i know kurt volcker. i know from a source close to the investigation a bit of what happened today, a bit of the context, i guess. again, this is secondhand. at least. but essentially it seems that what volcker was trying to do, and i've known him a long time so i'm giving him a lot of benefit of the doubt, was to try to maneuver the situation so that he can get president trump to meet with president zelensky, the new ukrainian president. he thought that giuliani was feeding a bunch of garbage that he had heard from some ukrainians, one ukranian in particular, to president trump, and he needed to just get the truth from zelensky. the problem that is kurt volcker is the envoy, the president's envoy. the president should be listening to kurt volcker, who's a long-time -- never mind he was appointed by trump, he's a long-time foreign service officer for many years before he got out and started to work for the mccain institute. so president trump should have been listening to him, but he was listening to rudy g

jillian: what was it kurt volcker said?had text messages that showed that as what, specifically one from july saying it is important for volodymyr zelinsky to say he would help the investigation. a lot of people look at the wording in these messages and say on the one hand it doesn't implicate anything but on the other hand it doesn't look good. >> this is a whole debate. the question is was there an attempt to exchange public value, better diplomatic relations and the like. and the political gain for the campaign. and joe biden, $1 million, and trading diplomatic value for it. what do the american people think of this? >> republicans think he's going after corruption and others think it is joe biden. here's the democrat responding to what he heard yesterday. >> i will describe giuliani as a shadow shakedown. rob: a lot keep going back to i have a favor but you need to remind people he wants a favor looking at crowd strike and the start of the mueller probe. he doesn't say i want a favor and then say investigate joe biden p

but kurt volcker was also on that trip. and the eu ambassador, ambassador sondland, was also on that trip. those are the two ambassadors, volcker and sond land, that are now writing this statement totry to pressure zelensky to investigate hunter biden. and i want to just underscore, it is highly unusual for the eu ambassador, he is a political appointee, he's there because he gave money to president trump, to be involved in matters dealing with ukraine. and the other thing i just want to say about mr. volcker, he is a seasoned diplomat. you're right about that. but he was an unpaid official working on this and was not the special envoy to all of the ukraine. he's supposed to be working to end the war in the danbas. i'm sure he got tangled in this, i know kurt well, i'm sure he doesn't like to be tangled in this. but their writing that statement to put pressure on president zelensky i think is inappropriate for state department officials. >> would you surmise, being someone who knows what diplomatic norms are and are not that

kurt volcker.porary ambassador for u.s. and ukraine and gordon sunland ambassador to the eu. let's read these text messages and talk about it. bill said as i said on the phone i think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with the political campaign. gordon sondland bill, i believe you are incorrect about the president trump's intentions. the president has been clear no quid pro quos of any kind. >> some these were released last night and yesterday afternoon with an ah-ha by democrats. they were trying to connect the allegation is holding back as i referred a moment ago u.s. aid hundreds of million dollars of dollars to ukraine unless the president got what he wanted. steve: because that would be illegal. >> because you had a quid pro quo. it's very clear from that exchandz that at least one of the democrats saying no, no, no. the president is not tying these two together. ainsley: because i think you are incorrect. ed: are the democrats going to look at this fairly and look at the wh

the texts were provided by kurt volcker who testified behind closed doors yesterday. >> on july 25th,he morning of the now infamous call between the presidents, volcker texted a top zelensky adviser, quote, heard from white house, assuming president z convinces trump he will investigate/get to the bottom of what happened in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to washington. a source tells us the ukrainians responded by drafting a public statement committing to investigating corruption. a statement ultimately made it to president trump's personal attorney and point man on ukraine rudy giuliani. giuliani said it did not go far enough, and suggested adding references that would imply investigations of joe biden and his son hunter and the 2016 election. >> the newly released text shows a top u.s. diplomat was concerned president trump withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid would amount to a quid pro quo. on september 1st, the senior u.s. diplomat in ukraine bill taylor texted gordon sondland, the u.s. ambassador to the european union, taylor wrote are we saying sec

so you have kurt volcker basically saying i was not a part of any of that and you have the president saying i'm actually looking at a new country to find more information about joe biden. >> woodruff: so many strands to follow today and now and every day,ever virtually. yamiche alcindor, michaelha kranish, you both. >> thanks. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, security forces in iraq shot and killed at least 12 more protesters, raising the death toll there to 33 over three o e. the government at off internet access, in a bid to calm things down. still, crowds in baghdad defied a curfew, and troops opened fire with live rounds and tear gas. t but, protesters insisted they would not be cowed.ot >> ( translated ): even with the rfew, i swear to god we will not retreat.di we are deman our simplest rights. it is the simplest rights that we ask fs . i view this canister as if it had been given to me by a lady. we sacrifice ourselves for our country. >> woodruff: the protests have spread to southern iraq, where at least ten people were killed overght. demonstrators are demanding jobs, b

. >> kurt volcker, the ambassador was relatively unknown until his name came up several times and was a lower complaint, the former special envoy to ukraine resigned shortly after the complaint went public. tonight after his 10 hours of closed-door testimony on the hill republicans say was a transparent and credible witness who gave no indication of a quid pro quo by the president's with respect to ukraine. katherine herridge reports from capitol hill. >> reporter: former special envoy to ukraine kurt volcker navigated congressional security, and the closed-door interview with investigators, he resigned after the whistleblower complaint alleged he tried to, quote, contain the damage from rudy giuliani's ukraine investigation and advise the new ukrainian leadership how to, quote, navigate demands the president made to volodymyr zelinsky in the july 25th on college republicans said volcker's testimony was a bust. >> nothing that coincides with what democrats are saying with their impeachment narrative. >> while releasing text messages, giuliani emphasized he gave the state department hi

we saw signs this was going to be a much more difficult testimony than perhaps kurt volcker, the former special envoy to ukraine, who appeared before congress last week. we reported over the weekend that while those text messages, those damning text messages released by the house committees last week, volcker turned them over to the committees voluntarily. he did not route them through state so that's why the committees had them and were able to release them to the public. now what ambassador sondland did was actually turned over all his documents to the state department. the state department from the outset had control over the documents we see this morning that they're having control over the testimony. and you'll see that frustration from house democrats boiling over. my colleague rachel who has been doing great reporting on this, and i reported over the weekend just how democrats are going to move, at this point, going to rapidly move toward an obstruction of congress article because they know that, for example, if they defer to the courts, they had been winning in the courts over t

held up a phone to show there was dialogue between kurt volcker.cond. the whistleblower contacted the committee for guidance how to report possible wrongdoing with the jurisdiction of intel committee. this is regular occurrence give the committee's oversight role and consistent with the committee longstanding procedures. the committee advised whistle whistleblower advised the to contact an inspector general and to seek legal counsel. at no point did the committee review or receive the complaint in advance. leading to jerry nadler's brilliance, he went quiet for a while. there is a report one of his staffers traipsing through the ukraine doing what, we're not sure. ainsley: andy mccarthy, former assistant u.s. attorney fox news contributor was on with us earlier. this is what he had to say. weighed in on it. >> now that we know schiff was in the outlines of this from the get-go, what that says to me, he had about six weeks to prepare that ridiculous speech that he gave at the beginning of the, of that conference. in other words, this is something th

>>> outside of the diplomatic community it's safe to say the name kurt volcker was unknown.t all changed a couple weeks ago when volcker resign ed a da after a whistle blower complaint went public. in the days since, volcker has turned over text messages to congress, texts that show how president trump and others pressed u krarn to land a meeting. in one message, volcker texted the following, heard from white house, assuming president z convinces trump he will investigate get to the bottom of what happened in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to washington. that text was sent the same day the discussion between trump and zielinski happened. zielinski was committed to cleaning up corruption. james melville is the former ambassador to estonia. >> you have been friends with kurt volcker for years. what do you make of his ininvolvement here, and how did a career democrat get caught up in all of this. >> thank you very much for including a foreign service perspective into the discussion. we met when we both served back in the '90s. kurt rose quickly to the highest levels of

meantime, we received a prepared testimony from the former special envoy to the ukraine, kurt volcker. there's a key section that he makes clear to distance himself from the independent work of rudy guliani. he said to the ukrainians that guliani was doing this work and that it was reaching the president and that the work about the ukraine was very negative and it did not reflect the current position on u.s. government policy. >> shepard: catherine, what else have you learned about the texts? >> it's mind-blowing how many texts have been released. if i was going to boil it down, september really seems to be a period where there's significant heartburn among these diplomats about the phone call in july and the perception of that phone call. on september 1, there's a text from bill taylor. he matters because he's a senior u.s. diplomat to the ukraine and exchange with gordon sunland. he was an ambassador to the e.u. he was appointed by president trump. the text reads -- >> the next text is about a week later, september 9. >> shepard: catherine herridge live for us. catherine, thank you.

take a look. >> the state department's special envoy to ukraine ambassador kurt volcker not only quittingn the wake of the bombshell whistleblower complaint but now being called to answer questions in front of not one, not two, but three congressional committees. a big question tonight will the white house take drastic measures to control what he says? >> if the president the united states using our foreign policy to leverage a foreign country to take out a rival. that's a very simple story that even the fox audience can understand. >> sean: oh, smelly walmart shoppers. irredeemable deplorables. as it turns out yet again. there is just no there there. the entire lie is, again, blowing up in their faces. the mob is once again breathlessly lying and hyping a hoax. conspiracy theories. according to our own catherine herridge, volcker testified behind closed doors yesterday that the government of ukraine was not pressured by president trump. he also noted that ukraine never raised any issue of any quid pro quo. did not view the president's call or subsequent interactions at all in any way to

the other thing we found out about, we got the prepared remarks that kurt volcker, the envoy for ukrainet he spoke to the intelligence committee yesterday. he had some remarks about joe biden. he said the suggestion that vice president biden would be influenced in his duties as vice president get money for his son would not influence me. he's a man of credibility. this is news o'clock here in washington. we tonight have compliance with the administration with the subpoenas that were sent out here. we might have some information coming out here in a few minutes. this is high noon here in washington at 4:30 on a friday. >> neil: how close is the vote to proceeding on this? >> well, you know, this is an issue that house speaker nancy pelosi and kevin mccarthy, the minority leader have gone back and forth about. pelosi says she doesn't have to have a vote to initiate an impeachment inquiry. the white house says they will not comply with subpoenas or provide witnesses unless there's a vote. the reason republicans want the do that, they want to weaponize a vote against swing state democrats. t

that meeting, however, he still wasn't ready, he still needed to be convinced, he texted with kurt volcker who was the special envoy to the ukraine. kurt volcker said to him, i have it covered, i have the washington element of this covered, we need someone like you on the ground there. now, he was the former ambassador from 2006 to 2009, he's widely trusted in the state department, in foreign policy circles, when he finally took the job, there was a sigh of relief from folks who knew u.s. policy well. it's going to be a pivotal moment to hear from him. he as you said, is the one who suggested there was quid pro quo. and he texted u.s. ambassador to the eu saying, it would be crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign. he got a response saying, he had misunderstood something, the question,what did he misunderstand, how is he going to explain that to lawmakers tomorrow. >> yes, it reads like someone who's trying to provide a paper trail. >> exactly. >>> president trump just did something we've rarely seen him do. why it could be a big lesson for republicans. >>>

christopher anderson, aid to former special envoy to ukraine, kurt volcker, speaking to lawmakers behind closed doors, about the concerns voiced by bolton over rudy giuliani's shadow ukraine operation. anderson, according to his opening statement obtained by cnn, saying bolton cautioned mr. giuliani was a key voice with the president on ukraine, which could be an obstacle to increased white house engagement. catherine croft, a state department special adviser for ukraine, also appearing today, corroborating the testimony the committees have heard from other witnesses about the push to oust the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch. and testifying today, she was informed that acting white house chief of staff, mick mulvaney, put an informal hold on security assistance to ukraine. the only reason given is that the order came at the direction of the president, croft said today. all of this as the fallout continues from the explosive testimony on capitol hill tuesday of lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. the national security council's top ukraine expert. vindman, who was o

gear on capitol hill today as congress heard from the first witness in its impeachment inquiry, kurt volckerthe former envoy to ukraine who resigned last week after it came out that he had been texting with trump lawyer and haunted egg rudy giuliani. now, volcker's testimony took place behind closed doors so we don't know exactly what he said. but while he was talking in private, donald trump was letting loose on the white house lawn. >> this is just breaking, president trump leaving the white house, calling on two different foreign governments to investigate his political rival joe biden. >> so i would say that president zelensky, if it were me, i would recommend they start an investigation into the bidens. china should start an investigation into the bidens, because what happened in china is just about as bad as what happened with -- with ukraine. >> trevor: this guy is unbelievable. ( laughter ) he's already facing impeachment for asking ukraine to investigate joe biden, and now he's, like, you know what, china? get on it, too, you jump in as well! ( laughter ) trump may be the only perso

the remarks came as a key witness arrived in congress to testify kurt volcker former special envoy to ukraine. accused by whistleblower of trying to quote contain the damage of the now infamous phone call. in which trump asked you kriens bulletin here's a lenski to investigate his democratic political opponent joe biden. after trump tweeted that he wanted to find out aboutut the whistleblower whwhose identity is protected by law. house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff warned the president not to intimidate witnesses. on thursday he responded to trump's call for china to investigate fight and- i find. once again the p president invited another countntry to interfere. elections with confidence in a. in the middle is of offices in danger for the security of our elections. house investigators are preparing a subpoena demanding all documents related to trump's dealings with ukraine. the united states has announced a 25% tariff on a wide range of p. u. imports which include all its cheese and wine. they've been given thehe green light by the worlrld trade organization that found

the former special envoy to the ukraine, kurt volcker testified you told him the back-and-forth about a public statement after the july phone call with donald trump ukraine was going to make it, you told him the general language of ukraine was not enough, they had to publicly mention burisma, hunter biden, and possible 2016 election or else -- >> i never said or else. >> it is clear from what volcker says, or else. let me get the question out. volodymyr zelinsky would not get a meeting with donald trump. how is that not pressure? >> even if it is pressure it is different than what biden did. the purpose of questioning is to get a little investigation about a scandal at the highest level of the government, the washington press has been covering up for three years deliberately and about which they are going after me personally. they get me, the messenger. has been a crook for 30 years. let me explain to you about -- >> i want to ask you -- >> let me answer about volcker. internal texts, they reached out to me. i finished my investigation, they reached out to me, asked me to talk, did it

very stark testimony from kurt volcker. volcker spent more than nine hours talking about what he knows about the scandal. >> he provided text messages showing how the u.s. tied u.s. military aid for ukraine to the country's willingness to dig up political dirt for president trump. sarah murray has that part of the story. >> cnn has obtained volker's statement. he claims giuliani peddled dubious information. volker described diplomate following to manage the fallout and that the new ukrainian leadership could be trusted. volker was working behind the scenes to try to ensure a smooth conversation between the two leaders. he will investigate, get to the bottom of what happens in 2016. we will nail down date for visit to washington. on the call, trump pressed zelensky to investigate the biden family and trump's unfounded belief that it was the ukrainians, not the russians who meddled in the 2016 election. >> the president of the united states coerced a foreign power to help himself politically. >> days earlier, giuliani had bre

this after ukrainian envoy kurt volcker testified for 9 hours behind closed doors.dam schiff wasn't talking. >> any comments about the interview? >> reporter: in a series of encrypted text messages obtained by fox's mike emanuel we have learned senior diplomats discussing the suspension of military aid to ukraine topped us diplomat to ukraine ambassador bill taylor texts to the eu and here is what bill says, quote, as i said on the phone i think it is crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign. he says bill, i believe you are incorrect about donald trump's intentions, the president has been crystal-clear no quid pro quos of any kind and added the president is trying to evaluate whether ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms president volodymyr zelinsky promised during the campaign, i suggest we stop the back-and-forth texts. it is not clear if either ambassador will be called to testify but we are also seeing in the new york times reports that they drafted a statement for the ukrainian president committing them to

kurt volcker will be deposed in front of the house foreign affairs and oversight committee, he resignedst week after being named in the was the lower complained on the president's call with ukraine as house democrats threatened to subpoena the white house for documents on donald trump's dealings with the country. kim jong un former dallas police officer will spend 10 years in prison for murdering her neighbor. amber guyger claims she killed botham john when she mistook his apartment for her own and walked into it. the sentence met with mixed reaction is crowd gathered outside the courtroom but the most stunning reaction came from his brother who says he forgives her. >> i forgive you. i want the best for you. because i know that is exactly what botham would want. can i give her a hug please? >> here you go as they embrace, they are crying as they hug in the court room. that is a powerful moment. the district judge hundred gu e guyger and handed her a bible, she will be eligible for parole in five years. >> national guard chief save lives when the tour plane he is on crashes and bursts i

that is kurt volcker on the front page.he headline says ukraine envoy blows massive hole in democrat accusations. --epublican lawmaker emerged in the house impeachment probe hole int blew a massive the accusations against president trump. leaves eldon of new york said the testimony made it crystal clear mr. trump did not pressure ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky to help smear former vice president joseph biden. we also heard from jim jordan of ohio after that closed-door meeting. [video clip] >> ambassador volcker unbelievably knowledgeable about what was going on in ukraine, a true professional in our diplomatic corps, but not one thing he has said comports with any of the democrats' impeachment narratives. not one thing. i will say this, the process mr. toiff set up, he was going try to limit members from asking questions when we started today's interview. the fact he will not let state department council participate, i participated in -- many of us have, mark and i have participated in a countless number of transcr

. >> reporter: fox news confirmed the former special envoy kurt volcker told congressional investigators burisma was notorious for history of corruption and being investigated for money laundering. as why the ukraine energy from would bring in hunter biden volcker says they were looking to spruce up its image by having people on its board. the biden campaign responded donald trump's corrupt administration is melting down. because of the scandal he touched off by trying to get ukraine to lie about joe biden. on joe biden's watch the us made this a centerpiece of policies towards ukraine. on tuesday hunter biden told abc news he has done nothing illegal. >> maybe in the scheme of things, yeah. did i make a mistake on an ethical lapse? absolutely not. >> reporter: 30 hours behind closed doors, next week more witnesses are scheduled and in at least one case two witnesses are set to appear on the same day. shannon: the world's first female spacewalk made history high above earth today. astronauts christina kirk and jessica mir fixed part of the international space station's power network, fir

avenues and be a regular channel went through the president's people naming former special envoy kurt volcker, the president's personal attorney rudy giuliani and energy secretary rick perry. according to prepared remarks taylor explained the significance of donald trump of ukrainian probes into the last presidential election as well as the ukraine energy firmware hunter biden sat on the board, quote, the push to make him of his -- interfere in the election shows how the official policy of the united states was undercut by irregular efforts led by mister giuliani. he related secondhand information, a september conversation between donald trump and the administration's point man for the european union, donald trump told the ambassador he was not asking for a quid pro quo but donald trump did insist volodymyr zelinsky go to a microphone and say he is opening an investigation. >> in my 10 short months in congress it is not even noon and my most disturbing day in congress so far. >> reporter: republicans point to the admission that these are the hold on usaid that did not leak until august 29, 5

also kurt volcker who resigned this week as ukraine envoy. they are going to talk to the inspector general of the intel community. and that would be michael atkinson. he received the whistleblower complaint. even though congress is technically out of town, the democrats are keeping the pressure on. ainsley: they are also. brian: they are not leaving. ainsley: they wanting to interview the whistleblower. they have said no date has been set for that his lawyer is saying he is entitled to anonymity. he doesn't want his identity to be put out there because he fears his safety. brian: so here's the big story yesterday. and expect something every day. but just read beyond the headline. begin with the "new york times." trump pressed australian leader to help barr investigate the mueller's inquiry origins dating back to 2016. and "the washington post" in this headline barr form mayly asked foreign foirnlsz to inquiry into the cia and fbi activities in 2016. that shouldn't be surprising. the president asked publicly and said publicly now that i have w

special envoy to ukraine, kurt volcker, she did not hand over any documents as a key adviser to donald trump. that's reportedly because she did not take any documents with hefr according to tiles today is expected to confirm there was a quid pro quo, that the ukrainian government was told by the trump administration they wouldn't get a white house meeting unless they made a commitment for some kind of investigations that the administration wanted. and we know what the president wanted investigated was joe biden. but while we've had a bunch of reporting of what fiona hill was expected to have said today, she only emerged from her deposition immediately before i got on the air tonight after ten hours of questioning. so we sort of are still waiting to find out what may have happened, what may have transpired over the course we expect that her deposition will eventually be made public. as to what he said today, we have only the bearest sense. they say they want public testimony. they don't like that these things are happening behind closed doors. democratic congressman denny heck was asked

. >> the administration's former special envoy to ukraine kurt volcker who resigned after his name surfaced in the whistleblower complaint sit through a transcribed interview with investigators. republicans accused democrats of searching for a crime. >> they have been trying to impeach him from the day he was elected. they know the transcript is not enough. >> reporter: fox news s the legal team if there is a single contact or multiple. they told us their client officially found their concerns in august adding, quote, there was no contact between the legal team and congress until a month after the whistleblower complaint was submitted to the intelligence community inspector general. shannon: thank you. we are now finding out what might have caused consternation, rudy giuliani, trace gallagher is on the case tonight. >> reporter: fox news has a copy of rudy giuliani's notes that he took in january of his interview with the ukrainian investigator who is at the center of the ukraine controversy, the man joe biden bragged on camera about helping to get fired. according to giuliani he claims he

this comes after former ukrainian special envoy kurt volcker testified behind closed doors. wasn't talking after that marathon session. >> what did you learn today? >> we won't have any comments about the interview until it's concluded. >> reporter: this revelation, in a series of text message as, we are learning senior diplomats discussed the administration's suspension of military aid to ukraine. this is bill taylor, ambassador to ukraine, who is texting gordon sunland the u.s. am a bass door to the eu. this is what they said. i think it's crazy to help with the political campaign, sunland, saying i think you're incorrect about president trump's intentions, the president has been he very clear, no idea he o quo of any time. i suggest we stop the back and forth texts. here's the real point. it's unclear whether either ambassador will be called to testify in light of the texts. the hearings will continue today. ithe inspector is back on the hill, testifying behind closed doors. we may get developments perhaps he later today or over the weekend. cheryl: we'll follow all of it

kurt volcker's transcript hasn't yet been released. >> gordon sunland will also appear for a deposition on capitol hill later this week. eric: for more on what we can expect on the house investigation and the next steps in this inquiry, michigan democratic congresswoman debbie dingell joins us. congresswoman from southfield, michigan, this afternoon, first of all, do you think the speaker will finally move to try to get that full house vote, formalizing the impeachment inquiry? >> you know, i'm somebody who thinks that this is a very sad day, very sad time, that we must methodical, we cannot be emotional or whatever. we have three committees that are investigating. they're following where the facts are going to take us and we'll see whether that will be -- the house has been out for the last few weeks. there's been a series of hearings in a classified setting, because the acting director of homeland security and the inspector general said there were dangers to our national security. i think we need to try to be as transparent as we can. we need to tell american people, i agree with many

tell us what happened with kurt volcker, the former ambassador to the u.s.nvoy to ukraine who testified. what happened when he did? >> this is the thing, he goes, he gives his testimony in private and then they the take selective little snippets and put it out there to drive a narrative. we've seen the opening statement. it did leak. it turns out it was very ex on rating for the president in terms of the specific claim democrats are making that there was a quid pro quo with the ukraine and military aid hinged upon opening investigations. he flat-out said that was not the case and he was the man at the center of all of this. paul: dan, just as a political matter, you have the letter, the pushback, legal issues aside for a second. is it a sustainable political strategy not to cooperate with an impeachment inquiry? >> for the president and the white house? >> paul: yes. >> yeah, i think so. paul: really? >> i think as mr. sipiloni has said, if they're going to go through proper procedures and hold a vote, then they will consider cooperating. paul: this will be

thursday, the ex-special envoy kurt volcker will be questioned.riday is the deadline for pompeo to respond to a subpoena. and it is also when the house intel committee will hear from intel community inspector general michael atkinson about the handling of the whistle-blower's complaint. as we said, it's a lot. the senate is watching to see what happens -- no surprise. today, majority leader mcconnell was asked how he will respond if the house votes to impeach the president. >> if the house does go down that path, then we'll follow the senate rule. i would have no choice but to take it up. >> still with us, we've asked our print colleagues, philip rucker and katie benner to hang around for one more round of questioning. phil, let's talk about the democrats in the house. every minute we're watching and listening to schiff, we're not watching or listening to nadler, who happens to chair the judiciary committee. famously, when that committee had their moment of moral high ground, snubbed by the attorney general, they answered with an empty chair for e

. >> well, remember, bill taylor, kurt volcker, these are professional diplomats.ibutor to trump who, like a lot of big campaign contributors gets a plum assignment as an ambassador. but they don't have diplomatic experience. so he's very much in the president's political fold here. and you see him over text message engaging the skepticism by these more seasoned diplomats who say, well, what we are doing here? what is this arrangement where he's got -- by the way, his language in that -- in sondland's text, which it begs some cross-examination, is to say, well, we just want to make sure he believes in transparency and is going to investigate corruption. let's understand what that means. they want the new leader of ukraine to do the president's bidding which is, when i say corruption, that means investigate my political opponent and investigate my theory that's been debunked that somehow ukraine was behind interfering with our election in the united states and it wasn't really russia. that's what i want you to do. or else you don't get aid or we don't get a meeting,

however, the trump administration special envoy for ukraine, kurt volcker who resigned last week is expectedo testify in private thursday. meanwhile the inspector general is headed to capitol hill today to begin what is described as a urgent briefing from staffers from several house and senate committees. in other impeachment related news, the most senior republican in the senate, chuck grassley, is publicly supporting the anonymous intelligent official who blew the whistle on president trump's interactions with ukraine, grassley wrote, this person appears to have followed the whistleblower protection laws not to be heard out and protected. we should always work to protect whistleblowers grasslsl said. in news frfrom dallas, texasas, white police officicer was convicicted tuesdaday of murder her 26-year-old black neighbor in his own apartment in 2018. the off duty officer, amber guyger, claimed to have accidentally entered botham jean's apartment where he shot and killed him thinking he was an intreeder. t was located one floor below. guyger is the first police officer to be convicted of mur

the democrats are going to hear from someone named in that report, kurt volcker.ter therele. he's set to appear before a clos closed committee tomorrow. that's bring us to our guest. thanks for joining us, appreciate it. we'll get to volker in a second. the idea of the state of play between the united states president and the ukraine president, all right, you understand this dynamic much better than we ever will so thank you for the help in advance. the idea of that request being made along the lines of, well, we're just trying to deal with corruption there, does that make sense to you? >> no. i mean, it would be the first time that we know of that president trump has raised corruption with any other leader. i mean, it's never something he's been interested in before. in fact, his entire history over 35 years is supporting authoritarian regimes, turning a blind eye tore corruption. it awfully convenient in this one particular case where he mentions biden it's about corruption. it doesn't really stand up this was his motivating factor. it cle it's clear in the call

the is term of art used usn deposition, that the president was going through rudy giuliani and kurt volckerenvoy to ukraine, trying to get side deals done. i talked to one member, mike quigley, democrat from illinois. a member of the intelligence committee he reminded me of alfred hitchcock close, movies are basically life with the boring parts left out. this testimony we're hearing is the testimony with all the boring parts left out. connell: maybe we'll hear more about all that later. thank you as always. chad pergram. melissa. melissa: healthy menu, expanded delivery options working out for chipotle. shares rise after-hours after higher than expected sales growth at comparable stores. look at snap. shares down the company beat expectations for revenue but still reporting an adjusted loss of four cents a share. snapchat daily active users increasing 10% to 210 million. this just in, nike says mark parker steps aside as ceo, and will be replaced by one of the company's current board members, john donahoe. connell: a lot of news after the bell there. >>> changing her tune. new reports are r

special envoy kurt volcker writes heard in white house. assuming president zeke convinces trump hi will investigate get --. we will nail down date to visit washington. president trump's reply to purchase javelin p missiles, i would like you to do us a favor though. >> gordon sondlund,. i think p.o.t.u.s. really wants the deliverable. september 1st. top u.s. diplomat to ukraine. are we now saying that security assistance and white house meeting are conditioned on investigations? sondlund responds, call me. on september 9th. taylor again raises concerns. he writes to sondlund, as i said on the phone i think it is crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign. more than four hours later and remarkably different tone than previous text, sondlund replies bill i believe you were incorrect about president trump's intentions. the president has been clear not. quid pro quos of any time. that on the same day congress launched an investigation into the whistle blower's complaint. two days later. the white house released ukr

. >> there's sample reporting, fox news has shown that kurt volcker told congressional investigatorsarisma was history for corruption hand being investigated for money laundering. asked why they would bring in hunter biden in the first place, they were looking at having prominent people on its board. the biden campaign saying donald trump unprecedently is melting down because of the and ask ale he touched off by trying to get ukraine to lee about joe biden. on joe biden's watch, the u.s. made corruption a centerpiece of the policy. and hunter biden told nbc news that he did nothing illegal. >> you know what? i'm a human. you know what? did i make a mistake in maybe in the grand scheme of things, yeah. did i make a mistake based on some ethical lapse? absolutely not. >> hunter biden also took the position, neil, that he was perfectly qualified to sit on many of these boards. >> neil: thanks, catherine herridge, in washington. here's something that could get your goat if political stuff doesn't. you ever go to a restaurant and get the bill and built in on the bill is a 20% tip and the

his staff were among those that interviewed the source of those texts, kurt volcker. to the texts in a minute. your take on rachael bade's reporting that volker testified a meeting between ukraine's president and trump was contingent on the ukrainian president agreeing to make a statement regarding the bidens. >> i want to make clear i have read the text multiple times now. i was not there for mr. volker's testimony. but i can confirm that the u.s. held up -- used the power of the president to coerce ukraine to investigate biden and to also create something of an alternative universe as it relates to the 2016 election. and i think the big concern that the ukrainians had was having a white house meeting. i think that came before talk about military assistance as well. >> so -- excuse me -- the timing of this, is this before the president's phone conversation with ukrainian president in july -- the end of july? >> look, this is all happening just before and just after. i think the bottom line when you read these texts is it basically substantiates every aspect of the wh

>> reporter: yes, and it's a different story for kurt volcker, former u.s.ukraine who i'm told resigned because he did want to be a ibl to speak more freely to congress, who i'm told is expected to show up tomorrow. but what's interesting, i think, the shift that we've seen from house democrats is before, they sort of met any sort of, you know, stonewalling from the white house by saying, we'll see you in court. >> right. >> reporter: that changed dramatically. mow they're saying the speed of this impeachment inquiry renders all legal repercussions moot. what they're saying is any more stonewalling could be grounds for a new article of impeachment which would be congressional -- >> geoff bennett, he reminds me how i started the show because he was actually watching. we love you. geoff bennett on capitol hill. that wraps up the hour for me. "deadli "deadline: white house" with nicolle wallace starts now. >>> hi, everyone, it's 4:00 in new york. you know what that means. news breaking today one of donald trump's favorite yes men, secretary of state mike pompeo