unofficial event. but documents show it footed some of the bill. could risk costing the group its tax exempt status. the nra denies it. this report goes to great lengths to try to involve the nra in activities of private individuals and create a false impression that the nra did not act appropriately. nothing could be furtherer from the truth. in a little danger, a little can be a lot. so, be on the lockout. thank you for watching. stay tuned. the news continues here on cnn. hello and welcome to viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. this is cnn newsroom.

i'm natalie allen. ahead this hour, the impeachment inquiry against donald trump is moving quickly. stunning developments. plus, what the white house did to restrict access to donald trump's conversations with russia's president and saudi arabia's crown prince and why. we begin with the impeachment inquiry with president trump's dealing. that will soon take center stage in congress. we learned how other activity by the president has been shielded from the american public. "the washington post" reporting that during this 2016 meeting at

the white house, mr. trump said he wasn't concerned about interference with the 2016 election. >> we know that essentially, this was no longer available to people who might actually ordinarily have access to it. if you're a country expert or issue area, you would not get access to that area. at the time this conversation happened, the white house started restricting these memos, fearful of press leaks. this memo between lavrov and kislyak, was even more tightly. what happened in that conversation did get around. and i would note this is the same conversation, in which the

president revealed a highly classified source of information, that the united states had about isis operations. and remarked that after having fired jim comey the day before, he had relieved a lot of pressure on him. from was suspicion that the president fired jim comey because of the investigation into russia and the special counsel being apointed. >> cnn has learned that some phone calls between trump and other world leaders were held to a higher secrecy than usual. particularly the leader of saudi arabia and russia. pamela brown has more on that. >> reporter: we have learned the white house efforts to limit access to foreign leaders. this is according to several

people familiar with the matter. they were among the conversations that aides took remarkable stems ps to keep fro becoming public. instead, a transcript was never circulated at all. the source said was highly unusual. the call contained no security secrets, as the white house was looking at the murder of jamal khashog khashoggi. it was restricted. it's not clear if the aides took the additional step to place the saudi arabia and russia phone calls in the secured, code word operated system, that had the phone call with ukraine's

president and sparked whistleblower complaint earlier this week. officials did confirm calls aside from the ukraine conversation did reach it there. these attempts further illustrate the extraordinary effort taken by trump's aides to limit the number of people with access to his conversations with foreign leaders. this went into place a year ago, when there were conversations leaked between president trump and the leaders of mexico and australia. pamela brown, cnn. curt volcker reportedly decided he could no longer be effective in his post. the whistleblower writes,

volcker advised officials on how to deal with president trump and his lawyer, rudy giuliani. volcker will be questioned next week. next week is when the house impeachment inquiry could begin. three committees have subpoenaed mikepompeo. here's manu raju. >> reporter: the secretary of state has been subpoenaed by house chairman, regarding what the state department did and knew and tried to facilitate meetings with rudy giuliani, the president's personal attorney and ukraine officials to investigate the political rival,

former vice president joe biden. the democrats had demanded for several weeks that the state department turn over the information. they had not gotten if information that led them to this point. democrats say if they don't get information from this subpoena or other subpoenas, it will strengthen the case for impeachment. i'm being told by democrati iic sources, that if they do not cite that, they will use that for impeachment, saying the president was trying to obstruct congress. democrats are planning an aggressive few weeks aeroon the house intelligence committee. adam schiff says he plans to issue subpoenas as soon as the coming week. also, planning to hold a hearing with the inspector general of

the committee. schiff tells me, other hearings could come in the coming weeks. the whistleblower that caused all the attention for the president's conduct. asking for an investigation into the bidens. this is happening expeditiously. democrats want this wrapped up potentially by thanksgiving, if not sooner, to have a vote on the house floor through the judiciary committee, to make e president trump, the third president to get impeached. joining us to talk about the developments from munich, germany, is james davis, a political science professor. thaing f thank you for joining us, james.

it is widely accepted that the president committed an impeachable offense with that call to ukraine. but is the impeachment process the right call during an election? >> that's what the democrats have to ask themselves. at the end of the day, impeachment is a political act. it will only work, if the committee thinks that the crimes warrant the removal from office of the president. i think the democrats are asking themselves two things. first of all, can we do this better than the fumueller repor? the mueller report dragged on. the more it dragged on, it gave the president the opportunity to attack mr. mueller and the process.

to convince americans we were wasting time when there was important business to do. they're trying to speed up the challenge and the legitimacy of the process. the seconds question, how do they keep their majority in the congress in the house of representatives? and how will this play out on the presidential election in 2020? and i think getting this over quickly helps because the longer it drags on, the more oxygen it will suck out of the political discourse. the candidates that the president has put up for the presidency, is not going to get the coverage. getting this moved along quickly makes sense politically. >> and issues in the election will be sidelined, as well.

whether the house votes to impeach president trump, if senate republicans remain by his side, the thought is that we will get a boost. how risky is that for democrats? >> at this point, it's risky for republicans. you take susan collins in maine, for example. or the senator that took mccain's position in arizona. those are people in marginal states, in swing states, their position is not secure. these republican senators are going to have to ask, am i going to side with the president? or does it make more sense to side with the constitution and

principles? the onus will be on republicans to say why, if the house comes up with a reasonable case against the president, why this president should remain in office. right. isn't there a danger to the united states, if the president isn't held accountable? so many things that this president has done. people have gotten used to shrugging it off. people have gotten numb. the reports of incidents has gotten dizzying. if the house of representatives can focus on a few key points and make a clear case this president has misused his office, misused it for political gain, private gain, that's something that the average american can understand.

if you keep the message simple, and keep on message, you can convince even a numbed public, this president is so far removed from the traditions of the country, this impeachment proceeding is warranted. >> it begins next week. no doubt, people will be riveted to see what is revealed after so many developments. james davis, we appreciate your insight. thanks for speaking with us. >> thank you, natalie. as he faces another scandal, president trump may be seeking help from the gun lobby. he met private with wayne lapierre. "the new york times" reports they discuss ee eed nra support mr. trump, both in his election bid and during a possible impeachment. lapierre wants the white house to, quote, stop the games over

gun control legislation, end quote. the nra is denying it has special arrangements with the president. it helped him in the previous election by donating $30 million. ahead, the timeline of the whistleblower's complaint is prompting questions into how the justice department handled the allegations. also, a cnn exclusive with elizabeth warren. what she says about the impeachment inquiry. and if it should focus just on ukraine. - in the last year, there were three victims

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shipstation saves us so much time. it makes it really easy and seamless. pick an order, print everything you need, slap the label onto the box, and it's ready to go. our costs for shipping were cut in half. just like that. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers. go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free. this is not a cause for any joy that we have to go down this path. it's a difficult decision to make. but we have that obligation. the actions that were taken undermine the constitution and the oath we take to protect and defend, including the oath that the president takes. >> u.s. house speaker nancy pelosi talking about the impeachment inquiry into the

president. she is not giving a timeline when the house committee leading the inquiry ends its work. they want it sooner rather than later. congress was informed on september 9th there was a whistleblower complaint. what did administration officials know about it and when they knew it? jessica schneider with that story. >> reporter: officials now say the department of justice and the white house knew about the whistleblower's concerns more than one week before they were formally alerted by the national director of intelligence and by the intelligence inspector general, the last week of august. here's the timeline we know so far. august 12th, the attorneys are alerted about the whistle blow's concerns during a routine

conference call. the head of the division goes to the white house to review the transcript of the calm between president trump and the ukraine's president. the head of the d.o.j.'s criminal division and the attorney general, was notified afterward. for ten days, the d.o.j. deliberated about how to handle the matter. it's clear how much the attorney general learned that day but he was made aware of the information. >> the department of justice, referred this to my office for an investigation. >> from there is trajer scrutiny not to open up an investigation into campaign violence violations.

concluding that the whistleblower's complaint was, in fact, credible. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. democratic presidential candidate, joe biden, is no stranger to attacking president trump. after he and his family were targeted in the ukraine scandal, it's personal. here was the former vice president, speaking in las vegas on friday. folks, we have a president that has violated his oath of office. he has put at risk, our national security. a president that may have committed a crime. and a president who used your tax dollars to persuade a foreign leader to interfere in a

presidential campaign. it's clear he will stop at nothing to hold on to power. elizabeth warren says she wants a vote on impeachment before the iowa caucuses. >> i do. i worry about this administration. not just that donald trump is willing to break the law. but they're doing their best to try to cover this up and discredit anyone who is trying to get to the truth. >> as this process unfolds, do you have any reason to believe that your senate colleagues will vote to convict the president?

>> i don't know. i see this as more than just politics. he has solicited a foreign country to interfere in our 2020 elections. that isn't right. no one is fwov the law in this country. it's so important that congress bring impeachment proceedings to hold him accountable. 6 this is our constitutional responsibility. >> do you think the impeachment investigation should be just the ukraine issue? or everything else? >> i would like to see us do the ukraine issue because it is so clear.

it's a clear violation of law. the president is asking for help against one of his political rivals. and asking a foreign government for a thing of value for himself personally. that's against the law. after all that happened in 2016 and the mueller investigation, the president of the united states knows that. he didn't stumble into it and didn't think about the consequences, no. he knew. he believed he could break the law and get away with it. and so did his administration. they didn't leave that transcript in the regular course of transcripts of phone calls with foreign leaders. why? because it wasn't a regular call. it was a call that violated the law. let's cover it up so no one's there.

that's why the impeachment proceeding is so important on this issue. >> do you think it's important for all of this to be wrapped up before february. >> i hope it is. we know the implications an impeachment can have on president trump. it could have far-reaching effects on ukraine and russia. we'll explain about that. plus, rudy giuliani says the state department asked him to reach out to ukraine. the problem, is state department says that didn't happen. [♪] [♪] check your credit scores for free

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welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is cnn newsroom from atlanta. the white house reports that white house were so concerned about the 2017 meeting with two russian officials, you may recall it, they moved to keep it under wraps. the president was beaming when he stood with russian officials in the white house. he said at this meeting, he was not concerned about moscow's interference in the 2016 presidential election. the phone call with ukraine's leader wasn't the only one kept secret. access was restricted to other conversations he had with world leaders, in particular the crown prince of saudi arabia and the russian president. the u.s. special envoy to

ukraine has resigned. curt volcker's resignation comes a day after his name was in a complaint of the inquiry on u.s. president trump. joining me now is jill dougherty, global fellow for the woodrow wilson center. jill, thanks for being with us. how is this story affecting ukraine? how will the distraction hurt ukraine's ability to fight corruption? >> it's bad on many levels. ukraine has a long history of major corruption, no question. just the image of the country is out there with the word

corruption. democratically, it will hurt president zelensky. it hurts him because he doesn't want to be drawn into something that has democrats and republican republicans he doesn't want to take sides. it weakens him domestically within ukraine because he looedd let's say, not forceful when he had the performance with president trump at the united nations. it makes it harder to do any deal with putin to solve and resolve the conflict in the ukraine. >> he is new to politics.

he came from the world of acting. my, my, welcome to your new role. developments are fast and curious. the white house worked to limit access to president trump's conversations with foreign leaders, including, mr. putin. mr. trump, of course, sometimes cozy relationship toward bhutan, have been mystifying from the start. also, "the washington post" released a story late friday, that mr. trump told washington officials that he didn't think rush russia's interference in the 2016 election was a big deal. >> he's said things similar to that before. he is equating what the united states does to what russia does. that's where the danger is. this is not a conversation. by a candidate or a friend.

of president bhutan or the ambassador, whatever. this is the president of the united states, essentially saying, if the story is correct, it wasn't a big deal if russia interfered in the election. the united states has done some things, interfering in other country's. there's no question about that. more recently, the united states is helping organizations how to run a campaign. it's found advisers to run. you cannot equate what the united states is doing with what russia is doing. >> right. something you mentioned, i would like you to talk more about, how

the impeachment story might affect russia's aspirations with ukraine while the united states is distracted. >> that's a very interesting question. right now, the kremlin is happy with what's happening. russia is usually the one connected with the world corruption, or interference, or the election. et cetera. now it's ukraine. and ukraine and russia, are competing images for people in the former soviet union. would they like to be russia? or would they like to be a ukraine that is not corrupt. it damages ukraine and it helps russia, which can say, look. there's a country that you,

united states, have been supporting and praise. they can stand back and watch the chaos unfold. they can make hay from it. >> and we know that russia likes the chaos. they help create in the united states. ukraine seems to be really stuck in the middle now. also friday, the secretary of state, and the ambassador to ukraine stepped down. as this investigation into the president unfolds, how might these developments affect diplomatic efforts between the united states and ukraine? >> this is extraordinarily bad. curt volcker is a professional. he's been a diplomat for many,

many year s. he's stepping down. there's a lot going on right now. we'll have to see how he explains that. to have the u.s. represent, the envoy on ukraine out, is very bad right now. then, the secretary of state is a problem. it weakened the secretary of state. some of this may have to happen. and the signal from the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, essentially being taken out of the country, just a few weeks before she was going to leave anyway. she was a nemesis of republicans. i have been talking to people in

the state department. and all of them are very concerned about what this is doing to morale of the diplomats that serve the united states. >> so many angles to keep an eye on. jill, thank you. we appreciate your expertise. thanks. president trump's high-profile personal attorney is featured prominently in the whistleblower complaint. now, rudy giuliani is fighting back, and says he had the state department's blessing to reach out to ukraine. but did he? here's cnn's tom foreman. >> let me tell you the facts -- >> reporter: rudy giuliani is fighting back. >> i wasn't operating on my own. >> reporter: insisting his talks with ukrainian officials were proper, important and encouraged by the u.s. state department.

>> i'm a whistleblower. >> reporter: why is president trump's personal lawyer now all worked up? it comes during the call between president trump and zelensky. rudy giuliani's name comes up repeatedly, as trump asking for foreign help investigating joe biden. rudy knows what's going on. if you can speak to him, that would be great. that would raise acquisitions that giuliani was acting as an improper agent of the state department. giuliani says no way he was helping investigate corruption. and he has a paper trail that proves it. including a text message of a state department personnel making a meeting. the state department says, mr. giuliani is a private citizen and acts in a personal capacity as a lawyer for

president trump. he does not speak on behalf of the u.s. fwovgovernment. but he has spoken for trump in times. >> he didn't obstruct. >> reporter: the president calls him a loyal ally. >> reporter: his critics call him something else. >> he is the henchman. >> reporter: he is looking at a new title, fall guy. he is going to vigorously defendant himself as he did president trump. will the president stand by him if the going gets tough? tom foreman, cnn, washington. the american diplomat best known for challenging the 2003 iraq war has died.

joe wilson was the deputy chief to the first iraq war. acting as the go-between. years later, he publicly challenged the u.s. assessment that iraq was trying to buy nuclear materials for nuclear weapons. that way george w. bush led into the invasion of iraq. he was 69. people in afghanistan are braving threats of taliban violence, just by heading to the polls right now. coming up, a live report on the vote and how it's going. ancestry provided me the opportunity

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skipping school on friday, demanding action on climate change. the teenager in charge of the movement, greta thunburg was at a rally. she hit back on those that think she is young. ivan cabrera is here to talk about that. >> by the way, thousands of marchers there, to the young people, especially in the united states, on the last presidential election, less than half of them went out and voted. if you want climate change, you want something to be done about it, government is the way to do it, right? >> right. i guess, millennials and gen zers. they focused in on ice and the i

s acidity of the ocean. i'll give your the cliff notes. the global temperatures rise. as that happens, the sea ice melts. and there's less ice to reflect the radiation back into space. who absorbs it? the associations do. 90% of the co2 gets pulled into the ocean. 20% of the pollutant s has gone into the ocean. that's wreaking havoc. there's that hp. the oceans become more acidic. we've lost a reef off of australia. this is something they look at on top of everything else they've seen. the sheet ice is continuing to

melt. between '07 and 2016, it melted at triple the rate as the past. if that continues, by 2100, we're looking at a sea level rise of three feet, one meter. that would impact low-lying coastlines. you'll get the 1,000-year events, happening more like every year, every 5 to 1,000 years. in the u.s., we are doing the best we can, most of the east coast and west coast, will experience the 100-year flood. we talk about that. that can be becoming more and more often. we look at the temperature of the ocean. that's fuel for the hurricanes. hurricane dorian. we will see it more often in the atlantic as a result of that. and the storm surge, as a result of the sea rise, will be on issue. they looked at ice.

that will be an issue. they looked at how this will impact the entire world. not just in big form here. we're talking about the peaks of the mountains, all the way into the valleys. i showed you the feedback loop. that will continue unless we do something about it. pronto. >> all right. ivan, thank you. >> you're welcome. one report after another. >> always bad news. a lot of folks just pack it away. >> it is what it is. >> you bet. we'll be right back. after my dvt blood clot, i wondered. could another come around the corner. or could it play out differently? i wanted to help protect myself. my doctor recommended eliquis. eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot. almost 98% of patients on eliquis

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voters in afghanistan are risking their lives to cast ballots in the presidential election. the taliban has threatened to attack voting centers. and the reuters news service reports that one explosion at a polling station in kandahar left three people injured. security is very tight, with tens of thousands of afghan troops deployed around the country. let's get the latest on how things are doing with journalist jennifer glass. she is in kabul, joining us by phone. are you hearing about voter turnout? it seems that people are going

to the polls despite the threat of the taliban. >> in some places that's true. i'm in a polling station in kabul, and the voter turnout is very light. i was here last october, during the parliamentary elections. there were long lines of voters here. that's not the case at all. we're seeing them trickle in. only a few dozen in the last hour. >> there's 5,000 people registered at this polling station, a secure one, in the center of kabul. we heard reports of violence. the most serious the attack in kandahar. ke are hearing about sporadic attacks. some injuries, menacing polling stations and six provinces. >> all right.

jennifer glass, following the developments for us. we'll stay in contact with you as the voting continues. thank you, jennifer. prince harry's tour of south africa, included a trip to angola. he went to the same land mine that princess diana went to in 1997. here's cnn's max foster from angola. >> reporter: an iconic image. one that drew world attention, to the plight of landmines in angola. diana's son, prince harry, literally retracing his mother's footsteps from 1997. pondering a moment in history. the mines cleared from here. but more than 1,000 mine fields

are riddling the landscape beyond. earlier in a town in southeastern angola, harry like his mother before him, remotely detonated a mine, reminding everyone how deadly they are. >> without question, if she didn't campaign the way she did 22 years ago, this could still be a mind field. >> reporter: the transformation of this street really speaks to how much progress has been made in the clearance of land mines. still a long way to go, though. harry hopes he can create awareness. the prince re-creating the other memorable images of diana, comforting the most innocent of land mine victims, at an or orthopedic center.

now bearing her name. >> the memory of her is with me daily. and her legacy lives on. that's why i'm happy to name this center, the princess diana orthopedic center. >> sanja was 13 when she sat for this image with diana, now, meeting her son. the mining groups operating here, say diana's visit was pivotal in creating the momentum needed for an international ban on land mines. the treaty was signed after she tied. her son is continuing the fight in her name. max foster, cnn, angola. finally this hour, we have this -- los angeles is called the city of angels. and this mystery woman definitely seems like one.

♪ >> los angeles police tweeted out the video of the woman singing a puccini aria in a subway station. her identity remains a mystery. thank you for watching "cnn newsroom" this hour. i'm natalie allen. stay with us. another hour of news is just ahead with george howell.

restricted access. it turns out the conversation with ukraine's president may not have been the only one. the white house wanted to keep under wraps. we'll have more on that ahead for you. plus, that call puts the u.s. president in the middle of a fast-moving impeachment inquiry. all the latest developments ahead here for you on cnn. also ahead this hour, risking the wrath of the taliban. these voters in afghanistan are ignoring warnings from militant groups in order to vote. we're live in kabul with details. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. 4:00 a.m. on the u.s. east