Career white house budget official about the effort to withhold aid to ukraine. On the west coast, the newest 2020 contender, Deval Patrick, making his first pitch to voters in Southern California. A live picture of the event. And the scene as Colin Kaepernick gets another shot at the nfl. A team are rosters to break it down for us on this saturday. First, what week it has been in washington, d. C. And the historic twists and turns are far from over. Right now behind closed doors the First Official from the office of management and budget is testifying in the trump impeachment inquiry. Mark sandy, his name, a senior career official with the omb, the agency by the way charged with trumps order to temporarily freeze military aid to ukraine. Nbcs Garrett Haake is on capitol hill following this for us. Another busy day there. Who exactly is mark sandy and why is his testimony considered to be so key right now . Reporter kendis, hes a career official at the budget office. The way one democrat explained, nos providing sexy testimony but the person that can take a political plot by donald trump to withhold this money from ukraine and translate it through the bureaucracy in actual action. Someone whose desk the paperwork would have had to pass to send the 400 million, a portion of it to ukraine or stop it. Explaining the government machinery behind the scenes that put this plot into action. It speaks to the importance were standing here on a saturday and that now having already started the public phase of the inquire, a step back making sure they get information from all potential witnesses behind closed doors first. Sandy is testifying after receiving a subpoena. Right . From congress . Reporter this has become commonplace here even for witnesses who probably would have come without them, but, yes. Sandy received a subpoena overnight. Remember, the administration put up a firewall around all members saying no one has to come and testify. Weve seen that broken by state department officials. One d. O. D. Official broken by folks connected to the National Security council. Up to now the office of management and budget, three officials subpoenaed. None had shown. At least been invited. Be more specific. Sandy under subpoena showing up this morning provides him a degree of protection one might thing in retaliation since he is legally obligated to attend but speaks to the difficulty democrats have had getting closer and closer to President Trump and the actual decisionmaking process connected to this entire ukraine issue. Mark sandy behind closed doors now at least a couple of hours. Todays closeddoor testimony follows a friday night surprise from the Ukrainian Embassy official david holmess in in a closeddoor meeting he confirmed President Trump asked the ukrainians about the bidens. That after dramatic public testimony by the former ambassador to ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. The ambassador receiving a standing ovation following her testimony and also drew allegations of witness intimidation by President Trump. Now the president in realtime is attacking you. What affect do you think that has on other witnesses willingless no come forward and expose wrongdoing . Well, its very intimidating. And covering the white house for the Washington Post and joining us now from washington, d. C. , anne, thanks for being here. Even though david holmes testimony was closed door we got a lengthy copy of his Opening Statement making clear ambassador sondland is a key figure in this investigation. One portion of it, i heard ambassador sondland greet the president explain he was calling from kyiv. I heard President Trump clarify ambassador sondland was in ukraine. Replayed, yes, in ukraine and stated president zelensky loves your ass. Besides the comment of that last comment what does that exactly tell us . First thing it tells us, an extraordinary phone call david holmes remembers almost verbatim months later because it clearly was pretty shocking to him, and that the president is talking so loudly that Gordon Sondland has to hold the phone out away from his ear, his cell phone, unsecured on the terrace of a public restaurant in the middle of the day in a country that is under constant surveillance by russians but be that as it may, the fact that the president is asking very specifically, i mean, ill paraphrase here. What did you get . Like, are they going to go ahead with the investigations . Did you get that promise, is what the president is saying there. Sondland says, yes, and the colorful language is one of the ways that sondland tells the president , yeah, dont worry. Hes going to do what you walnt him to do. The ambassador, ambassador sondland called to testify publically on wednesday. For the third time. For the third time. Exactly. What do you expect to hear from him . Hes in a sticky situation now . We were going to hear from him even before this revelation from david holmes. Clearly, this conversation will now be a big part of what he is questioned about by democrat, anyway. Who will want to know why were you calling the president to give him this update . And how is it that the name of biden comes up very specifically in this conversation on july 26th when you have previously told us, mr. Sondland, that you didnt know anything about biden being involved with barisma and having any connection to this anticorruption investigation until weeks or months after that . All right. Anne garrett from d. C. Thank you. Appreciate it. Ten democratic president ial candidates are swarming Southern California now to woo 0 Party Leaders and activists as the states Democratic Endorsing Convention taking place in long beach, california. Among those slated to speak, the new kid on the block, Deval Patrick, former governor of massachusetts. However, notably missing are two of the frontrunners. Former Vice President joe biden and massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren choosing to skip todays event as they campaign elsewhere. I note that Deval Patrick has taken the stage behind our Josh Letterman joining us from long beach. Josh, you spoke with him moments ago. What did he tell you why hes in this race . Reporter yes, kendis. We spoke to Deval Patrick just before he took the stage where hes currently speaking to the California Democrats as we speak. Hes trying to orient himself differently in this race than some of the other candidates who are really pushing the message that theyre the candidate for the Progressive Left wing of the base. He wants voters to understand that hes a candidate that could appeal more to the center, to a broader crosssection of voters particularly from voters concerned about a candidate who would be able to defeat donald trump in a general election. Take a listen to what he told me. I want to be about a positive vision thats about everyone, everywhere and not just the folks in the corners of the country who are made to matter during campaigns. Or who were made to matter during fundraising and so forth, but the folks who feel left out and left back in every corner of the country. Reporter and, kendis, weve talked to a lot of folks here at this state convention for democrats in california. A lot of them not real big on the idea of Deval Patrick getting in the race saying that they think its silly, think its a bad idea, think they have plenty of candidates already in the race and dont really need another one at this late date. That said, when he hit the stage of a the confession, what sort of reception did he get . Reporter hes been getting a good reception here. People are hearing him out. He said in our interview he wants folk whose have concerns about him getting into the race now or concerns about his closeness, perceived closeness to big business to just give him a chance. Hear him out and told us people should not put him into a box. Josh letterman joining us from the California Democrats convention in long beach. Appreciate it. Just about an hour northeast of long beach, a vigil is expected tomorrow in santa clarita, california, to remember victims of this weeks deadly high school shooting. Overnight a shooter, a 16yearold died of selfinflicted gunshot wounds. Two students at Saugus High School killed in the spree. A report from the school in Southern California. Reporter days after a 16yearold student gunned down two classmates hoping fire with a. 45 caliber handgun his motive remains a mystery. We did not find any manifesto, diary that spelled it out, suicide note or writings which will clearly identify his motive. Reporter Authorities Say the shooter chose his victims at random, counting out his rounds in order to save the final bullet for himself. Succumbing to his injuries late friday. Seemed very familiar with firing the weapon. Reporter Law Enforcement tell nbc news the weapon may have been a ghost gun similar to these easily purchased online and assembled at home. Even on youtube how do it. Convert the gun into a gun, not registered and untraceable. One of the victims, gracie anne muehlberger. She loved anything with lots of sugar in it and her brother riley writing, you were the best sister i could have asked for. 14yearold Dominic Blackwell a junior rotc student also killed. The school was prepared. This school did an active Shooter Drill just in the last few weeks. Reporter equipped with trauma kits. And katie hill hailed as a hero for treating an injured student. I did training. Reporter gauze and tourniquets in the classroom a grim reminder of what students face at school. Nbcs sarah harman reporting from santa clarita. Britains Prince Andrew is breaking his silence revealing details of his friendship with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epste epstein. The interview airs in less than two hours. Were getting snippets. Live in london with details. What have we learned that the prince is saying right now about his relationship with epstein . Reporter kendis, we know he is saying epstein was a friend but denies knowledge of what took place inside epsteins house and something he hasnt deviated from in the snippets seen from this long interview that happened you mentioned inside Buckingham Palace and why so much anticipation was surrounding this when released. The public hearing from the prince in his own words as he continues to defend himself. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady. None whatsoever. Reporter the duke of york firing back facing tough questions over his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. This video capturesing what appearing tos andrew saying goodbye to a young woman at the door of epsteins mansion. Sometime after designated a sex offender. What he had been convicted. Thats the bit that that as it were, i kick myself for on a daily basis. Bay it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and i let them down. Reporter back in August Andrew told nbc news at no stage during the limited time i spent with him did i see, witness or suspect behavior of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest are and conviction. The duke of york denied epstein set him up years before with Virginia Roberts pictured here at 17. In an exclusive interview roberts described a night out as a london club. Id hop in the car with jeffrey and geeland said hes coming back to the house. And i want you to do for him what you do for epstein. I couldnt believe it. Prince andrew, of course, denies this ever happened. He denies that it ever happened and hes going to keep denying it ever happened but he knows the truth, and i know the truth. Reporter you dont remember meeting her . No. Reporter Prince Andrew sticking to what he says is the truth and making those continued denials. Meantime, we spoke to royal commentators saying simply by doing this interview the prince opens up more scrutiny for himself and the enfire royal family. The epstein estate wants to establish a fund that would benefit the victims and in fact signed off by a version islands judge the victims could be receiving monetary compensation in these cases. Kendis . And sarah ferguson, exwife, comes out in support of him tweeting he is a true and real gentleman. Morgan chesky from london, thank you. President trump back on the defensive after live tweeting during testimony of the former ambassador to ukraine. Coming up, the debate over witness tampering and freedom of speech. And Colin Kaepernick is getting another shot at the nfl. A look at the private Training Session under way with the controversial former quarterback. Thousands of women with metastatic Breast Cancer, which is Breast Cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. Ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr her2 metastatic Breast Cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. Patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead to death. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breath, cough, or chest pain. 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The commander in chief is ultimate responsible for ensuring that the law is enforced and when appropriate that mercy is granted. A pardon thats seemingly been in the works since october when the president spoke critically of military trials, tweeting we train warriors to be killing machines then prosecute them when they kill. A dramatic turn of events for a death row inmate rodney reid days before his execution. The texas court of criminal appeals voting to suspend his execution challenging this 1998 murder conviction and a wave of highprofile celebrities and lawmakers rallying for his defense. Reality star Kim Kardashianwest says she was with reid when he received news hi lethal injection date was being stayed. Where reed was convicted, that the state presented false testimony andened he should be exonerated. And overseas in hong kong, caught up in the cross fire. Police seen firing tear gas as proteste protesters attempting to clear road blocks outside a local university today. At least five campuses barricaded this week by thousands of students and activists and for the First Time Since the demonstrators and demonstrations broke out, soldiers from Mainland China have taken to the streets of hong kong. They were there to clear debris and break down road blocks after one of the most violent weeks of demonstrations. The historic city of venice making history again for the wrong reasons. With its worst flooding in more than a half century, extreme high tides slammed 85 of the city engulfing some areas in six feet of water. How is this for irony . The citys own council flooding for the first time ever. Just minutes after officials rejected a measure on climate change. The mayor of venice declared a state of emergency thursday says the floods caused grave damage to several landmarks including st. Marcs basilica. The city is bracing for another exceptions tide as its called tomorrow. Right now a new closeddoor hearing on capitol hill as a new deposition in the impeachment hearing is under way. This week we got a firsthand look at the republicans strategy as all of these hearings take place. More on the republican playbook and if President Trump is cooperating with it. Plus, trump ally roger stone found guilty and awaiting his sentence. He faces up to 50 years for several felonies. Could the former trump adviser get help from his old boss . Thats next. Thats next. Limu emu doug hour 36 in the stakeout. As soon as the homeowners arrive, well inform them that Liberty Mutual customizes home insurance, so theyll only pay for what they need. Your turn to keep watch, limu. Wake me up if you see anything. [ snoring ] [ loud squawking and siren blaring ] on