captioning funded by cbs it's it's tuesday, october 8, 2019. this is the "cbs morning news." bipartisan backlash. democrats and republicans blast president trump's decision to pull u.s. troops from northern syria. why some feel the move could help isis make a comeback. a senior diplomat is expected to testify today how he could shed new light on what happened in the moments before president trump made a controversial phone call to ukraine's president. plus, a common germ turns deadly. the mystery surrounding the

deaths of three babies in pennsylvania. good morning from the studio 57 newsroom at cbs news headquarters here in new york. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. this morning president trump is facing criticism from his own party following his decision to withdraw american troops from syria. a small number of u.s. troops have pulled out from observation posts on the turkish border. it's feared the drawdown could lead to america's kurdish alleys being overrun by turkish forces, and there's concern over 10,000 isis fighters could escape. david martin reports from the pentagon. >> reporter: u.s. troops aban n abandoned the border. it could happen in the next 24 to 48 hours.

president trump said it's only 50 soldiers who are being moved out of harm's way. >> i don't want those 50 people hurt or killed or anything. i don't want anything bad to happen to our people. >> reporter: but the president who later in the day met with his top military commanders made it sound as if the final american pullout from syria had begun. >> at some point we have to bring our people back home, and that's what we're doing. >> reporter: the surprise move announced in a late-night white house press release was immediately denounced by more than half a dozen republican senators. majority leader mitch mcconnell warned a precipitous withdrawal of us forces from syria would only benefit russia, iran, and the rashad regime, and it would increase the risk that isis and other terrorist groups would regroup. senator lynn about city graham called it a betrayal of the kurdish forces, which had been leading the fight against isis. >> the kurds stepped up when november else would to fight isis. if we abandon them, good let

getting any huelp in the future to fight the radical islam. >> reporter: the phone call came after erdogan has been threatening for weeks to send his army into norn ria, which he considers kurdish terrorists threatening their country. the pentagon had tried to talk turkey out of it. administration officials insist the president did not give turkey the green light to invade syria. in one of his tweets the president threatened to totally destroy and obliterate the economy of turkey if it does anything that i in my great and unmatched wisdom consider to be off limits. david martin, cbs news. the pentagon. well, now to the impeachment inquiry into president trump. today the president's ambassador to the eu, sonde mand, will

testify before house democrats. sondland is considered a key player in the investigation because of his high level talks with ukraine. katherine johnson has more. >> gordon sondland is one of the last people to speak with president trump before that infamous phone call in jill with ukraine. sondland was aware of the request to the ukraines to investigate the bidens, ushering him into the spotlight today. asked about the impeachment inquiry, president trump said he's not concerned about a second whistle-blower. >> it's a scam by the democrats to win an election they're not going to win in 2020. >> today behind closed doors they meet with gordon sondland. >> i spoke with president trump a few minutes before he placed the phone call. >> a summary of the july 25th phone call shows president trump repeatedly pushed ukraine's president zelensky to investigate joe biden and his son hunter.

in one text he wrote, the president really wants the deliverable and later insisted there were no quid pro quos of any kind. yesterday democrats subpoenaed documents from the pentagon and office of management and budget in part to learn the reasons for withholding military assistance to ukraine. >> look. i think the whistle-blower should be protected if the whistle-blower is legitimate. >> reporter: democrats are also considering extreme measures to protect the whistle-blower's identity like interviewing him behind a curtain and obscuring his voice. >> we have to take all precautions because we cannot burn his or her identity. >> reporter: president trump remains confident and says his numbers have been bolstered. right now there's no timeline set for the whistle-blower to testify. it's something congress has been working on ever since the person initially came forward, but they have to treat this dell cassley for the person's safety.

sondland's deposition starts at 9:30. a federal judge has rejected president trump's challenge to release his tax returns in new york, but lawyers for the president quickly appealed. >> reporter: in a five-page report, the federal judge rejected the claim that the president could be investigated while in office. he wrote the expansive notion of constitutional immunity invoked here to shield the president would constitute power. he fired back calling it unprecedent saying the radical democrats have failed on all fronts and now they're pushing new york state attorneys to get presidnt trump. a thing like this has never been done before, not even close. >> look, these aren't like impartial people. the democrats are trying to win 2020. they're not going to win with

the people that i see. >> the manhattan district attorney's office has subpoenaed eight years of president trump's corporate and personal tax returns. it's part of the hush money paid to two women during the 2016 presidential campaign. investigators are trying to determine whether the trump organization violated new york state laws, but hours after monday's decision, a federal appeals court granted president trump a temporary stay, meaning he will not have to turn over his tax returns immediately. instead a panel of appeal judges will now hear the case and issue a ruling. lisa mateo, cbs news, new york. health officials are trying to determine how three babies died from infections at a pennsylvania hospital. thee babies were all born prematurely at guy singer medical center in danville. doctors say the babies became infected with a common waterborne bacteria while in the

ne-yo nato intensive care unit. they're trying to figure out how the bacteria got there. >> we're building this shell around the patient to keep them safe and at what point did that break down. that's what we're still trying to identify. >> five other babies were inf t infect infected. four have recovered. meanwhile they've transferred all other premature infants to other facilities. the prime minister is calling on a wife of a diplomat to return. police say she was driving down the wrong side of the road in august when she hit and killed 19-year-old harry dunn. a few days later she flew back to the u.s. with immunity. >> if we can't resolve it, i'll be raising it myself personally with the white house. >> a u.s. embassy spokesman told cbs news they're taking the request seriously but say given the global impact of the

decision, immunity is rarely waved. well, coming up on the "morning news" now, the nba is facing new backlash from china over a tweet. and courtroom disclosure. a judge says why she gave amber guyger a hug and a bible. this is the "cbs morning news." this is the "cbs morning news." called my sisters. i'm from cameroon, congo, and...the bantu people. i had ivory coast, and ghana...togo. i was grateful... i just felt more connected...to who i am. new features. greater details. richer stories. get your dna kit today at ancestry.com. but allstate helps you. with drivewise. feedback that helps you drive safer. and that can lower your cost now that you know the truth... are you in good hands?

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freedom, stand with hong kong. that message was sent friday it. was later deleted, but action was swift from china. the chinese basketball association and many major companies suspended operations with the franchise, calling for action against morey. adam silver says it supports freedom of expression but not necessarily endorsing morey's point of view. both the brooklyn nets and los angeles lakers are scheduled to head to china for games this week. unclear if those will take place as planned. elizabeth warren stands by her account of being pushed out of a teaching job because of her pregnancy. warren said she was hired by the riverdale board of education in new jersey as a speech pathologist from 1970 to 1971. she describes being 22 years old and six months pregnant when she

was let go. media says she resigned. warren said the moment was pivotal and it ultimately led to her path to public service. "the dallas morning news" reports judge tammy kemp defends giving former dallas officer amber guyger a hug and a bible after the murder trial. after sentencing the victim's brother hugged her in court and said he forgave her. the judge then gave her a bible. the religion from foundation quickly filed an ethics claims for the judge imposing her religious beliefs on guyger. she defended her actions. >> she will forever be the murderer of botham jean. how she carries that thus forward depends on how we receive her, and as a christian i believe i'm commanded to offer her love and compassion just as

brandt jean did. she asked twice if she could give her a hug and she could not refuse and doesn't see the anger over it. oprah winfrey donated $13 million to morehouse college. winfrey made the surprise announcement yesterday during a visit to the college to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her scholars program. it pushes her donations to $25 million. it's the largest endowment in the institution's history. still ahead, phasing out e-cigarettes. the latest retailer that plans to phase out selling e-cigarettes. >> woman: what?! >> vo: ...i searched for someone who really knew my car. i found the experts at safelite autoglass. >> woman: hi! >> vo: with their exclusive technology, they fixed my windshield... then recalibrated the camera attached to my glass so my safety systems still work.

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and the power of 1 2 3. ♪ trelegy 1-2-3 save at trelegy.com here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. on the "cbs moneywatch," the latest retailers that plan to stop selling e-cigarettes. and itunes is finally dead. marc liverman is at the new york stock exchange with that and more. good morning, marc. >> good morning, anne-marie. on wall street the stocks closed down yesterday. the dow sank 95 points, the s&p lost 13 points, and the nasdaq was down 26 points. kroger and walgreens have announced they will no longer sell e-cigarettes.

the product has come under increased scrutiny after being linked to more than a dozen deaths nationwide. many retailers have taken action following cdc's warning to stop vaping. last month walmart announced it would no longer sell e-cigarettes. rite aid also ended the sale of e-cigarettes back in april. now at least 22 vape-related deaths have been reported in 19 states. pilots for southwest airlines are suing boeing over the grounding of its 737 max. the union that represents nearly 10,000 pilots are demanding $100 million in lost income. southwest has canceled more than 30,000 flights since the faa grounded the 737 fleet back in march. the decision followed two deadly crashes overseas just five months apart. yet another company is making moves to become eco-friendly. unilever says it will cut the amount of virgin plastics it uses in half by 2025. the company says it will cut its use of plastic packaging and

increase its use of recycled plastic. virgin plastics are produced using raw materials rather than recycled ones. unilever's brands include dove, ben & jerry's, and lipton. and apple's latest software kills itunes. they're getting separate apps for music, video, and other media. apple says splitting itunes functions lets apple build features just for podcasts or videos. itunes has been around for 18 years. >> it kind of made sense. if you were searching for a song, you'd have to scroll through tv shows with a key word. >> if it's easier, it's better. why not, you know? >> exactly. marc liverman at the new york stock exchange. thank you so much, marc. >> thanks, anne-marie. still to come, birthday surprise. a world war ii veteran makes a request on facebook, and the response is overwhelming. vote reteran makes a

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. well-wishers from around the globe are giving a world war ii veteran a memorable birthday. >> i enjoyed the cards, compared some of the notes written on them. >> george campbell posted on facebook all he wanted was 102 cards for his 102nd birthday. but get this. he received at least 2,000 of them from strangers across the country and some from germany and ireland. they planned to surprise him with all the cards on his actual birthday. and this 101-year-old texas woman is living her best life.

she works at the state fair in dallas and she loves socializing. >> i feel wonderful because i feel like i'm doing something. staying at home is not fun when you retire. >> rose landon has been coming to the fair since she was small, so she decided to become a greeter 25 years ago. rose says she hopes to stay on the job and spread cheer for 100 more years. coming up on "cbs this morning" now, we talk with renowned astrophysicist neil degrasse tyson about his new book filled with letters from his fans. i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news." i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news."

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help us at taps.org/family. our top stories this morning, president trump is taking heat from his own party following his decision to pull american troops out of syria. republicans are accusing the president of sacrificing an ally. the president says that he's keeping a campaign promise to withdraw u.s. troops from what he calls endless war in the middle east. and later today president trump's ambassador to the eu gordon sondland will testify before house democrats. it's part of the impeachment inquiry into the president. yesterday democrats also subpoenaed documents from the pentagon and the office of management and budget. nothing can stop former president jimmy carter, not even

a black eye. as kenneth craig reports, the 95-year-old arrived in tennessee ready to build homes for the needy. >> reporter: jimmy carter arrived on the construction site, bruised but ready to work. the former president is 95 years old and took a fall at his home over the weekend. >> you got back up and came out here, but how are you? >> i feel good. i broke my heel a few months ago and have been in rehab, and yesterday i fell down and hurt my forehead. >> reporter: even with 14 stitches in his forehead, he said his work with habitat for humanity was his priority. carter and his 92-year-old wife rosa lind have volunteered since the 1980s helping build

affordable homes. garth brooks and trisha yearwood are also longtime volunteers and inspired by the carters. >> they're examples of the kind of christians to be, husband and wife to be. >> reporter: in all, habitat will build 21 new houses, including one on this site for a single mother who will own a home for the first time. tara morgan says she sees a new house for herself and her daughter. >> haven't stability, having peace, having contentment, and having those finances to give to my daughter, it's everything. >> reporter: carter is now the longest living former president in u.s. history still showing the world that age is just a number. kenneth craig, cbs news, nashville. coming up on "cbs this morning," our "eye on money" looks at the rise of side hustles, how millions of americans are earning extra

money and the surprising group that's taking on the extra work. plus, gayle king talked with entertainment mogul tyler perry as he shows us inside his new movie complex in atlanta. and we talk with renowned astro physicist neil degrasse tyson about his new book filled with letters from his fans. that's the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com