michael crowley, you know the state department. carol lee as well. foreign service officers, career ambassadors. but what she is testifying to s is -- as eleanor holmes norton said, both sides are finding it credible. >> that is what strikes me here, what we're just getting in about her opening statement. it suggests she's not only talking about the particulars of her unhappy experience at the end of her tenure in ukraine when she was removed under suspicious circumstances but more broadly, the state department is being hollowed out, that diplomacy is being disrespected in this administration, saying there's a wider crisis in diplomacy in the state department. when rex tillerson was fired and mike pompeo took over the state department, mike pompeo said we're going to bring swagger back to the state department. even a lot of foreign service officers who didn't particularly like donald trump, there was a little bit of a sense of a reprieve. i think that honeymoon is long gone. >> carol, it was because there was a lot of suspicion against him initially

joining me now is phil rucker from "the washington post" and "the new york times"' michael crowley. welcome, both. the writing of peter baker, dan balz and the others, the testimony of williamr does connect the president of the united states directly to theome testimony from taylor, because this is a career diplomat with a tremendous amount of with ukraine was essentially overtaken by the president's political and that his spokespeople and aides have been denying. and, you know, as dan balz wrote in his piece, this is a question now of not whether donald trump did something wrong about whether the system will hold him accountable for that, and by that i mean the process unfolding on capitol hill right now. >> and "the new york times" he's a very helpful list of the six things we learned from william taylor's opening statement alone. bill taylor described an explicit quid pro quo. second, the white house had two channels on ukraine policy, the official one and the unofficial one, that was rudy giuliani. third, taylor was told ukraine had to pay up before the president would sign a ch

. >> michael crowley, i want to talk about this for a moment. what becomes very clear is this was a much longer-based shadow operation. all of the others who were involved in trying to influence ukraine policy for their own benefit, for whatever profit they were making out of it, we don't know all of that yestert, which was undermining the official state department, and the white house, as far as john bolton and the nsc were concerned, policy. let me play something that happened this morning. this is the senate foreign relations committee, the testimony of the man who is the nominee to become the new ambassador to moscow, to russia. he was asked by the ranking democrat, bob menendez of new jersey, about what happened when eliminated informed yovanovitch that she was being called back and why, because it was he who had to carry that out for mike pompeo. take a look at this. >> was there any basis to recall ambassador yovanovitch early? >> yes, there was, the president had lost confidence in her. >> the president had lost confidence in her. >> yes

joining us now, kristen welker, geoff bennett, michael crowley, former republican congressman david jolly, now an msnbc contributor, and mara gay, member of "the new york times"' editorial board. the president is sort of upping the ante, for the first time saying yes, he did want sfwlelens cansfwlel e zelensky of ukraine to investigate the bidens and now is saying president xi of china should do so as well. where are we? >> it was a remarkable moment, andrea, the president deposit n essentially doubling down on that phone call with the president of ukraine and then expanding it, saying china should be investigating as well. he raised china, by the way, andrea, that was unprompted. that's one of the things that makes this such an extraordinary moment and undoubtedly it's going to fuel the scrutiny that the president is facing right now on capitol hill. house democrats are going to have a range of questions now not only about ukraine but about china as well. the biden campaign already firing back, saying that this is akin to the president's moment during the 2016 campaign when he called on

. >> joining me is kristen welker, geoff bennett, and michael crowley. kristen, the walkout was extraordinary. for the speaker of the house to be insulted the way she was by the president and her to walk out are such a total breakdown. and this was not about impeachment. she said it didn't even columo . this was all about the withdrawal from syria and the domino effect of turkey, iran, and the middle east. >> that's right, andrea, the president clearly feeling defensive after that rebuke by congress. house speaker nancy pelosi essentially raising that with him during the meeting and president trump firing back. according to a readout from a democratic aide, president trump ended that meeting by saying, we'll see you at the polls. the white house isn't disputing that account. it really under scores how heightened the tensions are between the house speaker and president trump. as you point out, the white house tweeted that out essentially hoping it would underscore the president's argument that the house speaker had some sort of a meltdown. she flipped the

andrea mitchell, nbc news correspondent geoff bennett, new york times white house correspondent michael crowley, former deputy assistant secretary of state for east asia and pacific affairs michael fuchs and former house intel committee staffer mika o yang. andrea i want to start with you first. the democrats are today making it clear that they want state department employees to testify. how is the state department going to respond? >> well, the state department has already responded with mike pompeo's vigorous vetter and he repeated that today in rome at a news conference saying that the state department employees have to -- the right to have an attorney from the state department. the state department counsel, that anyone from the house committee has to go through procedures through the legislative affairs office at the state department before talking to any officials. he accused the committee of bullying and trying to intimidate them. not so, according to the democrats. that is not the way the law is written. i interviewed senator chris murphy as did rachel maddow last night saying that the p

plus fox contributor sir michael singleton who is here, and the white house correspondent michael crowley. michael, we want to talk to you if we can about this very quickly. we are hearing the president, he is praising what happened by his republican allies. yesterday he said this was the perfect call. but it seems like republicans are sort of grabbing at straws right now trying to come up with any clear strategy how to fight this. >> yeah. i think you're right. and, you know, a wise washington press person told me recently not in the context of the ukraine investigation he was reflecting on his career doing press step. it was a long career and he handled some very serious matters. he said when you can't argue on the substance, when you don't have a defense on the substance, you focus on the process. and this is just such a vivid illustration of that maxim. republicans are really not trying to defend the president on the substance. they don't have particularly good counter arguments to the claims being made by these quite credible state department nsc and other officials. so what they are

my thanks to heidi przybyla, to joel wine banks, matt miller and michael crowley.he white house taking credits for putting the green light. but that temporary ceasefire in syria is raising a lot of new questions at this hour. >>> also as that crisis an impeachment, donald trump goes all in on another conflict of interest and one of his own properties saying that his golf resort in florida is the perfect place to host the world. he might even invite putin. and remembering a giant on capitol hill and a key figure in the impeachment inquiry. congressman elijah cummings dead today all too soon at 68. we will be right back. right ba you should be mad at people who forget they're in public. and you should be mad at simple things that are unnecessarily complicated. but you're not mad, because you're trading with e*trade, which isn't complicated. their app makes trading quick and simple so you can strike when the time is right. don't get mad, get e*trade and start trading today. >>> did the president direct you or anyone else to work with rudy giuliani on ukraine? >> um, y

joining me covering capitol hill, geoff bennett, josh letterman, michael crowley, and also maria etchive septemb icet. it has been a busy week and democrats certainly have had a picture painted for them. >> reporter: they have. and as it relates to the whole quid pro quo controversy, the only reason why it mattetters politically is because mick mulvaney basically exploded what had been for republicans a reliable talking point. but as it relates substantively to this impeachment inquiry, the quid really is the crime. democrats don't have to prove the pro quo part of it. s it i wis illegal for any u.s. person to solicit or accept foreign interference, anything of value from a foreign national in connection to a u.s. election. so the president sending his personal attorney on a fact finding spree to manufacture damaging information or dig up dirt about the bidens, which would be in effect opposition research, that would be a thing of value. and that is why we've now heard house leadership, nancy pelosi, adam schiff, saying what president trump already has admitted to is in itself impeachabl

thank you, michael crowley of "the new york times". >>> coming up next, president trump reversing on holding the g-7 at his resort down in florida? is this a sign that when republicans push back, he actually listens? i don't know. you're watching "hardball." i don't know you're watching "hardball. i took your advice and asked my doctor to order cologuard, that noninvasive colon cancer screening test. the delivery guy just dropped it off. our doctor says it uses advanced science. it's actually stool dna technology that finds 92 percent of colon cancers. no prep, and private. colon cancer screening that's as easy as get, go, gone. ask your doctor if cologuard is right for you. covered by medicare and most major insurers. i am totally blind. and non-24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424. (honk!) i hear you sister. that's why i'm partnering with cigna to remind you to go in for your annual check-up, and be open with your doctor about anything you feel - physically and emotionally. but now cigna has

. >> michael steel, congressman joe crowley, eugene scott from "the washington post," thank you all. coming up, diplomatic disunity. one veteran ambassador explaining why he resigned from the foreign service because of the president's policies. >>> and former president jimmy carter back with us to talk about his philanthropic work for habitat with humanity and the state of the white house, ahead. g electric could lead to way cleaner teeth. she said, get the one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums. and unlike sonicare, oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety. what an amazing clean! i'll only use an oral-b! oral-b. brush like a pro. at humana, we believe your healthcare should evolve with you. and part of that evolution means choosing the right medicare plan for you. humana can help. with original medicare, you're covered for hospital stays and doctor office visits, but you'll have to pa

crowley, former secretary of state under hillary clinton and michael mcfall, and national affairs analyst, gentlemen. ambassador, you first here. i'm thinking you might personally know many of these senior diplomats getting called to testify. i'm curious what you might be hearing in those circles. >> yes, i know them all, except for ambassador sondland. i've known many of them for decades. ambassador yovanovitch i've known for a long time. fiona hill has been a colleague of mine going back to the early '90s. ambassador taylor, i know them all, and i agree with the analysis earlier. first of all, before we jump to the future, i do think that the statement that ambassador yovanovitch made yesterday -- we don't know what she testified in the eight or nine hours that she was there -- but it was extraordinary. i urge all your viewers to read it. and i think what you see there is a real patriot, somebody dedicated to the united states of america, who took an oath to this country and not to any individuals, and underscoring how dangerous it is to privatize diplomacy, as we saw with mr. giuliani,