good evening. it is entirely possible this day may turn out to be one of the most consequential days in the impeachment inquiry and possibly this presidency. testimony called by that who heard it the top diplomat in ukraine a west point congress a vietnam vet who served this country for 50 years he revealed in great deteal that president trump himself directed his people to push for a quid pro quo with -- and taylor described effort

operating outside normal diplomatic channels in which the president through his tv lawyer guiliani and a trump support sunland and others saw such arrangement with ukraine's president. in short, taylor's testimony which just wrapped up describes the very thing president's supporter has been denying for weeks. >> there was no quid pro quo. >> this has turned into a full blown quid pro quo i just don't see it. >> there was never any pro quo. >> there is no prid -- >> keep in mind, mockery out of the denials. today ambassador taylor's account makes it plainer.

everything taylor says he was told, everything depended on dlen ski committing to his end of that quid pro quo and doing so publicly. by his account there was nothing subtle about it. in a statement ambassador describes a phone call with aide tim morrison describes the september 1st phone call with tim morrison, quoting now, during this same phone call i had with mr. morrison he went on to describe a conversation that ambassador sondland had with mr. yermak in war saw. telling mr. yermak that the security assistance moneyway are would not come until president zlency committed to pursue the investigation. barisma, the ukrainian company hunter biden served on the board of. yermak is a close aid to president dlenky of ukraine. the ambassador continuing he was alarmed by what he i was told by about yermak conversation this was the first time i heard the security assistance not just the white house meeting was conditioned on the investigations.

public box by making a public statement about ordering such investigations. congressman gregory meeks a members of the house foreign affairs committee. congressman, how much more were you able to learn from ambassador taylor today beyond what he said in the opening statement which was long and detailed? >> well, you know, what we learned was that he is a patriot, that he comes with no political agenda. his only concern is about the significance and importance of

the ukraine relationship with the united states of america, and the fact that russia is actively engaged in military conflict with ukraine, where ukrainians die on a daily basis as a result of that attack. and his whole focus that he was not -- we would not have taken the job but for him wanting to do the best fors his country standing by his country to show the ukrainians that they can have an opportunity to be a free and democratic society and not subject to the dictates of the dictator from russia. >> your republican colleague mark meadows said after hearing the ambassador testify tor ten hours saying i can assure you there is no quid pro quo. how important is it to have the hearings public, because isn't it important -- would it be important for the public to actually hear what is being said

behind closed doors. >> at some point we're going to get the public hearings. but remember this is impeachment inquiry. there is no special prosecutor as it had been previously. and so we are conducting an inquiry. and the same manner that a special prosecutor had in the past. and in fact this is more open because in the special prosecutor case there was no member of or anyone there. in this case there is democrats and republicans and their respective attorneys that are in the room. so. >> when you hear congressman meadows after hearing ambassador taylor that he can assure people there's month quid pro quo what do you make of the comment? when apparently you both heard the same things. >> you will all i say to the american people it's out there so read the transcript, read the text of the statement. basically he said when one side to me almost seemed like a god father movie said you're a businessman and don't get paid anything until you deliver what we want.

then he said the president didn't say no quid pro quo as if that meant there was no quid pro quo but then he said don't release the money unless we get what we want. that's a quid pro quo. if you expect someone to say when he they know they're breaking the law and apparently he did that's why he said no quid pro quo trying to protect himself knowing he was break the lawn hold up the president of the ukraine to get some political dirt so that he could benefit and in his political campaign in 2020. >> given that there are several consistencies between ambassador told you today and what ambassador sondland who by the way is not a career foreign service officer. he is a business person who a trump supporter and made the ambassador to the european union based on that, there is inconsistency with what taylor said and ambassador sondland told you last we can, do you think sondland needs to be called back to explain differences? >> i think there is further questions. that's why we are in the inquiry. this is a serious process we are engaged in.

it's not something that's a joke or we take lightly. and so we are looking at and listening to all of the witnesses that testified, because this is a drive for the truth. the american people deserve to know the truth. and that's what we are trying to do here. we are taking further testimony. there will be more testimony all of next woke. -- week. we'll combine. transcripts will be open for people to read. at some point there will be opening hearings. and so, look, we are doing a meticulous job that is fair and open to the president. >> just lastly, the president today tweeted -- you want i want to read something he tweeted. he quoted i'm quoting so some day if a democrat becomes president the rep cans win the house by a tiny margin they can impeach the president without due process or legal rights all republicans must

remember what we are witnessing here a lynching but we will win. he came under a lot of criticism from many quarters today. i know that back in 1998, you called the president clinton impeachment a political lynching. i'm wondering what you make of the president's use of the term. >> yes, look -- i said those words. but you can't put it in the same context. the president trump with me an individual in the context whose people and whose family had been subject to lynching, and so when you also think about who donald trump is and what he said, he is the president of the birther movement. he is the one that said those in charlotte -- charlottesville are fair people or people that's good people on both sides, those are the same individuals that lynched my ancestors when you think about what he has done, you talk about the central park five, all of the whistle -- the conversation that hes has in regards to race relations and the discriminatory practices he

said in his businesses no! donald trump does not have the liberty to say and use that word. >> congressman meeks i appreciate your time. thank you very much. in addition to that tweet, the white house has just added this. press secretary stephanie grisham putting out a statement. here it is in full. president trump has done nothing wrong this is a coordinated smear campaign from far left lawmakers and unelected bureaucrats waging war on the constitution. there was no quid pro quo. the statement continuing today was just more triple hearsay and selective leaks from the democrats politically motivated closed door secretive hearings. every day in non-sense continues more taxpayer time and money is wasted. president trump is leading the way for the american people by delivering a safer stronger more secure country. the do nothing democrats should consider doing the same. a lot to talk about joining us is david gergen who who like ambassador taylor served republican and democrat ibs sentence and gloria borger joining us as well as seen

-- senior advisor and host of obama host of "the axe files" files and axelrod. and white house correspondent abby phillip. david axelrod, it's pretty rich to hear sfefny grisham -- first of all nice to hear from her bus we rarely do. there haven't been any briefings in so long. to hear her a, talk about misuse of taxpayer money, the allegation of president trump is holding hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money over the head of the ukrainian president in order to get dirt on his own domestic political opponent. the idea. >> yes. >> that they're suddenly concerned about the misuse of taxpayer money is pretty rich and also ambassador taylor -- i mean, whether you believe him or not, if you look at his service to the country, you know, west point graduate, served in vietnam, this is no -- no slouch. >> no. and in fact he has devoted himself to service of the country. clearly not a political. >> 50 years of service.

>> and deeply offended by what he saw, you know, appalled by what he saw, as he shall have been. about the president's tweet aside from the use of the word lynching which is a story in and of itself. i hope that if another president were to do in of either party that the congress would -- would do what they're doing now, because basically this isn't a story about the corruption of the ukraine -- ukrainian government, this is corruption at the highest levels of the united states government. and taylor's account today was painstakingly detailed. he had obviously taken copious notes. it read like a detective novel. and his own exercise and discovery that his worst fears had -- had been true all along and the fact is the president of the united states through his agents were shaking down the agents were shaeg down the

agents were shaking down the ukrainian government. i mean it's an appalling thing. last pinpoint on this because i know others have thoughts on this. the other thing that was appalling about in was the notion that there were two missions going on at once. one was the official u.s. policy to work with ukraine to ward off the attack, the ongoing attack from the russians, and the other was running completely in a parallel direction. and that only compounds the seriousness of this i think. >> right. >> and it was contrary to u.s. foreign policy. >> nothing to do with u.s. foreign policy and everything to do with donald trump re-election policy. and what's so ominous about it is they had the inside track to president trump, because of tv lawyer rudy giuliani, and where is the -- whereas the -- the career diplomats did not. the ambassador gets fired. >> and taylor describes on several occasions career officials, policy makers boxed

out of the decision making process. it wasn't just that president president trump decided to delegate a ukrainian outside adviser in giuliani and giuliani was working in a no normal process. he was working outside of the normal process against foreign policy and leaving out career officials from the process. >> at the same time doing business in ukraine with a bunch of characters. we're going to pick it up after the break, i want to hear from david and glory whennia when come back as we learned about ambassador told lawmakers ar behind closed doors. later a split among a republican ally, and senate majority leader hanging the president out to dry. details ahead. at bayer, this is why we science.

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>> they're interviewing ambassadors who i never heard of. i don't know the people. i never heard of them. >> i don't know most of the people. if i do i met them quickly or know them very little. ambassadors and some others. i don't know -- most of them i never heard of their names. >> back now with david gergen. gloria boringen and abbey gill and david axelrod. i don't know this person is a common trope from president trump and michael cohen and and others. come to mind. i want to read something else from the ambassador's statement. quote, ambassador sondland tried to explain that president trump is a businessman. when a businessman is about to sign a check. he asks the businessman asks somebody to pay up before signing the check. unquote. i mean, i'm not sure what that means. sondland himself is a businessman and knows of what he speaks in terms of that. but it seems perfectly aligned with how the president sees the world.

but in business he was known for stiffing people or undercutting how much he paid suppliers. and the difference is, this is not his money, it's american taxpayers money. >> that's the point. this money had been appropriated by congress, period. if was supposed to go to ukraine. whereas mr. taylor pointed out today, 13,000 ukrainians died at the hands of the russians. and this was an existential issue as far as he was concerned. instead the president was playing politics and said i'm not going to let you have the money that legally you are entitled to unless you do me a political favor and dig up dirt on my political opponent. and i think that's why this testimony today was so devastating. as you pointed out, anderson, taylor is somebody with great deal of credibility. he has been a public servant

over 50 years. he is seasoned in diplomacy and foreign policy. and he found himself trying to figure out like a wilderness of mirrors trying to figure out what was going on in the policy he was trying to oversee and he couldn't figure out until somebody told him, guess what, the president doesn't want ukraine to get the that money unless ukraine does exactly what he wants. and it was stunning. and i don't see how anybody sitting in that room -- i know there are republicans coming out saying differently. i don't know how anybody sitting in that room could say that was okay. >> david, and yet, the white house, from the president saying i don't know this person never heard of this person, goes after the -- the service of this person. you know, they'll write them off as deep state, professional bureaucrats. 50 years of service from west point to vietnam war to, you know, high positions, that means something.

it's not -- you know, the president may be familiar with bottle service. but actual service to the country, you know, that used to mean something in washington to the president. >> to a president. >> it did, anderson. and i do think you're right to talk about the respect in which mr. taylor is held widely. it's also worth pointing out that he was first sent to ukraine as an ambassador by george w. bush, a republican of course. he was then called out of retirement to go back to ukraine recently by secretary pompeo. you know, if pompeo said we need to have you there. we're talking about a guy commanding respects on both sides, service, schooling, went to the kennedy school and west point. who i think has earned a lot of credibility. from my perspective historians

will look back and say this was another john dean moment. when someone went and opened the curtain to what we could see of a president of the united states, the mendacity we have seen here, the line we have seen opening that curtain is important. and not since nixon i can't remember a time since nixon when any president of the united states has been accused in this way with the evidence being what it is. now it's conclusive. we need to see the notes and state department is likely to withhold them. but we have to see the notes to see if they're consistent with the statement he made. sondland has to come become and others have to come back. a fellow named marcin should come forward. there is a lot more investigation to pin it down. >> david, i mean, congressman mark meadows comes out of the taylor hearing saying i can tell you there is no quid pro quo. so i'm not sure -- >> let me -- let me give you a clue here. this is not legit. they know he is in deep trouble.

and they're going to full partisan warfare here to try and hold the republican base and make it difficult for republicans to stray. they're tribal on this because the facts are against them. i slightly disagree with david on the john dean point only to this degree that john dean testified to first person conversations that he had with the president. donald trump has been careful to work through intermediaries and we haven't flushed out those conversations yet. but -- but this was incredibly -- incredibly damning testimony. and i think the worse it gets the more his supporters are going to argue process because they can't argue on the substance of the case. >> abbey i want to play something else the president said -- or yesterday i should point out. let's listen. >> this thing was all about a letter that was perfect. you never hear the letter anymore. it was about whistle-blowers. you never hear what happened to the whistle-blower? they're gone.

because they've been discredited. what happened to the informant? and where is the ig? the whistle-blower gave a false account. >> i mean, this is just -- he is making -- he literally just makes stuff up. i mean. >> first of all it's a call not a letter. >> well, first of all, the idea no one is talking about the perfect letter anymore. the letter which the white house released thinking the president thinking is perfect is incredibly damning at the center of this. and the idea that nobody talks about the whistle-blower anymore it's moved beyond the person with great bravery brought to the fore. >> and been affirmed by everything we heard. >> it's no longer about the whistle-blower because everything the whistle-blower, abbey has been confirmed just about. >> it reads like -- it sounds like what president trump is saying is that he is running out of people to -- to scapegoat and attack for this. and he really is. the issue is becoming defused among people that as the

president himself said he does for the know. he doesn't know the people well and they come out detailing a lot of the things and corroborating a lot of the things in the whistle-blower report. it's frustrating. president trump works well when adversaries, when he has foils. he finds it difficult to make some of the people especially like bill taylor as you talked about his reputation. into a foil. >> i think he will find a way. >> i give him credit. he -- you makes john mccain into not a warrior. >> mike pompeo hand picked bill taylor. he's not an elected democrat. >> abby phillip david mentioned a john dean moment -- or -- david gergen. we -- we have one with the one and only john dean. well have a john dean moment when we joins us next. ♪ no matter what life throws down ♪ roomba is up for the challenge. only roomba uses 2 multi-surface rubber brushes

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as democrats zero in on what they believe are inconsistencies in the testimony by william taylor, the top diplomat in ukraine and that of gordon sondland, a presidential donor and named a ambassador to the ukraine. for instance july 1 names a meeting between u.s. and ukraining officials and he and other members of the administration wanted schedule a meeting and call between the two presidents but members of the nfc including john bolton and his aides did not. nevertheless all was above board he said i'm quoting but if ambassador bolton dr. hill or others harbored misgivings about the propriety they never shared misgiving was me then or later. now nine days later sonland says paining with the two sadis -- saying they paint a different picture. specifically told me that ambassador sonde media connected investigation was a irritating bolton abruptly ending the

meeting dealing dr. hill and veinman that they should have nothing to do with domestic politics and taylor adds context to a group text discussion between the two men in which taylor said it was crazy to link aide to political aims. this is how sondland described it. quote on september 9th 2019 william taylor raised concern about the possibility that ukrainians could perceive a linkage between u.s. security assistance and the president's 2020 re-election campaign. i called president trump directly. the president repeated no quid pro quo multiple times. i tried hard to address ambassadors taylor concerns. taylor says this conversation over text actually began the day before over the phone. this was how he says sondland described the president's position then. quote, on september 8th ambassador sondland tried to explain that president trump is a which is when a businessman is about to sign a check to someone

owing him something he said the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check. jing us cnn contributor whistle-blower and former nixon whois counsel john dean. chief legal analyst and frl prosecutor jeffery toobin aen a democrats explained they wanted sondland to come back and explain differences. if he sticks to his story does it become a he said/he said. though it seems taylor has actually very careful notes. >> it seems that way. and there are also other people present, including john bolton who is, you know, very much in part of taylor's story. and bolton is one of the people who was saying stop this non-sense with giuliani saying that this should not be a relationship with ukraine should not be tide to domestic politics. >> bolton is subpoenaed. does he have to come appear testify? >> well he is no longer a government employee. and not in good odor at the white house and not fond of the president. now apparently. so

it's up to john bolton. the official policy of the white house outlined in the letter from the council was no one can talk ever to congress about this. but we have seen in people like taylor's testimony that a lot of people are ignoring that instruction and we'll have to see whether bolton will. many of the many fascinating aspects of the testimony today was that it raised the possibility of so many more people testifying, including bolton. including mike pence. william barr, the toernl attorney general. lots of people implicated by the testimony. >> john i wanted i want to read part wlaf ambassador sondland said last we can. said inviting a foreign government to undertake investigations for the purpose of influencing an upcoming u.s. election would be wrong. withholding foreign aide to pressure a foreign government to take such steps would be wrong. i did not and would not

participate in such undertakings. now, according to taylor's testimony today, i mean that's exactly what he did at the behest the president trump. >> certainly sounds that way, anderson. what we have here to me is most striking about taylor's testimony. he is describing a conspiracy in operation. and they -- he glets a lit of information about what is what is going on. but he certainly doesn't become a coconspiratorer and doesn't like what he learns about that conspiracy. so i think that it's also striking that the justice department is ignoring this whole conspiracy, which is in a sense is still ongoing. if it's not ended soon we'll know. but i suspect that it's winding up at this point. anyway, it's devastating testimony. sondland has problems. he has to come in and either recant or he may be prosecuted. >> do you think the justice department what should investigate, i mean in what way? >> well, they -- when they --

when this case was referred initially they took a pass saying they don't see anything amiss here. that's just -- that's absurd. their not investigating is almost aiding and abetting the conspiracy. the fact that barr knows they are not investigating in and turned it down. it got turned down apparently at the assistant attorney general level in the criminal division and did it obviously because they knew the center of the conspiracy is the president of the united states just like the watergate cover-up. >> that's what's so extraordinary about this story, is that at the core is not what i see as a crime. you know in the sense of a violation of federal law. it's an abuse of presidential power this seems like classic impeachment case. because everything flows from the president's apparent

decision to condition aide to the ukrainianensen a a white house meeting with the agreement to provide dirt on joe biden and democrats. that's an abuse of presidential power. i'm not sure it's a crime. and i'm not sure anyone else participates in that is a crime. it's just abuse and power and high crime and misdemeanor under the constitution. >> thank you coming up next what our sources tell us at the white house. live report on and what mitch mcconnell had to say which might surprise you and might annoy the president as well. some farms grow food. this one grows fuel. ♪ exxonmobil is growing algae for biofuels. that could one day power planes, propel ships, and fuel trucks... and cut their greenhouse gas emissions in half. algae. its potential just keeps growing. ♪ woman: what does the word "partner" really mean?

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♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ as you saw earlier the white house is pushing back aggressively on the testimony from william taylor, the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine calling him and others who so far testified radical unelected bureaucrats, unquote. jim acosta joins us from the white house. jim, so what is the latest on this? we just, you know, heard from stephanie grisham that statement. >> that's right, and we didn't hear from her. we don't hear from her because the white house press secretary doesn't hold briefings, anderson. but i can tell you a source close to the discussions going on inside the white house is telling me tonight there are some advisers to the president

who would like to see some additional communications staffers brought on to help with the messaging of coming out of this white house with respect to this impeachment effort. it's been seen as lacking so far according to om of the president advisers. some inform predates what happened last week with mick mulvaney's performance in the briefing room. there is a feeling among president advisers that needs to bef up the communications team and can't do it through the tweets comparing the impeachment a lynching for stephanie grisham putting out a statement, faceless statement going after some of the career professionals inside the state department and federal government who have been working for this country for years, sometimes decades, telling what they know on capitol hill and so i think there is a recognition while some of the folks on the president's legal team and communications team they have not wanted a so-called war room because they see that going bab to the clinton era of the 90s. but there is a sense they need to to beef things up because what's working in and out or not working for the white house is

not helping the president. >> i don't understand the idea of them beefing up, you know, stephanie grisham doesn't do briefings, nor does anyone else apparently in the white house public you don't see hogan guyedly holding brechgs, or kellyanne conway. i don't understand why add more people? is it to be on fox more during the day and like more hoursen of the day they can be on fox news. >> i think they really -- there is a sense among president advisers that this they need a much more professional operation in terms of talking about in strategy. i talked to a source on the president's legal team earlier today who was talking about in need. saying that, listen, the president does have a case to make in terms of the impeachment proceedings, that there isn't a fair due process for the president that they can't have administration lawyers for example during some of the proceedings. so they -- there are seem inside the president's impeachment team, legal team

people who advise him who say they do have a case to make with respect to protecting the president and the presidency. but the message is not getting cross. take for example what happened with hogan guyedly where he said the president was not comparing it to limericking when he was doing that. >> maybe giuliani would come back on tv. >> don't bet on that. >> well, jim thanks very much. mitch mcconnell appeared to back away from the president's defense on ukraine. listen. >> the president has said that you told him that his phone call with the ukrainian president was perfect and innocent. do you believe that the president. >> -- we have not had any conversations on that subject. >> so he was lying about that. >> you'll have to ask him. i don't recall any conversations with the president about that phone call. >> so getting the story straight is not the only problem the president made in the ukraine controversy. today as jim acosta

tweeted this all republicans must remember what they are witnessing here, a lynching. if you chose to defend the president comparison to lynching here with senator lindsey graham. >> yeah with, this is a lynching in every since. what does lynching mean a mob grasp you don't give you a chance to defend yourself don't tell you what happened to you. they just destroy you. that's exactly what's going on in the united states house representatives right now. >> senator lindsey graham from south carolina. joining me cnn global affairs analyst mathematics moot and a frrm senator from south carolina. bakari, lindsey graham what do you make of this for a pure and well ex some of the expectations we have

for lindsey graham to be let down again and again. harkening back to billy holiday taking about strange fruit. they were talking about black bodies hanging from trees throughout the south. lindsey graham knows that. my father is part of the emmitt till generation. 1955 he was lynched, brutally slain. i challenge all viewers to pull up the images his face. it was beaten beyond recognition it was flat like a pancake because he was lynched. there were 165 plus people those are the ones we know about lynched in south carolina between 1877 and 1950. lindsey graham knows this history. the problem we have here is the republicans don't have any fortitude, courage or backbone to stand in truth, to say i'm disappointed lindsey graham your viewers will be this is lindsey graham he has always been like this. but some of us have known him a very, very long period of time. this is not the man we know unfortunately or we would hope i it's not.

this is disappointing to say the least. >> there are -- max there are some republicans who are not happy to be put in a position to defend an indefensible comment when you see people like senator cruz, senator graham strongly defend him, i wonder, why? why are they -- why plant a flag on this on this defense? >> they've gotten used to defending the indefensible, anderson, it comes naturally. >> is lindsey graham so desperate about getting primaried. >> i can't explain it. what we are seeing develop in washington with the testimony of ambassador bill taylor especially is a an open and shut case the president betrayed his oath of office, betrayed the people of the united states subverting foreign policy to blackmail a foreign country into interfering in the u.s. election. that's what we are seeing introbutable evidence of and

republicans are advancing lame arguments, stupid analogies. they should stop worrying about saving their seats. they ought to worry about their souls. stop worrying about what president trump is going to say about them. they should worry about what their grandchildren will say about them as they are accomplices to the assault on the constitution. >> you know, look, many of the republicans who did contradict what the president said or used terms like i wouldn't have used that term or called it unfortunate, which is not exactly a -- a full throated rejection and explanation of why it's inappropriate. >> they fall back on other defenses saying it's inappropriate. but it wasn't a quid pro quo. what you heard from bill taylor was not a smoking gun. informs a smoking howitzer. he blue away the lame excuse of no quid pro quo. we had evidence from trump's own mouth that there was a quid pro quo. how can republicans continue to defend this? i'm wait -- maybe i'll wait forever and never happens for the moment when-like barry gold

water or hugh scott or one of the republicans says it's too many lies it's time for trump to go. >> it's interesting, bakari because senator graham was upset about the betrayal of the kurds hasn't really -- the idea that american taxpayer dollars would be held over the head of the president of the ukraine while they fight russia to benefit president's domestic election chances. that would be a betrayal of the american people. it's interesting that graham says he wouldn't rule out impossibility if new evidence emerges. i'm not sure, do you believe him? >> no, i don't think anybody believes him. the fact is that not only is donald trump betraying his oath of office or violating it, for many of us we have told you who donald trump was from the beginning. there has been no doubt in our mind who donald trump was. someone traffics in racism and utilizes it as political currency.

and we see he has bent the republican party to his will. people like lindsey graham who once stood as independent investments with people like john mccain are that person no more. and it's fascinating to watch because now lindsey graham firmly puts politics -- or politics in the republican party over american values. we know he is deathly afraid of ambassador hayley runs and jamie harrison. the only thing he is afraid of more is the donald trump tweet. it's fascinating. men have no courage when it comes to the president of the united states. bakari and max. thank you. just ahead another crisis for the president the latest on syria what the american special envoy had to say to the senate committee. as'. now reaching farther than ever before. right now, switch at a t-mobile store and get the new iphone 11 on us! only at t-mobile. bleeding disorderste medlike hemophilia.s

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a lot going on capitol hill today in washington. let's check in with chris, see what he's working on for "cuomo prime time." chris? >> biggest day we've had because

any question of doubt is gone, anderson. there is no question people are portraying this as a dark day for the president. i decided not to look at it like that because it's perspective. the light of truth shown brightly today, and it came from team trump. the man who was top diplomat in ukraine, taylor, told us what happened, when, in meticulous detail. he cannot be dismissed as some radical unelected diplomat. he was asked to do this job. >> that's what stephanie grisham put out today. >> that's why she has to be questioned as many in that administration. we know what happened. we'll lay it all out. >> we'll see you in about 6:30 from now. testimony by the u.s. special envoy for syria, ahead.

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♪ ♪ ♪ everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. expedia. it's been the kind of news day that we're just now finding time to report another remarkable development, the ongoing syria story. the u.s. special envoy for syria telling a senate committee he was not consulted or advised in advance of president trump's decision to pull u.s. troops

from northern syria. jim jeffrey telling senators that the subsequent turkish military incursion there was in his words really tragic. hard to overstate the speed with which this has taken place. it was only days ago that the small band of troops stationed in northern syria should be withdrawn. knowing full well that any withdrawal would place mesh's long-time ally the kurds in mortal danger. the kurds did leave and a five-day ceasefire by turkey in northern syria imposed after days of hard fighting is over. now russia and turkey have announced and agreement that would have joint patrols in a buffer zone of the syrian/turkish border. president trump says it is all to the good. he tweeted late today. good news seems to be happening with respect to turkey, sir beyond the middle east. further reports to come later. not especially good news for the kurds, but very good news for russia and iran and the regime of bashar al assad. news continues. i want to hand it over to chris for "cuomo prime time." chris?

>> thank you, anderson. i am chris cuomo, and welcome to "primetime." so many see this as a very dark day for the president. maybe, but that's not my perspective. we have finally see the light of truth. we know what happened, and that light shown brightly today from an unlikely source, team trump. the top u.s. diplomat to ukraine says a quid pro quo was clearly in play. the president was orchestrating a shadow effort to manipulate ukraine to get dirt on the dnc and the bidens. people with power to decide the president's fate are here tonight to answer the real only question that remains, what should the consequence be? it's a big day. there are big questions. let'