Part of the continuing coverup that we have seen as it relates to the white house trying to gloss over the wrongdoing that clearly has taken place as it relates to the president s abuse of power. One of the things the white house and the president has trumpeted is they released this transcript of the call. The president called it an exact transcript. It was never not. It was never advertised on its face. It was a rough transcript. If theyre trying to keep things from the public, how much of that should be a focus of your investigation . Well, the focus will continue to be on what we know took place. The rough transcript confirms that donald trump pressured a Foreign Government to target an american citizen for political gain and thereby solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election. That right there is textbook abuse of power, particularly because at the same moment, 391 million in military and Security Assistance to the ukraine that was allocated by congress on a bipartisan basis was being withheld as part of a High Pressure tactic. That in and of itself is of grave concern. It undermines our National Security. Its a betrayal of the president s oath of office and also undermines the integrity of our elections. One of the things we have reported overnight is that some democrats who were part of the hearings yesterday were concerned that republicans were trying to out the identity of the whistleblower. Basically trying to get colonel vindman to name the person who was the whistleblower. What have you heard about that . Well, those concerns are deeply troubling. Were in the middle of a impeachment inquiry that is serious, that is somber, that is sober. And its my hope that my republican colleagues will take this moment seriously as it relates to the behavior that has occurred here that should be deeply troubling to everyone regardless of ideological aff affiliation. This is a moment where we need to put principle over party. We need to put the constitution over corruption. We need to put democracy over dereliction of duty which is exactly what many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle unfortunately are not doing. Do you want to hear from the whistleblower . Well, adam schiff has made the determination at the moment that the whistleblowers complaint, which is clearly validated by multiple witnesses and trump appointees is the center of the focus as it relates to the investigation that has proceeded to this moment. We want to be able to protect the identity of whistleblowers so that when individual patriots within our government see wrongdoing occur, they report that through the law and through the channels that have been set forth. In this particular instance, we know that trumps own Inspector General to the intelligence community, as well as the acting director of national intelligence, both confirm that the whistleblower acted in good faith, is credible, followed the law. And the allegations have been confirmed repeatedly by many of the 13 witnesses who have come before us today. There will be a vote this week. The rules committee today but tomorrow a vote in the full house about the impeachment inquiry process Going Forward. Jeff andrue is one democrat who has said hell vote no on that. Do you anticipate losing any other democratic votes on this resolution . Its not clear to me at this particular point but what is clear is the overwhelming majority of the members of the House Democratic caucus will be supportive of this next step in the impeachment inquiry. At the same time, as the caucus, we remain unified around a whole host of issues were focused on, on behalf of the american people. We want to drive down the high cost of lifesaving prescriptions, give medicare and the federal government the ability to use its bulk price purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of the american people. Were united around that. United around infrastructure, working to get to yes on the usmca. Well see what happens on the floor tomorrow, but i am clear that that resolution will pass. Do you or can you at this point identify any republican yes votes . Well, we dont know at this particular moment. No one has publicly indicated that they are prepared to support this next step as relates to the impeachment inquiry. But heres what is clear. So not one . Not one republican vote so far . Well, theres no republican vote affirmed in the public domain. Well see what happens. But that really is on them. I think the question that we should be asking is consistent with what the president earlier today said. He said lets focus on substance. And we know what the substance here is that he withheld 391 million in aid to ukraine. Ukraine is a friend. Russia is a foe. Ukraine is a democracy. Russia say dictatorship. Ukraine is under attack by russianbacked separatists. The United States may be the only thing standing between Vladimir Putin and ukraine being completely overrun. And in that context, the president was pressuring a Foreign Government to target american citizen. Thats an abuse of power. The president soaid focus on substance. Were going to focus on substance. Thats going to bring me to my final question here. That has to do with what is an emerging argument from some republicans who are willing to concede that they think what the president did was wrong. Im talking about, among others, senator rob portman from ohio who said yesterday and is quoted in one of the papers today, he is saying, quote it is not appropriate for a president to engage a Foreign Government in an investigation of a political opponent. He concedes your main point. Its not appropriate for the president to do it, but then he goes on to say, i dont view it as an Impeachable Offense. What do you say to that argument . Well, that is the purpose of the inquiry right now where were exploring whether a betrayal by the president of his oath of office, the undermining of our National Security interest and the elevating of the president s own personal political interest rises to the level of an abuse of power. I think the evidence of wrongdoing right now is hiding in plain sight. But as we move forward, well give this president like any president every opportunity to present exculpatory information, but, john, to date, nothing that has come forward clears this president. All it does is make the situation worse. But what senator portman and others are saying, were not clearing the president. Well concede what he did was wrong. Well even, you know, agree with every piece of evidence potentially that youre putting forward. We just dont think its impeachable. If thats what you have to overcome, what do you do . Thats a debate for the senate to have if the house acts. But were not in the place right now where the house has acted. Were still following the facts, applying the law, being guided by the constitution, and were going to present the truth to the american people. Hakeem jefferies, great to have you on this morning. Please keep us posted. Thanks, john. President trump continues to insist his call with ukraines president was perfect. So why then were some words and phrases missing according to someone who listened to that call and reportedly tried to add some of that back in. Well discuss. fake gagging noises its the easiest because its the cheesiest. Kraft. For the win win. Born to be wild. only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol®. Two more state Department Officials scheduled to testify before a house impeachment investigators today as questions are raised about the white houses rough transcript of the president s july phone call. The official transcript that they put together after that call with the president of ukraine on july 25th. Joining us now, dana bash, cnn political analyst David Gregory and cnn White House Correspondent kaitlan collins. First to you on this, kaitlan. There is some discrepancy that were seeing now. The official white house reason for why there were these ellipses in the rough transcript they put throughout. Theyed ed isaid these are just. If there were words miss, they would be in brackets. Yet what we saw in the Opening Statement and heard in the testimony according to the New York Times is that Lieutenant Colonel vindman said as he was piecing this together to clean tup, he wanted words put in where those ellipses were and it didnt happen. He didnt say why it didnt happen which is going to raise questions and the white house will have to try to answer some of those on why this is a contra diction. He is someone who is not only on the phone call but in charge rev viewing this transcript. So the fact that there are these dot, dot, dots, that the white house dismissed, said they werent anything noteworthy, simply a pause in the conversation when were finding out they had several phrases or words from the president or the ukrainian president is going to raise a lot of questions. Now based on the reporting so far, these omissions do not change the fundamental understanding of this transcript. However, that raises the question even further of why they were left out of the transcript. Something that is done from software by people in the room. And the white house has in the transcript, maintained it wasnt the exact thing, even though the president has said over a dozen times, yes, this is an exact transcript. Those will be the questions Going Forward of why they left it out if this call was appropriate and what the president said was above board. Im struck by how colonel vindman walked in yesterday in full uniform and, to an extent, how he walked out after ten hours and after ten hours of having Republican Leaders vouch for his credibility to defend against what were gross attacks by some allies of the president. Listen to liz cheney, the number three in the house of representatives talk about colonel vindman. Were talking about decorated veterans who have served this nation, who have put their lives on the line. And it is shameful to question their patriotism, their love of this nation. And we should not be involved in that process. So looking forward, one might think that colonel vindman might be a witness in the public part of this testimony that we now know will be part of the rules voted on today and tomorrow. So what kind of a witness have these allies of the president now made colonel vindman and ambassador bill taylor . Theyve elevated him. They have shined a spotlight on his Tremendous Service to america and the fact that he won a purple heart while serving in a war zone in iraq on behalf of america. So what they were doing on another network, where the hosts dont call out people for the crazy that they say, that they probably find somewhere on the web that we dont surf, that has done a disservice to the president because theres no question that having liz cheney come to his defense, having other Senior Republicans come to his defense, including Mitch Mcconnell who that was all he would say yesterday when he was asked about this. He didnt go into any other detail. Its a big deal, and its a reminder of how messed up the republican defense is. The president again this morning saying, oh, im so happy that my fellow republicans are focusing on the substance, not the process. But theyre not. They are still focusing on the process which did win them a vote tomorrow in the house because despite democrats saying it wasnt because of republican attacks, theres no question that that played into it. But big picture, it is a reminder to republicans to be a little more cautious. A lot more cautious in how they just kind of willy nilly make up their defense as they go daytoday. In terms of the house vote that we will see tomorrow, john just asked Hakeem Jeffries, what about gop support . Who is behind this . He was noncommittal on the answer. How important will that be in terms of messaging when we see how much support there is or is not for this resolution . Obviously, theyre going to take it and the democrats want to call out republicans who say we just have to make this legitimate with a vote and theyll call them out if theres no support for what theyre doing at all saying that they met that standard. Republicans will say this is simply an aboutface and still a sham process. That will all play out the way it has been. I think whats interesting about where we are this morning is that you have two things happening. You have this initial whistleblower. Now you have all the supporting detail that is creating this damning portrait for the president and for the white house on ukraine. And all of these details are being filled in. Now were to the point of ellipses and missing portions of the transcript that may be explosive. At the same time, you have a white house that was at a starting point of, yeah, we did it. And we did it because we thought it was okay. Whats wrong with it . And working backward from that with the details being filled in, thats where their biggest problems lie. The fact that they are lying, theyre changing their story, theyre smearing veterans. Its such a bad look for the white house, but at the end of the day, the president , as confused as their strategy is, is counting on republicans, even liz cheney who would not ultimately have a vote as a member of the house. Even if liz cheney, who i think was appropriate to step forward yesterday, condemns some of the tactics, are not moving on the big piece, on the war, which is, would you vote to impeach him or not. Its interesting. Thats why i brought up rob portman with Hakeem Jeffries because rob portman is hes not seen as the most fire brand senator by any means. He listens and he considers his actions. He says he doesnt like what the president did. He said his actions were bad. He condemns the president s actions but then goes on to say, but not impeachable. So it doesnt seem like there are any or very few movable votes there. Well, and i think youre going to see republicans, if it gets worse, look for a different off ramp. Do they censure the president or do they say, as ive mentioned here before, if were into an Election Year trial where you have numerous senators who are running for president who are part of that trial, do republicans, even if theyre critical of the president say, you know what . I think this was inappropriate. It was bad policy. But were in an Election Year, and the voters should decide this question. And can i just add one thing . And that is that as much of the focus is on what the numbers will be for this vote tomorrow, we learned a lot on the substance of how the House Democrats are going to conduct these public hearings, how theyre going to conduct the articles of impeachment and how the Judiciary Committee moves through that. And the fact is that the democrats have kind of laid the groundwork for understanding how important it is to make that case and not do it in the way we usually watch house hearings, which is, a lot of us are on set wanting to bang our heads against the wall because its a member of Congress Speaking for five minutes, five minutes, sometimes speechifying and not even asking questions. Thats all gone now and the chairman is going to have 45 minutes. He can defer to staff, which oftentimes asks more direct, more blunt questions, and same with republican leader. And so the fact is that theyre already thinking ahead about that, and its all about trying as hard as they can to get public support behind this. And thats why what dana says is so interesting because this morning the president is telling republicans, urging them, dont focus on the process here which has been their main defense. Hes saying instead, defend me on the merits. Defend my actions on the call, and that is something republicans have been hesitant to do, including the Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell himself who yesterday, as our colleague ted barrett brilliantly pointed out, was asked directly about this. Had a chance to defend the president on the merits here and instead he shifted. Answered a question he wasnt asked about those people who were questioning the patriotism of alex vindman and it really goes to show exactly the bind that youre seeing some republicans feel that theyre in, in this situation. John bolton, is he going to talk . Lets take a vote. Raise your hand if you think john bolton will ever testify before the house committees . Oh, gosh. I think he will. I think he will. Yeah. I think to me, hes just being very quiet, and hes going to pick his moment, and its going to be, you know, revenge testimony. Kaitlan, break the tie. I cant. I truly dont know. Ive learned a long time ago not to predict. Theres no tie. I agree with david. There will be no interference. No matter what. Go nats, game seven. David, kaitlan, dana. Im glad we finished with the important thing today. Theres a big game. In washington oh, totally. Everything else thats going on, the only important thing is game seven of the world series. Ive fully jumped on board as has my fourth grader. How does a fellow iraq war vet feel about President Trumps allies attacking the patriotism of a purple heart recipient. Youll ask kongmcongressman set bolton, next. Theres the ampedup, overtuned, feedingfrenzyof sheetmetalkind. And then theres performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result. Thats the kind lincolns about. A lot will happen in your life. Wrinkles just wont. Neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repairs dermproven retinol works so fast, it takes only one week to reveal younger looking skin. Neutrogena® ever since you brought me home, that day. Ive been plotting to destroy you. Sizing you up. Calculating your every move. 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