Outside the White House if Giuliani is still his lawyer water no I haven't spoken to read this book but yesterday bravely he's a very good job he has been my dear Trump was also asked if he personally pushed for the removal of the former u.s. Ambassador to Ukraine Maria von of edge Trump said he didn't know where and she may be a wonderful woman in his July 25th call with the president of Ukraine Trump said something quite different that she was bad news Tamara Keith n.p.r. News the White House a federal appeals court has upheld a congressional subpoena for some of President Trump's financial records records that are held by one of his accounting firms the decision is the 1st appellate court ruling to up hold any of the many congressional subpoenas that the House issued for Trump's records as N.P.R.'s Nina Totenberg reports this one was issued by the House Oversight Committee the committee said it subpoenaed certain Trump financial records to see whether federal ethics laws needed to be amended in order to curb abuses that purpose is certainly the gym at the court said disputes between Congress and the president are a recurring plot in our national story it continued that is precisely what the framers intended they sought to balance the powers between the 3 branches of government to quote save the people from autocracy the $2.00 to $1.00 decision is not the last word on this issue it could be reversed by the full court of appeals or potentially the u.s. Supreme Court Nina Totenberg n.p.r. News Washington Fox News anchor should Smith is leaving the network no reason has been given but Smith's reporting often drew president Trump's anger N.P.R.'s David Folkenflik has more chestnuts repeatedly as fact check the president he's called him out on lies and distortions He's called him out for shattering norms he's called out for statements that he's described as racist or sympathetic to anti semites or the like and that is not something that Fox viewers were often comfortable with and that is not something that a number of leading Fox News personalities think of at night Laura Ingram Sean Hannity have wanted on. Their network these are among some some the most loyal supporters you'll find for the president and the president has repeatedly expected a fox a kind of uniformity in its loyalty to him N.P.R.'s David Folkenflik Smith has been with Fox News since 1906 all straight hired by the closing bell the Dow up 319 points the Nasdaq up 106 the s. And p. 500 up 32 you're listening to n.p.r. News mandatory evacuation orders are out in the l.a. Area as firefighters in Southern California battle several wildfires today dry conditions and hot winds are fueling those flames the saddle Ridge fire north of downtown l.a. Is burned 70 $500.00 acres and destroyed at least $25.00 structures it's 13 percent contained and the sandal word fire is burning east of downtown l.a. It's burned more than $800.00 acres and is 10 percent contained Democrats on the House Education Committee released a new report today placing the blame for the troubled public service loan forgiveness program squarely on the Education Department N.P.R.'s Corey Turner has more there's been little doubt that p.s.l. Left the program that promises loan forgiveness in exchange for a decade of public service isn't working 99 percent of borrowers who have applied for it have been denied what's debatable is whose fault is it today's report which includes several previously unreleased Department documents argues the department has known for several years about problems with the program's management Those include telling borrowers they work for qualified employers when they don't and failing to take steps to more quickly and accurately count borrowers payments for its part the department insists the program's high denial rates are by congressional design Cory Turner n.p.r. News. Subaru is recalling more than 350000 foresters with heated seats because an electrical connection in the front passenger seat could loosen and deactivate the airbag The recall affects vehicles from 2015 to 28 team I'm Janine Herbst And you're listening to n.p.r. News from Washington support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include c. 3 died a i c 3 died a Eyes software enables organizations to use artificial intelligence at enterprise scale solving previously unsolvable business problems learn more and see 3 died a I. Supported by the Region 9 economic development district of Southwest Colorado offering flexible loan programs to help small businesses with capital expansion and job creation find out more as well as about their micro loan program for qualifying businesses at scan dot org. This is All Things Considered from n.p.r. News I'm Ari Shapiro and I'm Mary Louise Kelly shortly after 10 o'clock this morning the former u.s. Ambassador to Ukraine arrived on Capitol Hill she was there against State Department wishes to testify before the House committees running the impeachment inquiry into President Trump Maria on of it spent hours answering committee members questions earlier today we spoke with one of those committee members Congressman Eric Swalwell is a California Democrat and a member of the House Intelligence Committee he joins us now from Capitol Hill Congressman welcome thank you for having me back on Glad to have you with us can you give me your top line impression of the testimony that you heard today what I can tell you right now it's ongoing but the ambassador showed up and that's what's most important is that despite lawless orders from the president to not show up this investor showed up and that helps us in our investigation did she explain that in any way that she was ordered the administration has said it's not planning to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry in any way do you know how it was possible that she was able to testify given she still works for the State Department where she was subpoenaed and we learned last evening that she was being ordered by the State Department not to show up so we issued a subpoena last evening and she complied with the subpoena but we have had many witnesses who have not complied with subpoenas throughout this term in Congress so the fact that she showed up you know is I think pivotal for us and we have learned a lot because she has showed up and at this point that's all I can say as far as characterizing her testimony we again understanding that there's a lot you can't get into the opening statement of Maria avantage is out I'm looking at a copy of it this is a 10 page statement I'm flipping there as we speak in which she gives what looks like a pretty good roadmap in terms of what she was willing to say what to do with the ground that she is willing to cover can you in general characterize whether she parted ways with anything from the statement yeah and I get appreciate you know you have to ask and I'm going to wait for. Chairmanship to characterize you know her testimony but you know what we have seen with all of these witnesses is that you have career diplomats people who have dedicated themselves to serving the United States and carrying out our foreign policy and then President Trump and Rudy Giuliani and others are running this shadow shakedown track and you know that is not in the interest of the United States it's in the interest of their own Trump and that's what we're investigating I'm sorry to press you on this but it isn't the entrance of the American people trying to follow along a couple of lines she says in her prepared remarks I was incredulous that the u.s. Government chose to remove an ambassador based as best as I can tell on unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives understanding that you can't get into specifics of what was said was that the tenor of this testimony did she say anything contradictory to that well you know it the chairman characterize it but the president has actually acknowledged he did not like this embassador and there's been no legitimate reason to remove her that I or any of my colleagues have seen but I just want to put one other piece of information into this conversation that I think supported in light of the arrest yesterday of 2 associates of Rudy Giuliani Mr Parness and Mr Ferman it was end of summer of 2018 that they had made their 6 figure contribution to the Trump super pac and the Republican super pac organizations and that's the same time that all of these rumors started to swirl and so you know understanding whether there was a connection between their contribution and then the president the United States now having this unfounded belief about our ambassador and it is something that we would want to find out I know that those 2 men who you referenced who were arrested yesterday these 2 Giuliani associates were on the list of witnesses that Congress was hoping to call which prompts me to ask about the additional witnesses lined up as far as you know are they still on for next week I'm referring to a few. And a hill who served on the n.s.c. Until this summer and Gordon Scotland the Us ambassador to the e.u. Who was supposed to testify this week until it was blocked at the last minute who now we hear it's back on for next week when we're still seeking their testimony and we believe that if they want to you know help our investigation you know be patriots that they will show up and honor the request and not follow lawless orders from the president final question has any of the testimony any of the documents that have come to you and your committee thus far. Given you pause about the central narrative of the whistleblower complaint has any evidence come to light that causes you to question the veracity of that complaint to the credibility of that complaint the urgency of that complaint the more witnesses we hear from the more documents we review puts more arrows and only one direction which is that the present United States used our taxpayer dollars to extort the Ukrainians to only help himself there's been no counter arrow that would suggest anything else is going on here and we're going to run a fair investigation but it's going to be swept you have the president confessing to the crime you have a cover up in progress and we will move judiciously California Democrat Eric Swalwell He's a member of the House Intelligence Committee and he joined us having just stepped out from the testimony of Maria von of edge today Congressman thanks so much for your time thank you and for some context on that conversation recorded earlier today we have N.P.R.'s congressional correspondent Susan Davis who was listening in hi Sue What stood out to you from that from congressman's while there one thing I think is interesting is we know that Democrats have are almost unanimously on board for this impeachment inquiry but the question of whether they bring forward articles of impeachment still seems to be an open question but not when I'm listening to Democrats like Eric swallow in the end there who seems fairly conclusively in his mind that articles of impeachment are all all but certain it has been announced but that the. House seemed more and more likely as they have over this 2 week break where they've been conducting this investigation certainly move closer in that direction my fear something out I'm sure if the chairman said a couple weeks ago we already have a smoking gun exactly I think that the question that Democrats have now is and by the standards that the speaker has met is does the public support them and do they have it do they have enough case to make to the public a lot of Democrats think they already have the fact that they need to make the case for impeachment including the White House efforts to obstruct the investigation going on on Capitol Hill are Democrats willing to take that step if they don't believe that the public's behind them is one of the questions we're going to be watching and are you getting a read on how Republicans are responding to this testimony they heard from Ambassador Yavanna it's today well and as he's discussed a lot of this is happening behind closed doors we do know a lot of Republican staffer the 3 committees involved are allowed to question witnesses members are allowed to attend although it's been a mixed bag of who shows up and who does not Republicans have really been upset with this process than in They've echoed the White House they've said that you know in past impeachment proceedings the full House has called for a vote to sort of structurally formally make the inquiry happen and in certain cases in the past give the minority rights like powers to issue their own subpoenas I don't think Democrats are likely to give Republicans subpoena power in this investigation but it is certainly give Republicans a talking point to sort of attack the integrity of the investigation I think in these sort of the war of public opinion make a case to the public that this is kind of game from the start that Republicans haven't been given the kind of input that past minority parties have been and Sue and this is Mary Louise here I want to jump in and ask your take on one fing that Congressman Swalwell told me there when we were talking about the 2 Giuliani associates arrested this week. For a man he was talking about the campaign contributions for which they've been indicted was talking about the timing and suggesting this was around the same time that the u.s. Ambassador the rumors about the u.s. Ambassador to Ukraine are you know your Vonage started. Do we know that is is there any evidence these 2 things are linked in some way we don't have to discernible evidence that those 2 things are linked one of the congressman that was identified in the indictment or not identified but has been identified as former Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas who was one of the people that called for the Ukrainian ambassador to step down but in a statement saying he took no official action he did take of campaign money but he did not take any official action in the words of the president no quid pro quo. Is N.P.R.'s Susan Davis listening in and giving us some context there thanks as always say welcome to another story now a fast moving wildfire in Southern California that has destroyed dozens of homes closed freeways and forced roughly 100000 people to flee from its path this fire broke out last night in the foothills north of Los Angeles it's being fueled by strong Santa Ana winds and dry conditions and here's Nathan Rott reports that is making for a really difficult fire fight most of California was already on high alert when forecasts were so high across the state this week that utility companies had preemptively cut off power to hundreds of thousands in Northern California and if you are here in the southern part of the state the power was still on for homeowners on settle Ridge Road when Roberta Delgado heard his wife yelling there's a fire back at the house. I'm trying to run I looked out the window there was fire right at the bottom of that tower a power line tower on a now blackened hillside not more than 150 yards from the back of Delgado's house that car came down that hill so fast. It was this overwhelming Delgado called the fire department and raced outside to spray down some of the bushes in trees at the back of his property that deck right there I was on that deck the fire the flames were going over these brushes over me going over our house embers were just coming over our house landing on top of her house. As those embers thrown by gusting Santa Ana winds leaped freeways and entire neighborhoods pushing the fire officials now say to grow at nearly $800.00 acres per hour when we left here were in tears I think in our house as burning it's a miracle Delgado says wiping floating ash from his eyes that it didn't now tens of thousands of other homeowners are hoping for the same thing with evacuation notices expanding westward the direction the fire is being pushed by strong Santa Ana winds Monica Rodriguez is the Los Angeles city councilwoman who represents this area's again these mandatory evacuation areas are going to remain in effect until they're lifted residents will not be allowed back in these areas the National Weather Service says dangerously high winds are forecast to continue in the area until tomorrow evening Nathan Rott n.p.r. News so Mark California. Stay with us for more All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. 2020 will be a big year in politics and you might notice all the news starting to sound the same but on Morning Edition we tell stories about the upcoming election from different angles offering the diverse perspectives of voters and from presidential candidates to Morning Edition takes you want to journey through the issues and keeps you informed about all the campaigns listen every day from n.p.r. News. Morning Edition on every weekday morning from 5 to 9 am. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from visiting angels professional caregivers assisting adults at home in bathing dressing meals and light housework nationwide visiting angels America's Choice and senior home care learn more in 180-365-4189 zoom offers cloud video conferencing on line meetings and a video conference room solution in one platform featuring digital video and audio with screen sharing account registration and more. Dot us. From n.p.r. News this is All Things Considered I'm Mary Louise Kelly and I'm Ari Shapiro as the protests in Hong Kong press on the clashes have grown increasingly violent but there are peaceful gatherings too like this one at a secondary school for boys 5 propre though that low birth read out that. Students in a crisp white dress shirt and black face masks gather at the school's front gates they tape up pink posted notes with pro-democracy messages that is where our co-host also Chang started her recent reporting trip in China Simeon Autonomy's Hong Kong is now the only place in China where real protests are even possible Elsa sat down with 2 people who understand that all too well they also started out as young activists they were pushing ideals the Chinese Communist Party once embraced only to see that same party crack down on their efforts and want to start the story on June 4th 1989 this is a c.b.s. News poll report from the main road gentlemen spoiled the last a few days did and other protests as well as Chinese on. Chinese military troops rolled into Tiananmen Square in Beijing and opened fire on pro-democracy demonstrators after weeks of protests. The night to come from China has knives sifted course after 10 and then 2 people who would dedicate themselves to activism in the years that followed was definitely a and Vanya and a 57 year old feminist organizer in Beijing and I'm going on I'll go and hunt on phone a labor organizer Han was a 26 year old railway worker when he wandered into the crowds at Tiananmen that summer of 1989 Well we walked him to the square I was so the students talking about what is the mock receive better or worse fantastic and I was I really admired so he decided to join the protests he pitched a tent in the square and within days he was giving speeches himself. And then one night hunt was suddenly awakened by gunfire here. Outside a tent. And I walk out I looked at a sky that dark sky where the pinky color line is so for all that people ask me. What down what we do would spend the next 22 months in prison after his release he was never allowed back inside mainland China so in Hong Kong he founded a group called China labor bulletin a workers' rights organization and in those 1st years when Han was starting his new life a woman in Beijing was struggling with her own memories of Tiananmen take a she could puppet you that after what happened I was very depressed for a few days how late. I felt like I could hardly do anything new and had been a reporter for Chinese state media in 198