hello and welcome to ow our viewers in the united states and around the world. 3:00 a.m. in washington, 10:00 a.m. in northern syria. i'm natalie allen and this is cnn newsroom. let's get started. under arrest, two business associates of rudy giuliani are in custody. we'll we'll have the latest on the ukrainian contraverse a. hundreds try to flee after turkey's military offensive in the region. nine democrat presidential candidates faces questions regarding the lgbtq community. >> this is cnn breaking news. our breaking news.

iran's media reporting an iranian oil tanker has erupted in flames after being hit bu two missiles. they report the tanker is in the red sea 60 miles or 100 kilometers from the saudi port of jetta. and live with more about what you're hearing about this. fred. >> reporter: we're still very early stages since this explosion took place. it's iran's official news agency. and they were saying it was 100 kill omitter its off the coast of saudi arabia when it was hit by one or two explosions. there were initial reports about

there then being a fire on board. unclear whether that's been substantiated and so far no reports of any casualties on board. what the iranian oil company has been saying. they say the two main oil can compartment compartments have been damaged. they say oil was leaking into the red sea. unclear whether that oil leak has been brought under control. one of the things they were saying is the workers on board that tanker were trying to bring the leak under control. a lot of things were unclear. was this an attack? was this not an attack? can which director is it going in the red sea? or was it going towards the south? could bring it back towards the territorial waters of iran if it

went around, for instance, yemen. if this was an attack on this tanker another major incident in a region you and i have been reporting about has been extremely volatile over the it past cup couple of months. >> and could this umpact the security situation between iran and saudi arabia? no one at this point in time is pointing fingers of blame. however, as you said this is a region that has been in a lot of turmoil in the last couple of months. and the u.s. and saudi arabia has held responsible for. and of can course you had a

string of tanker attacks that took place in the straight of hormuz. where other gulf nations have said iran might be involved. on top of that the iranians have shot down an amaycon drone as well in that region. one of the really interesting things we've been hearing after the attacks seems to vin been an effort of deescalation between -- there was talk that maybe iran and saudi arabia were getting indirect talks going between one another. certainly if it turns out this was an attack on the saudi oil tanker, that could drastically change the situation and generally tlolead to

destabilization that's volatile. >> we know we'll rr be learning more shortly. thank you. this is happening as a result. news has sent oil prices higher. brent crude up 1.68 purr and 1.64% respectively. we'll continue to watch that part of the situation as well. the democrats push to impeach donald trump. we should find out in the can coming hours if former it ambassador to ukrain, marine yovanovitch will testify. he was let go after being accused of being antitrump. they've charged associates of giuliani with funneling hundreds

off thousands of foreign money into u.s. elections. they say they played a key role for these guys to call up dirt on joe biden. >> and documents that -- perried a mitsz he asked donald trump multiple times to call ukrain's president but says he wanted them to talk brouabout energy, joe biden. he's back on the campaign trail. in minneapolis attacked joe biden, his family and the impeachment investigation. >> the retched washington swamp has been trying to nullify the results off a truly great and democratic election. the it election of 2016.

they want to erace your voice and your future. but they will fail because unameriuin america the people rule again. >> from senior white house correspondent, jim acosta. >> reporter: with two men involved in digging up dirt on joe biden -- and. >> i don't know them. i dont know about them. i dont can know what they do but maybe there were clients of rudy. i just don't know. >> igor and forty-two fruman as they were trying to leave the country are only calling for you to testify in the impeachment

inquiry. >> jewel yagiuliani has been up neck in this investigation. he has an obgiegz testify under oath so this can come to light. >> reporter: jay secue low says lead to indictment. nether the campaign a -- giuliani was just boasting earlier this week he wants to tell his story to law makers. kwl . >> i would love to testify and give me half an hour to point out biden ink, four decades of crime. love to do it. >> reporter: tweeting the president of the ukrain tweeted again that president trump applied no pressure and did nothing wrong. >> they've eviserated the rules. they don't give us any fair play. no lawyers.

you can't have lawyers, you can't speak. you virtually can't do anything. >> but past supporters are can coming forward to criticize the call on too ukrain. >> do you think it is approp reet for the president of the united states to solicit foreign interference in our political processes? >> of course no. it's absolutely not. >> george conway, husband of white house counselor and saying in a statement these acts based on what have been revealed are a basis fran impeach alligations. and the white house refuses to cooperate doesn't hold up. >> but the house has failed to meet that therefore render its impeachment inquiry illegitimate

and unconstitutional. all it says is that the house has the full power of impeachment. >> sfiending 51% want to see him impeached and removed from office. adding whoovrg their pollster is, they suck. asked whether the white house would correct and he hedged saying that depends whether they get a fair shake. the president responded he does deant want spies in the white house. cnn, the white house. u.s. presidential candidates pledged to fight for lgbtq rights. >> this is a civil rights issue. it's covered by, in my view, and the court may not agree. this is a civil rightsithsue.

frotect frotected -- protected by the civil rights act. >> ahead here we hear from other presidential hopefuls about their plans. and ten oz of thousands flee air strikes as turkey starringerts syrian kurds. we're live just ahead. - in the last year, there were three victims

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welcome back. you're watching cnn newsroom. tens of thousands in northern syria are being forced to escape shelling and air strikes three dayini days into the military offensive. donald trump announced u.s. trooped would with pull back from an area occupied by u.s. allied can kurdish forces. the u.s. president defended the decision and laid out three options the u.s. has now. send in thousands and win militarily. hit turkey hard with sanctions oreen turkey and the kurds. it is the latest option, mr. trump says, the last option he says he favors.

let's go to senior correspondent nick peyton walsh and you have been seeing the toll this is having on kurds suddenly caught in the midst of turkey's attacks. >> reporter: not on this side but yes, on the other side of the boarder our colleagues have been reporting devastation wrought in some of the communities having to flee in the tens of of thousands. you're hearing behind me the occasionally artillery they're firing towards syrian territory. and we've been moved from the view we had yesterday where we could see where the artillery lands to this area where the artillery is behind us and we saw yesterday large numbered of coaches arriving towards what

looked like a military base or facility that were carrying syrian rebels. moderate and backed by turkey and being brought here and called the civil national army, part of a plan to use them in the fight as well. something major is on the way and we heard from u.s. plit canical official clear down there and possibly 30 kilometers deep inside but today there will be more political wrangling over the it decision and the chief is in turkey that moment. give media availability where he may speak about nato's broad feelings about how their member, turkey, is conducting that operation.

and with the exception of the provocation of the united states and i can't remember a moment that divide as much as this, apart from the iraq war in 2003. donald trump has stepped forward and not complicated things but trying to give himself a way out mediated between it him the kurds. we can know there are forces in the same numbers as before inside northeastern syria. maybeby they could agree as an area of defeat. and it's unclear. you're hearing more artillery being launched and where we're standing in the ranks of turkish foreign media. clearly turkey's embold ngzs

feeling the criticism is made for me. day rr pretty broad in their scope. they say they're fighting terrorists. they were america's ally, doing most of the fighting and dying pushing isis out of syria and they feel they have a pretty large operation ahead of them. as much as 18 miles they want to go. say they'll put syrian refugees in that area. remember this is an issue going on for 80 years. this is a crisis that's embroiled the entire region. they say thaley'll be able to clear this area here and that's a massively ambitiouses plan involving dedecisions to go back that area.

if europe doesn't -- european union doesn't stop calling this an invasion, then he may send the refugees north. you get a sense of the scope of this, particularly when we saw those coaches arriving. and/or used in any furtherer operations inside here. it looks faster in the path i originally expected. >> thanks for giving us the lowdown. retired u.s. army general mark mcharley. first of all i read accounts of military analyst whose said this move by mr. trump may result in one of the riskiests national

security decisions he has made. can do you agree? >> absolutely do i agree. as we discussed on this program on tuesday i use the term we are really from world security standpoint falling into absolute chaos. you have anb instance where turkey and urs while u.s. ally a member of nato has taken advantage of a situation a one-sided deal brokered by erdogan and our president, the net result of which is to destroy those syrian kurds who bore the bruntf of the fighting to rent isis from syria and of course the kurds from iraq. it's really a reprehensible activity and certainly the subject of condemnation by our

wenchs allies and all countries that respect the rule of law around the world. >> many people very much feeling for the kurds and being put in this position. let's look at the larger picture too. what are the risks? we know isis is still there. the kurds are holding isis prisoner. but who knows if they can hold on and of course there's a humanitarian disaster. >> and the question that has not been raised is what is the net resultf of the actions on the part of turkey? turkey has asserted, even today that he will move forward, create this buffer zone and within this buffer zone, as we

explained earlier tonightx two to 3 million syrians can diss placesed syrians found themselves in camps in turkey will be relocated. the incident questions and before says what happens to syrian kurdser who have not only shed blood but themselves established in that particular area. there's nothing put forth in a humanitarian crisis. no way ahead assuming this campaign is not stopped either through negotiation or the imposition of military forces from where we do not know. but what will happen to the syrian kurds? and erdogan gave us the answer. he said if western powers continue to condemn my actions,

i'll open the flood gates and have these men and women find their way to western europe as refugees. another act of intimidation. >> he was quite angry when he said european union, listen up. and went foon make the threat about unlooueashing syrian refugees. the white house says it will work between turkey and the kurds. he's getting widely condemned by democrats and republicans, including lindsey graham. but can it be undone at this point? >> my answer is since we have our president who touts his ability as one of the greatest strategists, i think a deal has already been made and that deal

was cons mated in the tole phone call and hopefully to communications. and so to go back and say that we can find another path ahead at a point where we're in a much better position two to three days ago when we had american forces on the ground close to the front lines, actively acystsing the can kurds. the turks would never have struck americans in the locations they were at two to the three days ago. that was a stabilizing influence. and now we've withdrawn as a consequence from boarders of the president. assuming there was any form of deal, appears economic sanctions may not have any effect on othe turks and that takeinize s into consideration whether trump

would move forward with penalties. so we have lost our bargaining position. >> yes, and what it seems to be, an impulsive foreign policy move by this president. we appreciate your insight so much. thank you so much. the u.s. presidential candidates are speaking out on oequality in america. hey what the democrats said about the right of of the lgbtq community. and presidential candidate, bernie sanders is ready to get back on the campaign trail after a heart atalk. and tremfya® was proven superior to humira® in providing significantly clearer skin.

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welcome back. i'm nattily allen. the house impeachment inquiry gets back to business today with testimony from former u.s. ambassador to ukrain maroon. she was removed back in may after giuliani and others accused her of being antitrump. they've charged two associates with funneling hundreds of thousands into u.s. elections of orforeign money they say he played a key role to dig up dirt on joe biden.

the international rescue committee says more than 60,000 civilians in northern syria have fled their homes as turkey continues its military offensive against kurdish-led forces. says their aim is terrorists and 277 have been killed. kurds were a major amare cancon ally in the long fight against isis. well, candidate bernie sanders says he's ready to get back to work after a heart attack. >> probably next week. i think yi've done morrallies t other candidate in the history of the united states. but i feel great. we're working on the schedule that's going to talk us to nevada, nebraska. >> sanders says he ignored

warning signs can which included fatigue and sutten arm fatigue. he says there was no attempt to hide his condition. sanders was notably absent from the town hall on equality as nine democrat des took the stage thursday hoping to win the it key support of lgbtq voters. they had plans on how they plan to fight. they spoke about pressing issues effecting the community from hate crimes to sprom court debate on job dish crimination. >> this is a civil rights issue. it's covered by, in my view. the court may not agree. this is a silver rights issue protected by civil rights, the

civil rights act and we should be focusing on how to enforce that. we talk about being able to get saturday and fired monday. the vast majority of american can people don't think that's possible. the vast majority of american peep 8 don't know that's there. but we all have to remember about this case. supreme court can rules, as it should, that lgbtq people are protected under current law, we're done. we are fully protected. if not we need to pass the equality act through congress. you ask the right question. how are you going to get? through congress. what it's going to take in the senate, we got to have more

democrats in the senate. >> our country is so torn apa apart we're so fragmented and here we have the lgbtq plus world that is everywhere. we're in every state, every community, whether folks realize it or not we're in every family. and that means we have the power to build bridges. when somebody weighing whether tear come out, it's important to know they're accepted. there is no right or wrong way to be gay, queer or trans. and i hope our own community,b defines it in a way that lets everybody know. and the president of glad joins me to talk about this. what's your reaction to an

hour's long debate just focusing on issues eeffecting the lgbtq community? >> i think it's great and we hosted one that lasted about two hours in iowa, and then tonight erfoer more hours of speaking specifically about lgbtq issues and that's important because we're living in an administration that's attacking us through rhetoric. and so right now in the supreme court heard three arguments about employment, discrimination. dprrs can they discriminate just for why the are and identify. it's a very pivotal time. er i think what was overriding

tonight and wonderful was that most of the candidates. all of the candidates came out untrue support of the kmoount, they supported the equality act and discrimflation houses and employment. and i think all having e-elizabeth warren cox bautszish oos and how it's effect itting especially trans-women of colorer. has been critical for us. >> yes, being discriminated against and recipients against him in viejsz and specifically against trans women of can color has been absolutely epidemic at this point in time and needs to be addressed by the highest office. frirns whi now we have a president puting

pargets on their backs. rescinding rights. especially young kids in school who identify as trans. and i think we are looking that selection as a moment for the lgbtq community to once again become a priority eor be considered by theed a mun stragz. >> eo the administration is one thing and then you have am p dedemocratical candidates and how do they keep thoois these issued a the forefront. >> a lot of what we're looking for is the media to keep this that the forefront. trump got a pass on lgbtq issues and the first day he started rolling back our rights and he said one time he was for lgbtq peep 8.

>> and none ohis actions backed that up. so we're hold the meia accountability. when we narrow it down and have the final cant dts of how they're going to treat the community, because we have a voting block and our allies are. it's an important block you want to win the race. . for got the the general campaign coming up as well. thanks for giving us your invite. as we just heard hate crimes have been big. we need one woman brute ail tacked just because of her identity. you've tried so many moisturizers... but one blows them all out of the water. hydro boost with hyaluronic acid to plump skin cells

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well, right now the u.s. supreme court is hearing arguments that help reshape the land skaup of gender rights. this comes as the city of dallas, texas is experiencing a streng of deadly attacks. sayau spoke with the woman who survived one of those brutal assaults. daniela remembers the round hitting her body. she was shot by a man who hated her because of who she is. he said why is your voice deep? i said i'm transgender. she says her aer thought she was

a pretty girl and wanted to pay her for an hour of sexual acts. she agreed. it's how she makes her living. he said today the day you die. she hid in a store and eventually headed to the bus stop. she had no idea he was hunting her. he stopped and he started shooting. one, two. i dont want to remember this moment. this is the worst memory i will have for my entire life. shot four times in the apdommen, the arm, the hip, she says she said her goodbyes, prayed to it god, called out to her family and closed her eye said waiting for the end. but she survived. they say they arrested her attacker who confessed to

shooting her since she was transgender. >> this is the latest in a string of attacks and can killings here in dallas one of the most brutal attack was caught on camera. blow after blow the cell phone video reviles the brute force after be nothing volved in a fendinger bender. she survived this. a month later though her mother was mourning her death from another attack. they made one arrest for the beating and another for the killing. they say the number of transgender attacks in recent years is alarming. booker was the 18th identified as transgender to be killed this year. majority of victims are black. stacey monroe became an activist because of her own struggles as a transwoman.

she lives in greater fear now than ever. >> am i dpoiing to walk up to another killing, attack? what's next? >> she says she lost a job because eshoo was trans. in texas, that's legal the supreme court is taking opcase to decide whether jurey -- and as they bonded they learned the man suspected of shooting him is free after posting gale. my biggest fear is soon i'll be out of the hospital but this person is also out. i'm afraid he's going to fin iffish what he started. >> cnn, los angeles. it is important to note she went to the last known address of the victim's accused attacker trying to get comment.

he did not answer the car or door. it's unclear whether he has a lawyer. we'll be right back. are you a christian author with

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the national basketball association is trying to save its relationship with china and keep access to billions in potential revenue. it's been days sinceb the houston rockets'' general manager tweeted support for pro-democracy demonstrators in china. and the league commissionerer says he respects the manager's asked about the controversy. >> the nba hassall wiz been a league that prides itself on players and coaches bebiing abl to speak out about affairs. i wonder if you both would feel differently speaking out in the future. it's a legitimate question.

this is an event that's happened this week nba. this particular question has not been answered. >> any other questions? >> well, later, after that, the nba issued an apology saying the team representative inappropriately interjected to prevent christina macfarlanen and we apologize boss this is not the way we conduct things. and our reporter called in oo del canicate balance that seems the nba is playing in china over this. and you have to look that diskrm from the player's perspoektive. they will talk about just about

any topic and here they are feeling the restrictions and like they're in a complicated situation. the thursday even.ing game, this is one of two preseason nba games to be held here in china. the next scheduled for china. they were expecting a pregame press conference. that was cancelled and usual ayou're able to ask the players a few questions. that eshos us how sensitive the nba is about anyone that represents it them or the teams saying something that once again could be taken out of context and furtherer deteriorate the relationship between the nba and china. it's not clear if it can be salvaged right now. we know the commissioner silva

is hoar and government representatives trying to smooth things over. but from a broader caster perspective. the only ones able to see the gains, they hole os that to the preebys. and last night was packed and those in tonight. s >> mikey is the okwilgs aparl. >> and i think that's a real concern right now and that's why they are closely watching where this relationship between the nba and china go from here. to your point, nike, the official apparel sponsor. they have their swoosh all over things and many will see. that's hundreds off millions that might seem lockie's europe. they had a growth of 21% from

this year compared to last. and if you look that u.s., they saw saw 7% growth. sponsors looking at this really closely, nattily. and thank you,b david. well, multiple wild fires are raging in southern california. just under 100 kilometers east of l.a. and scorched 100 headachers. it's lighting up the night sky. strong winds pushed the flames uphill and we have being cut on t down trees to prevent down lines from sparking more fires.

according to book makers 16-year-old greta thunberg is the clear favorite. her passion and fearlessness for speaking up about the dangers of climate change puts her in the top spot. and ahmed and the indigenous. we'll have the announcement here on cnn. thanks so much for watching, "early start" is up next.

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a dramatic arrest at the airport. two associates of rudy giuliani detained over campaign finance violations. the growing white house/ukraine scandal. will she show up or be blocked by the white house? turkey says it's killed hundreds in its operation in northern syria. the trump administration trying to broker a cease-fire. and breaking overnight, an explosion on an iranian oil tanker near a saudi port. the company