you believed in the release of the hold? >> yes, i did. >> did anyone at the interagency meeting at the end of july support the hold? did anybody want the hold to remain? if so, who? what agency? >> the only agency represented in the meeting that indicated that they supported the hold was omb. >> miss cooper, did you understand similarly that there was an overwhelming interagency consensus to lift the hold, and that omb at the direction of the president, was the only roadblock? >> yes, ma'am. >> how is the security assistance in the national security interest of the united states? what is our interest? explain that to my constituents in alabama who are wondering why we should care about the security -- the hold that's on the security assistance. >> yes, ma'am. this specific assistance helps build the capacity of the ukrainian armed forces. it's important to understand that these are forces that are fighting to defend themselves against russian aggression every day. it's an ongoing war. so, they do need this equipment to supp

of july support the hold? did anybody want the hold to remain? what agency? >> the only agency representin representative in the meeting that indicated they supported the hold was omb. >> ms. cooper, did you understand that there was an overwhelming interagency consensus to lift the hold and that omb at the direction of the president was the only roadblo roadblock? >> yes, ma'am. >> how is the security assistance in the national security interests of the united states? what is our interest? explain that to my constituents in alabama who are wondering why we should care about the security, the hold on the security assistance. >> yes, ma'am. the specific assistance helped build the capacity of the ukrainian armed forces. it's important to understand that these are forces that are fighting to defend themselves against russian aggression every day. it's an ongoing war. they do need this equipment. to support their ability to defend themselves. i would say there is a larger issue here that relates to u.s. policy on

there is a big distinction between holding up aid for a legitimate policy reason, and holding up aid because it is part of a shakedown. because it is in the service of a president who asked for a political favor of a country to go investigate a political riv rival. i think that is important for us to note. and i want to ask you, ms. cooper, you said that the money was cleared to go by the dod on may 23rd, is that right? >> that is correct. >> and it did not get released until september 11th? >> yes, i should just clarify the second half of the ukraine security assistance initiative was notified to congress on, i believe it was may 23rd, and then there was a waiting period for congressional approval, and then after that point, sowing kind kind of mid-june roughly it was available. >> so perhaps 95 days or so, something like that? >> yes, i do not have the calendar in front of me, but that sounds right. >> you both testified that the security assistance was not in the security interest of the united states. and the hold might embolden russia. we have heard the same from numerous other

>> i never heard of the hold. >> i assume neither of you heard any reason whatsoever for why the hold was in place except for the fact that onb put it in place for the president. >> that's correct. >> one of my colleagues brought up the idea that the holds bit in place to assess whether president zelensky was legit. i assume that wasn't a reason that was offered either. >> i never heard that as a reason. >> i heard no reason. le, what'scretary ha the importance of a world leader adding a meeting at the white house? >> it is case-by-case but particularly for a new leader it's extremely important opportunity to demonstrate our relationship and the building up of that relationship on a leadership level and demonstrate common goals. >> what about in the case of president zelensky? how important was it for him to have a meeting at the white house with president trump? two -- >> i never talk to president zelensky about that myself and before he became president i met poroshenko four leading candidates. >> as an expert on these matters is it fair to say that a new world leader such as presid

the hold came up at some point. they nor i knew when or what discussions may have occurred with ukrainians in august. if i had more details on these matters, i would offer them to the committee. of additionaltent information i've received since my deposition. i welcome your questions. i will answer them to the best of my ability. thank you. >> thank you for your testimony. we will forgo the first round questions i counsel and go to member questions under the five-minute rule. i do want to respond to the comments of my ranking member. it suggested this was a surprise . we informed the minority last night after our hearing that we -- we did not think a staff member around was necessary. the message we got back was thanks for the heads up. notice andy was on raised no objection about going directly to member rounds. we have notint out told any minority witnesses. that is not accurate. mr. hale appears tonight as a minority witness. how you characterize yourself, your testimony was requested by the mayor to. two witness

the security assistance was not in the hold of the united states and the hold might embolden russia. we've heard from numerous other witnesses that have come before us and this was not the only issue with the hold. we understand the people within the united states government had significant concerns about the legality of the hold as it relates to the control act. this is because the money had been authorized by congress and signed into law by president trump. miss coop e at the july meetings was there discussion about whether the hold could be implemented in a legal fashion? >> so in the july 26th meeting my leadership raised the question of how the president's guidance could be implemented and proffered that perhaps a reprogramming action would be the way to do this, but that more research would need to be done, so then after that discussion we had a lower-level discussion at my level on the 31st of july -- >> let me ask you about that july 31st meeting. based on your conversations with colleagues at the dod at the july 31st inner agency meeting, did you share your understanding of

you believed in the release of the hold? >> yes, i did. >> did anyone at the interagency meeting at the end of july, support the hold? did anybody want the hold to remain, and if so, who? what's? >> the only agency represented in the meeting that indicated they supported the hold was omb. >> miss cooper, did you understand similarly, there was an overwhelming interagency consensus to lift the hold and omb, at the direction of threat, was the only roadblock? >> yes, ma'am. >> how is the security assistance in the national security interests of the united states? what is our interests? explain that to my constituents in alabama who are wondering why we should care about the security, the hold that's on the security assistance. >> yes, ma'am. this specific assistance helps build the capacity of the ukrainian armed forces. it's important to understand these are forces that are fighting to defend themselves against russian aggression everyday. it's an ongoing war. so they do need this equipment to support their ability to defend

interagency meetings i heard that the president had directed the office of management and budget to hold the funds because of his concerns about corruption in ukraine let me say at the outset that i have never discussed this or any other matter with the president and never heard directly from him about this matter at a senior level meeting i attended on july 26th chaired by national security council leadership as at all other interagency meetings on this topic of which i was aware the national security community expressed unanimous support for resuming the funding as in the u.s. national security interest at the july 26th meeting there was also a discussion of how ukrainian anti-corruption efforts were making progress do you do you reiterated what we had said and our earlier certification to congress stating that sufficient progress in defense reform including anti-corruption had occurred to justify the usa i spending. i and others at the interagency meetings felt that the matter was particularly urgent because it takes time to obligate that amount of money and my understanding was that

>> did anybody want thedd hold remained? what agency. >> the only agency represented in the meeting that indicated they supported the hold was omb. >> ms. cooper did you understand similarly that there was an overwhelmingb inner agency consensus to lift the hold and the omb in the direction of the president was the only roadblock? yes, ma'am. >> how is a security assistance in the national security interest of the united states? what is our interest, explain that to my constituents in e are wondering why we should care about the security that is on the security assistance. >> yes, ma'am, this specific assistant helps build the capacity of the ukrainian armed forces grade it is important tos understand that these are forces that are fighting to defend themselves against russian aggression every day. it's an ongoing war. so they do need this equipment to support their ability to defend themselves and i would say the larger issue that relates to u.s. pulse and russia, we believe it's very important to strengthen the capacity of

cooper, why did omb put a hold on the funds?he only information i received was from omb they were operating at the direction of the president and reported he had concerns about corruption. >> you put that in your testimony he directed omb to hold the funds because of concerns of corruption in ukraine. that is a legitimate reason. do you agree? but that is a statement the president reported the maid as reported to me by omb. >> you said based on those recommendations that the department of defense with the state certified may 2019 ukraine had taken the steps necessary and you certified the release. is that accurate. >> that is correct. >> but there was a small change in ukraine. >> but there was a small change in ukraine. > can you elaborate. >> president zelensky was elected. >> yes. you have a brand-new guy cominggo in. he was just sworn in the day that you are approved the dollars. may 23rd? maybe a couple days before but there is a change that it seems would warrant at least maybe a second look and that's exactly what played

there was no mention on quid pro quo or the hold. in the weeks that follow, it is not until august 29 when they read it and politico. then the aid gets released shortly thereafter. following today's deposition, adam schiff who did not attend today's questioning issued a statement. reacting to today's testimony from omb official mark sandy, he mentioned that mick mulvaney has refused to testify. and that if mulvaney had evidence that contradicts what we have already heard, he would be eager to testify and provide documents. instead, he is hiding behind and assisting in trump's efforts to conceal the truth from the american people. next week week, the house intelligence committee and chair adam schiff continue in fiction hearings -- impeachment hearings. from live testimony jennifer williams, a to president -- vice president mike and others. volker, ambassador kurt and tim morrison. on wednesday at 9:00 a.m. eastern, testimony continues with gordon sondland. 2:30, laura cooper and david hale under secretary of state for political affai

they don't necessarily mean hold, correct? >> not necessarily. >> and isn't it true that around the same time omb put a hold on 15 state department and usaid accounts including fmf? >> i don't know that specific detail. >> but you can't say one way or another whether the inquires in these e-mails were about the hold. is that fair? >> i cannot say for certain. >> and you can't say one way or the other whether the ukrainians knew about the hold before august 28, 2019, when it was reported in politico, correct? >> sir, i can just tell you that it's -- the recollection of my staff that they likely knew y lie . >> i believe i saw that media reporting, yes. >> i yield back. >> mr. heck. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i thank you both for being here this evening. ambassador hale, last week the country watched as president trump attacked and intimidated your colleague. he attempted to intimidate your colleague, ambassador yovanovitch who's of course a witness to this proceeding. and subsequently secretary pompeo declined to condemn that

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s concern about the hold. but i want to thank you miss cooper to talk in pursuing the national security interests of the united states and i yield back. >> mr. ratcliffe. >> thank you chairman. miss cooper, based on emails that you mentioned in your opening and subsequent declaration by some of the democratic colleagues. that those emails were evidence that ukrainians or aware of the military hold on july 25th. there is new reporting out there that the pentagon official with ukrainians asked about strong security aid. it is being widely reported that ukraine asked about the hold on military aid on july 25th. that's not what i heard is, that correct? >> sir, my exact words or that one email said that the ukrainian embassy and the foreign affairs committee are asking about security assistance. >> not hold? >> the second email was the hill knows about the fmf situation and the embassy, those were the exact words. >> what do security assistance and fmf emails mean? >> i don't want to speculate on what it means. >>

however the hold was held on.that caused a lot of consternation inside of the omb amongst career officials because they were concerned if the money did not go out of the door, they might be running afoul of the law and that is one of the other issues that pops up. he's asked by democratic counsel whether or not he's aware of anybody inside of the omb male or female who resigned eefr this issue and he's careful with the issue but he did know of somebody that did resign and that person was frustrated and upset about how this process had played out. he doesn't say this person resigned because of the hold being put in place, but said this person was one of the individuals who was frustrated about the process that was occurring and had raised concerns on the career level to what the politicals were doing as being problematic. so a number of different elements here but more than anything else providing a picture, the first picture, the first window into what was happening inside of omb, particularly among the career off

the president just hold the aid by distant of a verbal order. this is money appropriate bid congress. he actually has to direct people to sign things and commit official acts to hold the aid. he does that through this guy mike duffey. the career folks tell mike duffey in response, hey, this could be illegal, this has to go through the lawyers. and so what happens next? well, mike duffey takes over this job himself. so the career officials who are telling him this might be illegal won't be the ones being ordered to do it. question, did have you any conversations with anyone other than mr. duffey about the fact that this apportion of the approval authority was being taken away from you should answer, certainly from my staff. question, what was their reaction? answer, they were surprised and they were concerned. question, in your career at o 346789 b or otherwise, are you aware of any other political appointee being given the responsibility to authorize apportionments as happened here with mr. duffey? answer, no, i'm not aware. question, am i corre

on july 18th i heard a staff person from the office of management and budget say that there was a hold on security assistance to ukraine but could not say why for the end of an otherwise normal meeting the voice on the call the person was off screen said that she was from o.m.b. and her boss said instruct her not to approve any additional spending on security systems for ukraine until further notice i and others sat in astonishment the ukrainians were fighting russians and counted on not only the training and weapons but also the assurance of u.s. support all that the o.m.b. staff person said was that the directive had come from the president to the chief of staff to o.m.b. in an instant i realized that one of the key pillars of our strong support for ukraine was threatened the regular policy channel was running contrary to the goals of longstanding u.s. policy there followed a series of in a ceilidh interagency meeting starting at the staff level and quickly reach reaching the level of cabinet secretaries at every meeting the unanimous conclusion was that the security system should be

s concerns about the legality of the hold and i want to thank you mr cooper for voicing d.o.d.'s concerns to the white house in pursuing the national security interests of the united states. the strength of. chairman ms cooper based on the new e-mails that you mentioned in your opening and then subsequent. declarations by some of my democratic colleagues that those emails were evidence that the ukrainians were aware of a military hold on july 25th there's now reporting out there saying that pentagon official reveals ukrainians asked about stalled security a. it's it's being widely reported that ukraine asked about the hold on military aid on july 25th that's not what i heard from you is that correct sir of my exact words were that one e-mail said that the ukrainian embassy and the house foreign affairs committee are asking about security assistance assistance distance not hold and then the 2nd email was the hill knows about the f m f situation to an extent and so does the ukrainian embassy those are the exact words and what do security assistance n f m f situation in these e-mai

my hand ♪ hold my hand now ♪ hold my hand ♪ i'll take you to the promised land hold my hand ♪ ♪ butth the best that i can. that's hootie & the blowfish and that was earlier this morning and they are gearing up for their big performance, but for now it is time to reveal the winner of the first ever disney and points of light volunteer family of the year. we recently met five incredibly deserving families who are giving back to their communities in huge ways all over the country. trying to make the world a better place. will reeve and a very special guest are outside the winner's house somewhere in america right now and, will, how is it going there? >> michael, we're doing well. the moment is almost here. i'm with my pal, mickey. we are right outside the winning family's house. they're just through this door. they don't know we're here. we're going to surprise them but before we do that let's take a look at all of our incredible finalists. from coast to coast our families stand out for their generous hearts and volunteerism. the orlandos outside san francisco took in seven siblings fi

representatives reported that the white house chief of staff had directed that the hold should remain in place on september 11th i learned that the hold on security assistance for ukraine had been released i have never learned what prompted that decision on july 25th along with several of my colleagues i listened to a call between president trump and president selenski the content of which has since been publicly reported prior to july 25th i had participated in roughly a dozen other presidential phone calls during my closed door deposition members of the committee asked about my personal views and whether i had any concerns about the july 25th call as i testified then i found the july 25th phone call unusual because in contrast to other presidential calls i had observed it involved discussion of what it appeared to be a domestic political matter. after the july 25th call i provided an update on the vice president's daily briefing book indicating that president had a call that day with president's lenski a hard copy of the memorandum transcribing the call was also included in the book

answer -- there was a process, there was one hold, there was one agency that put a hold on that decisiongency? answer -- the office of management and budget in the white house. question -- did you understand why? answer -- i understood the reason to be a policy one. question -- what was the policy one? answer -- in a briefing with mr. mulvaney, head of the office of management and budget, the question centered around the russian reaction. question -- what was the concern around the russian reaction? answer -- that russia would react negatively to the provision of the javelins to ukraine. question -- what was the reaction of that concern from the other agencies? answer -- i don't know if i can provide that answer in an unclassified setting. question -- okay is there a way to answer it broadly. answer -- i can say all the policy agencies were in support. question -- you mean in support of providing the javelins? answer, croft -- yes, correct. joining us now, illinois congressman mike quigley. sir, thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate you being here. >> thank you, glad to be her

to let that person go or to hold that person longer. so maybe you don't have the experience with it, doing the holds themselves, but i think a little bit of training behind what it is that goes behind that would be really helpful. but i guess what you're saying. my biggest issue when i brought this up is we have got such a great reputation out in the field, and this is why i didn't want to push it. do we want to tar initial thni representation, when somebody's life is in danger that we want to take them in custody? i feel like the cops have the authority to do that, but this is not a criminal justice issue. those people should not be in that system. because the moment a police officer writes a 5150, there's a police report behind that, and then, they're a part of that system, and they shouldn't be a part of that system if it's a mental or medical issue. so i go back and forth on this thing. and i really would like you guys to have that ability, a tool in your tool box if you need it when other people aren't around. and just for educatio

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they're going to hold that over the weekend. maybe ultimately the official will be called onto give public testimony as well. we'll see. as the story evolves in this way and ahead of tomorrow's second impeachment hearing, i think it's also worth articulating the existence of the elephant in the room here, right? because i know this is basic and i know you know it, but i feel like it's easy to lose sight of as we head into the second public impeachment hearing. there's a reason that when the whistle-blower complaint was first filed, that bit about holding up the military aid to ukraine, that was filed separately in a classified appendix. when the whistle-blower knew even that complaint was getting delivered to congress which is what he or she wanted, still this bit the whistle-blower took steps to try to make sure that was treated with special care. that the president's order to hold up military aid to ukraine, it would be handled as sensitive classified information. it would be held tighter, restricted more, fewer people would s

i was not told the reason why the hold had been lifted. the next day i personally conveyed the news to president zelensky and ukrainian foreign minister and reminded mr. yermok the value of bipartisan support for ukraine and importance of not getting involved in other country's elections. my fear was ambassador sondland had told me president zelensky agreed to do a cnn interview, they would make investigations that would have played into domestic u.s. politics. i sought to confirm that president zelensky was not planning to give such an interview to the media, while he initially confirmed that on september 12th, i noticed during a meeting on the morning of september 13th at president zelensky's office, mr. yermok looked uncomfortable to response to the question. i asked to him confirm there would be no cnn interview, which he did. on september 25th, at the u.n. general assembly session in new york city, president trump met president zelensky face-to-face. he also released the transcript of the july 25th call. the united states gave the ukr

and budget which was following the orders of president trump and still no good explanation of the hold was provided while the 8 suspension had not been made public word was getting out catherine croft special advisor for ukraine to go she should work closely with ambassador volcker and who testified before this committee at a deposition received 2 separate calls in july or august from officials at the ukrainian embassy who quote approach me quietly and in confidence to ask me about an m.b. hold on ukraine security assistance crofter was quote very surprised at the effectiveness of my ukrainian counterparts diplomatic tradecraft as in to say they found out very early on much earlier than i expected them to ukrainians wanted answers but croft did not have a good response. but then in late august cooper met with kurt volker with whom she had met many times in the past during that meeting in which they were discussing the hold on security assistance will reveal that he was engaged in an effort to have the government of ukraine issue a statement that would quote commit to the prosecution of

special forces had been holding. the u.s. base there -- literally the american base there now has the russian flag flying over it. and russian soldiers are now using that base. and russian soldiers are now patrolling that part of the country where u.s. troops and u.s. allies were removed by president trump's actions. we're out, here putin you can have it. turkey has also just bought anti-u.s. russian weapons. it is a crisis for nato. i mean, not to get into the technicalities of it. but having a nato member operating a sophisticated russian anti-aircraft missile system like this potentially exposes the most secret u.s. fighter jet technology to the russians. thanks, turkey. thanks for doing that. republican senators who were upset by that and who are upset by the turkish military attacking our allies in syria, president trump weighed in during this white house visit to try to smooth that all over, to try to calm down republican senators about that, to try to make it okay for turkey. so it's okay they attacked our allies, and

i was not told the reason the hold had been delayed. the next day, i personally remindedthe news and ukraine of the high strategic value of bipartisan support for ukraine and the importance of not getting involved in other countries elections. had told medland zelensky had already agreed to do an interview and he would make a statement about investigations that would have played into domestic politics. i saw to confirm that he was not planning such an interview. while initially confirmed unser that he, they noticed looked uncomfortable in response to the question. i asked to confirm that there would be no cnn interview, which he did. on september 25, at the u.n. general assembly session, president trump met president zelensky face-to-face and release to the transcript of the july 25 call. they gave ukrainians virtually no notice, they were livid. though this is the first time i've seen the details of the inme -- of the july 25 call which they mention vice president biden, i had come to understand that the investigation was a term used t

ukraine reads in politico, they didn't get a confirmation there's a hold on. eight the aid gets released shortly, after and, guess what? ukraine had to do nothing to get that lifted. ukraine did not have to do anything to get that hold on aid released shortly after they had that conversation in the vargas. something else that is important, the democrats and some in the media like to say that the burisma's issue is just totally debunked. even though burisma is a corrupt ukrainian company, run by a corrupt ukrainian oligarchic, hiring hunter biden like his own admission solely because of his last name, and because he's vice president son. at least 50,000 dollars a month, no ukraine experience or energy experience, his father is the person running the most conflicting person out in the obama administration to be running point in ukraine. this 30 money that hunter biden is getting from this 30 company run by this oligarchic is a legitimate issue that the president was concerned about. our country should be concerned about corruption, while there's a history of a c

i thought it was a very bad idea to hold that money. i finally called the president, i believe it was on the 9th of september. i can't find the records and they won't provide them to me. i asked him an open ended question. what do you want from ukraine? i keep hearing these ideas and theories, and this and that. what do you want? it was a very short, abrupt conservation. he was not in a good mood, and he just said, i want nothing. i want nothing. i want no quid pro quo. tell zelensky to do the right thing, something to that effect. so i typed out a text to ambassador taylor and my reason for telling him this was not to defend what the president was saying, not to opine on whether the president was being truthful or untruthful, but to simply relay, i have gone as far as i can go. this is the final word that i heard from the president of the united states. if you are still concerned, you, ambassador taylor, are still concerned, please get ahold of the secretary. maybe he can help. >> i'm not asking you about your text message. i'm asking

word of the hold had reached ukrainian officials prior to its becoming public. asked why ambassador the united states was withholding the aide. todland made it explicit ukrainians at a meeting in warsaw. they needed to publicly commit to these investigations if they hoped to get the aide. we all saw the president's tweet about you on sunday afternoon and the insults he hurled at ambassador jovanovich last friday. you are here today and the american people are grateful. more scurrilous attacks on your character and watched as certain personalities on fox have questioned your loyalty. you have shed blood for america and we owe you an immense debt of gratitude. i hope no one on this committee will become part of those vicious attacks. today's witnesses are here because they were subpoenaed to appear. not because they are for or against impeachment. if the president abused his power and invited foreign interference in our elections, if he sought to condition, coerce, extort or bribe an ally into conducting investigations to aid his reelection campaign and did so by

i learned that there was a hold put on security assistance for ukraine. omb was reviewing whether or not the funding was in line with the administration's priorities. i attended meeting where the hold on the security assistance was successed. in those meetings, representatives of the state and defense departments advocated that the hold should be lifted and omb reported that the white house chief of staff directed that the hold should remain in place. on september 11th i learned that the hold on security assistance for ukraine had been released. i have never learned what prompted that decision. on july 25th, along with several of my colleagues, i listened to a call between president trump and president zelensky. the content of which has been publicly reported. i participated in roughly a dozen other calls. during my closed door deposition, members of the committee asked about my personal views and if i had in concerns about the july 25th call. as i testified then i found the july 25th phone call unusual because in contrast to other presidential calls i ob

to hold it was legal on the purely legal point of view correct then i yield back to the chair thank you john feeling the mist of hanukkah. miss williams lieutenant colonel than men thank you for being here and thank you both for your service as millions of americans are watching throughout the hysteria and frenzied media coverage 2 key facts have not changed that are critical to these impeachment proceedings one ukraine in fact received the aid and 2 there was no investigation into the bidens my question to both of you today will focus on the following systemic corruption in ukraine to highlighting for the public that by law aid to ukraine requires anti-corruption efforts and 3 who in our government has the decision making authority when it comes to foreign policy and national security matters so on corruption in ukraine as a battery of on a bitch testified one of the key reasons why president selenski was overwhelmingly elected by the ukrainian people was that they were finally standing up to rampant corruption in their country would you both agree with the ambassador's assessment

and still, no good explanation of the hold was provided. while the aid suspension had not been made public, word was getting out. katherine croft, special advisor for ukraine negotiation, worked closely with ambassador volker and who testified before this committee at a deposition, received two separate calls in july or august from officials at the ukrainian embassy who quote, approached me quietly and in confidence to ask me about an omb hold on ukraine security assistance. croft was quote very surprised at the effectiveness of my ukrainian counterparts' dip l diplomatic trade craft. as to say they found out very early on, much earlier than i expected them to. the ukrainians wanted answer but croft did not have a good response. then in late august, she met with kurt volker with whom she had met many times in the past. during that meeting in which they were discussing the hold on security assistance, volker revealed he was engaged in effort to have ukraine issue a statement that would quote commit to the prosecution of any individuals invol

about holding a confirmation hearing during this election hearing. 69% that the senate should hold confirmation hearings if a vacancy happens on the supreme court. what do you think the senate would do? >> that's a tough question. currently the senate has the right to do whatever it wants. fix the court and i look at it from a sort of different perspective. if you have an 18 year term and justices are rotating on and off every 18 years here going to of seniorch customers. you also had o'connor and stevens. so you have individuals to fill that ninth seat. have individuals who are confirmed supreme court justices who can fill the ninth seat. whether or not the senate decides to hold confirmation hearings in an election year we need to take a step back and say what do we need to do to ensure the continued success and operation of the court. withourt can't operate eight. it's probably better with nine. let's ensure that individuals could be pulled back into the service if there are other future shenanigans in the senate. host: this is tony in new jersey on the independent line. caller: i was wonder

iraq is holding talks on constitutional amendments amid ongoing violent unrest in the country $260.00 people being killed this is anti-government demonstrations started to months ago protest is the money a major overhaul of the political system that was established after the u.s. led invasion back in 2003 holcomb's as the story. iraq is no stranger to turmoil the country's seen little piece and even less the billet since the us led invasion of 2003 mass protests and violence of regulating gulf the state of these though are the worst since the overthrow of saddam hussein 16 years ago. hundreds killed dozens in just one week by live ammunition many thousands injured amid a heavy crackdown by security forces other governments to provide special forces imposed curfews and an internet blackout across the whole country but that's just angered crowds even more roads and bridges have been blocked by demonstrators who have also tried to take over buildings both in the capital baghdad and across other cities why is this happening to some these protests address years of grievances corruption une

whether the hold -- the security system hold continued or not, ukraine understood that's something the president wanted and wanted important things from the president. so i think that continues to this day. i think they're being very careful, they still need us now going forward. in fact, right now, president zelensky is trying to arrange a summit meeting with president putin in the coming weeks to -- his first face to face meeting with him to try to advance the peace process. he needs our support. he needs president putin to understand that america supports zelensky at the highest levels. so this is -- this doesn't end with the lifting of the security assistance hold. ukraine still needs us and as i said still fighting this war to this very day. >> i would underscore as my colleague did so eloquently they got caught. that's the reason why the aid was lifted. mr. goldman? >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning to both of you. yesterday we heard testimony from ambassador gordon sondland from the european union who testified that president trump wanted ukraine to announce the investiga

and that is what the republicans are going to hold on to. the big question here, was this a bombshell today? absolutely. did it bring it altogether? absolutely. >> one quick -- >> will it matter in the end? will it change one vote. >> one thing to note is the allegations he made, the secretary of state denied what he said about him today and the energy secretary denied what he said about him. >> and vice president pence. >> and you saw this and of course the vice president also denied what he said about him. the only person we didn't get a denial from while he was testifying was mick mulvaney the chief of staff. >> listen to this exchange. then we'll discuss. >> did the president ever tell preconditions for anything? >> no. >> so the president never told you about any preconditions for the aid to be released? >> no. >> the president never told you about any preconditions for a white house meeting? >> personally, no. >> what do you think? >> so that is something that you're seeing republicans talk about today. is the conversations that he had

i testified before i was never able to obtain a clear answer regarding the specific reason for the hold whether it was bureaucratic in nature which often happens or reflected some other concern in the interagency process i never participated in any of the subsequent d.o.d. or d.o.'s review meetings that others have described so i can't speak to what was discussed in those meetings nonetheless before the september 1st warsaw meeting the ukrainians had become aware that security funds had yet to be dispersed in the absence of any credible explanation for the hold i came to the conclusion that the aid like the white house visit was jeopardized in preparation for the september 1 warsaw meeting i asked secretary pompei 0 whether a face to face conversation between trump and selenski would help to break the logjam and this was when president trump was still intending to travel to warsaw specifically on august 22nd i emailed secretary pompei o directly copying secretary at cana i wrote this is my email to secretary pompei oh should we block time in warsaw for a short polish side for potest to

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hold on to faith even when you feel alone. hold on to family even if they have to let you go. hold on to life, even when you on the brink of oblivion. hold on to god, even if you feel like letting go. >> with those final words from an inmate in the santa clara county jail system, we thank you, chaplain dave robinson, for being with us on mosaic, and i thank my cohost riverend ron swisher, our late producer, hugh borrows and on this veteran's day weekend, we give thanks to god for the veterans and honor their life among us and their service to our country. again, good morning, welcome to mosaic. and have a wonderful sunday and sabbath day. blessings to you. you know when you're at ross and you realize it's time your sister stopped borrowing your sweaters? yeah! that's yes for less. stop stealing mine... never. holiday gifts everyone's sure to love at 20 to 60 percent off department store prices. at ross. yes for less. and you realize you are the the hostess with the mostest. you know when you're at ross yes! yeah! that's yes for less. entertain in style all season long. it feel

it seems to me they are for now on hold.are data dependent, but clearly they need a sizable move in the data before they contemplate something different. don't expect a lot of new insights from the minutes. maybe a little of an assessment of detergents between members that i don't expect too much there. things can change. i do get a sense there is a higher hurdle to contemplate into next year's hiking rates than to easing rates further. there is still a bit of an easing bias if these trade tensions re-escalate again. we've seen that before. there seems to be an interaction between the two and it seems to create a bit of an issue by which the u.s. or donald trump can increase these tensions around trade and the fed will step in. anna: will the easing bias be perhaps required? if we see any worsening in the u.s. consumer, focusing on the consumer in relation to new home sales and what that does to consumer spending, we've got the new homes construction or new home sales and home depot shares on this chart. that was a story, th

>> i think it holds great relevance.national holiday it is kickoff for the holiday season many families enjoy being together, they are off work, maybe they understand that the value isn't as great as it once was because a lot of the discounting has already begun, but it is a fun shopping day and everybody gets together, discusses gift options and goes after it >> and i would notice that the targeted ads on my instagram feed and my twitter feed and everything else have been telling me about black friday deals starting as early as last week so is it really a situation right now where the black friday holiday actually could be that catalyst or have people already done a lot of the shopping already? >> you know, a lot of people are very busy with their work and family obligations and now they have the thanksgiving weekend to spend time together and this has become an important time for them so, yes, discounts have been there, but i think that people will through the digital options and as well as the brick and mortar go out

on september 11th, i learned that the hold on security assistance for ukraine had been released. i have never learned what prompted that decision. on july 25th, along with several of my colleagues, i listened to a call between president trump and president zelensky. the content of which has since been publicly reported. prior to july 25th, i had participated in roughly a dozen other presidential phone calls. during my closed-door deposition, members of the committee asked about my personal views and whether i had any concerns about the july 25th call. as i testified then, i found the july 25th phone call unusual because in contrast to other presidential calls i had observed, it involved discussion of what appeared to be a domestic political matter. after the july 25th call, i provided an update in the vice president's daily briefing bo bookibook indicating that there was a call. i do not know whether the vice president reviewed my update or the transcript. i did not discuss the july 25th call with vice president or any of my colleagues in the office of the vice president or the n

i was not told the reason why the hold had been lifted. the next day i personally conveyed the news to president zelensky and the ukraine foreign minister and reminded mr. yermak of the high strategic value of bipartisan support for ukraine and the importance of not getting involved in other country's elections. my fear was that since ambassador sondland told me president zelensky agreed to do a cnn interview, president zelensky would make a statement regarding investigations that would have played into domestic u.s. politics. i sought to confirm that president zelensky was not planning to give such an interview to the media. while he initially confirmed that on september 12th, i noticed during a meeting on the morning of september 13th at president zelensky's office that mr. yermak looked uncomfortable in response to the question. again, i asked mr. done luke to confirm there would be no cnn interview which he did. on september 25th at the u.n. general assembly session in new york city, president trump met president zelensky face to face.

hold on a 2nd 1st of all vladimir putin doesn't fancy himself as a as a snake charmer and 2nd of all russia doesn't see the nations of the middle east charmer and 2nd of all russia doesn't see the nations of the middle east unlike the economist snakes. i do not think president unlike the economist snakes. i do not think president putin sees himself as the monster of the snake pit that is not how we view the powers newton sees him self as the monster of the snake pit that is not how we view the powers in the middle east let's talk a little bit about what happens next then because supposedly you know middle east let's talk a little bit about what happens next then because supposedly you know we've got this vacuum that's been left american forces were supposed to leave syria but they've got this vacuum that's been left american forces were supposed to leave syria but they're they're still there what are the goals now one person that disagrees with that there's still less what are the goals now one person that disagrees with the media's assessment that vladimir putin is the victor here a

the private keys that is not your asset if you don't hold your gold that is not your asset so it is part of a deal globalisation where everything there is some sort of diminishing pie going on there isn't. a sort of resent men and a fear in part perhaps an anger about china being larger economy than the us china seemingly winning china's got 5 g. we don't have 5 g. they're moving to 60 they have all sorts of technologies that we don't have there is a sort of anger going on and the dishonesty in the game you're seizing somebody else's assets but now i want to turn to a headline this week and that's why the mid-air ost. ari is relevant as relevant to an ongoing goal vs between debate that we've been following peter schiff of course says between is fake money it's a ponzi scheme blah blah blah he says gold is the only way to go is the only way to store your wealth well of course the nation state of venezuela had their gold seized that happens on an individual level but here on the nation state level with bitcoin venezuela's president maduro touts trey's or bitcoin wall and national tel