They were asking us what to do. They didnt want to do this. They didnt want to get involved. They couldnt figure out where the aid was. They really wanted this meeting. We couldnt get the aid. They wouldnt give it to them. The guys on the phone with the president shouting so loud hes got the phone out here. Hes saying, yeah, the president doesnt care about anything but the bidens. What happened and why is clear. The question is the consequence. Right. And people who didnt necessarily know each other. Right. I mean they may have heard of each other, worked at the same place, but they didnt know each other and theyre all pretty much corroborating what the whistleblower said. Heres an interesting conversation that i had or im going to have it later on because, you know, you and i talk. Jk skbohn kasich and i talk occasionally to try to figure out what is going on in this world. He believes and i believe this as well, that maybe over this holiday, people are sitting at home in front of their televisions. The tvs on cnn or fox or on msnbc. Its on in the background. You may have a Football Game on now and then. But people are going to start tuning in to this, and people are starting to Pay Attention to this now. Before, theyre taking care of their families. Its all just in the background. Like you said, too many names, too many different departments. But i think it is snowballing. Theres a domino effect where people are starting to say, wait a minute. Theres another person. Theres a decorated war hero. Theres someone who is serving her country in a different way, who seems to be credible. Theres another person who seems to be credible. Theyre saying the same thing. Whether or not they think it requires impeaching the president , they certainly do think its troubling. It is troubling. Yeah. Finally someone is finally people are starting to say it. Why it happened is obvious. Now, you know, we know the range. We got it in our families. We got it in our friends. Some people are saying what were saying right now because theyre just watching it. Theyre open. Other people are looking at it through the red or blue lens, and its either this guys got to go, or its theyre all like this. Theyre just out to get him. So im just praying for a lot of trip tow fan for those families so they can go to sleep and not start fighting with each other about this because we got bigger problems. But what happened and why, im telling you don, a first week law student could pass this test. Yeah. Its about the consequences. Thats the debate to have. I grew up in a very ruby red state who has reelected a democratic governor. John bel edwards. The president had been down there three times. The Vice President was down there once. My mom said, they work the women especially africanamericans, but especially black women work their butts off, and she says actually trump was on the ballot. She a they are sick of the division and all the rhetoric. I come from a ruby red straight and i have friends who are trump supporters. Theyre not happy about that. They believe what you just said. The democrats, its a witch hunt and theyre going after this president. So whether the coming week is going to convince them, we shall see, my friend. They can say its vindictive, but theyre not going to be able to say its a witch hunt because these are all ruby red americans. These are redblooded americans serving their country who are saying these things. John kasich is coming up. You dont want to miss that conversation. I dont. But i dont like how you put me in the same category as him. You said, you and i talk, i talk with john kasich. Thats what i am to you, another kasich . No. Hes better looking. Better pedigree. Better for the country. And hes a nicer person. But he doesnt buy you lunch as often, i promise you that. Thats i mean. Hes smarter. Have a great show. Thank you very much. This is cnn tonight. Im don lemon. Really the hits keep on coming for this president. It is the eve of a huge week of impeachment testimony. We just talked about it, and this is our breaking news right now. Transcripts released just tonight from the closeddoor testimony of bill taylors aide. His name is david holmes. And state Department Official, another david, whos name is david hale. Were going to dig into both of them. We just got it a little while ago. Chris had some of it. Phil mattingly is up on capitol hill. Hes going to go through it a little bit more with you. But just stay tuned. But i want you to listen to this from holmes, talking about the call that he apparently overheard sondland and the president and why it was so shocking. This was an extremely distinctive experience in my Foreign Service career, he says. Ive never seen anything like this. Someone calling the president from a mobile phone at a restaurant and then having a conversation of this level of candor, colorful language. Theres just so much about the call that was so remarkable, that i remember it vividly. When Something Like that happens, something is remarkable, it stands out in your mind. And then there is this. Making it clear that the ukrainians knew exactly what they were dealing with in Rudy Giuliani, and i quote here again. They viewed him as a significant individual in terms of their relationship with the United States. Holmes laying out the whole shakedown in just one sentence here. Quote, i think the ukrainians gradually came to understand that they were being asked to do something in exchange for the meeting and the Security Assistance hold being lifted. That was his testimony. That is his testimony. And then theres the testimony from state Department Official, another david as i said, david hale, who says that secretary of state mike pompeo, who just cant seem to defend his own department, that he called fox news, sean hannity, about hannitys promotion of a narrative against thenambassador marie yovanovich. Quote, it did come up at some point with the secretary. I understand that he did call sean hannity. Pompeo also apparently called Rudy Giuliani. I dont believe this is a quote. I dont believe this at the time, but he did make two calls to mayor giuliani. A lot more to come on all of this for you, and were also learning tonight about what looks like an awful an awful lot like a campaign to take down witnesses as the impeachment threat grows and the president lashes out. Sources telling cnn that he wants to fire witnesses who still have white house jobs. His advisers warning that that could be seen as retaliation, especially in the wake of the president s realtime attack remember that on former ambassador yovanovich as she testified on friday, an attack that adam schiff called witness intimidation. But now in what may be an effort to placate the president , aides are exploring whether they can send some witnesses back to their departments ahead of schedule. That as were learning tonight that several republicans were more shaken by the testimony of David Hale David holmes, i should say, about that trump sondland phone call, than they let on. You remember holmes describing the conversation he heard between the president and the Eu Ambassador, and multimillion dollar trump donor gordon sonde lawn on the terrace of a crowded restaurant in kiev. Sondland telling the president that ukraines president zelensky his words, these are not my words loves your ass. The president asking, so, hes going to do the investigation . Then sondland replying, hes going to do it, adding that zelensky will do anything you ask him to. Tonight were going to take you to that restaurant, to the kiev restaurant where all of this went down. That is interesting. See some of the pictures there. That as this is shaping up to be the biggest week yet in this impeachment inquiry. Nine current and former government officials testifying on live tv. Millions of people listening from coast to coast. Buckle up, buttercup, because theres one thing that we have learned from the first round. Its that bombshells can come at any moment. And with so many witnesses set to testify starting in just a few hours, by the way, we can expect to learn a lot about who knew what and when in this ukraine pressure campaign. Heres what to watch for, okay . It all begins tomorrow morning at 9 00 a. M. Jennifer williams starts it off. Jennifer williams is an aide to the Vice President mike pence and a career Foreign Service officer. She testifies alongside Lieutenant Colonel alexander vindman. You heard that name before. Thats a ukraine expert on the nsc, the National Security council. It looks like vindman may be the subject of a campaign to discredit him as exnsc official tim morrison i know its a lot of names and senator ron johnson are raising questions about his judgment. A source telling cnn tonight vindman is prepared to answer those questions in his public testimony tomorrow. Two Trump Campaign advisers telling cnn they hope the president doesnt tweet about vindman tomorrow. Good luck with that. And expect fireworks if there is a repeat performance by republicans who ask questions that seem designed to out the whistleblower during vindmans closeddoor testimony. And then there is this Jennifer Williams that were talking about, right, who sure got under the president s skin with her closeddoor testimony released over the weekend, saying that his request on the july 25th call for investigations was unusual and inappropriate. The president , true to form, lashing out and calling her a never trumper even though she works in the Vice President s office and was handpicked by his own National Security adviser. Shes a never trumper who works for the administration and the Vice President. Okay. One white house official telling cnn williams is, quote, the most professional person in this building, and that is just the morning session that i told you about. At 2 30, were going to hear testimony from kurt volker. Youve heard that name before too. Hes the former special envoy for ukraine, who quit one day, just one day after the release of the whistleblowers complaint. He testifies side by side with tim morrison. Volker, one of the three amigos with Gordon Sondland and rick perry, who ran a rogue policy in ukraine along with Rudy Giuliani and Mick Mulvaney. A rogue policy that bill taylor, the top diplomat in ukraine, called highly irregular. I encounted an irregular foreign channel with u. S. Polymag, that included then special envoy kurt volker, u. S. Ambassador to the European Union gordon saund land, secretary of energy rick perry, white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and as i subsequently learned, mr. Giuliani. And testifying side by side with volker, tim morrison, the former nsc aide who resigned on the eve of his closeddoor testimony just last month. He told sondland told him he was acting at the direction of the president when he urged ukraine to announce the investigations the president wanted. Sondland himself testifies wednesday morning beginning at 9 00, and he can expect to face a lot of uncomfortable questions about his suddenly recalled meeting september 1st, a meeting with a top zelensky aide where he said ukraine would not get that desperately needed 400 million until they announced the investigation the investigations the president wanted. Remember, he suddenly remembered that, not to mention questions about that phone call with the president in that kiev restaurant. And if sondland learned anything from the trial of roger stone, hell be very careful to tell the truth. The whole truth, and nothing but. Hes got a lot to lose. That afternoon, pentagon official laura cooper testifies. Along with state Department Official david hale. Thursday morning i know you need a scorecard for all of this, right . Thursday morning it is former nsc official fiona hill, who we learned tonight testified that she knew in may that ukraines president felt pressured to investigate joe biden and his son. David holmes testifies alongside her. So, whew, thats where we are tonight, on the eve of what could be the biggest week in the impeachment inquiry. All of it live on tv. Listen carefully and remember to focus on the facts, not the shiny objects, not the people trying to diversit your attenti, right . Remember, focus on the substance. Facts first. A lot more details tonight from that trump sondland phone call in the middle of a kiev restaurant and why david holmes was so disturbed by it. Weve also learned a brandnew name in the investigation. Phil mattingly, john dean here to discuss next. Frequent heartburn . Not anymore. The prilosec otc twoweek challenge is helping people love what they love again. Just one pill a day. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. Because life starts when heartburn stops. 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Shark iq robot deepcleans and empties itself into a base you can empty once a month. And unlike standard robots that bounce around, it cleans row by row. If its not a shark, its just a robot. So here is our breaking news happening just a little bit ago. It actually happened on chris show and were going through these transcripts now from bill taylors aide david holmes released just tonight. Its full of stunning details about that phone call that he overheard between the president and ambassador Gordon Sondland. He also testifies about someone whose name we havent heard before. Phil mattingly, john dean, catherine rampell, max boot are here to discuss. Good evening one and all. Phil, you had the breaking news earlier first here. We have these two new closeddoor transcripts tonight. Lets start with david holmes testimony, and were getting some more color on this trump sondland restaurant call. What do you know . I think one of the Big Questions we had on friday when we got the Opening Statement from david holmes that laid out in explicit detail how this conversation actually occurred was how is it possible sitting at a restaurant you can hear what the president is saying to the u. S. Ambassador to the eu, and holmes actually goes through that in his testimony. He said he was in the restaurant, sitting at a small table. He said he was so close to sondland they were actually sharing an appetizer. He said when the call connected with President Trump, quote, sondland sort of winces. He moved his head away of the phone, and moved the phone away from his ear because the volume was loud. For the first portion of the call, thats how he was listening to it, then he stopped doing that. I dont know if he turned the volume down and got used it or it changed. The point is when you look at how this actually occurred, you recognize it was the sheer volume of things, and based on his rex as we dig through this 200 plus pages of text, he has a very clear understanding of what the president was explicitly saying and thats why this was so important when it was u unveiled last wednesday in ambassador William Taylors testimony and why it was so important in the closeddoor deposition and why it will be so important on thursday when david holmes testifies publicly. He said he didnt know if he turned the volume down or just got used to it. I dont know what happened but for the first part he was pulling it away from his head. Phil, at a certain point, am i correct that holmes took notes in his phone . Is that right . Yes. This is another interesting development. We were wondering how he had such a clear recollection. Obviously this was a vivid conversation that would be difficult for anybody to forget, but it turns out he testifies that when he realized that this was a diplomatic conversation going on, one that he could actually hear, remember, hes a notetaker by trade to some degree at the u. S. Embassy in ukraine. He actually took out his phone, hit the notes app, and started tapping out what he was hearing both on the ukraine side of things and also the further conversation about the possible release of a ap rocky, the rapper that had been detained overseas as well. He started tapping all this out. Thats why he has such an explicit recollection of what was said and thats why he was able to relay it to lawmakers. Who would have that a ap rocky in is madness. John, holmes talks about his impression after overhearing trump he said ive never seen anything like this. Someone calling the president from a mobile phone at a restaurant and then having a conversation of this level of candor, colorful language. Theres just so much about the call that was so remarkable that i remember it vividly. As phil said, vividly. So holmes in his Opening Statement said that sondland told him trump didnt give an s about ukraine. Whats your impression of holmes as a witness, john . I think hes a wonderful witness. That question about the president not giving an s, ive made it through about 70 pages of the transcript in the short time ive had it, and i read that section, and theyre actually leading questions. He asked sondland if the president gave an s, and the sondland responded back, he didnt give an s. Don, one of the other interesting things that i was alert to was the fact that holmes reported t