Were already on edge before this news. So lets do a roundup of how its playing. Lets begin on capitol hill. Cnns senior Congressional Correspondent manu raju. What else are we expecting from sondland . We expect Gordon Sondland to throw Rudy Giuliani under the bus. But the question is, will he throw the president under the bus as well . Thats going to be a big question today because according to witness testimony after witness testimony, Gordon Sondland had direct interactions with the president and then sondland later told other witnesses that the president himself had essentially linked military aid to ukraine in exchange for this public declaration by the ukrainians to announce investigations into the president s political rivals. Now the question is will sondland confirm those accounts or will he say as he did in his closed door deposition, he did not recall some of those key accounts. Already amend his testimony saying he later remembered in september he had a conversation with a senior ukrainian official saying that aid was likely linked to that investigation announcement. But he couldnt remember how he came to learn of that request. Sondland, of course, is of high interest. Hes someone who is a trump donor who provided a Million Dollars to the inaugural committee. Also hes someone, of course, the president and the state department tried to prevent from actually testifying before the Intelligence Committee. He previously complained he was not able to get some of those documents he needed to prepare for his testimony. The question is whether he has any new documentation to provide to this committee as well. And todays proceedings will play out much the way weve seen other proceedings in the past. The house intelligence chairman adam schiff will deliver his Opening Statement followed by the ranking republican, devin nunes, each of their staff attorneys will provide a 45minute round of questioning after sondland himself delivers an Opening Statement. Well see if he revises the account in any way. And thats just act one of a twopart series today, later in the afternoon. Two officials will testify. Thats laura cooper from the Defense Department and david hale from the state department. Theyll testify how unusual it was how they handled this military aid, how it was held up, how she wasnt informed about some of those key decisions. And david hale will provide information about the ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Despite this Pressure Campaign from giulianis Smear Campaign to get her out from the post. In just under an hour, Gordon Sondland will deliver that key testimony providing information. Well see about what he says about those conversations with the president and how involved the president was in holding the ukraine aid over that country until it announced those investigations. Look, this is going to be a very interesting day because, by all indications, manu, Gordon Sondland is not going to shoulder the blame for this ukraine campaign. So how does he distribute the responsibility . Well see soon. Manu, thank you. Wolf, to you. Its going to be huge, huge moment. Anticipation clearly building, chris, right now. Lets get some more now on what we can expect to hear from ambassador sondlands public testimony. Kylie atwood is joining me right now. First of all, kylie, tell us more, how did this go from being a hotelier, a guy who had a bunch of hotels, made a lot of money. All of a sudden, hes the u. S. Ambassador to the European Union. When President Trump won the nomination and then became the president , he turned into a trump donor. He was always of the republican establishment. And then, once trump ended up in the white house, he donated to his inauguration, donated a Million Dollars. And then he has this direct line with President Trump. That is not normal for other u. S. Ambassadors to other countries. Because he can pick up the phone and call President Trump, he has landed at the center of this impeachment inquiry. So lets look at some of the things he told lawmakers behind closed doors that are going to be things they are going to look at when they talk to him today in an open setting. One of the things he said is that President Trump directed him to work with Rudy Giuliani, his private attorney, on ukraine. And he said that disappointed him. That he would not have suggested that someone who is of the president s personal attorney area would work on Foreign Policy but nonetheless, he did it. The other thing he claimed is he was unaware initially that giuliani was pushing for investigations into biden. Burisma was on the table, but he claimed the two were separate. So there are a number of things in his closed door testimony that folks are going to ask him about today. Hes also going to be asked a lot about that phone conversation he had while at a restaurant, outdoor terrace at a restaurant in kiev, the ukrainian capital with the president of the United States. A conversation that could be heard by others at that table, including david holmes, the counselor for Political Affairs at the u. S. Embassy. A really jawdropping revelation. When that came to fruition. This was a conversation sondland had in an open setting in a restaurant in ukraine. He did not talk about this at all during his closed door testimony. It only came to light when david holmes, this u. S. Official, a Foreign Service officer at the u. S. Embassy in ukraine came forth with this information. I want to read to you how david holmes described that situation in his closed door testimony. He said, quote, i heard President Trump ask. So hes going to do the investigation. Ambassador sondland replied, hes going to do it adding that president zelensky will, quote, do anything you ask him to. I asked ambassador sondland if it was true that the president did not give an expletive about ukraine. Ambassador sondland agreed that the president did not give a about ukraine. I asked why not and ambassador sondland stated that the president only cares about big stuff. I noted that there was big stuff going on in ukraine. Like the war with russia and ambassador sondland replied that he meant big stuff that benefits the president. Like the biden investigation that mr. Giuliani was pushing. So here what sondland was doing in this conversation was discussing these investigations. These investigations that would benefit President Trump politically and also claiming that thats the only thing that President Trump really cared about when it came to ukraine. Very, very important. Kylie atwood doing excellent reporting for us, as usual. You know, chris, Gordon Sondland, hes represented by a wellknown, highly respected Washington Attorney who im sure is telling him, gordon, ambassador, youve got to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth no matter where that winds up. Otherwise youll be in big trouble. Absolutely. I mean, look. This isnt just about going in and having a candid conversation. He has to worry about his exposure. Its congress now but there could be a referral to the department of justice by congress on any of these matters and any of these subjects and the individuals that come before them. And thats a very heavy burden to bear on a morning like today. Wolf is 100 right. Lets get a feel for whats going to be going on in that room. We have democratic congressman denny heck, a member of the house intel committee, of course. Hell be questioning sondland just a short time from now. Congressman, thank you. Dont worry about the ifb because its just you and me anyway. A phone hung up in my ear. It happens to me all the time. We were having an interesting conversation. We get caught up in the politics and the substance so easily here, and it matters, of course. But the human beings in the room and what the feel is in there, and we were i was sharing my recollection about the clinton impeachment, how different this is, not just procedurally but personally. What is your personal feel about how the republicans in the room seem to project a, we must stay in line on this. You are saying you are picking that up. Frankly, chris, it breaks my heart because from our perspective and my perspective, they are putting selfinterest in defense of the president before country. But as i suggested to you off camera, theyre in a vice. If they step out of line at all, we see what the president will do. Goodness sakes, we see what hes done to his own employees. We see what he did to ambassador yovanovitch, to colonel vindman, a man who still walks around with shrapnel in his body, for goodness sakes. Hell viciously, cruelly attack them and seek to destroy their reputation and career. They see that to one side. On the other side, i think they ought to answer their better angels. They ought to understand what the constitutional stakes are here in play. As we were saying, you see those better angels if you want to call them that, reflected in who is leaving. I dont see what the sustainable course is. When you are listening to the arguments yesterday, even sitting today with mike johnson from louisiana, a talented lawyer, smart guy, promising person within that party, well, you know, i see this as all, you know, hearsay and people who have opinions about what other decisions were being made by other people. But nothing really. And no quid pro quo which how can you see that on the facts . Chris, he did it. He did it. The facts are overwhelming. The Legal Standard theyre trying to construct is we must have a videotape of the act of crime. Must have a signed confession. Must have at least three to five eyewitnesses. As you know as an attorney, thats never how it happens in a criminal proceeding. The evidence is overwhelming. And as i said to you on the program the other night, the debate america ought to be having is, okay, do these acts rise to the level of an impeachment offense . But the facts are the facts, and he did it. Why cant they own the position that they wont go as far as you can, but it was wrong. Shouldnt have mentioned bien. Shouldnt have done it this way. Shouldnt have held up the aid this way but we believe he had good intentions. Not worthy of removal. They got the aid. He didnt get any dirt. Because the president will destroy them. And they know it. So what happens with sondland today . How big a deal is he . Hes been characterized by others as a bit of a free radical, so stay tuned. Buckle up. Hes got three choices. Right . I mean, he can perjure himself. He can have amnies meihave amne right thing. What is the chance that it was fishy that the Eu Ambassador had something to do with ukraine because, obviously, theyre not there. Thats been explained as, he was given broader portfolio by the president. Whats the chance that a newby, a guy, you know, who is gifted an ambassadorship, not the first time thats happened, for his donation in connection to the campaign, would have been carrying all this on his own . You know what i mean . Why would he want to get the bidens . He had to be working with before we imbune too much importance in this, we have seven hear,s, just like j. K. Rowling had seven books in the harry potter series. Ive never heard it compared to that. Today is book five and we all know theres plenty of plot to be revealed in the subsequent books. We have four more witnesses after this one. I am especially interested, frankly, in all of them, but notably, dr. Fiona hill tomorrow as well as mr. Holmes. Theres a lot of plot to be revealed here. Who are you in the harry potter series, by the way . No, dont go there. I like how you made that, though. Its a very big deal. They all do matter but, really, Gordon Sondland is the man your other witnesses keep identifying as a hub, who had a special relationship, a special connection to these designs. Well see what he says this morning. Its going to happen in, what now, almost 45 minutes. So thank you very much, congressman. Good luck today. Thank you. Still to come well watch. It matters on a day like today to watch the people show up. What do you read in their faces . How do they enter this room . Who are they with . U. S. Ambassador to the European UnionGordon Sondland. I would argue the biggest witness yet in the public impeachment hearing. Theres too much importance to what he says. The key question how will he explain why he was doing what he was doing under oath. Who knew what and when . 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Now less than one hour away from the most highly anticipated witness in the impeachment inquiry, the u. S. Ambassador Gordon Sondland is getting ready to testify publicly. Hes the only witness who has spoken to President Trump about the scheme to get ukraine to investigate the bidens. Ambassador sondland could be the only witness who can directly link the president to whats been described as a shadow Foreign Policy campaign. A team of Experts Joining us now to discuss. This could be, gloria, a huge moment in this entire prospect. It could, as you point out. Gordon sondland is somebody who had a relationship with the president , who spoke directly with the president. As we know from the recounting of this phone conversation that he had in kiev at a lunch table with the president. And he is also somebody who spoke with people at the state department and at the National Security council. This is like the parable, the blind man and the elephant. Everybody seems to see a piece of the puzzle here. Gordon sondland may have some vision and may be able to sort of connect the dots here and talk about what he saw, what he observed and who directed what. Dont forget, he was at that may 23rd meeting with the president of the United States with the Energy Secretary rick perry, ambassador volker and himself in which the president talking about ukraine said talk to rudy. That the president said that ukraine was corrupt. That they tried to hurt him. And he said, you know, just talk to rudy and shook his head. What i think we might hear from sondland today is what happened when they talked to rudy and hell be able to say who knew what and when. And the New York Times is now directly linking the secretary of state mike pompeo to all of this saying he knew about everything, including Rudy Giulianis role in trying to get from the ukrainians dirt on the bidens. That presents a risk to a lot of folks who tried to put distance between themselves claiming ignorance and kurt volker running the policy saying he wasnt quite sure this was the connection there, although others have said the connection was clear. I think thats one big headline here. But the questions will be, was there a quid pro quo . Was this meeting with the president and the military aid tied to really you go to a requirement to have the investigations to get these things and, two, was that at the direction of the president . Hes going to be asked that directly. Does he give clear answers to those questions for someone who wasnt just observing but was directly involved in those conversations. If he does completely, you know, go against what the president has been saying, that the phone conversation was perfect, there was no quid pro quo, everything is great, how damaging potentially for the president could this be . Thats what im looking at. At the beginning of this inquiry, the president held on to every republican in the house. Even got two democrats to vote against authorizing the investigation. Im looking at what might potentially move moderate republicans or democrats either w