>> reporter: yeah, hallie, look. here is some of the syrian territory that turkey is trying to seize that richard was just talking about. this is the town here, let me step out of the way so you can see the smoke still rising above that town. and all day we have watched turkish artillery pound this town. a turkish tank fire on this town. later today, we were listening to what must be turkish air power firing missions on this area. it had been a bombardment even though turkey had claim lead days ago it had held this area. but this is the message for vice president pence, it isn't a tweet, it's artillery. vice president pence says he wants a cease-fire. turkey is not ceasing fire. it's pushing on, albeit, as you can see from this town, they are facing tough opposition, it seems, certainly in some places. from this mainly kurdish opposition, despite the fact that america has abandoned the kurds in this place. and then meanwhile, of course, that alliance now wean tbetween kurds and president assad continues to shift the

i just want to say hallie, i support joe biden for president.'m an outside advisor to his campaign. he should not be put on the defensive here by the press. he has responded to these charges and they're pure fiction by the president of the united states and there's no equivalency here. the president of the united states just called on two governments to investigate one of his political opponents. that's corruption and that distorts our democracy. it's going to distort our 2020 election unless we all speak out against it. >> geoff bennett is joining us live from capitol hill. geoff, the house democrats are already looking into what the president suggested to the leader of ukraine. now you have the president in the last 30 minutes suggesting another foreign government, president xi of china, should also look into his political rival. how do you think this changes the game, if at all, for democrats there? >> reporter: this, hallie, is a question i've had for adam schiff and have not been able to ask him for at least the last two days. as this inqui

coming up right now, hallie jackson. >>> steph, thank you. right now on capitol hill new details on what two state department witnesses will tell lawmakers and it might make rudy giuliani a little bit nervous. >> did the president put national security at risk? are you concerned about white house retaliation? >>> plus, what two of our sources are revealing about what another top official said behind closed doors. somebody who was on that controversial phone call at the center of this impeachment inquiry. we're talking about one of these guys, you're about to see him, alexander vindman, testifying the white house omitted crucial words and phrases from the rough transcript of that call that includes apparently a mention of joe biden. >>> as we come on the air we have just learned that chuck schumer will be on the senate floor in just about 15 minutes asking that colonel vindman be given whistle-blower protections. this morning, the president and republicans are trying to show a united front. how long is that going to last? we're watching all of

hallie? >> tom winter, appreciate that.back when you know more. >> sure thing. >> here in washington, new pushback from other lawyers representing the whistleblower who touched off this whole impeachment inquiry. they're responding to the escalating attacks by president trump and his allies to discredit that person's complaint. by claiming that this still anonymous government official has a political bias. one of the whistleblower's attorneys issuing a series of rebutles saying in part, our client has never worked for or advised a political candidate, campaign or party. adding the whistleblower has come into contact with presidential candidates from both parties in their roles as elected officials, not as candidates. here's what the president saying. >> then it turns out that the whistleblower is a democrat, strong democrat, and is working with one of my opponents as a democrat that i might end up running against. the whole thing is a scam. it's a fix. >> here with me on set dan meyer, former executive director of the intel

. >> that's right, hallie. in his response you can really see the beginnings of the white house's strategy on this and that is to question the legitimacy of these impeachment hearings and then delay, delay, delay. here's what we heard from rudy giuliani. he's saying i have received a subpoena signed only by democrat chairs who have pre-judged this case. it raises significant issues concerning legitimacy and constitutional and legal issues, attorney-client and other privileges. it will be given appropriate consideration. so clearly they're talking about attorney-client privilege and hinting at other privileges. it's unclear what those privileges giuliani would have because he's not in the white house. so the normal executive privilege or absolute immunity they've raised with other officials, not certain if that will apply here. when rudy has been asked about this in different formats, and he's done a lot of television in the last five, six days, he always comes do the bottom line if president donald trump asks h

hey, pal. >> hey, hallie. good to see you. go nats tonight.nd closed doors, house investigators are hearing what's expected to be explosive testimony from the man who is the first witness to talk to investigators, the man who is on that phone call between president trump and the ukrainian president. the u.s. army and senior white house official says he was so alarmed about what he heard, that he raised his concerns, twice. that bombshell comes as house speaker nancy pelosi takes a major step towards making the inquiry public. she's announced a vote on thursday to formalize the impeachment

i should tell you, hallie, it's not just turkish troops. we're starting to see free syrian army forces and these are turkish-backed syrian arabs who are coming from mostly the northwest part of syria who the turks actually removed from syria, took by bus presumably through turkey and are going to be bringing them back to syria. this allows them kind of a local cover pretext to repopulate the area, not just with militants from the free syrian army who like the kurds have been fighting isis and other elements for years and years. it's going to allow them to kind of arab-ize the area. erdogan has described the kurdish military, he says that they're terrorists for the ypg who are kind of connected to the pkk. this is complicated. the turks say there's no distinction between them, even though they've been fighting isis for the last several years. we can expect a bruising battle. on the one side we have the syrian democratic forces which is populated mostly by occurredikurdish militants. and on the other side is u.s. ally turkey which is a high-t

. >> hallie, you're exactly right. this is the first time that we are hearing mike pompeo address the reports, confirmed by nbc news that he was on that july phone call between president trump and ukraine's president, president zelensky there. as you noted, pompeo is traveling today in italy and he did not elaborate on the call, though he was pressed on it beyond that. he didn't say anything else about whether it raised any red flags for him. but here's what he did say and notably on the back end of this sound bite you'll see he addressed the u.s. policy toward ukraine more broadly. take a listen. >> i was on the phone call. it's what our team, including ambassador volker were focused on, was taking down the threat that russia poses there in ukraine. it was about helping the ukrainians to get graft out and corruption outside of their government. >> he says the u.s. policy toured ukraine has been remarkably consistent here, but recognize the backdrop to all of this, of course, is this real clash taking place right now b

thank you. >> hallie, great to be back on. >>let talk about this inquiry by the numbers. there have been more than 62 hours so far of closed-door depositions. do you believe that what the committees heard from ambassador taylor was a turning point in this? >> i do think it was. i mean, the public reporting of the testimony is explosive. you have the ambassador saying that trump basically was demanding that zelensky do a public press conference calling for an investigation into joe biden and that the understanding is that trump was going to withhold the aid if zelensky didn't do that. that is shocking and i think most americans are going to conclude that. what's interesting is no republican is defending the president on the merits. they just are making process arguments. >> there were some contradictions between what the opening statement revealed from bill taylor and what previously things had been revealed from eu ambassador gordon sondland, things that didn't line up. do you want ambassador sondland to come back and talk to investigators now? >> i hope he will. and mayb

hallie?at's also interesting, hans, and i'm getting this in from our team on the south lawn, the president says his concerns about joe biden, these baseless claims he's made, would not be tied to this attempt to get a trade deal with china. that's something raised over the last 24 hours, as the president suggested that he wants and said out loud in front of people that he wants china to investigate joe biden, days before top chinese negotiators are here to work together on this massively important trade deal. >> it's one thing for the president to say that on thursday, say it's none connected with these trade talks. today he appears he's trying to segregate those comments and saying i was calling upon the chinese, encouraging them to investigate joe biden, but that's not at all related to these trade talks. again, we're going to have to look closely at what the president is not just saying, but what he's doing. he's used his departures on the south lawn to publicly call for an investigation b

hallie? >> geoff, he did work until the end. i believe on friday, right, he was on call with house democrats talking about sort of everything going on in congress. >> you're right about that. he had not been here on the hill several weeks as dealing with health issues but he was on a friday conference call talking about the work that the oversight committee that he led and carried so much about, the work they were doing. that's what he briefed members on. i'm told that work will carry on without delay as cummings would have wanted it. >> geoff bennett, appreciate that. talking more about the life and death and legacy perhaps most importantly of congressman cummings on the show with somebody who knew him well and we will have that. geoff, thank you. keeping a close eye on detroit where leaders from the uaw and gm close to voting on a tentative deal to end the month's long strike. a news conference is going down in about 10, 15 minutes. we will be there with the latest. happening right now, in turkey, the vice president sitting do

>> this is so bad, hallie. >> why? explain that. >> because the hungarian president is really not a democrat anymore. he's the guy who said we don't need liberal democracy, which by the way, if you don't have liberal liberal democracy. he's very close to putin. he has an issue with h neighbor. he uses the nationalist drum to build up support for himself. i'm not personal friends with him, but i've been at an embassy breakfast where i confronted him because he said we understand russia's position, it would be good to have a buffer between us and russia, he said. ukraine is a buffer. people live there, they want to be aligned with democracy in the west. >> so that is the backdrop to all of this, congressman, as we pull out now and talk about the new cnn poll that finds that half of americans say he should be impeached and removed from office. that is up three points since last month. talk a little bit about that. and about the overall sort of tone that this discussion has taken. because i'm just being told that senator l

>> exactly, hallie.s a pro-trump group that's basically the policy arm of the official super pack and they're launching their first ads of the 2020 cycle and it's notable because they have a very targeted approach, and that is to make and damage vulnerable democrats, these two dozen or so lawmakers who won in 2018, in districts where president trump was victorious in 2016 and they see an opening here to sort of exploit that. there's an example, basically, a lot of the ads are form lay wick on echoing phrases, and insert lawmakers 'name at the end. urging constituents to contact representatives to end the quote "witch hunt," it's $100 million being spent for ads on television and online and facebook. when they were campaigning, impeachment was not a topic, health care and the economy took center stage. as the impeachment inquiry enters its fourth week that is something that's going to be completely at the top of the agenda, and members saw that as they went home over the last couple weeks but now that the

>> reporter: i did, hallie. defiance from the white house, mark short, of course, who is the vice president's chief of staff, firing back at democrats who are arguing that essentially the president is using the justice department as a political weapon. take a look at what he had to say just moments ago. >> kristen, i think that every american should have an expectation for impartial justice, and i think that every american has a right to know whether or not the obama justice department was pursuing political goals. and all that i understand is that the inspector general has a report coming out that is leading to potentially additional criminal probe. and so i think we all have a right to know about that and we'll find out soon enough. >> reporter: hallie, to your point, this is something that president trump has been calling for. he's been trying to discredit the mueller investigation for years, referring to it as a witch hunt and a hoax. we know that ultimately mueller didn't find sufficient evidence to prove a

he's certainly not out of the woods yet, hallie.here's 47 state attorneys general who are going to be investigating facebook now for antitrust. so a long way to go forward for zuckerberg. >> jo ling kent, safe travels back home. >> thank you. >> thank you for joining us for another busy hour of msnbc live. happy to turn it over to chris jansing in new york. chris, i'm going to head over to the white house and i'll see you from there later this afternoon. >> thanks so much. i'm chris jansing in for craig melvin at msnbc headquarters in new york. we begin with what you're seeing, a farewell to an icon. the casket of elijah cummings about to international statuary hall. he'll be the first african-american congressman to lie in state, bestowed on just a few dozen statesmen, military leaders and presidents throughout our country's history. a son of share croppers, a son of baltimore. cummings is being remembered for his decades of service. there we see the military honor guard. his casket will sit just 75 feet away from the statue of ano

>> reporter: this is an all-day affair here, hallie. and here's the thing that people should know about yovanovitch. and you might have already said this. forgive me, i wasn't listening to all of the programming. this is a woman who has spent 30 years at the state department cullty vating her career. we don't know whether or not she is testifying, appearing here with the approval of the state department. if she is not, that would suggest to me that she is risking a lot. not just her government pension and all of that if she would have to leave her post or faces any sort of repercussions for testifying here today. but she is not like gordon sondland, who remember had no diplomatic experience and got that post as an ambassador to the eu largely because he donated a million dollars to donald trump's inauguration through a number of llcs that he set up. so when gordon sondland says he's going to testify next week despite the vow from the white house not to cooperate with this inquiry, that is a very different position that he's in than the

the other thing we're tracking, hallie is the timeline. late last night house speaker nancy pelosi, adam schiff held a press conference and nancy pelosi made clear that she is not going to cave to republican demands to call for this full impeachment vote on the house floor. she makes clear that the schedule won't be a arbitrator of where the investigation goes. and the reason why this matters and i know you know this well, the reason why trump administration officials have said they won't comply is because pelosi and house leaders have not yet called for a vote on the house floor. that's why they call this a sham impeachment. pelosi makes clear there's nothing in the constitution that choirs her to call for a vote right now. >> my conversations with democrats, what you hear is not so much, hey, this vote to formally open this impeachment inquiry, which has already started, it's not so much that it could put democrats in an uncomfortable position, it's more they don't want to be seen as capitulating to these white house demands. >> that's r

. >> oprah, beyonce, will, hallie, "e.t."s front and center as hollywood's biggest stars turn out for a history-making moment. >>> plus, alex trebek talkslying pardy! >> i'vived a good life. >>> then los of baby news, blake and ryan's. >> i'm super excited to unleash this on the world. >> jenna and steve. >> trying to stay calm. >> and adam levine's life after "the voice." >>> plus miley's new man as taylor swift sparks engagement rumors. >>> hello and welcome to "entertainment tonight." look there, yes, "dancing with the stars", it's our gang, my guest co-host, cheryl burke. are you ready to have fun? >> kevin, you don't got to ask. of course i am. but will it be as much fun add you had in atlanta over the weekend because i just -- it was star-studded >> it was unbelievable. listen to me. tyler perry threw the party to end all parties, oprah, will smith, it was like the oscars as the stars helped tyler usher in a new era. ♪ >> what a night, what a night, what a night. hey, hey. >> how are you? >> stay ready. i brought the dr

lester >> hallie jackson at the white house tonight. thank you, hallie. >>> also breaking tonight, a deadly plane crash caught on camera the plane plunging out of the sky, slamming into a home in new jersey neighborhood during bad weather. rehema ellis is there for us tonight. >> reporter: chaos after a plane crashed into a home this morning in suburban new jersey neighbors heard it, then they saw it >> like that classic plane nosedive sound, and i heard a loud crash >> there was a tremendous explosion. >> reporter: it shook everything around you >> it shook everything around. >> reporter: a twin-engine cessna 414 caught plunging out of the sky on a security camera, crashing into this house just before 11:00 >> god >> reporter: and burst into flames authorities say the only person on board, the pilot, was killed. >> so right now, thank god, nobody was hurt on the ground. >> reporter: wnbc helicopter pilot dennis protsko lives nearby you did not fly today. why? >> the visibility and the ceiling is very, very poor. >> reporter: tonight fe

coming up right now more news with hallie jackson. >> thank you. and as we come on the air right now, new developments this morning on three different front. first, breaking news that could put americans one step closer to seeing the president's tax returns. with the judge dismissing the president's suit to try to stop them from being revealed. we're live at the white house with the president's next move. and joined by one of the lawmakers in the center of that tax fight. second and more importantly to our allies around the world, the extraordinary overnight shift in u.s. foreign policy and the new fallout this morning, including from one of the president's closest friends, excoriating his announcement to move troops out of syria. >> i'm not making myself clear how short-sighted and irresponsible this decision is. >> the furious reaction from the region and republicans in a moment. and as if all that weren't enough on a monday morning, a second whistle-blower has now come forward. this one with firsthand knowledge apparently of the president's cont

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coming up, more news with hallie jackson. >> it's fine, we're all excited and not in tears. thank you, stephanie. appreciate it. our politics team is here with the president and his white house retreating on multiple front. so are his republican allies, by the way. and u.s. allies abroad. between the g-7 at doral, mick mulvaney on quid pro quo, putting him on thin ice, now add syria to the list of recent reversals, because this morning new, the defense secretary is confirming the pentagon is considering leaving some troops in northern syria, even after the president ordered them all out. >> to deny access to those oil fields, by isis and others. >> our nbc news has the latest from both ends of pennsylvania avenue. we also have an analysis with someone who worked closely about the top senate republican. we're joined by aaron blake, senior political reporter for the "washington post." hans, let me start with you. the president seems to be under fire from multiple front this morning. so does his acting chief of staff. >> reporter: acting chief of staff obviously had a difficult

the impeachment inquiry and those shadowy efforts to draw ukraine into investigating joe biden our hallie jackson has details. >> reporter: inside federal court, rudy giuliani's inside men in ukraine, who had been helping him dig up dirt on joe biden there. now, in a separate case, the pair is being charged with breaking campaign finance laws here, by allegedly trying to funnel foreign money into elections to buy potential influence with the candidates, campaigns and the candidates government the two were arrested at dulles airport, after buying a one-way ticket out of the country, prosecutors say. >> this investigation is about corrupt behavior, deliberate law breaking >> lev parnas and igor fruman donated more than they were allowed to to congressman pete sessions and asked for help to get rid of the u.s. ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch. alert on tand by nbc news show sessions in 2018 asked the secretary of state to consider terminating her ambassadorship citing concrete evidence from two close companions that ambassador yovanovitch had spoken privately and repeatedly about her

hallie jackson.he white house both -- both the white house and i think the vice president has received the first subpoena for some records. and we know the white house is preparing a response to what is likely to be subpoenas soon for more records. they have a way of fighting back. walk us through it, hallie. >> i'll share this for you for the first time on our air here. i just got off a conversation with an administration official who tells me it is not likely or looking less likely, i should say, that that letter will go over to the house speaker today just given the time functionality of it. it could come any minute, but at this point, it has not been sent so far. again, this is that letter that says we are not going to comply with any of your document requests until you take a formal impeachment vote to start the impeachment inquiry on the house floor. that's what we've been hearing behind the scenes and have reported out privately for days now. publicly, though, that is going to be the white hou

hallie jackson has the details >> reporter: if house democrats do move to impeach president trump, the top senate republican is acknowledging he has no choice but to take it up in that chamber. it comes after another twist that new subpoena from one of the president's most loyal defenders. the president's attorney now facing a legal battle of his own tonight as three house committees subpoena rudy giuliani, looking for documents about his interactions with ukraine, though not his testimony yet. >> will you testify? >> i can't answer that question right now. >> reporter: it's the latest move by democrats ramping up r president trump ramps up his own attack on the whistleblower. >> mr. president, do you know who the whistle blower is, sir >> well, we're trying to find out about a whistleblower. we have a whistleblower that reports things incorrect as you know and you probably now have figured it out, the statement i made to the president of ukraine, good man, nice man knew was perfect. it was perfect when the whistleblower reported it, he made it sound terrible. >> reporter: whistleblowe

hallie jackson, nbc news the white house. >>> also developing tonight, the parents of a british teen in the u.s. demanding justice for their son killed in a fatal accident the driver, the wife of a u.s. diplomat who left the uk claiming diplomatic immunity we get more from nbc's kathy park >> reporter: tonight a powerful plea from grieving parents. >> talk to me about your personal mission, why you decided to come to the u.s. >> mainly to try and get anne sacoolas to come back to the uk. >> reporter: charlotte charles d m nn's 19-year-old son harry died in a wrong-way crash in august. anne sacoolas is the suspected driver of the car that killed harry. the wife of a u.s. diplomat left the uk, claiming immunity. now nearly two months after the tragedy the wife is breaking her silence saying she's devastated and would like to meet with mr. dunn's parents so she can express her deepest sympathies and apologies for this tragic accident harry's parents say they will only meet with sacoolas if she returns to the uk. >> i would just like to ask her if she went to comfort my son after the acc

hallie jackson with details. >> reporter: walking out irate and insulted. >> we witnessed on the part of the president was a meltdown. >> he said that there are communists involved and you guys might like that. when he started calling speaker pelosi third rate politician. >> i said i wish you were a politician, mr. president. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi abruptly leaving that meeting on turkey and syria. >> did the impeachment inquiry come up? >> it did not come up. >> reporter: republicans frustrated. >> when there is a time of crisis, leaders should stay whether they like what is said or not. >> reporter: the president hours earlier going after the most powerful woman in congress. >> she's created a phony witch hunt, another one. first one failed they are all failing. >> reporter: even with an international crisis in syria, the impeachment investigation remains the backdrop to the back and forth between the white house and house democrats as pelosi announces she will not hold a vote to formally open an impeachment inquiry like the trump administration wants the e.u. ambas

hallie jackson is at the white house. >> reporter: the president's personal attorney late tonight defying a subpoena from house democrats as rudy giuliani blasts what his lawyer calls an unconstitutional, baseless, and illegitimate impeachment inquiry. >> what's the message you hope to share with house investigators this morning? >> reporter: but a career diplomat, george kent, who oversees ukraine policy is complying today with his own congressional subpoena after trying to sound the alarm about giuliani's push to dig up dirt on the bidens in ukraine, according to documents obtained by nbc news, alerting colleagues about what he called a fake news-driven smear. it's another dramatic deposition following the explosive revelations by a former white house official yesterday. nbc news has now learned fiona hill testified former national security adviser john bolton called giuliani a hand grenade who is going to blow everyone up, describing his work in ukraine as a drug deal to "the new york times. "the new york times" saying bolton was so worried, he told her to alert white house lawyers. >>

frances, back to you >> hallie, thank you >>> we turn now to breaking news in california where wildfires have sparked a statewide emergency there. in southern california, l.a. county fire officials say at least 36 homes have been damaged by the tick fire which is about 70% contained. and up north the kincade fire continues to spread rapidly in wine country it has grown to a nearly 55,000 acres. these wildfires are being fuelled by hurricane-force winds that are carrying hot embers nbc's jennifer bjorkland has this report. >> reporter: in northern california, fire is racing across the landscape >> i can report to you that this is still a very active fire. >> reporter: the kincade fire north of san francisco is feasting on hurricane-force winds. more than 3,000 firefighters are working to put lines around the inferno that's already scorched tens of thousands of acres >> currently the fire edges somewhere just south of the community of windsor near shilo where our resources are engaged. >> reporter: nearly 2.5 million are without power. the governor declared a statewide emergency. mandatory

hallie jackson at the white house. hallie, do you get a sense that the white house was following today's theatrics? >> yes, i do. and i think that part of that is because the president has wanted his republican allies over on capitol hill to get tougher. he could not have been more clear about that early in the week and i don't think that is any coincidence that today you are seeing this unfold and you are seeing some of the president's allies literally yelling into microphones to defend the president today. this is what the president wanted to see. he wanted to see his people, if you will, his conservatives, surrounding him and fighting for him. this is something that the president has been wanting for a while now. he's starting to get it. it's a question of how effective it's going to be, of course. but i have to tell you when i have conversations with my sources that i've had today, over the last 24 hours or so, it's not just about impeachment strategy. you have a west wing here that seems rather leaderless at the m

democrats calling the president's former national security advisor to testify hallie jackson has the latest >> reporter: the stage set tonight for what may be the mosment inquiry yet. john bolton, the former national security advisor, asked by house democrats to answer questions behind closed doors next week it's not clear if he'll show, but if he does his appearance could be critical according to other witnesses. bolton repeatedly raised concerns about rudy giuliani, the president's personal attorney, and his interactions with ukraine. it comes as we are learning new revelation frs a bottom bat veteran who worked on the national security council drawing a line between military aid to ukraine and the president's push for political help lieutenant colonel t on ther vindman investigations into the president's political rivals according to two sources. vindman told lawmakers he tried to add back to the white house rough transcript of the july call between president trump and the ukrainian president keogh mitted phrases about the booids, for example. sources say he didn't describe an ult

the president is now firing back hallie jackson has late details >> what was the breaking point for you, sir >> reporter: for the first time, joe biden issuing a full throated no caveated call for president trump's impeachmen>>e should be impeached. he's shooting holes in the constitution and we cannot let him get away with it.t om the president trump late tonight >> so biden is dropping like a rock i don't think he's going to make it he sees what's happening to him i guess he's no longer the front runner >> reporter: the impeachment inquiry top of mind from the campaign trail with the white house at war with the democrats after declaring the administration will not cooperate with what it sees as an illegitimate and partisan infirry. now the president suggesting he might change his mind if democrats hold a vote to formally open the investigation and give republicans more of a say. >> if they give us our rights it depends if they vote and say you can't have lawyers you can't ask questions, you can't have anybody present, all of these crazy things >> reporter: adding -- >> they don't give

lester >> all right hallie, thanks there is furious reaction tonight from u.s. allies, the kurds, as u.s. troops are now withdrawing from northern syria. richard engel is in syria with us. >> reporter: these images tonight show one of the lowest moments of america's reputation in the middle east in years. kurdish civilians until now close u.s. allies, throwing potatoes and yelling insults at american troops ordered out of syria. at another location, kurds holding signs for u.s. troops saying, tell your children kurdish children are dying and we did nothing to protect them president trump unmoved. >> we have a good relationship with the kurds but we never agreed to protect the kurds. we fought with them three and a half to four years we never agreed to protect the kurds for the rest of their lives. where is the agreement saying we have to stay in the middle east for the rest of humanity >> reporter: there is no formal agreement, except the word and bond u.s. troops gave to the kurds who fought with them for five years against isis, losing 11,000 men and women man

lester >> all right, hallie jackson at the white house, thanks. let's bring in andrea mitchell now. andrea, what are you hearing about the reaction to this new white house strategy >> lester, according to veteran ambassadors, today's decision blocking department witnesses from testifying had the diplomatic corps petrified they're caught between what they see as their obligation to congress and fear of losing their jobs after decades in the foreign service, these veterans see their careers potentially cut short in a department that has in the past been immune from political interference, regardless of who is president now many are demoralized and worried that secretary pompeo is more concerned about staying in the president's good graces than standing up for u.s. foreign policy and tonight's letter from the white house indicates this is just the beginning of stonewalling lester >> andrea mitchell, thank you. >>> also tonight, the turkish military is preparing for an assault against u.s. allies, the kurds. it comes amid wide criticism of president trump's plan to withdraw american tro

won't have to hand the returns over right away, lester, not until an appeals court weighs in. >> hallie jackson at the white house, thank you. >>> the president is facing sharp criticism for his plan to pull u.s. forces out of northern syria just as our allies in the fight against isis are being threatened the plan even sparking backlash from some of the president's allies richard engel has late details. >> reporter: with critics saying it puts gains against isis at risk and leaves u.s. allies, the kurds open to attack president trump is defending his plan to pull u.s. troops out of northern syria. >> we only have 50 people in that area. that's a small sector. i don't want those 50 people hurt or killed. >> reporter: the president tweeting it's time for us to get out of these ridiculous, endless wars but the kurds are blasting it as a betrayal warning they could face ethnic cleansing, even genocide by turkey, which is preparing to launch an attack against them the kurds fought shoulder to shoulder for four years against isis special operation forces for four years against isis. we join

hallie jackson has more on what she's expected to say to lawmakers. >> reporter: congress back in town and back to work with thorning with key testimony expected today from fiona hill, a former top adviser on russian and ukraine expected to say rudy giuliani side-stepped official channels to try to dig up dirt on the bidens in ukraine. later in the week another diplomat, gordon sondland the ambassador to the european union who plans to defy orders by appearing and want to know about his involvement with ukraine considering that country is not even in the e.u. >> you understand why the ambassador to e.u. was the point person on ukraine? >> i don't. >> you have not gotten an answer to that question. >> no. it doesn't make s becse obviously he shouldn't be. >> reporter: sondland one-time trump donor in a text message exchange defended the president when a state department staffer wrote it is crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign. sondland after speaking with trump responding, the president has been crystal clear, no quid pro quo of any kind. adding i sug

raid on al baghdadi's compound the most consequential military operation of his presidency nbc's hallie jackson has details leading up to the deadly strike. >> reporter: the president, in extraordinary detail, delivering a dramatic retelling of a mission that has consumed him, he says, since the day he took office >> i kept saying, where is al baghdadi >> reporter: it wasn't until about a month ago that key intelligence zeroed in on the location of the elusive and reclusive terrorist. with the operation ramping up in earnest a couple weeks ago, when intelligence triple checked where he was the president was briefed thursday military operations on friday. as go time ticked closer, the president huddled in the situation room with his top advisers around 5:00 p.m. >> the attack started moments after that the element of attack that they were most afraid of was getting from our base into that compound >> reporter: the president, clearly riveted, waited and watched. >> absolutely perfect, as though you were watching a movie. >> reporter: after special forces landed at the compound, president

nbc's hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: this new whistle-blower complaint is from an irs official who says he was told that a treasury department appointee reportedly tried to interfere with the annual audit of the president or vice-president's tax returns this is according to the "washington post "washington post," citing multiple people familiar with the matter nbc has not confirmed that, but it is circulating on capitol hill alarming some congressional democrats. trump administration officials are dismissing the complaint as hearsay and politically motivated. remember the backdrop to all this, house democrats have been in a fight with the treasury department over the release of president trump's tax returns, which he so far has refused to share publicly >> our thanks to hallie jackson for that report. >> reporter: north korea is claiming that its recent under water missile launch was a success. their state media released these images describing this as a type of missile capable of being launched from a submarine. this would pose a threat to the u.s. and its allies because these

. >> hallie, nancy pelosi not thrilled with how the notifications went down tonight? >> not at all, kate. she acknowledges that it's significant but now is calling for a house investigation on the raid and the strategy. while sop top lawmakers weren't notified in advance, the russians were. kate? >> hallie jackson, thank you. >>> the death of al baghdadi raises questions about what it means for the future of isis and forces fighting them. joining us from irbil, iraq, courtney, could this mark the end of isis? >> reporter: isis has not yet a encouraging followers to continue the jihad if confirmed dead. the manner in which he died could actually inspire isis fighters to retaliate but it's become de wit affiliates well established in their region, making isis more capable of withstanding the loss of a strong figurehead like baghdadi. >> interesting. what does it mean for u.s. troops in the region? the u.s. just announceing that troops were being pulled out of the area. >> that's right. we heard president trump say u.s. troops would go into syria in a mission to secure t

called from her post in kiev it comes amid the arrest of two of the president's associate attorney hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: inside the court, giuliani's inside men in ukraine who had been helping him dig up dirt on joe biden there, now in a separate case the pair is being charged with breaking campaign finance laws here, by allegedly trying to funnel foreign money into elections to buy potential influence with the candidate, campaigns and the candidate's government the two arrested at dulles airport after buying a one-way ticket out of the country, prosecutors say. >> this investigation is about corrupt behavior deliberate law breaking. >> reporter: in one example, they donated more than they were allowed to to now former congressman pete sessions, according to the indictment. and asked for help getting rid of the u.s. ambassador to ukraine maria ivanovich. a letter obtained by nbc news showed sessions in 2018 asked the secretary of state to consider terminating her ambassadorship, citing concrete evidence from two close companions that ambassador ivanovich had spoken private