hello. welcome back to our viewers in the united states and of course all around the world. you are watching cnn "newsroom." coming up, democrats release more transcripts from the impeachment inquiry into u.s. president trump. just days ahead of the first public hearings. also ahead a closer look at the role of rudy giuliani how the president's personal lawyer has emerged as a key figure ot ukraine scandal. plus israel conducts a targeted

strike killing a senior islamic jihad leader a move that could reignite tensions among the border. good to have you with us. in the run off to public hearings in the u.s. impeachment inquiry, more transcripts of closed door testimony have been released that u detail the concern of diplomats and security officials about the ukraine policy. senior pentagon official told investigators the delay of the military aid to ukraine created confusion and raised legal questions. two former deputies to ukraine volker testified as well. kroft says she was nervous about

taking the job fearing the whout would change policy to suit domestic politics. and volker told him president trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani wouldn't move off pressuring ukraine to launch investigations into the president's political rival joe biden. the public hearings begin wednesday. with appearances by three diplomats who have already testified behind closed doors. we have details on what's ahead. >> lawmakers will arrive in washington that in 24 hours they will have one of the biggest hearings that happened in years. the first official impeachment laering related to trump. two witnesses testifying state department officials including william taylor. diplomat to ukraine. who has given expelolosive

testimony. dlats believe he will be a central piece of the effort to draft articles of impeachment and impeach trump. one democrat said this is ran individual who is straight out of central casting. and democrats want on the stand. the strategy is not to ub earth something we haven't seen in the depositions. we have had thousands of pages. they want to paint the public picture. make clear to the public what they believe they have seen behind the scenes. there's a narrative that threads together. the president and his team operating a rogue policy relating to ukraine. and the real effort led in part by rudy giuliani. to try and get a statement from the ukrainians straiting they would pursue informations into joe biden and 2016 election theories in exchange for a white house meeting or security

assistance to ukraine. that is the goal for democrats to week to paint the picture of what they heard behind closed doors. republicans are coming prepared. trying to pick up holes in witness testimony. and make clear that the witnesses certainly the three this week haven't had specific interactions with president trump. haven't gotten specific order from trump related to the things democrats allege he did. it will play out in public. one key thing the start of them. it won't be a traditional hearing. it will be 45 minutes for each side. likely the top democrat or republican will yield to staff counsel to ask questions. it could be a explosive start to the hearings. there will be more than two hearings. one starts wnz. one friday. likely more next week. all of the things people said

happening behind closed doors will be happening live. >> from washington. a cnn political analyst. and a white house correspondent for the "new york times." good to have you with us. >> always happy to do it. >> hundreds of pages of new impeachment witness testimony were released monday. what was the common thread running through what those career officials revealed and what all did with we learn about a previous hold on ukraine military aide? done to avoid angering russia. >> the bigger picture the answer to the first question is i think the all three of the witnesses added more detail to the narrative that we already know. which is that the president and the people around him in particular rudy giuliani and officials who were working with giuliani. had pressured had attempted to

pressure ukraine government in order to help the president politically. and they did that by holding back military aide and the promise o a white house meeting. the witnesses that we learned of their testimony today. didn't have any sort of shocking new revelation about that. added more detail. things about when the aide was held back. why it was held back and concerns expressed about that. that's the big picture. the second question you asked about the earlier hold. there was reference by one of the officials of pentagon. to a earlier effort by the administration to hold back some military aide for ukraine. in 2017 beginning of 2018. where a similar hold was put for about two weeks in the aide didn't flow.

it was javelin missiles ukraine wanted. and the question i guess that is left tantalizing from this information is was this yet another instance in a much earlier instance than before. where the administration was using aide to ukraine to essentially put pressure and to do the bidding of the russia which of course didn't want ukraine to get the weapons. >> of course as you point out the testimony so far from the various witnesses seems to establish a quid pro quo did in fact exist and republicans are admitting that's probably the case. but say it's not impeachable. the president isn't happy with that approach. he insists he did nothing wrong. who's right here? democrats, republicans or the president. and where does this take us? >> i think it's hard to say who's right in the ultimate

sense. that will be a judgment after the impeachment process. by the american people in the election. what you can say is there's lots of evidence a mountain suggesting that that kind of shake down took place in which the president and his aids were pressuring ukraine. the republicans are sort of casting about for what their best defense is. they had sort of all over the map. some had suggested he did something wrong. it wasn't impeachable. others tried to actually defend him on the merit. the president of course really wants people to simply join him in the absolute rhetoric he's been offering. to say i did nothing wrong the call was perfect. it's a hoax a scam. the problem is for the republicans i think they see the same evidence the rest of us see and it makes them worried. >> and how much closer are we to

establishing the roles played by the president in all this as well as his acting chief of staff. mulvaney. and his personal lawyer giuliani. >> i think the one of the big arguments the republicans are preparing to make wednesday when the public hearings begin. one of the arguments they're preparing to make is well, if there were things that happened that were inappropriate, the one thing that you don't have is a direct connection. people directly testifying about what trump did or said in those events. of course we have the telephone call he made with president zelensky. we have the transcript. their point is a lot of the testimony of the people testifying is second or third hand. people saying i heard someone told me the president wanted this to be done. and i don't know that's a successful approach. that's the approach you'll hear a lot in the next several days.

they're going to say this is secondhand information and can't impeach a president without direct knowledge. >> we are all watching to see what comes next. many thanks to you. >> turning to the race for the white house. with less than 100 days to go for the new hampshire democratic primary. former vice president biden with narrow lead in the state. according to it a new poll. biden has 20%. of democratic voter support. senator warren getting 16%. mayor buttigieg at 15% and senator sanders 14. meanwhile a cnn town hall on monday night biden who continues to face attacks from president trump over his sons ukraine business dealings showed he's ready to fight back.

>> this is trumps motive. when ever it happens, anything comes down and what's he do. he tries to find a scapegoat. to avoid focus on him. that's what this is all about. i'll be darned if i let us take the eye off the ball. did trump commit impeachable offenses he's indicted himself on the white house lawn saying he did invite these people. and by the way, he said he wants to deal with the corruption. mr. president, release your tax returns. show us what you have done. >> and michael bloom burg is thinking about throwing his hat in the ring for the 2020 race. the former new york city mayor has a radical plan. thinking about skipping early voting states like iowa and new hampshire. and focusing on the states that vote on super-tuesday and beyond. cnn has the details.

>> reporter: if he decides to run for president in 2020, his road to the democratic nomination will not go through iowa. and adviser to the former new york city mayor says he will employ a strategy that's never been successful in the history of modern presidential politics. skip the early states. to focus on super-tuesday states and beyond. studied politics for decades and believes he has misread the current landscape. >> candidate since carter have understood that if you don't get into the early states and start the developing momentum and getting the stories that you need, you're in trouble. >> iowa voters said his decision to skip the hawk eye state sends the wrong message.

>> it says he doesn't care about the midwest and the heart land and all the people and the problems that effect more than just iowa. >> he looks passed iowa and new hampshire. democratic candidate julian castro is questioning their status as first in the nation contests. >> demographically it's not reflective of the united states as a whole. not as the democratic party and i believe other states should have a chance. >> since 1972, iowa has held the first democratic nominating contest. the chairman of the democrat party and says iowa takes their role in the process seriously. >> take a look. come to the events. iowa asks the questions that are on the mind of americans. >> any changes that may come to iowa in the future democratic primaries the fact in 2020 iowa is going to play a very big

role. and polls suggest it's a very close contest there with the top four candidates all locked in close. come february it will be anybody's race. carter the oldest living former u.s. president will under go surgery in atlanta in the coming hours to relieve pressure on his brain. the 95 year-old is said to be resting with his wife by his side. carter was in hospital twice last month after falling in his home. and has previously survived brain and liver cancer. israel maybe opening up a new campaign against islamic jihad militants. we report live. and extreme violence in hong kong. the city leader lashing out at protestors warning riders under mining their own quest for

democracy.

we continue tracking developments in where the israel

military killed a senior leader in the jihad. this was the scene. islamic jihad says he was killed along with his wife. israel says he was responsible for rocket fire and he was plotting immediate attacks on israel. syria state media also blaming israel for an attack. they say the son of a different jihad leader was killed. for more, live from near the israel border. what more are you learning about the killing of this senior islamic jihad militant in gazette sha. >> it was carried out earlier this morning. against a senior leader. israel in giving us information about the strike after ward painted him essentially a high level rogue element.

who didn't pay attention. and was responsible for firing rockets. and one opposed to any sort of cease fire or understanding. the strike this morning and shortly after that rocket fire began. as of the latest update from the mel tear there have been 50 rockets launched and we continue to get the alerts the signal of incoming rocket fire has intercepted 20. this of course shatters a tense situation and threatens to ignite a tense situation along the border. that is what we're monitoring here. how do the groups take this and israel respond? so far militant groups have said they vow revenge for the killing. his funeral ongoing a short time ago. this is one of the crucial periods we'll see when escalation might take place. in regards to syria. they blame israel for attack

against a leader there and it failed to kill the leader it did kill his son. israel wouldn't comment on the report. it indicates a move against the leadership. here and syria. on the part of israel. why might that be? i haven't spoken to military officials in the year and a half. they believe it can work in a way. and reach cease fire understanding. but not with islamic jihad. that is upsetting any sort of understanding. >> this is the worry. what this may trigger for the border region. also beyond. >> of course. that's what we'll have to see. does fighting in the south spill over into a response from the north. especially with the attack attributed to israel. in syria. do these connect. that's always been a fear here. the south could ignite north.

or elsewhere. or targets against israel buildings or for example diplomat offices abroad. that will be another question the government has to face. in terms of what's happening here there have been two killings inside because of the strike. there have been two injured from rockets. they remain shut down at this point. schools have been closed. non-essential work has closed and people run to bomb shelters. what we expect will be a response to the rocket fire. >> stay safe. reporting there live from the israel border. appreciate that. >> protestors are again squaring off with police in hong kong. we have seen fire and tear gas over the past couple of hours. live pictures here. and it follows more extreme violence on monday. that is when a police officer

shot a protestor with a live round and a man was set on fire after confronts protestors. hong kong chief executive said the violence exceeds demands for democracy. calling them enemies of the people. for more live from hong kong. what is happening on the streets of hong kong at this hour? >> this is the second day of what demonstrators call a general strike. a an hour ago, they had set up a flash mob. that had blocked this street. blocked public transportation and chanting -- i saw demonstrations smashing traffic lights with polls and spray painting on the ground. fight for freedom. things like that. slogans. and the police came in. fired several round of tear gas.

detaining 20 people right around here. and go through the belongings. and block off the road. you can see up here this is a pedestrian over pass. between shopping malls. high end luxury brand and stores here where people have been watching this street trama play out in front of them. another interesting observation here, this is gone into nearly 5 months. is the police almost all of them have faces covered now. one of the complaints police had they have been docked. private information published by the opposition. it looks like an episode of the watchmen. the police hide their identity from the public. and from the cell phones that crop up. we have heard signs of people in the crowd coming up. yelling at the police. one man detained. for yelling something at the

police. as this thing has gone on, this political crisis. both sides have grown far less tolerant of each other. engaging in violence much more often. and here's probably the worst thing for hong kong. plunging into economic recession. there is no end of the political crisis in sight. the government hasn't come up with real new ideas or dialogue. protestors have dug in. it's a low level urban war of attrition. being waged in the canyons of an international financial hub. >> all right. bringing us live update from the streets of hong kong. former bolivia president is on his way to asylum in mexico. he led bolivia for 14 years but

forced to step down after weeks of protest over election fraud. his departure leaves the country in chaos and vandalism on the street with no current leader. defense minister stepped down. one of the many key officials to leave office. and the second vice president senate is calling for law lakers to meet tuesday to discuss the next step. >> in australia queensland facing catastrophic fire danger. sidney is at especially high risk. it's the first time the city has seen such a high threat level since the fire warning system put in place in 2009. at least 71 bush fires are burning. the smoke is so intense you can see it from space. and it's drifted all the way to new zealand. three people have been killed and more than 100 homes lost.

>> if you're watching internationally. thank you so much for being with us. inside africa is next. stay tuned in the united states. we'll have more news after the short break.

welcome back to cnn "newsroom." house democrats are not asking mick mulvaney to testify publicly in the impeachment inquiry. the white house chief of staff wants a court to decide whether he has absolute immunity in the impeachment probe. team trump is laying out

strategy for wednesday's public hearing and not exactly in line with republicans in congress. cnn has the report. >> reporter: as public hearings loom in the impeachment inquiry president trump is pleading with republicans not to stray from talking points on the phone call with leader of the ukraine tweeting the call to the president was perfect. republicans don't be led into the fools trap of saying it's not perfect but not impeachable. nothing was done wrong. press secretary complained about the inquiry on fox. arguing that the public hearings this week won't be open enough. >> there are public hearings this week. they won't be public because we don't have anybody from our side out there to tell our side of the story. this will be more of the same as last week. we don't expect anything different. >> democrats insisting mr. trump

did something far worse than quid pro quo. seeking dirt on joe biden. >> you're trying to per said american people of something simple. the president extorted in the way a mob boss extorted somebody. in a vulnerable foreign country. >> mulvaney con vehicceded thera quid pro quo. adding, get over it. >> he needs to account for himself. >> also questions about the future of lieutenant colonel vindman. who testified and was blasted as a never trumper by the president. the national security adviser hinted he may leave his position at the counsel. >> his time is coming to an end. >> they'll go back to the agency. >> the reminder of the turmoil in the administration that long before the impeachment began.

former secretary of staff and john kelly tried to recruit her to under mine the president to save the country. >> instead of saying that to me. they should have said it to the president. not asking me to join them on the side bar plan. it should have been go tell the president what your differences are and quit. if you don't like what he's doing. to under mine a president, is really a very dangerous thing. >> as for vindman the lieutenant remains on the job at the national security counsel. the official said he would likely cycle out of the position. when it's a scheduled time to leave. >> my next guest is ross. he's a cnn legal analyst. he teaches political investigations and impeachment law at tulane. thank you for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> we saw critical testimony

released monday. two days before the impeachment inquiry goes public and top u.s. diplomat to ukraine bill taylor will kick it off. wednesday. we have read the testimony so far. and so what can we expect to come out of his public appearance and kwha will you be looking out for? >> what we know from his prior testimony is that ambassador taylor was disturbed, concerned. alarmed but what he saw from the president ukraine policy. i expect he'll echo that during the public testimony. what i'm looking for is a couple things. how the testimony is presented. is it presented in a way that is compelling for the american people? at the united states has never removed a president from office through impeachment process and so one of the questions will be for me is the testimony

presented in a compelling way. and are there any surprises. we have seen ambassador taylor's testimony. from before. is there anything that will come out that we don't know already. >> how do you present it in ha compelling way. what you suggest if you advise the impeachment inquiry. >> i think that's actually a challenge. the way that the process is played out so far, it makes it a little bit difficult because he's already testified before. and the transcript of the testimony has been released. one thing i think that will need to happen is his testimony present ld in a very straightforward, easy to digest way. there can't be a lot of information. it has to be presented in a way that connects with the american people and straightforward. hard hitting and again

compelling as possible. you want to humanize taylor. build his credibility and then have people believe what he has to say. and if you're among house democrats you want people to come away concerned what he has to say. >> it is quite the challenge. on friday we will hear from former u.s. ambassador to ukraine. yovanovitch. and like taylor, we know what she has revealed. so how significant will her public appearance be and presumably you suggest the same thing. make it as compelling and easy to digest as possible. >> with her it's different. it's less about the facts. she was the u.s. ambassador to ukraine who was recalled by order of the president. and with her with the house democrats try to do is make her

seem like a very steady, compelling expert figure. and have the public wonder why it was that she was recalled. did the president have a good reason for recalling her or was there something nefarious or improper. for her more about her personally. >> most of the impeachment inquiry testimony that we have read so far appears to establish there was a quid pro quo. involving ukraine million tear aide provided in exchange for investigation into trumps political rival. and this is what accounting white house chief of staff mulvaney has previously said about that. >> president trump is not a big fan of foreign aide. doesn't like spending money over seas. especially when it's poorly spent. and that is exactly what drove this decision. i have been in the office a

couple times with him talking about this. this is a corrupt place. everybody knows it. he mentioned to me in the past that the corruption related to the dnc server. no question about that. that's it. that's why we held up the mup money. >> admitting he has previously said specifically yes, this was a quid pro quo. and we know the testimony backs that up. republicans now saying that's not impeachable. what is the legal argument? how do you establish the president's role. >> there's a lot sort of bundled into that. he issued a statement and tried to walk back what we heard him say. i'm not sure that will be a very good argument. the republicans are trying to go on this is that for an impeachable offense it has to be

treason, bribery or high crime or misdemeanor. in other words something incredible serious that affects the office. saying this doesn't rise to that level. and the extent the president was involved in it he had intentions that were sort of for the public good. that will be the republican argument. >> all right. from your legal perspective does it is it impeachable? >> i'll be interested to see how the testimony comes out. so far, the white house is not offered a cohesive defense to this. in part because they feel like they haven't had to yet. right now what we're seeing is prosecution case. we'll be interested to see what the defense case is. what does the president his people have to say about what happened here. we haven't heard that yet.

>> thank you so much. >> good to be with you. >> with the trump impeachment inquiry set to go public cnn is looking into rudy giuliani shadow diplomacy. ukraine isn't the only place where the personal lawyer is exerting his influence. (danny) let me get this straight. after a long day of hard work... ...you have to do more work? (vo) automatically sort your expenses and save over 40 hours a month. (danny) every day you're nearly fried to a crisp, professionally! (vo) you earned it, we're here to make sure you get it. quickbooks. backing you.

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welcome back. the trump impeachment inquiry has put intense scrutiny on the rudy giuliani efforts in ukraine. that's not the only country where the president's personal lawyer has exerted influence. >> reporter: when brazil president atepided a general aslem bli in september he was recovering from surgery. he didn't meet with any heads of

state. he did however meet with rudy giuliani. it's a prime example of how giuliani's position as president trumps lawyer hads given him unprecedented access to foreign leaders and treat him as a representative of the president. a cnn review find giuliani has met or communicated with top government officials of at least seven countries. his actions so troubling, sources inside the u.s. state department tell cnn they tracked his comments which sometimes contradict u.s. policy. >> there are those from the state department and the professional security who view giuliani as a shadow secretary of state. >> he left public office as new york mayor in 2001. since then he made millions in speaking fees and security and safety consults contracts over

the globe. being associated with trump has opened new doors at the top. he traveled to uruguay. and the crowned prince. and sat down with the defense secretary. usually referred to as president trumps adviser and almost every case there's something else. the president's unpaid trusted adviser is seeking to cash in. security contracts in bahrain. uruguay. speaking fees. it's hard to tell who giuliani works for and foreign governments are taking no chances. >> it is dangerous when you have someone who is interests are not aligned with the u.s. and makes it a possibility there will be some type of compromising of u.s. national security interest. >> the top example is ukraine. where giuliani was paid $500,000

by a shady businessman who wanted the u.s. ambassador ousted. he convinced trump to get rid of her and pushed for a ukrainian investigation into joe biden. and his son. it's not the only example where giuliani's business interest contradict or direct u.s. foreign policy. he was paid to write a letter in support of a corrupt businessman and direct contrast with the policy of urging romania to crack dun on corruption. >> he was siding with the crooks. >> he advocated for regime change in iran. not the official policy of the united states. asked this week at cashing in on the presidency. he became defensive. >> that is a totally unfair

question. the reality is everything i have done is totally legal. >> senator a half dozen democrats in the senate asking the department of justice if giuliani's actions and failure to register under the foreign agents act is breaking the law. >> with what we see out there, and the multiple clients around the world. his meetings with the trurp administration. with the president. with various administration officials. there's no doubt that i think there's a real issue here. >> giuliani insists he's only guilty of one thing. defending the president. >> i am in private law practice. i practice law well. never had a complaint or issue in 50 years. i'm being targeted by cnn. because i'm proven that you are corrupt in coverage of the president. throughout the impeachment. >> it's not just democrats who are concerned about what giuliani was doing in ukraine.

hill, president trumps former top adviser to russia reportedly testified she had concerns. telling investigators i was extremely concerned that whatever it was he was doing, might not be legal. >> and if you want to know more of what rudy giuliani thinks about the impeachment inquiry. you maybe in luck. he's spokeswoman confirms he's considering launching a pod cast to provide analysis of the public hearings. where four or five episodes before the start of the senate trial. giuliani is planning two op-eds for major newspapers to explain why he thinks the president is unimpeachable. trump typically has a good relationship with the men and women of the u.s. military. not everything went smoothly during the visit to new york. that's next.

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welcome back, everyone.

developing story we are following now. carter the oldest live lg former u.s. president will under go surgery in atlanta in the coming hours. to relieve pressure on his brain. 95 year-old is said to be resting with his wife by his side. carter was in hospital twice last month after falling in his home. and has preevious will survived brain and liver cancer. donald trumps visit to new york for the annual veterans day parade was not without dissent. reporting from the pentagon. >> those who threaten our people don't stand a chance against the military. >> reporter: sticking to prepared remarks. >> you are america's greatest living heros. >> reporter: when he appears before troops the president is cheered. but for some this veterans day

appearance did go down well. >> we have the most devicive president in my lifetime. >> he did salute families of the fallen. >> to every gold star family we will standby your side forever. >> in 2016, trump attacked a gold star parents of an army parent killed in iraq in 2004. >> his wife if you look at her she was standing there. she had nothing to say. maybe she wasn't allowed to. >> she couldn't speak. she was still overcome with grief at her son's death. impeachment signs in the windows in new york with a military present. even as the pentagon tried to stay out of the inquiry. there is growing unease about what it seen as the president's impulse of national security decisions. >> i know more about isis than

the generals do. believe me. i would bomb the -- out of them. >> with isis largely defeated the president is going a step further. >> we're leaving soldiers to secure the oil. we may have to fight for the oil. >> the pentagon identified russia as a major challenge to national security. trump now considering putin invitation to stand in moscows r red square for the next parade of military might. >> i would think about it. >> at least two senior military officers were reluctant to appear alongside the president at public events worried that he would make partisan political remarks. under sea explorer and his

team found a u.s. submarine missing since world war ii. 75 years since the it sank with 80 sailors on board. the u.s. navy made a mistake in translating japanese war records on where the sub had likely sunk. and now the it has been found off the coast. in japan. family members of those lost on the gray back say it gives them a sense of comfort. and closure. you have been watching cnn "newsroom." thanks so much for your company. i'm rosemary church. early start is next.

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impeachment hearings, just one day away. democrats and the white house laying groundwork to make their days. . breaking overnight, former president jimmy carter back in the hospital. we'll tell you what's ailing the 95-year-old. and the coldest temperatures of the season, bearing down on the east coast. hundreds of record lows could be shattered, from the deep south to new england. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is "early start." i'm dave briggs. >> i'm christine romans. good morning, everyone. it is tuesday, november 12