>> there have been investigations, but while some of the lower ranking individuals that were involved in this have been arrested, those who ordered this have not yet been appreh d apprehended. >> after you stepped away from this anti-corruption event to take this call, what did the director general tell you? >> she said that there was great concern on the seventh floor of the state department. that's where the leadership of the state department sits. there was great concern. they were worried. she just wanted to give me a heads up about this, and, you know, things seemed to be going on, and she wanted to give me a heads up. hard to know how to react to something like that. i asked her what it was about, what did she think it was about. she didn't know. she said that she was going to try and find out more, but she had wanted to give me a heads up. in fact, i think she may have even been instructed to give me

a heads up on that. so i asked her kind of, you know, what is the next step here? she said she would try to find out more and she would try to call me by midnight. >> what happened next? >> around 1:00 in the morning, she called me again and said that there were great concerns. there were concerns up the street, and she said i needed to -- come home immediately. get on the next plane to the u.s. and i asked her why, and she said she wasn't sure, but there were concerns about my security. i asked her, my physical security? because sometimes washington knows more than we do about these things, and she said, no. she hadn't gotten that impression that it was a physical security issue, but they were concerned about my security and i needed to come home right away. you know, i argued. this is extremely irregular,

and -- and no reason given, but in the end, i did get on the next plane home. >> you said there were concerns up the street. what did you understand that to mean? >> the white house. >> did she explain in any more detail what she meant by concerns about your security? >> no. she didn't. i did specifically ask whether this had to do with the mayor giuliani's allegations against me and so forth, and she said she didn't know. it didn't even actually appear to me that she seemed to be aware of that. no reason was offered. >> did she explain what the urgency was for you to come back on the next flight? >> the only thing that's pertinent to that was when she said there were concerns about my security. that's all, but it was not further explained. >> now prior to this abrupt call

back to washington, had you been offered an extension of your post by the state department? >> yes. under secretary -- the secretary for political affairs had asked whether i would extend for another year, departing in july of 2020. >> when was that request made? >> in early march. >> so about a month and a half before this call? >> yes. >> did anyone at the state department ever express concerns about your job performance? >> no. >> now after you returned to washington a couple of days after that, you met with the deputy secretary of state, and at your deposition, you said that the deputy secretary of state told you that you had done nothing wrong, but that there was a concerted campaign against you. what did he mean by that? >> i'm not exactly sure, but i took it to mean that the

allegations that mayor giuliani and others were putting out there, that that's -- that's what it was. >> and who else was involved in this concerted campaign against you? >> there were some members of the press and others in mayor giuliani's circle. >> and who from ukraine? >> in ukraine, i think well, mr. lutsenko, the prosecutor general and mr. shokin, his predecessor certainly. >> and at this time, mr. lutsenko was the lead prosecutor general, is that right? >> yes, that's correct. >> had president zelensky alluded to whether or not he would keep him on after? >> he indicated he would not be keeping on mr. lutsenko. >> i believe you testified earlier he had a reputation for being corrupt, is that right? >> that's correct. >> during this conversation did

the deputy secretary tell you about your futureamssor to ukra? >> well, he told me i needed to leave. >> what did he say? >> he said that -- i mean, there was a lot of back and forth, but ultimately he said, the words that, you know, every foreign service officer understands, the president has lost confidence in you. that was, you know, a terrible thing to hear, and i said, well, you know, i guess i have to go then. but no real reason was offered as to why i had to leave, and why it was being done in such a manner. >> did you have any indication that the state department had lost confidence in you? >> no. >> and were you provided any reason why the president lost confidence in you? >> no. >> now you testified at your deposition that you were told at some point that secretary pompeo

had tried to protect you, but that he was no longer able to do that. were you aware of these efforts to protect you? >> no, i was not until -- until that meeting with deputy secretary sullivan. >> and were you -- did you understand when he was trying to protect you from? >> well, my understanding was that the president had wanted me to leave, and there was some discussion about that over the prior months. >> did you have any understanding why secretary pompeo was no longer able to protect you? >> no. it was just a statement made this he was no longer able to protect me. >> so just like that, you had to leave ukraine as soon as possible? >> yes. >> how did that make you feel? >> terrible, honestly. i mean, after 33 years of service to our country, it was terrible. it's not the way i wanted my

career to end. >> now you also told the deputy secretary that this was a dangerous precedent. what did you mean by that? >> i was worried -- i was worried about our policy, but also personnel. and i asked him, how -- how are you going to explain this to people in the state department, the press, the public, ukrainians, because everybody is watching, and so if people see somebody who -- and of course, it had been very public, frankly the attacks on me by mayor giuliani and others, and mr. lutsenko in ukraine. if people see that i who have been, you know, promoting our policies on anti-corruption, if

they can undermine me and get me pulled out of ukraine, what does ma fe that mean for our policy? do we have the same policy? how will we firmly put that forward, number one? number two, when other countries, other actors in other countries see that private interests, foreign interests, can come together and get a u.s. ambassador removed, what's going to stop them from doing that in the future in other countries? often, the work we do we try to be diplomatic about it, but as deputy assistant secretary george kent said, you know, sometimes people can get really angry with us. it's uncomfortable, and we are doing our jobs, but sometimes people become very angry with us, and if they realize that they can just remove us, they're going to do that. >> how did the deputy secretary

respond? >> he said those were good questions and he would get back to me. >> did he ever get back to you? >> he asked to see me the following day. >> what did he say to you then? >> he -- really the conversation was more and again, i'm grateful for this, but really more to see how i was doing, and, you know, what would i do next. how could he help. >> but he didn't address the dangerous precedent that you flagged for him? >> no. >> now you understand that the president of the united states could remove you and you served at the pleasure of the president, right? >> that's right. >> but in your 33 years as a service officer, have you ever heard of a president of the united states recalling another ambassador without cause based on allegations that the state

department itself knew to be false? >> no. >> now you testified in your opening statement you had left ukraine by the time of the july 25th call between president trump and president zelensky. when was the first time that you saw the call record for this phone call? >> when it was released publicly at the end of september i believe. >> and prior to reading that call record, were you aware that president trump had specifically made reference to you in that call? >> no. >> what was your reaction to learning that? >> i was shocked. absolutely shocked, and devastated frankly. >> what do you mean my devastated? >> i was shocked and devastated

that and call between two heads of state in such a manner where president trump said that i was bad news to another world leader, and that i would be going through some things. so i was -- it was a terrible moment. a person who saw me actually reading the transcript said that the color drained from my face. i think i even had a physical reaction. i think -- yeah. even now words kind of fail me. >> without upsetting you too much, i would like to show you the excerpts from the call. in the first one, where president trump says, the former ambassador from the united states, the woman, was bad news, and the people she was dealing with in the ukraine were bad news. so i just want to let you know. what was your reaction when you heard the president of the united states refer to you as

bad news? >> i couldn't believe it. i mean, again, shocked, appalled, devastated that the president of the united states would talk about any ambassador like that to a foreign head of state, and it was me. i mean, i couldn't believe it. >> the next excerpt when the president references you was a short one, but he said, well, she's going to go through some things. what did you think when president trump told president zelensky and you read that you were going to go through some things? >> i didn't know what to think, but i was very concerned. >> what were you concerned about? >> she's going to go through some things. it didn't sound good. it sounded like a threat.

>> did you feel threatened? >> i did. >> how so? >> i didn't know exactly. it's not, you know, a very precise phrase, but i think it didn't feel like i was -- i really don't know how to answer the question any further except to say it kind of felt like a vague threat, and so i wondered what that meant. it concerned me. >> now in the same call where the president as you just said, threatens you, to a foreign leader, he also praises the corrupt ukraini prose led the false smear campaign against you. i want to show you another excerpt or two from the

transcript or the call record rather where the president of the united states says, good. because i heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down, and that's really unfair. a lot of people are talking about that. the way they shut your very good prosecutor down, and you had some very bad people involved, and he went on later to say, i heard the president was treated very badly, and he was a very fair prosecutor. so good luck with everything. now ambassador yovanovitch, after nearly three years in ukraine where you tried to clean up the prosecutor general's office, was it the u.s. embassy's view that the former prosecutor general was a very good and very fair prosecutor? >> no, it was not. >> and, in fact, he was rather corrupt, is that right? >> that was our belief. >> the prosecutor general's office is a long-running problem

in ukraine. is that right? >> yes. >> so how did you feel when you heard president trump speak so highly of the corrupt ukrainian prosecutor who helped to execute the smear campaign to have you removed? >> well, i was -- it was disappoi disappointing. it was concerning. it wasn't certainly based on anything that the state department would have reported or frankly anybody else in the u.s. government. there was an inter-agency consensus that while -- when mr. lutsenko came into office, we were very hopeful that he would actually do the things he had set out to do, including the prosecutor general's office, but that did not materialize. >> so this was not the uniform position of official u.s. policymakers. is that right? >> right.

>> now let's go back to the smear campaign that you referenced, and in march when you said it became public, and you praefseviously testified th rudy giuliani, president trump's lawyer and representative who was also mentioned in that july 25th call, was in regular communication with the corrupt prosecutor general in late 2018 and early 2019. and at one point in your deposition, you said that they -- that being giuliani and the corrupt foreign prosecute general, had plans to, quote, do things to me. what did you mean by that? >> i didn't -- i didn't really know, but that's what i had been told by ukrainian officials. >> did you subsequently understand a little bit more of what that meant? >> well, you know, now with the advantage of hindsight, i think that meant removing me from my job in ukraine.

>> who did you understand to be working with mr. giuliani as his associates in ukraine? >> well, certainly mr. lutsenko, mr. shokin, i believe that there were also ukrainian-americans, mr. fruman and parnas. they have been indicted. >> those in new york? >> the southern district of new york. >> at the end of march, this effort by giuliani and his associates resulted in a series of articles in the hill publication that were based on allegations, in part, by lutsenko, the corrupt prosecutor general. just to summarize some of these allegations, there were among others, three different categories. one category included the attacks against you which you referenced in your opening statement including that you had

bad- bad-mouthed the president and had given the prosecute general a do not prosecute list. there was another that included allegations of ukrainian interference in the 2016 election, and then there was a third related to concerted allegations against burisma and the bidens. is that correct? >> yes. yes. >> were those allegations promo promoted by others associated with the president of the united states? >> they seemed to be promoted by those around mayor giuliani. >> i want to show you a couple of exhibits including a tweet here by president trump himself on march 20th which was the first day that one of these articles was published. it appears to be a quote that says, john solomon who is the author of the articles colon, as

russia collusion fades, ukrainian help clinton emerges, unquote. @seanhannity, @foxfews. if i could go to a few days later, this is donald trump jr., we need more richard grenelle's -- and he's the ambassador to germany, right? >> that's right. >> and less of these jokers and ambassadors and it's a retweet of one of john solomon's articles or an article referencing the allegations that says, calls grow to remove obama's u.s. ambassador to ukraine. were you aware of these tweets at the time? >> yes. >> what was your reaction to seeing this? >> well, i was worried. >> what were you worried about? >> that this didn't seem -- these attacks were, you know, being repeated by the president himself and his son.

>> were you aware of whether they received attention on primetime television or on fox s news as well? >> yes, i did. >> was the allegation that you were bad-mouthing president trump true? >> no. >> was the allegation that you had created a do not prosecute list to give to the prosecutor general in ukraine true? >> no. >>, in fact, didn't the corrupt prosecutor general himself later recant those allegations? >> yes. >> now when these articles were first published, did the state department issue a response? >> as you said, there was a series of articles, so after the first article, which was an interview with mr. lutsenko, and was only really about me and made certain allegations about me, the state department came out the following day with a very strong statement saying

that, you know, these allegations are fabrications. >> so the statement addressed the falsity of the allegations themselves? >> yes. >> it didn't say anything about your job performance in any way? >> honestly i haven't looked at it in a very long time. i think it was generally probably laudatory. i can't recall. >> did anyone raise any concerns with you or express any belief in these allegations? >> no. i mean, people tugwas ridiculous. >> after these false allegations were made against you, did you have any discussions with anyone in leadership in the state department about a potential statement of support from the department or the secretary himself? >> yes. after the tweets that you just showed us, i mean, it seemed to me that if the president's son

is saying things like this, then it would be very hard to continue in my position and have authority in ukraine unless the state department came out pretty strongly behind me, and so, you know, over t-- over the weekend of, like, march 22nd. i think that's about the date, there was a lot of discussion on email among a number of people about what could be done. the secretary for political afar affairs called me on sunday, and i said, you know, it's really important that the secretary come out and be supportive. otherwise, it's hard for me to be the kind of representative you need me to be here. he said he would talk to the secretary. that's my recollection of the call. that may not be exactly how it played out. that was my recollection.

>> this is david hale, the political affairs, the number three person at the state department? >> yes. >> did he indicate to you that he supported such a statement of support for you? >> i think he must have because i don't think he would have gone to the secretary if he didn't support it. you wouldn't bring a bad idea to the secretary of state. >> your general understanding is you did have the full support of the state department, is that right? >> yes. >> and, in fact, during your 33-year career as a foreign service officer, did you ever hear any serious concerns about your job in office? >> no. >> was the statement of support ultimately issued for you? >> no, it was not. >> did you learn why not? >> yeah. yes. i was told there was a concern on the seventh floor that if a

st statement of support was issued whether by the state department or by the secretary personally that it could be undermined. >> how could it be undermined? >> that the president might issue a tweet cricketiontradictt or something to that effect. >> let me see if i got this right. you were one of the most senior diplomats in the state department. you have been there for 33 years. you had won numerous awards. you had been appointed as an ambassador three times by both republican and democratic presidents, and the state department would not issue a statement in support of you against false allegations because they were concerned about a tweet from the president of the united states? >> that's my understanding. >> i would like to hop on that question. it seems like an appropriate question.

ambassador yovanovitch, as we sit here testifying, the president is attacking you on twitter, and i would like to give you a chance to respond. i'll read part of one of his tweets. everywhere marie yovanovitch went turned bad. she started off in somalia. how did that go? he goes on to say later in the tweet it's a u.s. president's absolute right to appoint ambassadors. first of all, ambassador yovanovitch, the senate has a chance to confirm or deny an ambassador, do they not? >> yes, advise and consent. >> how do you respond to the president's attack that everywhere you went turned bad? >> well, i -- i mean, i don't think i have such powers, in somalia and other places, i actually think where i have served over the years, i and

others have demonstrably made things better for the u.s., you know, as well as the other countries. ukraine for example, where there are huge challenges including, you know, on the issue that we're discussing today of corruption. huge challenges, but they have made a lot of progress since 2014, including in the years that i was there, and i think in part, the ukrainian people get the most -- the most credit for that, but apart of that credit goes to the work of the united states and to me as the ambassador in uk. >> ambassador, you have shown the courage to come forward today and testify. not withstanding the fact that as you testified earlier, the

president implicitly threatened you in that call record. and now the president realtime is attacking you. what effect do you think that has on other witnesses' willingness to come forward and expose wrongdoing? >> well, it's very intimidating. >> designed to intimidate, is it not? >> i mean, i can't speak to what the president is trying to do, but i think the effect is to be intimidating. >> well, i want to let you know, ambassador, that some of us here take witness intimidation very, very seriously. mr. goldman. >> ambassador yovanovitch, you indicated that those same articles in march that included the smear campaign also included allegations related to ukraine's

interference in the 2016 election and the burisma/biden connection. is that right? >> yes. >> so i'm going to end my questioning where we were before which was the july 25th call. president trump not only insults you and praises the corrupt prosecutor general, but he also as you know by now, references these allegations. president zelensky thanks president trump for, quote, great support in the area of great defense, unquote. president trump responds, i would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot, and ukraine knows a lot about it. i would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with ukraine. they say crowdstrike. i guess you have one of your wealthy people, the server. they say ukraine has it.

then he goes on in that same paragraph to say, whatever you can do. it's very important that you do it if that's possible. now ambassador yovanovitch from your experience as the ambassador in ukraine for almost three years and understanding that president zelensky was not in politics before he ran for president and was a new president on this call, how would you expect president zelensky to interpret a request for a favor? >> the u.s. relationship for ukraine is the single most important relationship, and so i think that president zelensky, any president would, you know, do what they could to, you know, lean in on a favor request, and i'm not saying that that's a yes, but they would try to lean in and see what they could do. >> fair to say the president of

ukraine soon dependent on the united states would do just about anything in his power to please the president of the united states if he could? >> you know, if he could. i mean, i'm sure there are limits, and i understand there were a lot of discussions in the ukrainian government about all of this, but yeah. i mean, we are an important relationship on the security side and on the political side. so the president of ukraine, one of the most important functions that individual has is to make sure the relationship with the u.s. is rock solid. >> now are you familiar with these allegations of ukrainian interference in the 2016 election? >> i mean, there have been rumors out there about things like that, but, you know, there was nothing hard, at least nothing that i was aware of. >> there's nothing based in fact to support these allegations.

>> right. yes. >> and, in fact, who was responsible for interfering and meddling in the 2016 election? >> well, the u.s. intelligence community has concluded that it was russia. >> ambassador yovanovitch, are you aware that in february of 2017, vladimir putin himself promoted this theory of ukraine interfering in the election of 2016? >> you know, maybe i knew that once and have forgotten, but i'm not familiar with it now. >> well, let me show you a press statement that president putin made in a joint press conference with viktor orbon of hungary. he said, second, as we all know during the presidential campaign of the united states, the ukrainian government adopted a unilateral position in favor of one candidate. more than that, certain

oligarchs, certainly with the approval of the political leadership, funded this candidate or female candidate to be more precise. now how would this theory of ukraine interference in the 2016 be in vladimir putin's interest? >> well, i mean, president trump must have been aware that there were concerns in the u.s. about russian meddling in the 2016 elections, and what the potential was for russian meddling in the future. so, you know, classic for an intelligence officer to try to throw off the scent and, you know, create an alternative narrative that maybe might get picked up and get some credence. >> an alternative narrative that would absolve his own wrongdoing? >> yeah. >> and when he talks about an oligarch and he talks about the

support of the ukrainian government, there's also a reference in the july 25th call to a wealthy ukrainian. he said, your understanding of what vladimir putin is staying here in this press statement in 2017 is similar to what president trump says related to the call in the 2016 election? >> maybe. >> now let me show you another exhibit from the call related to the bidens which i'm sure you're familiar with. president trump says the other thing. there's a lot of talk about biden's son, that biden stopped the prosecution, and a lot of people want to find out about that. so whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great. biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it, it sounds horrible to me. now are you familiar with the

allegations -- these allegations related to vice president biden? >> yes. >> do you know whether he ever went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution of anyone? >> no. >> and, in fact, when vice president biden acted to remove the former corrupt prosecutor in ukraine, did he do so as part of official united states policy? >> official u.s. policy. that was endorsed and was the policy of a number of other international stakeholders, other countries, other nmonetar and financial institutions. >> in fact, if he were to help remove a corrupt ukrainian prosecutor general who was not prosecuting enough corruption, that would increase the chances that corrupt companies in ukraine would be investigated. isn't that right? >> one would think so.

>> and that would include burisma, right? >> yes. >> now at the time of this call, vice president biden was the front runner for the democratic nomination for president. president trump's potential next opponent in the election. is it your understanding that president trump's request to have vice president biden investigated, was that part of official u.s. policy as you knew it? >> well, i should say that i had at the time of this phone call, i had already departed ukraine two months prior. >> right, but you're familiar with -- it didn't change that much in two months, right? >> it certainly would not have been the policy in may when i left. >> and were these two investigations part of the anti-corruption platform that you championed in ukraine for three years? >> no. >> and these investigations, do

they appear to you, to be to benefit the president's political and personal interest rather than the national interest? >> well, they certainly could. >> returning to the allegations in the hill publication in march that were promoted by mr. giuliani, the president's lawyer. were those two allegations similar to the two allegations that the president wanted president zelensky to investigate? >> yes. >> so ultimately in the july 25th phone call with the ukrainian president, the president of the united states endorsed the false allegations against you and the bidens. is that right? >> yes. >> i yield back, mr. chairman. >> mr. chairman, i have an inqui inquiry. >> votes are fairly immine.ss.k

>> mr. chairman, i have a parliamentary inquiry. >> the gentleman can seek recognition after we >> and we're going to have a recess now in this second day of testimony in the house impeachment hearings. ambassador yovanovitch testifying for the last hour and a half. she's leaving the briefing room right now, the committee room. soft voice testimony from a career diplomat that was also steely and at times, stirring, talking about her anti-corruption efforts in the ukraine, talking about her reaction when she heard that president trump was speaking with the president of ukraine on the phone calling her bad news and saying she was going to go through some things, and also laying out in some detail, how she believed that the campaign against her by rudy giuliani and others close to the president, including the president was based on fabrications and lies.

statements corroborated by the state department. perhaps most extraordinary in the course of this hearing, even though the white house has said the president wouldn't be watching, the president by tweet attacked ambassador yovanovitch. i want to two to mago to mary b is just outside the room right there. you pointed out this is not the strategy recommended by house republicans. >> reporter: republicans were hoping not to go after the ambassador directly like that, not to question her prior work, and you can see from her opening statement why that would be a strategy they would be hoping to avoid. she cast herself as very dedicated, public servant, someone who spent her life trying to further america's goals abroad, yet you had the president in realtime questioning that. on twitter pointing it to the places she previously served had immediately gone bad, that things had gone wrong in those countries, and then you had this moment with chairman adam schiff directly asking the former ambassador to respond to the

president. incredibly tense. you can see the real concern on the ambassador's face there. she was visibly upset in having to defend herself against the president like this. adam schiff then took things a step further suggesting that the president was essentially engaged in witness intimidation, and it of course, came just a few moments after ambassador yovanovitch had been explaining her reaction to the president's comments on that phone call with the ukrainian leader when he had described her as bad news. ambassador yovanovitch relaying how at the time she was shocked. she says she was visibly upset then as well saying, you know, that in those moments, she recalled almost the blood draining from her face, and she had this visible reaction to hearing her president, the president she was representing abroad, directly attacking her in a phone call with a foreign leader, jorgeorge. >> mary, you could see it in her face, the emotion welling up in her eyes, but she did not give

an inch. >> she really didn't, and the secondary story line is her disappointment with the leadership at the state department. she said, i remain disappointed that the department's leadership and others have declined to acknowledge that the attacks against me and others are dangerously wrong, and as she answered the questioning there, the reason there was no public statement from secretary pompeo she believed was because it could be undermined and when pressed what did she mean, by that, she said, with a tweet perhaps by president trump, and the irony is during the testimony there would be a live tweet from president trump. she was pushed you could see, and as mary could see, you described the color leaving her face when she learned of her name being brought up in that phone call, and we watched it again today. >> they bring up the state department, and it seems like the leadership is caught in the middle between the ambassador they have supported and believe did nothing wrong and the president of the united states. >> reporter: that's the drama that marie yovanovitch is describing and she personifies

it. she's a person like the others that we have heard, who have given her life really in service to the country in foreign service, and that is a noble calling. that has traditionally been a career opportunity that transcends partisan, changes in the administrations, but the president does have the right to remove ambassadors because george washington james monroe as ambassador to france because he thought james monroe was getting a little bit too pro-france for washington's taste. this is an inherent power of the president's and she's saying it was abused here, that it was exercised and not because the president had some policy direction he wanted to go in, but because there was this corrupt second channel of foreign policy being run by rudy giuliani. that said, she did not really get us any closer to an action that would demonstration the guilt of donald trump of an impeachable offense. she describes a very sad and

disturbing situation regarding the state department, the foreign service and her role as ambassador for the united states to ukraine, but she doesn't get any closer to an action by president trump. >> well, that is one of the questions at issue because i think one of the things that was trying to be established in the questioning was to get to the state of mind of president trump, and whether indeed he was sincere about taking on corruption, and on that point, i want to mark -- if you can hear me, bring up 2:28, where she talks about ukrainians who had a desire to take her out because of anti-corruption efforts. >> perhaps it was not surprising when our anti-corruption efforts got in the way for desire of profit or power, ukrainians who prefer to play by the old, corrupt rules sought to remove me. what continues to amaze me is that they found americans willing to partner with them in working together, they apparently succeeded in orchestrated the removal of a

u.s. ambassador. how could our system fail like this? how is it that foreign corrupt interests could manipulate our government? which country's interests are served when the corrupt behavior we have been criticizing is allowed to prevail? such conduct undermines the u.s., exposes our friends and widens the playing field for autocrats like president putin. >> and i played that for a reason. i'll bring in our legal team. i think terry is right that ambassador yovanovitch does not tie this directly to the president, but the democrats seem to be laying the groundwork here, dan, and let me bring you in on this, that the president's taking on of corruption was not sincere, instead he was really pursuing biden and the democrats which could leading to an article of impeachment. >> people were wondering, why was the ambassador being called? she wasn't there. now we have some answers to that

question. in part, the answer is she's analyzing the call. she's now able to go through the words that were on that call and effectively make the case that this undermines the president's claim that he was trying to root out corruption, and, in fact, he was trying to encourage corruption, and i think that's a critical point that she's making here because the defense again and again has been, what is wrong with the president trying to encourage the ukrainian leader to root out corruption in his country? she's now making it clear, this wasn't about rooting out corruption. all this is doing is encouraging them to support the corrupt prosecutor who was there. >> the president does have these powers, but the power is not as adam schiff said, it is not absolute. >> this is not absolute presidential power. obviously presidents can make decisions about policy choices, but you cannot make aol picy choice by removing ambassador for the purpose of furthering some corrupt personal interest, and that's the point she made her effectively, and it's a

standard prosecutor's move to lay out a narrative of this corrupted administration that yovanovitch is frankly appalled at, and acting against, and then she's removed and no longer an impediment to their interest. >> on wednesday, a lot of the republicans were trying to establish. >> i thought the clip you just played was -- it reminded me of a george kent moment from wednesday when he said, you can't root out corruption without pissing off corrupt actors and the narrative today she was this anti-corruption advocate, and she was ousted for doing that, and with this tweet, you see it happening again. she's criticizing corruption, and what happens? she gets targeted again, this time by the president personally. he injects himself right back into the center of things by this tweet today. >> another way, and jon karl, we

saw ranking republican devin nunes, read that rough transcript of the president's first phone call with president zelensky, back in april, and it does seem to be at odds with the summary of the phone call the white house put out at the time of the call, particularly on this issue of corruption. >> reporter: yeah, george. this was a brief phone call he made while on air force one, and at the time, the white house sent us with a readout, a brief summary of the call. this is back in april. that readout, the white house said that the president spoke to zelensky, congratulated him and talked about reforms that strengthen democracy, increased prosperity, and root out corruption. we were told they talked about rooting out kruchcorruption. the white house released the

rough transcript of the call. as you said, congressman nunes read it for everybody. we heard mention of the miss universe contest which the president used to run, but we heard no corruption. it was not on the call, this readout from the white house back in april was clearly inaccura inaccurate, but i have to come back to this tweet regarding marie yovanovitch. the president says wherever she went things turned back. she started in somalia, how did that go? she was a junior state department official tasked to a hardship post in civil war torn somalia. she had no influence into what was going on in this country, and the president in the midst of this testimony to attack her personally and suggest she was somehow responsible for what went down in somalia is one of the most extraordinary moments i have seen covering this white

house. >> there's no question about that, jon, and we have talked about the president's tweets before how at times unhinged they can be, as someone in the white house, working in the white house during somalia, which is one of the major crises, that that city, one of the most dangerous cities in the world, that a senior foreign service officer could have anything to do with that,is beyond absurd. it's stunning to me, and i wonder, jon. we have talked about this in the past. is there anyone in the room with the president in the white house right now as he's watching these hearings or being told about these hearings that says, don't do that? >> well, you know, it's clearly contrary to the strategy that they set forward. they decided they were not going to attack her personally. that was not part of the plan, so it's clearly the president operating on his open, and frankly i don't think there is anybody in the white house that

can go in there and say, this -- this was -- this was frankly nuts to accuse her of somehow being responsible for what went down in somalia, not part of the white house strategy. not part of the republican strategy, and really a smear on somebody who remember, george, somebody who served as she mentioned, an ambassador to three different countries. for two of those ambassadorial posts, she was appointed by a republican president. this is not somebody who had a track record of being -- of being a political opponent of the president, and somebody who was highly regarded in the foreign service, a highly regarded foreign service officer. >> barbara comstock, house oversight during the impeachment of president clinton. your reaction to this morning's testimony? >> reporter: i thought the ambassador was powerful and eloquent, and i think she's told the story. it makes clear that the

president was using secondhand of information that certainly appears to be coming from rudy giuliani and corrupt officials including these former prosecutors that the state department had told the president this information was false. so you have rudy giuliani peddling this information, the state department pushing back on it, but then they weren't able to defend the ambassador anymore, and this shows why we need to have rudy giuliani testifying. understand the first hand people, and also understanding -- i put down, you know, this is why fiona hill testified. john bolton said, you know, he opportunity want to be involved in this drug deal rudy giuliani has going on. this fills on the drug deal that was going on, and was pushing and if the president is going to be attacking her, he needs to put up his first hand witnesses, the people he got the information saying she was bad,

about, you know, rudy giuliani needs to tell that story. you need to have mike pompeo explain, what was the back and forth, and why didn't the white house say these were false? and john bolton who certainly has a very distinguished and respected view among republicans on these policies too. so i think her testimony was very devastating and i think she points out the very challenging situation that people have. she understands that she is serving at the pleasure of the president, but she is pointing out we don't want to have corrupt officials be able to come in and affect what the president does, and then his own state department and his own white house isn't able i want to bring in pierre thomas for more on this. she mentioned rudy giuliani. i don't think he's going to be

appearing before that committee. we do know he's in the crosshairs right now as two of his former colleagues are under indictment. >> george, i'm struck how giuliani is at the core of the testimony today. he is, as you said, the subject of the investigation, according to our sources, involving this effort to get rid of yovanovitch from that post. according to an indictment that was handed out in the southern district of new york, two of rudy giuliani's associates, lev parnas, and igor fruman, who are american businessman, they apparently engaged in getting rid of yovanovitch and, george, it involved thousands of dollars. they came up with a plan to pay $20,000 into the campaign of a congressman who we've identified as pete sessions, who they were going to lobby to get rid of

yovanovitch. so the southern district is looking at all of that and, again, the point here is that these people were working at the behest, according to the u.s. prosecution team, of ukrainian officials who wanted yovanovitch gone, george. >> pierre thomas, thanks. i want to come back to our legal panel right here in the studio. going back to the tweet, kate shaw, it hit me immediately when adam schiff brought up the tweet, it wasn't just for the shock value to bring up the tweet. he seemed to be laying the groundwork for another potential article of impeachment. >> i think that's right. witness intimidation. he said those words and it's not something you've seen in a previous presidential impeachment, specific targeting of somebody who is maybe a critical witness against him. it could be pafrt rt of an obstruction of justice charge. maybe some of the potential groundwork for a new article of impeachment or a new piece of obstruction article. >> george, what i'm particularly interested in now is do

republicans follow his lead, right, because before this we talked about the fact that republicans were not planning on attacking her personally. typically what you've seen is the republicans following the president's lead on tone and direction and defense, et cetera. are we now going to see that from the republicans on the committee who say, okay, so in effect these are the marching orders, which is she's to be attacked, and are we now going to see this when the proceeding continues. >> so one thing i think is really interesting that we didn't see the president come out with these attacks on wednesday against george kent and ambassador taylor. so it is surprising but perhaps not so surprising that when we have a woman testifying powerfully and forcefully, that he is exercised to say something. >> interesting point. david muir, we've seen the history with the president on these kinds of attacks. >> and in this case a powerful woman in front of the american people today. chairman schiff just moments ago in doubling down on this hinting of a strategy moving forward on possible witness intimidation

saying once again president trump is going after this dedicated and respected public career servant in an effort not only to chill her but to show others who may come forward what could happen. he said we take this witness obstruction and inquiry very serious. you have to wonder, george, if the president himself has somewhat undermined the whole republican strategy which is to say the president has absolute power to remove an ambassador if that's what he chooses to do. over the course of the testimony this morning she talked at length about how her own security was at risk and said i felt this was extremely irregular but told me there were concerns from the white house. then she learns about the transcript of the phone call that she was included again about something going to happen to her, bad things could be happening to her. she again was concerned for her own safety. she was asked repeatedly about that. then we have the live tweet that comes in while she's testifying again today. you see it in her face once

again concerned and adam schiff putting a word to that, calling it intimidation. >> his attacks on the whistle-blower as well. i want to bring mary bruce back in. i don't know if you had a chance to speak to any of the members who are out on the floor for votes. any plans how the republicans plan to address the ambassador? >> we know the republican plan has been to come back and insist that the president has a right to appoint whoever he wants to represent the united states abroad. now, republicans have been trying -- it was their strategy not to go after the ambassador personally, but instead to point out that the president is able to work with whomever he wants to and to make this about solely the president's actions because while democrats here of course are trying to point to the broader tone, the broader campaign that was at play here, republicans have been arguing that this really, when it comes to the question of im impeachment, should be about what the president himself said. that's why they keep referring

us back to the white house summary of the actual phone call that was released between president trump and the ukrainian leader. we have although been hearing from some democrats coming out of the room and it is clear that they think that the president's tweet today was an example of him trying to intimidate a witness in real time. as we have been discussing here, democrats of course as they think about moving towards articles of impeachment aren't just looking at whether the president abused his power but whether he has been obstructing this investigation, and that is where today's tweet will likely play a role. >> and terry moran, those kinds of obstruction articles have been -- they were a significant part of the articles of impeachment against richard nixon. >> that's right. his stone wall that went all the way to the supreme court before they knocked it down but that was one of the reasons that members of the house judiciary committee voted to impeach him, that he obstructed the very impeachment inquiry. congress is at its peak of power in the courts and in the mind of the public if the public backs

it when they asked the president for information about wrongdoing that could lead to impeachment. what we have here is president trump building a stone wall around those people who could come in, take an oath and say the words that i think a lot of voters would need to hear before they go along with this, president trump told me to do x. and the closer they get to that, the more ferocious the defense of the president's privilege is and his demands that the impeachment inquiry will get because that's what an impeachment inquiry really needs. remember, in watergate, the republican party stood by richard nixon until the tapes came out, and the american people could hear in richard nixon's own voice him committing crimes. that's the threshold that americans have traditionally had for impeachment and removal from office. no american president has ever been removed from office in this manner because the bar is set so high by the american people. >> it was his own aid, alexander

butterfield who revealed that the tapes did exist. i want to bring jon karl back. there does seem to be as david muir pointed out at the top of the broadcast a slight crack in the wall of the president's inside the white house office of management, technically a white house office. tomorrow we'll see the first witness from the office of management and budget who dealt with the military aid to ukraine coming before the committee behind closed doors. >> reporter: yes, this will be a staffer who will talk to the circumstances surrounding the withholding of that aid. this is a career staffer, not a political appointee. the white house has said they don't want anybody testifying. this is somebody who has decided to go forward. we don't know how significant the testimony will be but it will get to that question of what happened when the aid was withheld from ukraine, and by the way, why or what happened when it was reinstituted in september. >> that's one of the questions, kate shaw, picking up on what terry was saying as well, is how

concrete the evidence needs to be when you're considering impeachment. >> i think every impeachment has been a little bit different and it has been the case that there are usually multiple articles of impeachment so there are five that the judiciary committee considers and nixon approving at least and of course he resigns. there are four in committee and two approved in the house in clinton. so there are a bunch and you can offer a bunch of different arguments for why the president's conduct rises to the constitutional standard, satisfies the standard haof treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors, but it's a question that the constitution doesn't define so we have to look to past practice and i think that it is true that the nixon example where you had pretty overwhelming evidence both in witness testimony and ultimately in the president's own recorded words seems to set the standard because people tend to agree that he would have been convicted and removed had he not resigned, but of course we don't

have any actual successful impeachments in the sense of conviction and removal. >> which why he left and it may be the reason when you talk about the democrats sharpening the argument, house speaker nancy pelosi focusing on that word in the constitution, bribery. >> precedent is relevant and significant and it's going to be discussed but in the end the most important thing is going to be where is the public, where is the public sentiment. if you try to pursue too many different kinds of articles of impeachment, there's a potential price to pay, that the public says, oh see, they're going after everything. they're trying to throw the book at him, instead of focusing it very narrowly that may be in a typical legal case not the right thing to do but when you're talking about a proceeding that's inherently political you have to adapt your strategy and as a result i think you're going to see more focus on particular types of articles where they think it could resonate with the public. >> thank you all very much. we're going to stand by. we're going to take a break right now.

our live coverage is going to continue on abc news live, our 24-hour streaming channel. we expect hearings to resume around noon. i'm george stephanopoulos in new york. michael. all right, thank you. now to a social media scam. costco warning that the $75 coupon going around now to a social media scam. costco warning that the $75 coupon going around on facebook is a hoax. chief business correspondent rebecca jarvis is here with the details on this. good morning, rebecca. >> hey, michael, good morning to you. yeah, that's right. this scam has been circulating all over facebook recently. it's advertised as a $75 coupon. you see it there on your screen. all you have to do is hand over a bunch of personal information like your name, your address and

your phone number. what's really remarkable here is this isn't the first time this scam is making the rounds. costco was the victim of a similar coupon hoax last year, and the company is now reminding customers to never respond to unverified emails or provide personal details via email. if you want to visit a store website, type it directly into your browser, don't follow the link from someone else and beware of any requests to deposit a check or pay a fee in order to collect a prize or get a job, michael. >> yeah, but if you've already been a victim of this scam, is there anything you can do? >> you should reach out to costco and let them know. also the federal trade commission is the governing body that oversees this. let them know, but my advice to people right now is to just be hypervigilant, emails, social media post, it is the holidays. the con artists know this. they know people are out there searching for deals. don't respond to it unless it's a website you know and trust. don't even use it. >> all right. makes sense.

all right, thank you very much, rebecca, for that. coming up, we have the woman who went undercover wearing a wire to help catch a killer. what happened next. >> we're excited about this one. how you can score one of those nearly. >> i need another job. look who is here, the one and only mark ruffalo, the man himself. we'll be right back. "gma's" morning menu sponsored by u.s. bank. "gma's" morning menu sponsored by u.s. bank. r going? the tour's going really well ... ... but i can't find my card. but don't worry, i locked it. yeah, i saw the text. when did you have it last? ♪ a-ha. you found it. yeah. at u.s. bank, we believe that hard work works. and in the moments you've worked so hard for, we're here to give you peace of mind.

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have a great friday audience. thank you, guys, for being with us this morning. and tomorrow on saturday "gma" we'll have an intimate look at the life of the late superstar prince from his new memoir, but happy friday. today is a big day for music. we begin this morning with exciting news about the american music awards. now while we already know some of the amazing acts hitting the stage to perform this year including selena gomez, lizzo and shania twain just to name a few now we also know who will be hosting the whole night. ciara. yeah. yeah, that's going to be one -- this won't be her first appearance on the ama stage. last year she killed it in her performance of "level up" and ciara is clearly excited about the gig. she took to social media to to post this video with the

caption, today's mood, we're going to have so much fun at the amas. can't wait. you can catch all the fun when they air sunday, november 24th at 8:00 p.m. eastern. [ applause ] ♪ level up level up >> is that you? >> no, not quite. but trying. >> it doesn't work for all of us. speaking of award show a big night at the 20th annual latin grammy awards, and also historic. the show opening with a special tribute to the last 20 years of latin music with 20 artists performing together for the very first time. >> so awesome. >> yeah. and grammy winner ricky martin served as the co-host of the biggest night joined by actors rosalynn sanchez and pas vega. no relation. >> it is not cecilia's family. and the artists definitely came to perform. colombian superstar juanes sang several of his biggest songs along with a duet with alessia cara and presented with the person of the year award and alicia keys brought out miguel for her new single "show me

love." the recording academy is showing keys quite a bit of love announcing her as the host for next year's grammy awards for the second year in a row. >> congrats to her. >> yeah. [ applause ] >> those hosting gigs are a lot of pressure. i commend these guys. now to harry styles announcing some news that music to our ears going on a 2020 world tour and posted that it will kick off in the united kingdom and head all over europe before coming to north america. if you want to catch him stateside the leg, love on tour 2020 will begin in philadelphia on june 26th and tickets are on sale today if you are someone who plans ahead. [ applause ] you don't have to wait until next june for harry, though, his brand-new album "fine line" drops in exactly four weeks on december 13th? mark the calendar. >> mark the calendar. now, it wouldn't be a sara

"pop news" with just music. we got to show some pup love. we have one dog who is sliding into the weekend like a true champ. >> oh. >> that is lenny, the golden retriever. this is one of his favorite things to do is sliding down a hill in his neighborhood in spokane, washington. it turns out he doesn't even need a sled. his owner jackie posting more videos of him taking a plunge down that same hill. it made me laugh because i don't know when i became cynical but i think of the bath you have to give him when you go home. >> i literally was thinking, he's dirty now. >> so dirty. right when you walked in you're in the shower, mister. >> exactly. thank you so much for that, sara. now to our "gma" cover story about an international scholar who vanished at the university of illinois, and bobwoodruff, he traveled to china as part of a "20/20" investigation into her

disappearance, and here with the exclusive new details. good morning, bob. >> good morning. this is a huge tragedy for this but this case would not have been resolved unless his girlfriend came forward and went undercover. >> reporter: this is university of illinois scholar yingying zhang last seen getting into this black car in june of 2017. >> people on campus are wondering is there a kidnapper out there? is he going to strike again. >> reporter: authorities tracked that vehicle to its owner, a university of illinois grad student, brendt christensen. and this interrogation video he admits to picking up a young asian woman but investigators release him with hopes he'd lead them to yingying. >> they throw somewhat of a hail mary. they ask christianson's girlfriend terra bullis to wear a wire for them. >> reporter: the girlfriend agrees in hopes of exonerating him or helping to find ying ying. >> and he should be coming over around 5:30 so i'm turning it on. >> reporter: the way the recordings progress, the first few, there was little evidence

towards the crime necessarily. >> i have already done more than i had to for them. i want to find this girl. >> reporter: but everything changes when christiansen and bullis attend a individual -- vigil. with that he spills the truth. >> we're at the benefit for the walk and brent has a thing of alcohol and he is drinking while he's here. >> she was very frightened many times. >> this really impacted her, the things that were said to her. >> she was valiant. >> she was? >> she was. >> did she fight? >> uh-huh. nobody knows what happened. >> nobody will know what happened. >> except for me. i am the only one. this he'll never find her. the family, you know, we are gonna leave empty-handed because no one will ever know where she >> you know, this girlfriend took a huge risk to make this happen. without her this would not have

been resolved as i said before but also the amazing thing is the local police officer, the way he was ultimately to find this suspect, you never would have expected this one. it was incredible work by them as well. you'll see these -- the story tonight on "20/20". >> you said they threw a hail mary. that was chilling to hear that. >> yeah, without that, you know, this would not have been -- nobody would be going to prison right now. >> yeah. >> but he is. >> bob, thank you. thank you so much. you can see much more on a two-hour special edition of "20/20" tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on abc. cecilia. >> thank you. 'tis the season to earn some extra cash. now that holiday hiring is under way experts are telling us that there are almost a million new jobs up for grabs and becky worley is in san francisco with more on how to land the perfect seasonal job. good morning to you, my friend. >> good morning, cecilia. you're right. it's the tightest labor market in decades. that means employers are

sweetening the deal for seasonal workers but what kind of flexibility do they offer and how much can you really make? >> reporter: holiday jobs go way beyond managing the crowds for santa. the unemployment rate is 3.6%. that's a 50-year low so employers are reaching into new populations to staff up. >> two most in demand skills are communication and customer service. that means just about everybody with a positive attitude is qualified to go get one of these jobs. >> reporter: retailers alone are expected to hire more than 500,000 temporary workers. target plans to hire more than 130,000 seasonal workers with starting pay at $13 an hour and a perk of a 10% employee discount. kohl's wants to hire 90,000 with a 15% discount in their stores. others like amazon warehouse jobs offering $15 to $20 an hour. >> having a seasonal job allows me to continuously network. >> reporter: retail worker brittany says it's about extra

cash and that next job. but retail is not the only option. >> the bulk of the jobs that are seasonal are related to e-commerce shopping consumers are doing. >> reporter: while these facilities may seem daunting -- >> at first it was intimidating. just the sound, you know what i mean? >> reporter: this woman started working over the holidays. now graduated from school and full time on a management track here. u.p.s. plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers. >> hey, i'm becky. >> how are you? >> welcome to u.p.s. like? i'm not qualified for this job. i sign up to be a delivery helper. how long does it take for someone to ramp up and be ready to work either on the line or in the trucks? >> once they go online with the application, it's within 24 hours. >> 24 hours from approval to on the job. >> yes, for sure. >> i get to ride with the door open. this is awesome. i run the packages. >> 885. okay. and kevin preps the next delivery.

there are a few heavy boxes. >> i can do it. and some very yippee dogs. run away, yeesh. but this job starts at $14 an hour with a fair bit of flexibility. turning a seasonal job into much needed holiday cash that may become a career. most of these companies are ramping up now. it's not too late. in part because the pre-christmas rush is just the start of the busy season. after december 25th there is the returns rush and then the gift card rush when everybody buys the things they really wanted as presents. so apply now, i mean, what do you have to lose, right, cecilia? >> yeah, seriously. there is a paycheck waiting for you. you mentioned the record 50-year low that doesn't necessarily include folks unemployed for a really long time. sounds like some could be good for them. >> oh, absolutely. u.p.s. says 35% of the people that work as seasonal employees are eventually hired

permanently. and some of those permanent part-time positions offer health care for employees who work as little as 20 hours a week and as we all know that health care for many is the gift that keeps on giving, so give it a shot. >> certainly is. this is really great information. thanks, becky. we'll head over to ginger now. thank you. we have a "gma" moment coming to us from gulf breeze, florida. and i have to set this one up because we all know the person who is already playing christmas music. they may even have their tree up. now i think they may have been born that way. ♪ >> i mean that, is 8-month-old liz. she's only 8 months old, so she couldn't have possibly been prepped for that. it's really something. so i kind of believe it now. like you're born with yourself. take a moment. drop your "gma" moment on my facebook page. let's go ahead good morning.

i'm abc7 news meteorologist mike nicco. check out the golden gate bridge and the accuweather highlights. spotty drizzle and i will have the sunglasses handy this afternoon. the heat wave of the fall is going to end tuesday. and the mid-60s inland and around the bay and low 60s along the coast. le cooler tonight, 50s in santa rosand we are excited because it's time now for "deals & steals" with tory johnson. she has savings that will take the stress out of your holiday shopping. everything is $20 or less, tory. >> so much fun. so much fun. so we brought a little fun to help us. legacy shave. this is truly the gift of the ultimate shaving experience. >> michael, you can put it right on. >> i'm okay.

>> so here's how it would work. this little cap right here pops on to just about any traditional size, don't worry. there is a safety lock on here because i was nervous of getting that near you. >> thank you. >> but -- >> there's a child safety -- >> here's what's awesome about this. no mess, right? >> except if sara is in the house. goes straight from the can to the face. >> how many people are shaving? >> because of this brush you get that awesome exfoliation, less razor bump. >> you could use this on your legs. >> it's fun too, right? it's a lot of fun. yes. >> so many things. >> this is a gift for guys this season so they come in a two-pack. normally $40, today slashed in half, $20. >> 20 bucks. [ applause ] >> that is amazing. >> that's creative. >> really fun gift. next up, this is a "gma" favorite. look at this hat right here. look at the awesome interior.

>> oh, look at that. >> faux sherpa lined. social security super fluffy. these gloves, you got mittens. you could text and be warm at the same time. we have boot sock, slipper socks, this is the gift of ultimate comfort. men, women and kids. we've got everybody covered with these. the patterns are fun. one of oprah's favorite thing. >> oprah? >> oh, yeah, but you know what, more importantly, more importantly it's one of fonsi's favorite things over there. >> wow. >> oprah? 15 to $40. everything is slashed in half and starts at $8. >> can't beat that. >> speaking of comfort these are warmies. grab this one right here. this little one went in the microwave for you. pop it in the microwave for about a minute and it will stay warm. it's filled with flaxseed. filled with flaxseed and lavender so you have this soothing scent of lavender, plus the adorableness of just a sweet animal. and --

>> are these for adults? >> for adults or kids. >> relaxing. >> smell this. >> he smells the same way. >> i knew what she was trying to do. >> they're adorable. and we also have their boots so the boots same thing, they go in the microwave and you pop them on. this is the gift of ultimate comfort. normally $25 to $30 and start at $12.50. >> i love these. >> this is great for everybody. it's either -- you can choose gloves or boots for the feet. >> you're going to want boots. i've seen your feet. >> pop this into the microwave and it warm paraffin and coconut oil that creates this unbelievably soothing moisturizing treatment so any kind of cracked skin. >> winter skin. >> it is winter skin. winter feet. it's also what's great if you have any kind of joint pain because you use your hands or

your feet a lot, this is for you. a set and they're reusable. a set is $30. >> how many times can you use them? >> about four times. >> and you should know, michael. [ applause ] >> you guys have see this. this is all about celebrating the people in places you love. here's a text. this one right here, i have got -- i'll buy one for your family in iowa and florida. >> florida is here. >> all 50 states plus the united states option this. is great whether a burp cloth, a kitchen cloth, a bar towel. everybody loves to celebrate people and places they love. $18 slashed in half, 9 bucks. >> like a personalized gift. >> yes, okay, i'll give each onf this is a cork pop. >> i'm not joking. >> straight into the middle of that cork. >> i don't joke around with this.

>> all the way down. all the way down. all the way down. >> push the magic button. >> pop that right here. >> oop. >> here's what it did. no pulling, pushing, tugging. no broken corks. the most awesome way to open a wine bottle. >> really cool. >> normally $26 slashed in half, $13. >> 13 bucks. >> well, you know, we partnered with all of these companies on these great deals that tory brought us this morning. get them on our website and good news, for our audience. you're going home with products from pudus and cork pops. that's right. and it doesn't end here, go online. special digital deals. we have more tomorrow. saturday "gma." we'll be right back.

sglood morning, north bay. this is the one to get up and get going. >> good morning. i'm kumasi aaron from "abc7 mornings." five men have been arrested in connection witheay ma shooting in orinda. it happened at a halloween house party two weeks ago, but the suspects were taken into custody in multiple raids yesterday in san marin, and san mateo and antioch. >> we have a problem in san mateo with an accident near west camilo real. the traffic is jammed in one direction, and both directions it is slowing into san mateo. and getting into san francisco is tough because of earlier problems. 14 miles per hour on 280 and northbound 101. kumasi? >> thank you,

now, your accuweather forecast with mike nicco. >> good news as you can see on the live doppler 7, the clouds are breaking up and the chances of a wet commute are starting to dwindle, but a sprinkle or two to be had. so fair in commute planner. as far as the forecast, the temperatures mainly in the 60s today and few 50s at the coast, and look at the warng trend >> excit about. ? ks. we will have another abc7 news update in about 30 minutes, but

you can always find more on our ♪ welcome back to "gma" and we have a special treat. we're going live to chicago where the biggest starbucks in the world is opening this morning. diane pathieu joins us now. good morning, diane. tell us what makes this starbucks so special in chicago. >> reporter: good morning to you, michael. nice and chilly out here in chicago. this is the world's largest starbucks. already there is a line. it doesn't open for another hour and a half. these folks braving the cold, 20 degrees is what it feels like right now. they all want to get in desperately to see the brand-new starbucks. four floors and a rooftop. 35,000 square feet. there are only six starbucks shops like this in the world and

not just about cover fiat this starbucks. they serve cocktails here, as well. there was a preview of the interior for the press on tuesday night. this morning, though, we're all about an unte grd opincong u [ applause ] >> do you know why they decided to choose chicago for this big store? >> reporter: yes, cecilia. we have always had a really special relationship with starbucks. decades ago, you know, the seattle chain decided to open up its first chain outside of the pacific northwest here in chicago. that was 30 years ago and to honor that, there's going to be very special artwork on every single level of this starbucks, all of that artwork created by local artists here in chicago. plus, the bean, the beans roasted inside this chicago location will only be roasted

here and will only be served here at this location. it's the only place you can get these special beans. the idea was to really make this a travel destination, not just for folks who live around the midwest that can drive to it but folks here locally who want to stop by and honor chicago and the location. back to you. >> well, it looks fun. >> thank you. i'm awake even knowing about it. >> i can't wait to test the special beans. they're unique to chicago. i'm excited. now to all the buzz about "the mandalorian." the first live action "star wars" series. the highly anticipated second episode out now on disney plus in morning. chris connelly sat down with star pedro pascal, and executive producer jon favreau, good morning, chris. >> reporter: good morning, sara. yay. series creator jon favreau says it is inspired by some of the things that inspired george lucas when he created "star wars," westerns with clint eastwood on horseback and those

matinee serials that ended in a cliffhanger like the omg surprise that it served up this week. we headed to the set to learn more. you get to put this helmet on and let your imagine night sort of run wild. >> reporter: created by ace filmmaker jon favreau and starring "game of thrones" charismatic pedro pascal alive and kicking under the helmet. >> it's strangely liberating to be honest with you. >> reporter: "the mandalorian" is the first "star wars" live action series ever. its episodes appearing only on the streaming service disney plus. >> you are a mandalorian. >> you see characters that are warriors but also have a code. >> reporter: the cliffhanger end of its first episode blew the doors off social media with its bounty hunter hero unveiling a baby, even its masterminds were anxious.

>> it was just exciting for us to get to the premiere of this show without anybody finding out about the baby, really. >> i'll confess. i've never gotten into trouble but i'm not the best at keeping secrets. >> okay. >> and this was the first time that i took you very seriously. >> yes. >> i wouldn't -- i didn't tell my family. >> i can bring you in warm or i can bring you in cold. >> reporter: what do you admire about your character? >> well, i love his mystery. it isn't as easy as you think and it isn't just about not knowing who he is or where he's from but also how he hides himself within the armor and what he hides from himself.ese of "star wars." what was your "star wars" past? we know that jon worked as a movie usher during "return of the jedi" and saw it over and over again. what about you? >> my whole childhood was shaped

so, so much of our childhood was shaped by "star wars." the movies and the merchandise. >> literally have the action figures. >> oh, absolutely. my favorite toys and -- >> that's fun. you can reenact who shoots first over and over again. >> to step into a job that stimulates in such a visceral way your childhood memories, i'm not going to lie, it's very strange. >> yeah, i think this kicks up happy childhood memories for a lot of people. well after its buzzy launch "the mandalorian" has episode two dropping today on disney plus. guys. >> we are all very excited about that. all right, chris, thank you so much. our next guest, everyone, is an emmy winner, three-time oscar nominee and you guys certainly know him as the hulk in the "avengers" movies now playing a real-life hero in the new movie "dark waters." please welcome mark ruffalo. ♪ whatever it takes [ applause ]

♪ whatever it takes [ applause ] ♪ whatever it takes [ applause ] >> great to see you. >> my brother. >> how are you doing? >> good to see you, man. >> good to see you. always. >> that is all yours. have a seat. ♪ [ applause ] >> oh. >> oh. >> hello. >> we are so glad you're here. >> glad to be here. it's nice. >> we got to start by taking it back a little bit. you posted something on instagram that got everybody all talking about it and it was a throwback of you and jen aniston. i think we've got it. so you guys -- 2005 "rumor has it." such a great movie. you guys look the same. >> i know. >> that's not a throwback. us together is a throwback. yes. >> the reconnection is the throwback. >> i hope i didn't imply that. >> you haven't changed a bit. >> she looks great.

she doesn't age. >> she broke the internet when she joined instagram. >> yes, she did. >> did you give her any tips on dos and don'ts? >> no, i learned a tip from her. wait ten years before you get on instagram. >> we did too. >> 9 million the first day i think. >> yeah, 9. yeah, yeah, yeah. >> but there was a red carpet moment everybody is talking about. the bromance, you see paul ruud and everybody is talking about the ant-man/hulk romance going on. are you always this excited it to see each other? >> pretty much. we pass each other, you know, going to the bathroom and we have that reaction to each other. >> how long have you guys been friends? >> oh, we came up in the new york theater scene back in the day and started in the late '90s. we were both here, kind of making our bones. >> a lot of hugs. >> a lot of hugs. >> no, but -- >> he was always like here and i was down there and i was always

marveling at him and, yeah, i've been a huge fan of his for a long time. >> now we all marvel at you. >> yeah. >> there we go. [ applause ] nowyour mov, or and ds t a ruining any endings? you have a reputation for sometimes saying maybe a little too much. >> no. >> no. >> i do not. that's a lie. >> a little bit. does that help you though because everyone knows how this story goes. >> yeah, and i'm producing it so i'd have to yell at myself. [ laughter ] yeah, i've gotten in trouble. but unlike tom holland -- [ laughter ] sorry, tom. meet the bus. mine are planned except for the

ten-minute broadcast of "thor: ragnarok" from the theater with my phone on accidentally. >> oops. >> i got yelled at. i got a call from kevin feige like, what's going on. what are you doing? >> and you're like what -- >> i didn't know how to work my phone. [ laughter ] >> i didn't know how to turn it off. >> i didn't know how to turn it off but the next day i saw him and said, that was genius. we got more press from that than the whole premiere. >> do it again next time. >> we're not going to show that. [ applause ] >> we're not going to give away the ending but do want to take a look at the clip. you guys want to see? >> yeah. >> they want to show the world it's no use fighting. look, everybody, even he can't crack the maze and he's helped build it. the system is rigged. they want us to think it'll protect us, but that's a lie. we protect us. we do.

nobody else. not the companies, not the scientists, not the government. us. [ applause ] >> oh, and this movie, this movie is about an attorney, a lawyer who took on the dupont chemical company. it was a lot bigger case than he was expecting but you became close to him. his name is rob bilott and you became close to him filming this movie. how tough is it or does it help you to be that close with the person you're play who is a real-life person? >> i find it really helpful. i mean, when you're playing somebody like that, you really -- and in a story that's this meaningful and connects to so many different people's lives, you really have to be as honest as possible. and, you know, what i learned about this guy is his selflessness, his commitment to

his community, his belief in other people to do the right thing if they -- if they find the facts and they hear it -- hear the truth and he's not emotional. he's not -- he's not incredibly passionate, but he is the most incredible worker and now as an actor, you want to go for the big moment, you know. but what he taught me was to always leave space for people to be good, to give them that option. [ applause ] >> so as an actor it's about being emotional and you have to take your emotions out of it but you know what, we love having you here, mark. you can take as much emotion out of it. you're still going to be great. >> thank you. >> the movie "dark waters" is in theaters on november 22nd. mark ruffalo, everybody. we'll be right back. [ applause ] ause ]

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all right. we're all excited back with an incredible holiday deal that you can get right now and my friend, rebecca jarvis, is back to tell us about the big deaau there's a name for what you'll talk about. deal stacking. >> the whole idea is you're going to stack multiple discounts on top of each other to maximize the discount that you take home so store discount, coupon code, cashback credit cards and using an online portal

called rakuten. you begin there, and get cash back at multiple retailers. we'll show you how to do that. >> first one you have. lenovo laptop. >> let's take a look at the original price of this. $1,150. okay. so the first thing we'll do is go through rakuten. 7% back and use the code, at lenovo.com, $100 off, the final price, we went from $1,150 to $977. below a thousand dollars. >> wow. >> stacking. >> over here you've got a ninja >> don't look at it yet. >> the first thing we'll do the 3% cash back from rakuten then we get $50 off because it's on sale right now at kohl's. then we're going to use a kohl's charge card. now, the thing with a kohl's charge card, only works at kohl's.

it's different from a credit card because credit cards work everywhe everywhere. charge cards work in a single store. 30% off and that brings our price down to $147. [ applause ] >> okay. over here. we've got a calvin klein backpack. this is from macy's? >> that is correct. >> $158 starting price. on rakuten, 10% cash back and 50% off because that's happening today plus 20% off, you use the shop coupon code storewide right now on the website and then a 5% cash back credit card, this one right now is the chase freedom. that's what they're doing. you bring your price down to $54. [ applause ] >> wow. >> last but not least you have a pullover here from old navy. it'll be cold this weekend. starting price, $45. 10% cash back at rakuten. 40% off online at old navy, use 20% off because olvyret y

price is $15. >> you are officially our savings guru. let's go shopping. you know where you won't need that? south florida because 232 days key west has been above 80 degrees. that is the longest stretch they've ever had and these good morning. i'm abc7 news meteorologist mike nicco. the likelihood of drizzle is dwindling as we head to 9:00. in fact, increasing sunshine and highs in the 60s jeff mauro right here mashing some potatoes. he's going to show us how

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this morning we have some very different ways to whip up a thanksgiving staple. it smells so good in here. >> doesn't it? >> mashed potatoes, everybody. jeff mauro. he's here to show us how it's done. this is a family favorite. everybody loves it. >> my mom has been making this for decades and why it's great, other than -- besides your great mashed potatoes everybody grow up eating is this is 50% potatoes, 50% cream cheese and 50% butter. that's 150% flavor, and that's never been done outside a vacuum. what we're going to do, you can buy prewhipped cream cheese and we'll put -- we'll mash these by hand, right. >> after you've boiled it. >> butter and saul and heavy cream, right. a little more fat. >> this is just a regular brown potato. >> use a russet or yukon gold. don't stray away from those. you want to use a starchy potato, and not a waxy potato.

plenty of salt, heavy coarse cracked black pepper, in a dish and before we broil it. do it three day as head. before you serve it, you put another half a stick of butter on it and put it in the droller -- broiler, and then you top it with some chives and everything. this is, like -- it is, seriously. it will change your life. >> eat it with this. >> a healthier approach. sweet potato so more butter and sugar and everything to it. >> why did you decide to go this route? >> it's colorful and give people another option and it's beautiful. >> you could do both. >> i would do all three. wait till we get to the third. we make a crumble topping. >> this topping is what makes this. >> you need that crunch and that kind of traditional cinnamon warm spice flavor. and some oats for texture and we got flour and saul and butter, we'll zip this up. our crumble topping and mash these again with butter. we steeped this on the stovetop. you could do this two days ahead. >> a little butter. >> leave it like this. >> a half a stick or three. [ laughter ] >> that's what i thought.

>> it's thanksgiving. you want to like have a right cake, i'll make you a rice cake. crumble topping, vanilla. eggs and maple syrup. this crumble topping. >> you've made a pie. >> without the crust, right? i think it's like a cobbler maybe. but whatever. it's called mash the sweet potatoes so you can eat more of it. >> but, wait, there's more. >> there's one final dish. >> i got chubby smarts. root vegetables. nothing healthy here. carrots, parsnips, which are, like, a sweeter, earthier carrot, and yukon goals in your slow cooker. >> all three of those. >> our four together, mix and mash. whatever is on sale, fresh and everything, play with turnip, parsnip, all that. put in your slow cooker. the beauty of this, you keep it out of your oven out of the stovetop and can do this ahead of time.

i'm doing great recipes live on the new food network kitchen app at 12:00. 3:00, 5:00, download it to try today. it's a great way to kind of cook alongside all the food network chefs. >> we' y this. these recipes are on our website. don't miss them. we're going to be right back.

"good morning america" is sponsored by shutterfly.

anything flies with shutterfly. >> thanks again for the miss -- amazing sweet potatoes. and also we want to say thank you and good-bye to our wonderful associate director kathy matey. we want to thank you for everything you have done. you will be so missed. >> everybody, thank you for being here too. have a great day. nk you for being here too. have a great day. your sister stopped borrowing your sweaters? yeah! that's yes for less. stop stealing mine... never. holidagiyo's sure to le at 20 to 60 percent off department store prices. at ross. yes for less.

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good morning, bay area. let's get up and get going. >> this is "abc7 mornings." >> good morning, everyone. i'm kumasi aaron from "abc7 mornings," and here is mike nicco with our forecast. >> good morning, everybody. best chance of drizzle islo you can see the golden gate and fog has developed and dangerous sneaker waves at the beaches until 4:00 this afternoon. this is likely our last real push of warm weather for the fall season as we hit near 80 monday. inland 72 around the bay and mid- to upper 60s along the coast. >> and earlier accident in san mateo is causing big delays on eastbound 92, and as you go up to camino el real, and there is also a new overturn accident southbound 85 near 87 and it is blocking lanes and slow ride heading to richmond and the san mateo bridge backed up to the

marina and the parkway. >> thank you. >> ryan: it's "live with kelly and ryan!" today, gwyneth paltrow gives the house a lesson in the kitchen. and actress kobe smolders is here. plus, john david washington. all next on "live!" ♪ [cheers and applause] and now, here are kelly ripa and ryan seacrest! [cheers and applause] ♪ [cheers and applause] ♪ >> ryan: hi.