistleblower complaint this evening calling it very troubling. En senator mitt romney calling it troubling in the extreme. Pat toomey, calling it inappropriate. The principle the president violated is as then governor pence and the debates of 2016 called it, pretty basic stuff. Now, you all need to know out there this is basic stuff. Foreign donors and certainly foreign governments cannot participate in the american political process. The deed. Now so much of what we do know about this scandal has been admitted by President Trump or Rudy Giuliani, stated out in the open this afternoon. Sitting with zelensky President Trump again noted how much military aid the u. S. Has given ukraine under his administration while calling hunter biden corrupt and noting wink wink zelensky is known for fighting corruption. When bidens son walks away with millions of dollars from ukraine and he knows nothing and theyre paying him millions of dollars, thats corruption. I think its a horrible thing. Sometimes, anderson, it almost seems like President Trump is all but daring the legislative and judicial bodies of the United States to live up to the checks and balances of the american system. Whether and how they will remains unclear. Its amazing to see that pence sound bite from what seems like a long time ago. It wasnt. That said, jake, what is becoming clear is we may soon be learning a whole lot more about the allegations at the center of this. Late tonight we learned he or she has teptively agreed to meet the lawmakers on the house Intelligence Committee, correspondence obtained by cnn. It would be on the condition the director of acting intelligence Joseph Maguire whos testifying tomorrow approves appropriate security clearances for the whistleblowers Legal Counsel so they can be there with their client. Also tonight late new details from the New York Times on some of the specifics of the original complaint by the whistleblower as well as the scope of it. The times, quote, there were multiple white house officials as witnesses to potential president ial misconduct who could corroborate the complaint. Adding that the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson interviewed witnesses. And of course tomorrow acting dni maguire testifies before the house intelligence kmat. Were going to get to all of this in the special hour ahead. But were going to start where everything started this morning, a rough transcript of that phone call between a ukrainian president desperately needing american aid, facing Russian Military forces and an american president seeking to have his political foes investigated. Thank you very much, mr. President. Reporter the call begins with President Trump congratulating the president on his repeat big win in the parliamentary election. President zelensky responds, quote, i would like to confess to you i had an opportunity to learn from you. Zelensky is following a rule many World Leaders have picked up on the key to President Trumps heart. Flattery will get you everywhere. President trump responds well it is very nice of you to say that. I will say that we do a lot for ukraine. The u. S. Congress had approved nearly 400 million in aid for ukraine this year alone. But just before the phone call President Trump had put a hold on that. President trump goes onto say, quote, the United States has been very good to ukraine. I wouldnt say that its reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good, but the United States has been very, very good to ukraine, unquote. That specific line i wouldnt say that its reciprocal necessarily is under scrutiny. Was he in fact pushing zelensky to step up . President zelensky tells trump were almost ready to buy more javelins from the United States for defense purposes. Javelins are shoulder fired missiles. The 400 million aid package to ukraine included 250 million in military aid. The president responds to that by saying, i would like you to do us a favor. Then he mentions the firm cloud strike. Cloud strike investigated a data breach of the dnc during the 2016 election and concluded that the russians were behind the hack. Cloud strike is also at the center of Rudy Giulianis investigation into how former Trump Campaign chairman Paul Manafort was implicated for the work he did in ukraine. President trump goes onto say i would like to have the attorney general call you or your people, and i would like you to get to the bottom of it. Zelensky responds by saying, we are open to any future cooperation. He doesnt say no to trumps request for this favor. Zelensky goesoon to say i will personally tell you one of my assistants spoke with mr. Giuliani recently. This confirms zelensky was already aware of giulianis efforts to investigate both the manafort situation and the role joe biden played in ukraine while his son hunter biden sat on the board of a ukrainian company. Zelensky then says i guarantee as the president of ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly. Trump then asks zelensky to listen to giuliani and says i will ask him to call you along with the attorney general. Trump now adding attorney general barr to giulianis quest to investigate political rives of trumps. And President Trump then mentions joe biden by name. Saying theres a lot of talk about bidens son, that biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that. Its unclear what prosecution trump is talking about, and there is no public evidence that joe bidens son, hunter biden, was himself under investigation. President zelensky then says the next prosecutor will look into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue. President trump again says i will have mr. Giuliani give you a call. This is now the fourth time hes brought up giulianis name. The call ends with trump saying congratulations on a fantastic job youve done a simple thank you from president zelensky and byebye. And the whistleblower complaint landed in congress, specifically the house and Senate Intelligence committees. I spoke to him just before air tonight. Congressman, obviously the complaint is classified and theres certainly a lot you cannot say. You have read it. What was your overall reaction to what you read . As you point out, i cant discuss the details, but ill tell you its very well written, its very credible and it absolutely should have been delivered to congress under the statute. So i think, you know, my base take away is and my questions for the acting director of National Intelligence will center around why it was withheld when the statute is Crystal Clear that its supposed to be delivered. The argument is that because it had something to do with the president , that that was an unusual situation for the dni and therefore thats why they went to their general counsel who then sumgggested going to t department of justice. Do you buy that explanation . You have to ask yourself when 50 usc section 33 which is the whistleblower law makes no provision to going to the department of justice. Doesnt say you check your jurisdiction, doesnt say you check with the white house. It says you get the complaint, and at the expectative the general says its credible and urgent you send it to congress in seven days and you can comment on it. It says that. I think the hard question for the acting director of National Intelligence is whyd you stop it. The New York Times tonight is reporting that the whistleblower believed President Trumps actions with regard to ukraine created a National Security risk. That is obviously a heavy charge to levy on a sitting president of the United States. Based on what you read, do you agree with that . If were talking about the call summary memo released publicly today i think its an extraordinary document. And i have to tell you it kind of breaks your heart. I know everybody runs to their partisan corners but just stop and think about it for a mipt. You have the president of the United States calling a foreign leader whos desperate for american assistance and hes forced to engage in this exercise where he agrees to investigate a political opponent of the president. When hes talking about the importance of the relationship. I cant understand how the president or Anyone Around him with a straight face could say this was about u. S. Concern over ongoing corruption in ukraine because just basically if you are the president of the United States and you are really concerned about current corruption in ukraine, you have many levers of government. You dont need to have Rudy Giuliani skulking about in, you know, meeting with ukrainian officials well, this is transparently. An inappropriate attempt to smear a rival using military assistance as leverage over a foreign leader. Its flat out wrong. Its probably illegal. It more than justifies an impeachment inquiry. There are a lot of moving parts to this, and it seems like there are a lot of other people who will have to be interviewed. Its not just the director of National Intelligence tomorrow. Its not just the whistleblower. Theres giuliani, the ambassador to ukraine who was ousted. Theres apparently to the times reporting people in the white house who had information about this and there are concerns the whistleblower had about how the records of this were being handled. Do you see this as a long process with a lot of people needing to be interviewed . The thing that popped out at me about the memo that was released today was not just the president s disgraceful conduct. It was that he identified two people as his go betweens with the ukrainian government. Rudy giuliani but also the attorney general of the United States who as we know heads the Justice Department that said, you know, this is outside the i. G. s jurisdiction. Boy, if thats not a conflict i dont know what is. So bill barr also has some tough questions to answer and he should recuse himself from any involvement in this. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Theres much more ahead including President Trumps reaction to all this and his surprising nonreaction as well. Also the mood on capitol hill among lawmakers may end up deciding the president s fate. That and more as our special report toips. Im your cat. Ever since you brought me home, that day. Ive been plotting to destroy you. Sizing you up. Calculating your every move. You think this is love . This is a billion years of tiger dna just ready to pounce. And if you have the wrong Home Insurance coverage, you could be coughing up the cash for this. So get allstate and be better protected from mayhem, like meow. Hey theo. Cop onstar, i have the stolen vehicle in sight. [police sirens] cop onstar, slow it down. Onstar advisor mr. Grantham, this is onstar. The police have your vehicle. Mr. Grantham thank you so much. The police have your vehicle. Colon Cancer Screening for people 50 and older at average risk. Honey, have you seen my glasses . Ive always had a knack for finding things. Colon cancer,to be exact. And i find it noninvasively. No need for time off or special prep. It all starts here. You collect your sample, and cologuard uses the dna in your stool to find 92 of colon cancers. You can always count on me to know where to look. Oh, i found them i can do this test now ask your doctor if cologuard is right for you. Covered by medicare and most major insurers its something we take personally, and believe in passionately. Its the idea that if our mothers were diagnosed with cancer, how would we want them to be treated . Thats exactly how we care for you. With answers and actions. To hear your concerns, quiet your fears, lift your spirits. With teams of cancer experts and specialists, delivering advanced Treatment Options and compassionate support every step of the way. All here in one place, with one purpose. To fight your cancer, together. Thats the mother standard of care. This is how we inspire hope. This is how we heal. Cancer Treatment Centers of america. Appointments available now. It is more than a little mindblowing how much news came at us all day all day not to mention the precedents being broken including the notion that diplomatic conversations should be kept secret. It even caught the ukrainian president offguard. Speaking to reporters he thought the white house would only President Trumps side of the conversation. President trump also broke pres dependent holding a press conference kind of unlike any weve seen from him which is saying a lot. First of all, i understand you have some new details on reaction to the whistleblower complaint. Yeah, anderson. I talked to a lawmaker who has seen the whistleblower complaint. And keep in mind some of these lawmakers are being cautious about what they can say about all this as this declassification process is under way. But according oo to this lawmaker who has seen the whistleblower complaint, there are multiple dimensions to the whistleblower complaint. More dimensions than what was first reported according to this lawmaker. This lawmaker said that the scope of the involvement of multiple aides inside the Trump Administration in terms of perting pressure on the ukrainian president , president zelensky is bigger than what was previously thought. And according to this lawmaker its because of that scope that there are likely going to be calls for multiple trump aides to testify on top of this whistleblower. It is unlikely that just hearing from this whistleblower according to this lawmaker is going to be sufficient at this point according to this lawmaker who saw this complaint. Anderson, the scope of this effort that was applied to president zelensky of ukraine is, quote, shocking. According to that lawmaker. This has been an interest of President Trumps ukraine in particular since essentially since he was in office. And certainly back in april there was a call and obviously the involvement of giuliani has been going on for quite some time. Im wondering what you make of the press today buzz he was talking repeatedly about the long day hed had and been in the u. N. For three days. It certainly seemed a bit rambling to say the least, and there were just a lot of things which were not true. Anderson, thats right. And to your first point, i will tell you i did talk to a source close to the white house familiar with the president s thinking who has said that the president has been seething over this ukraine issue, these allegations that he believes are relevant involving former Vice President joe biden and hunter biden for months. So, yes, the president has been angry about this for some time. But getting back to the press conference we saw a lot of that anger on display. But what we did not get were very many answers. Then when he did take questions he tried to steer clear of questions about this investigation. He was trying to get questions about the economy and the markets, as you said in a couple of points, but he never really explained what he meant when he said wed like you to do us a favor in terms of what the president said to president zelensky and also no explanation what Rudy Giuliani was doing over in ukraine, hitting all these pressure points with the ukrainians. According to the president reporters should go ask rudy what he was doing out there. Jim acosta, thank you very much. He was basically saying everybody does this, senators, this is normal behavior accused without any evidence whatsoever that the Obama Administration had done this against him. Thats just not this is not normal. No, and u. S. Senators pushing ukraine to cooperate with Justice Department investigations is not the same thing as a president privately trying to get a foreign country to specifically start an investigation of its own into his political rivals. Lets chew over all this with our experts. Joining us now we have cnn chief President Trump<\/a> sought to pressure ukraine to quote help the president s 2020 reelection campaign. Also today the white house released a rough transcript of that july 25th phone call which in part spurred the whistleblower to come forward. On that call, President Trump<\/a> clearly and openly pressed ukraines president zelensky to work with Rudy Giuliani<\/a> and bill barr to investigate his 2020 abone want joe biden and his son. President trump tried to argue today that the transcript, the rough transcript would exonerate him. Its a joke. Impeachment for that when you have a wonderful meeting or you have a wonderful phone conversation . But releasing the rough transcript did not exonerate the president. And though some republicans are sticking by the white house talking points insisting theres nothing to see here, there already appear cracks in that facade with republican senator ben sass who read the whistleblower complaint this evening calling it very troubling. En senator mitt romney calling it troubling in the extreme. Pat toomey, calling it inappropriate. The principle the president violated is as then governor pence and the debates of 2016 called it, pretty basic stuff. Now, you all need to know out there this is basic stuff. Foreign donors and certainly foreign governments cannot participate in the american political process. The deed. Now so much of what we do know about this scandal has been admitted by President Trump<\/a> or Rudy Giuliani<\/a>, stated out in the open this afternoon. Sitting with zelensky President Trump<\/a> again noted how much military aid the u. S. Has given ukraine under his administration while calling hunter biden corrupt and noting wink wink zelensky is known for fighting corruption. When bidens son walks away with millions of dollars from ukraine and he knows nothing and theyre paying him millions of dollars, thats corruption. I think its a horrible thing. Sometimes, anderson, it almost seems like President Trump<\/a> is all but daring the legislative and judicial bodies of the United States<\/a> to live up to the checks and balances of the american system. Whether and how they will remains unclear. Its amazing to see that pence sound bite from what seems like a long time ago. It wasnt. That said, jake, what is becoming clear is we may soon be learning a whole lot more about the allegations at the center of this. Late tonight we learned he or she has teptively agreed to meet the lawmakers on the house Intelligence Committee<\/a>, correspondence obtained by cnn. It would be on the condition the director of acting intelligence Joseph Maguire<\/a> whos testifying tomorrow approves appropriate security clearances for the whistleblowers Legal Counsel<\/a> so they can be there with their client. Also tonight late new details from the New York Times<\/a> on some of the specifics of the original complaint by the whistleblower as well as the scope of it. The times, quote, there were multiple white house officials as witnesses to potential president ial misconduct who could corroborate the complaint. Adding that the Inspector General<\/a> for the Intelligence Community<\/a>, Michael Atkinson<\/a> interviewed witnesses. And of course tomorrow acting dni maguire testifies before the house intelligence kmat. Were going to get to all of this in the special hour ahead. But were going to start where everything started this morning, a rough transcript of that phone call between a ukrainian president desperately needing american aid, facing Russian Military<\/a> forces and an american president seeking to have his political foes investigated. Thank you very much, mr. President. Reporter the call begins with President Trump<\/a> congratulating the president on his repeat big win in the parliamentary election. President zelensky responds, quote, i would like to confess to you i had an opportunity to learn from you. Zelensky is following a rule many World Leaders<\/a> have picked up on the key to President Trump<\/a>s heart. Flattery will get you everywhere. President trump responds well it is very nice of you to say that. I will say that we do a lot for ukraine. The u. S. Congress had approved nearly 400 million in aid for ukraine this year alone. But just before the phone call President Trump<\/a> had put a hold on that. President trump goes onto say, quote, the United States<\/a> has been very good to ukraine. I wouldnt say that its reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good, but the United States<\/a> has been very, very good to ukraine, unquote. That specific line i wouldnt say that its reciprocal necessarily is under scrutiny. Was he in fact pushing zelensky to step up . President zelensky tells trump were almost ready to buy more javelins from the United States<\/a> for defense purposes. Javelins are shoulder fired missiles. The 400 million aid package to ukraine included 250 million in military aid. The president responds to that by saying, i would like you to do us a favor. Then he mentions the firm cloud strike. Cloud strike investigated a data breach of the dnc during the 2016 election and concluded that the russians were behind the hack. Cloud strike is also at the center of Rudy Giuliani<\/a>s investigation into how former Trump Campaign<\/a> chairman Paul Manafort<\/a> was implicated for the work he did in ukraine. President trump goes onto say i would like to have the attorney general call you or your people, and i would like you to get to the bottom of it. Zelensky responds by saying, we are open to any future cooperation. He doesnt say no to trumps request for this favor. Zelensky goesoon to say i will personally tell you one of my assistants spoke with mr. Giuliani recently. This confirms zelensky was already aware of giulianis efforts to investigate both the manafort situation and the role joe biden played in ukraine while his son hunter biden sat on the board of a ukrainian company. Zelensky then says i guarantee as the president of ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly. Trump then asks zelensky to listen to giuliani and says i will ask him to call you along with the attorney general. Trump now adding attorney general barr to giulianis quest to investigate political rives of trumps. And President Trump<\/a> then mentions joe biden by name. Saying theres a lot of talk about bidens son, that biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that. Its unclear what prosecution trump is talking about, and there is no public evidence that joe bidens son, hunter biden, was himself under investigation. President zelensky then says the next prosecutor will look into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue. President trump again says i will have mr. Giuliani give you a call. This is now the fourth time hes brought up giulianis name. The call ends with trump saying congratulations on a fantastic job youve done a simple thank you from president zelensky and byebye. And the whistleblower complaint landed in congress, specifically the house and Senate Intelligence<\/a> committees. I spoke to him just before air tonight. Congressman, obviously the complaint is classified and theres certainly a lot you cannot say. You have read it. What was your overall reaction to what you read . As you point out, i cant discuss the details, but ill tell you its very well written, its very credible and it absolutely should have been delivered to congress under the statute. So i think, you know, my base take away is and my questions for the acting director of National Intelligence<\/a> will center around why it was withheld when the statute is Crystal Clear<\/a> that its supposed to be delivered. The argument is that because it had something to do with the president , that that was an unusual situation for the dni and therefore thats why they went to their general counsel who then sumgggested going to t department of justice. Do you buy that explanation . You have to ask yourself when 50 usc section 33 which is the whistleblower law makes no provision to going to the department of justice. Doesnt say you check your jurisdiction, doesnt say you check with the white house. It says you get the complaint, and at the expectative the general says its credible and urgent you send it to congress in seven days and you can comment on it. It says that. I think the hard question for the acting director of National Intelligence<\/a> is whyd you stop it. The New York Times<\/a> tonight is reporting that the whistleblower believed President Trump<\/a>s actions with regard to ukraine created a National Security<\/a> risk. That is obviously a heavy charge to levy on a sitting president of the United States<\/a>. Based on what you read, do you agree with that . If were talking about the call summary memo released publicly today i think its an extraordinary document. And i have to tell you it kind of breaks your heart. I know everybody runs to their partisan corners but just stop and think about it for a mipt. You have the president of the United States<\/a> calling a foreign leader whos desperate for american assistance and hes forced to engage in this exercise where he agrees to investigate a political opponent of the president. When hes talking about the importance of the relationship. I cant understand how the president or Anyone Around<\/a> him with a straight face could say this was about u. S. Concern over ongoing corruption in ukraine because just basically if you are the president of the United States<\/a> and you are really concerned about current corruption in ukraine, you have many levers of government. You dont need to have Rudy Giuliani<\/a> skulking about in, you know, meeting with ukrainian officials well, this is transparently. An inappropriate attempt to smear a rival using military assistance as leverage over a foreign leader. Its flat out wrong. Its probably illegal. It more than justifies an impeachment inquiry. There are a lot of moving parts to this, and it seems like there are a lot of other people who will have to be interviewed. Its not just the director of National Intelligence<\/a> tomorrow. Its not just the whistleblower. Theres giuliani, the ambassador to ukraine who was ousted. Theres apparently to the times reporting people in the white house who had information about this and there are concerns the whistleblower had about how the records of this were being handled. Do you see this as a long process with a lot of people needing to be interviewed . The thing that popped out at me about the memo that was released today was not just the president s disgraceful conduct. It was that he identified two people as his go betweens with the ukrainian government. Rudy giuliani but also the attorney general of the United States<\/a> who as we know heads the Justice Department<\/a> that said, you know, this is outside the i. G. s jurisdiction. Boy, if thats not a conflict i dont know what is. So bill barr also has some tough questions to answer and he should recuse himself from any involvement in this. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Theres much more ahead including President Trump<\/a>s reaction to all this and his surprising nonreaction as well. Also the mood on capitol hill among lawmakers may end up deciding the president s fate. That and more as our special report toips. Im your cat. Ever since you brought me home, that day. Ive been plotting to destroy you. Sizing you up. Calculating your every move. You think this is love . This is a billion years of tiger dna just ready to pounce. And if you have the wrong Home Insurance<\/a> coverage, you could be coughing up the cash for this. So get allstate and be better protected from mayhem, like meow. Hey theo. Cop onstar, i have the stolen vehicle in sight. [police sirens] cop onstar, slow it down. Onstar advisor mr. Grantham, this is onstar. The police have your vehicle. Mr. Grantham thank you so much. The police have your vehicle. Colon Cancer Screening<\/a> for people 50 and older at average risk. Honey, have you seen my glasses . Ive always had a knack for finding things. Colon cancer,to be exact. And i find it noninvasively. No need for time off or special prep. It all starts here. You collect your sample, and cologuard uses the dna in your stool to find 92 of colon cancers. You can always count on me to know where to look. Oh, i found them i can do this test now ask your doctor if cologuard is right for you. Covered by medicare and most major insurers its something we take personally, and believe in passionately. Its the idea that if our mothers were diagnosed with cancer, how would we want them to be treated . Thats exactly how we care for you. With answers and actions. To hear your concerns, quiet your fears, lift your spirits. With teams of cancer experts and specialists, delivering advanced Treatment Options<\/a> and compassionate support every step of the way. All here in one place, with one purpose. To fight your cancer, together. Thats the mother standard of care. This is how we inspire hope. This is how we heal. Cancer Treatment Centers<\/a> of america. Appointments available now. It is more than a little mindblowing how much news came at us all day all day not to mention the precedents being broken including the notion that diplomatic conversations should be kept secret. It even caught the ukrainian president offguard. Speaking to reporters he thought the white house would only President Trump<\/a>s side of the conversation. President trump also broke pres dependent holding a press conference kind of unlike any weve seen from him which is saying a lot. First of all, i understand you have some new details on reaction to the whistleblower complaint. Yeah, anderson. I talked to a lawmaker who has seen the whistleblower complaint. And keep in mind some of these lawmakers are being cautious about what they can say about all this as this declassification process is under way. But according oo to this lawmaker who has seen the whistleblower complaint, there are multiple dimensions to the whistleblower complaint. More dimensions than what was first reported according to this lawmaker. This lawmaker said that the scope of the involvement of multiple aides inside the Trump Administration<\/a> in terms of perting pressure on the ukrainian president , president zelensky is bigger than what was previously thought. And according to this lawmaker its because of that scope that there are likely going to be calls for multiple trump aides to testify on top of this whistleblower. It is unlikely that just hearing from this whistleblower according to this lawmaker is going to be sufficient at this point according to this lawmaker who saw this complaint. Anderson, the scope of this effort that was applied to president zelensky of ukraine is, quote, shocking. According to that lawmaker. This has been an interest of President Trump<\/a>s ukraine in particular since essentially since he was in office. And certainly back in april there was a call and obviously the involvement of giuliani has been going on for quite some time. Im wondering what you make of the press today buzz he was talking repeatedly about the long day hed had and been in the u. N. For three days. It certainly seemed a bit rambling to say the least, and there were just a lot of things which were not true. Anderson, thats right. And to your first point, i will tell you i did talk to a source close to the white house familiar with the president s thinking who has said that the president has been seething over this ukraine issue, these allegations that he believes are relevant involving former Vice President<\/a> joe biden and hunter biden for months. So, yes, the president has been angry about this for some time. But getting back to the press conference we saw a lot of that anger on display. But what we did not get were very many answers. Then when he did take questions he tried to steer clear of questions about this investigation. He was trying to get questions about the economy and the markets, as you said in a couple of points, but he never really explained what he meant when he said wed like you to do us a favor in terms of what the president said to president zelensky and also no explanation what Rudy Giuliani<\/a> was doing over in ukraine, hitting all these pressure points with the ukrainians. According to the president reporters should go ask rudy what he was doing out there. Jim acosta, thank you very much. He was basically saying everybody does this, senators, this is normal behavior accused without any evidence whatsoever that the Obama Administration<\/a> had done this against him. Thats just not this is not normal. No, and u. S. Senators pushing ukraine to cooperate with Justice Department<\/a> investigations is not the same thing as a president privately trying to get a foreign country to specifically start an investigation of its own into his political rivals. Lets chew over all this with our experts. Joining us now we have cnn chief Political Correspondent<\/a> dana bash with me erin the studio and van jones and cnn political analysts david gergen and carl bernstein. Dana, let me start with you. It really does seem that President Trump<\/a> thinks he did not do anything wrong here and he doesnt understand why anybody is objecting to this. Yeah, which i think is classic trump, vintage trump, right, that this is the way he operates. And he has been doing so for so many years. It is the code that Michael Cohen<\/a> talked about. The difference now is that hes not a businessman in new york. Hes the president of the United States<\/a>. And that is why what we saw in black and white today, even though it was just a summary really not even a transcript, it is so jarring for so many people to see yes, the democrats are the ones coming at him and saying that publicly obviously going as far as saying we should start an impeachment inquiry. The republicans are lock step but there are some cracks in that. There are some cracks because it is hard to kind of brush aside what is right there when it comes to what is appropriate conduct for a president of the United States<\/a>. And david, as somebody whos worked in the white house for multiple administrations, what do you think the strategy was behind putting this rough transcript out there . Why would they do that if its so incriminating . Jake, i think they made a real blunder, which underscores the fact theyre living in a bubble and the president himself woke up today thinking having said ill put the transcript out there, this summary out there, this will all go away. He completely misjudged the environment in which he find himself, which tells me hes a more isolated figure and his staff is not serving him well to arrive at this point. The fight right now is who can control the narrative. What story is the country going to draw from this . And frankly right now nancy pelosi is winning that struggle against donald trump. It certainly makes you think maybe john kelly exerted a lot more control in ret row spect than it appeared at the time. The president took a page from the trump play book and tried to blame democrats and everyone else for what he had done, but the truth of the matter is this isnt done. You dont ask foreign leaders to investigate your political rivals. Well, that was the whole point of the whole Mueller Investigation<\/a> trying to figure out had he done this. And now we have him saying, well, this time i did it. I dont think people on the other side understand that this scared the bajebers out of democrats. The idea you might have donald trump calling on foreign leaders, and at what point does this stop, and i think thats why you saw pelosi saying weve got to do something. Im a flashing yellow light of caution though on this whole idea of impeachment because if there is a risk for democrats. Number one, youre going to suck out all the oxygen for the primary for our issues. Number two, youre going to make trump a martyr in the eyes of a lot of people. But the main thing is you dont actually solve the problem. If the problem is you have the president of the United States<\/a> possibly bringing in foreign powers, he could be impeached and not removed and keep doing it. So i think until theyre actually filing these articles of impeachment, there needs to be a serious effort to pull us back from the brink and to solve the actual problem. There needs to be some new set of laws, some new set of initiatives to say you just cant do this. Im much more interested in preventing future misconduct than trying to prevent past misconduct because you can impeach this guy any day of the week and hes still going to be there and keep doing this. Were going to talk about impeachment later in the show. Carl, i want to stay focused on todays machinations, the release of that rough transcript, et cetera, and a number of times in this transcript you see President Trump<\/a> bringing up attorney general barr. In fact, not once, not twice, five times in the rough transcript he brings up barr. That barr will be working in coordination with the ukrainians and Rudy Giuliani<\/a>, in an effort to investigate Vice President<\/a> biden. Are you surprised that President Trump<\/a> sees barr as kind of like his own private detective slash personal attorney . Not at all. All you have to do is look at barrs handling of the mueller inquiry. But more than that barr at the present time is conducting an investigation supposedly of deep state action against donald trump and the whole idea that all of the Mueller Investigation<\/a> was somehow a deep state conspiracy. Barr at at the heart of an investigation indeed looking at some of these ukraine questions. What we saw today was unambiguous evidence of the corruption of the presidency of the United States<\/a> by a corrupt president. Theres nothing ambiguous in that stumry. And then to see donald trump as others have mentioned go hold that press conference that seemed almost stream of consciousness of grievance, i think you can see hes again trying to make the conduct of hillary clinton, the press, all his enemies the issue rather than his own conduct. And weve had breaking news all day from daybreak until sunset. Dana, bash, you have some more news for us. Thats right. That is tomorrow is going to be yet another roller coaster ride because the complaint delivered in a classified way to capitol hill today the whistleblower complaint. Has been declassified according to two sources including chris stuart, a republican member of the Intelligence Committee<\/a> who tweeted that we dont expect to see it until tomorrow. Theres going to be a link to it presumably online, but its big news. Right now we have reporting from sources about what it says. Tomorrow well be able to read it for ouvls just like today we were able to read the summary of this phone call. This is the whistleblower complaint that other republican senators have called very troubling or troubling in the extreme. Just ahead were going to talk with a freshman member of the Democratic Congress<\/a> about todays events and why she supports this impeachment inquiry. Stay with us. Well be right back. One of the windiest places in america. And home to three bp wind farms. 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Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms. If your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if youve had a vaccine or plan to. Serious allergic reactions may occur. I got real relief. I got clearer skin and feel better. Now, watch me. Get real relief with cosentyx. Paneras new warm grain full of flavor, color,. Full of woo full of good. So you can be too. Try our new warm grain bowls today. Panera. Food as it should be. As we first reported just a moment ago two sources are telling our dana bash that the whistleblower complaint has been declassified and could be released as soon as tomorrow morning. Meantime the number of House Democrats<\/a> who now support an impeachment inquiry is growing quickly as we learn more about President Trump<\/a>s dealings with ukraine. Another 19 House Democrats<\/a> threw their support to the impeachment inquiry today. Yeah, that includes independent congressman justin amash, that makes 216 who favor the inquiry. Doesnt mean they all support actual impeachment, but they do at this point support ininquiry. 218 votes are needed to actually impeach President Trump<\/a> in the house. Earlier i spoke to congresswoman katey hill, also vice chair of the House Oversight<\/a> committee. You read the rough transcript of that was released by the white house. You havent seen the whistleblower complaint because thats been limited to Intelligence Committee<\/a>s. Is it clear to you that the president was asking for a favor and there was a quid pro quo, even if it may have been unspoken . Its completely clear to me that the president was asking for a favor. He says it explicitly in the transcripts that he was asking for a favor from even in order to speak with the president he said he needed to. He needed to bring up this issue about joe biden and his son. So to me you dont have to have an explicit you do this and then i will restore military funding or the u. S. Will be an ally. It can be implied, and we that over and over again in so many situations that theres an implied threat or implied intimidation. And thats exactly what was happening here. Also the president today in his press conference was saying this is what senators and people in congress and other president s do, though he said he didnt do it. Is this . I mean do people who see this kind of stuff in movies, you see mob bosses doing it, is this something president s do . No, this is absolutely not something president s do. First of all, president s dont freeze aid to one of our allies currently being invaded by one of our adversaries which is russia. And he froze it and wouldnt talk to the president of that country until the president agreed offline hed have this conversation about biden and his son. And then he had the conversation, said im going to have my personal attorney follow up with you. Not his, you know, not somebody from within the administration. Not somebody from the embassy, not somebody from the corruption euunit of the treasu department. Rudy giuliani. Exactly. And then not even restoring that aid until after this whistleblower complaint was about to be released. So none of this is pres dependent and normal. We cant act like it should be normal in any ay, shape or form. And we to see this from mob bosses, not u. S. President s. But the way the white house handled records of the phone call, and we dont know exactly what that means, but it certainly seems like and again according to what other members of congress who have read the report have said is that the whistleblower names people who had information and essentially is giving a road map to where the investigation might go next. Yeah, i mean, i think we having not seen it myself, i want to know what the Intelligence Committee<\/a> is going to find out tomorrow. Im going to be watching just like anybody else when the dni comes in. And i would imagine that thats going to give us very clear directions on the Additional Information<\/a> that we need. And frankly, this is so disturbing the more that we know, the more disturbing it is. This is just not normal, and this president needs to be held accountable. Cnns reporting tonight that the whistleblower has tentatively agreed to meet with lawmakers if the acting director of National Intelligence<\/a> Joseph Maguire<\/a> testifying tomorrow is able to get appropriate clearances for the attorneys for the whistleblower. Obviously maguire answers to the white house. Do you think there will be resistance from the white house to allow that to occur so that this whistleblower can testify or do you think they have no other choice but to allow this . I would imagine theyre going to put forth any resistance they can. There may not be an option at this point. I think conducting these investigations and pushing forward under the impeachment inquiry umbrella is really important. And it shows that we are using the maximum pressure we can possibly. And if we dont get this information, then were not going to have any towards full impeachment. If we dont have the ability for the whistleblower to come forward, that in and of itself should show great alarm. I appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Ust ahead jake gets reaction from the panel to the breaking news. Two sources saying the whistleblowers complaint has been declassified and may be released as early as tomorrow morning. What are you doing . Isnt it obvious . Nah. Were delivering live market coverage and offering expert analysis completely free. Were helping you make sense of the markets without cable or a subscription from anywhere you are. I get that. But what are you doing here . Nice pajamas. Really . I say pajamas. Pajamas, pajamas, whichever. Good. Yahoo finance live. Stream free anywhere. Welcome to the show. Lets make finance make sense. music plays throughout gasp singsong budget meeting sweet. If you compare last quarter to this quarter. Various mmm. Its no wonder everything seems a little better with the creamy taste of philly, made with fresh milk and real cream. Depend\u00ae fitflex underwear for all day fun. With the creamy taste of philly, features maximum absorbency, ultra soft fabric and new beautiful designs for your best comfort and protection guaranteed. Lifes better when youre in it. Be there with depend\u00ae. Well, as astonishing as the day has been were right on the brink of another one. The acting director of National Intelligence<\/a> testifies and as we learned just a few minutes ago we could also see the declassified whistleblower complaint. Reaction from our team of political professionals. Dana, what more are you learning about this declassification . We dont know any of the details about the timing. What we are told is that this has happened. This is caaccording to two sours familiar with the declassification. And i might add chris stuart, a member of the Intelligence Community<\/a> said so in a tweet, republican from utah said so in a tweet. So theyre also getting word through the republican chain this has happened. It makes sense in many ways if theyre going to declassify, which adam schiff said today he would going to make it happen, that it would occur before this big hearing were going to see tomorrow with the acting drerk of National Intelligence<\/a> come before congress to have it all out in the open at once. It is kind of amazing the warp speed, though, that the administration is suddenly acting with given how much theyve stonewalled on issue after issue after issue. On this, the one issue we now know from nancy pelosi and sources within the Democratic Caucus<\/a> that they are narrowing in on, theyre not going to broaden at this point, narrowing in on with the impeachment inquiry, theyre finally getting serious on at least a bit of transparency. And van, theres still so much we dont know. We know about the transcript that we got from the white house or that phone call from july, that rough transcript. But we dont know the contents of the whistleblower complaint, which supposedly has much more than just that that one phone call. We should see it tomorrow. We dont know the concepts of other phone calls between President Trump<\/a> and the ukrainian president. Were told there was one in april as well. We dont know about Rudy Giuliani<\/a>s activities. But it does seem like regardless of what comes out of that, everyone is pretty dug in at this point at least on capitol hill. Heres one thing that we do know. One person can make a huge difference. Theres somebody inside that federal bureaucracy that they saw something, and it bothered them. And they decided they were going to do something, and they did want leak it. They didnt go out and try to, you know they went through the chain of command and said i just dont think is right. And as a result of that one person saying i dont think its right and trying to use the mechanisms americas government created for people just like that, here we are tonight. And one person can make a difference. I dont know whether this leaks, but please i think we should be very, very proud of that person for standing up. Hopefully this works out in some great way and some miracle at all it ends happily, but one person makes a difference. And the president attacked pelosi today saying shes lost her way, and as far as hes concerned shes no longer speaker of the house. This seems to be President Trump<\/a> once again embracing a foil. He had one in robert mueller. Do you think this is preview of whats to come in the next few months . Hes just going to talk about the squad, you know, ocasiocortez, et cetera, talib and nancy pelosi . Hell try. I dont think hell get very far arguing about socialism when the issue is about National Security<\/a> and an abuse of power. But i just think something has fundamentally changed here in this sense, jake. For several months the democrats have been pursuing various investigations, and the white house has been more successful than anyone might have imagined in stonewalling. Theyve given away very, very little. This one i think the dynamic is reversed in which the democrats actually have much more leverage than they had in the past starting with this report from the whistleblower, that person i think is van is absolutely right, they have been extremely brave putting career and possible safety at risk. But coming up with that road map as anderson called it, is really important for the committee. Theres a lot of internal sleuthing which would have taken months has now been done for them, and very importantly carl may speak to this, my sense is that the president can no longer claim executive privilege if members of his staff are called as part of this investigation. It seems to me hes waived executive priv l now by putting all this information out there. And therefore for the first time well really be able to get some key players up there, and it may look a lot like what our memories of john dean and Alex Butterfield<\/a> and others testifying back in watergate. And carl burpstein, cnn is reporting that the whistleblower has tentatively agreed to testify before members of congress in closed session if acting dni, the director of National Intelligence<\/a> maguire agrees. And i think as well if his or her lawyers can be present. That seems like a pretty good deal. Its a very big deal as is the release thats coming tomorrow of the whistleblower of the Inspector General<\/a>s report. Because what we are seeing here is that donald trump has lost control of the narrative. Up until now hes been able to a large extent especially in the Mueller Investigation<\/a> to keep the press, to keep investigators, to keep his own party and even to keep the democrats fighting on the ground that he has laid. He has laid the battlefield, and in the Mueller Investigation<\/a>, thats one of the reasons he wasnt able to prevail to the extent he did. Now hes up against nancy pelosi and a set of facts that is absolutely overwhelming. Its like a mud slide. And he has produced this mud slide, and its starting to overwhelm all the things that have worked for him before. And that is going to include what were going to hear up there on the hill, and what the Inspector General<\/a> has found as testified on our air tonight by those members of the committee who have seen what the Inspector General<\/a> said. They are genuinely horrified. And dana bash, republicans have been defending President Trump<\/a>, people like lindsey graham, et cetera have been calling this a nothing burger but you do see cracks in the facade. Also there was a unanimous vote in the senate yesterday for the white house to turn over the whistleblower complaint to the committees. That was so big. I mean how many times have we said, you know, until were blue in the face since the president took the white house that republicans wont stand up to him . Well, they did with that vote. And that is in large part why the whistleblower complaint was delivered in a classified way today, likely declassified and publicly tomorrow. The cracks are important, and ben sass in particular saying not just im troubled but everybody on stop circling there wagons stop saying theres nothing there and stop circling the wagons was the term he used because we have to look at this. Were going to put it all in perspective next. Stay with us. Fact is, every Insurance Company<\/a> hopes you drive safely. But allstate actually helps you drive safely. With drivewise. It lets you know when you go too fast. And brake too hard. With feedback to help you drive safer. Giving you the power to actually lower your cost. Unfortunately, it cant do anything about that. Now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . We have some great new ideas that we want to present to you today. [son] who are you talking to . [son] that guys scary. The first item on the list is selecting a chairman for the. For the Advisory Board<\/a> whats this . As well as use the remaining. Child care options run out. Lifetime Retirement Income<\/a> from tiaa doesnt. Guaranteed monthly income for life. Its how we bring real hope to our Cancer Patients<\/a> like viola. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, her team at ctca created a Personalized Care<\/a> plan that treated her cancer and strengthened her spirit. So viola could focus on her future. Their future. This is how we inspire hope. This is how we heal. Cancer Treatment Centers<\/a> of america. Appointments available now. Adding quickly to the breaking news on the whistleblower complaint, a source telling Cnns Jim Acosta<\/a> that complaint will arrive tomorrow morning with minimal redactions. And over the past couple nights, jake, on 360, weve been noting how truly historic each day has been. Tomorrow certainly looks to be no exception with the declassification of the complaint as well as the testimony from the acting director of the dni. Well all be watching for that. What im curious about with the declassification on this, jake, is according to those who have seen the whistleblower complaint, the original one, it actually names names of people in the white house who were witnesses to this or have information. I assume the declassification will mean those names are redacted. Yeah, that will be interesting to see what has been redacted, what hasnt. Also, i mean, people talk about this being a rorschach test. Its just so unusual that you have mitt romney, ben sasse, other republicans reading this, being alarmed, being disturbed, and yet you have other republicans seeing this and saying, doesnt seem like a big deal to me. Really fascinated. Really cant wait to see whats in there. Certainly a lot still to learn, and hopefully well learn a lot more tomorrow and in the days ahead. That does it for us tonight in this special report. Were going to be back at the same time tomorrow. The news continues right after the break. Stay with us. A catch. Like somehow you wind up getting less. But now that i book at hilton. Com, and i get all these great perks. I got to select my room from the floor plan. Very nice. I know, im good at picking stuff. Free wifi. Laptop by the pool is a bold choice. And the price match guarantee. How do you know all of this . Are you like some magical hilton fairy . Its just here on the hilton app. Just available to the public, so. Book at hilton. Com and get the hilton price match guarantee. If you find a lower rate, we match it and give you 25 off that stay. If ylittle thingsate tcan be a big deal. , thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Jill jill has entresto, and a na Heart Failure<\/a> pill that helped keep people alive and out of the hospital. Dont take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren or if youve had angioedema with an ace or arb. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. Ask your doctor about entresto. Where to next . Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States<\/a> and around the world. Im john vause live from studio 7 at cnn headquarters. Ahead this hour, did the white house just make impeachment almost inevitable . Many legal experts say there is enough evidence to prove my crimes and misdemeanors. President trump, though, continues to insist hes done nothing wrong. Some see extortion and abuse of power, he sees a beautiful conv","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia801006.us.archive.org\/20\/items\/CNNW_20190926_060000_CNN_Tonight_With_Don_Lemon\/CNNW_20190926_060000_CNN_Tonight_With_Don_Lemon.thumbs\/CNNW_20190926_060000_CNN_Tonight_With_Don_Lemon_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240617T12:35:10+00:00"}