removed from office a 3rd president richard nixon resigned whilst the proceedings were underway michael isikoff is chief investigative correspondent yahoo news keeping us company here on al-jazeera michael great to talk to you again what's the case that the democrats have to make here. they have to make the case that the president's dealings with ukraine constitute. bribery high crimes or misdemeanors which is the standard way down in the constitution for impeachment of a president now as we've discussed before those words are open to many interpretations the and that's why you have heard over the last week or 2 the democrats sharpening their rhetoric dropping the words quid pro quo and using instead the words bribery an extortion sort of suggesting that there was pure criminality in the president's conduct with the ukraine now they could you know they've got a very sympathetic witness to start out the hearings today mr taylor the charge d'affaires in ukraine a west point grad a vietnam vet a career diplomat somebody who is trying to implement what was really the bipartisan policy of the united

or so thank you very much alan fish every us all the latest from washington joining me now is michael isikoff chief investigative correspondent yahoo news joins me from washington so very clear testimony from golden sonnen there that that caylee was a quote. suggesting that everything we have heard so far about this from president trant denying that there was any wrongdoing saying that it's all part of a political witch hunt against him is wrong. yeah look this was very powerful damning testimony by gordon sohn lend a couple of lines just leapt out. you know from his testimony one we were all following the president's orders that psalms exact words he's talking about the pressure campaign that was being put on presidents alinsky and ukrainian officials to get them to make these statements about investigations into the bidens an alleged and suppose a 2016 interference by the ukrainians in the presidential election and another one that was pretty significant everyone was in the loop and by that he meant secretary pompei o mick mulvaney the acting white house chief of staff said everybody in the

she joins me along with laura coates and michael isikoff. good evening, one and all.entonmementos day yesterday. going to have another one tomorrow. the president is at a rally tonight actually claiming republicans want him impeached. what did he say? >> yeah, this is not what we've been hearing behind the scenes from republican lawmakers but the president did host some republican senators at the white house today and listen to thousand he's describing their reaction to what's going on on capitol hill today. >> but you know what they're doing now? the republicans are coming. sir, our poll numbers are going through the roof. do you think we could keep this going? i said, do me a favor. let's get it ended. they said, but let's keep it going, president, it's so great because we've never had a time th like this. they actually said, let's keep this sucker going for a while, mr. president. >> now, don, i should also note during that same rally the president claimed that george kent and bill taylor had no answer when they were asked yesterday by a republican what it is he sh

well michael isikoff is chief investigative correspondent for yahoo news he joins us now from washington d.c. mike or us are hearing from and see all of our attention has been distracted by this impeachment inquiry so let's start with that just why do you think john bolton is refusing to participate in this inquiry and do you think this helps or hinders the president has his no show. well it nobody really expected john bolton to show up today for his testimony he had the same lawyer he has the same lawyer as his deputy his former deputy charles complement who actually sued went to court seeking a judicial order as to whether or not he has to testify in response to a subpoena when the white house has directed them not to because of executive privilege grounds that the committee the democrats have now withdrawn that subpoena because they did not see a favorable outcome coming from the judge who was assigned to that case he was a republican appointee a judge we own and they were afraid that the judge was not going to give the direct order for mr kopper man that they wanted so once they with

michael isikoff, the chief correspondent for yahoo! news. >> sure enough. ♪ opposition leader has been unable to form a coalition government paving the way for the country to go to the polls again. israel's split system has been paralyzed from us after two inconclusive elections, one in april and one in september. benjamin netanyahu did not get an overall majority, so he victor lieberman but he refused them both and he has now urged the two leaders to form a unity government. we have more on this now from westerners love. -- west jerusalem. reporter: four hours before the deadline he came to the microphones to admit what had become increasingly clear throughout the course of the data he had failed. but he put the blame for that of benjaminthe feet netanyahu. saying he had been fortifying himself inside a transitional government against the will of the israeli people to try to avoid prosecution in a corruption cases and he used personal language in a very strong attack against the netanyahu saying that no party leader was above the nati

say are committed many thanks indeed on white house correspondent kelly how could washington michael isikoff is the chief investigative correspondent of yahoo news he joins us now live from washington michael good to have you with us much anticipated really in his testimony has been described as pundits rubbing their hands with glee come here to wait what he's wait to hear what he's going to say well why is he so anticipated. look there's no question that this is the most crucial witness so far. is the one which this who had the most contact with president trump on the whole ukraine matter he's already testified behind closed doors he had to amend his testimony already because he his memory was refreshed about yes he did in fact bring up the military aid saying that the best way for ukraine telling the ukrainians in warsaw the best way to get the you the military assistance hold lifted was to announce these investigations but now he's got a real problem because it david holmes before state department official and kid have has given a gripping very detailed account of a phone call that someon

sure as you watch that unfold there in washington many thanks for the meantime let's talk now to michael isikoff he's a chief investigative correspondent at yahoo news he joins us as well from washington michael good to have you here on the news how might this change the prism through which the world views the trump presidency. well look this is the key moment because this is the moment that the impeachment hearings are going public this is the chance for the democrats who are pressing this to make their case to the american public and it's also a chance for the republicans who are playing defense lawyers for the president to poke its holes and it's going to be really interesting to see how the 2 sides fare in till now both sides have been playing to their base democrats. in the prosecutorial mode playing to its progressive base that almost unanimously wants to see the president impeached and removed from office the republicans playing to their base the trump base and to the fox news crowd that has been attacking the president's critics consistently the question now is these public hearings are

giuliani in shaping ukranian policy it is the 4th transcript to be released from the inquiry on michael isikoff is chief investigative correspondent for yahoo news he says bolton's absence is not a surprise. nobody really expected john bolton to show up today for his testimony he had the same lawyer he has the same lawyer and his deputy his former deputy charles come from and who actually sued went to court seeking a judicial order as to whether or not he has to testify in response to a subpoena when the white house has directed them not to because of executive privilege grounds that the committee the democrats have now withdrawn that subpoena because they did not see a favorable outcome coming from the judge who was assigned to that case he was a republican appointee a judge leon and they were afraid that the judge was not going to give the direct order for mr kopper men that they wanted so once they leave withdrew that they basically said we're not going to force this in court right now that affects mr goh bolton who will almost certainly not be testifying before the house the real question t

joining me to discuss, manu raju and michael isikoff. michael, let me start with you here.still learning new information about events at really the heart of this impeachment inquiry. there was developments in the last couple hours alone. is there an argument now for taking a little more time to dig into all of this before moving on to the next phase of the inquiry? >> well, certainly there's an argument for it. >> is it a good one? >> whether it's politically wise for the democrats to do at this point is a little unclear. you know, yesterday there was all the talk in light of the ruling by judge jackson involving don mcgahn. whether that was grounds for holding off to try to get testimony from people like john bolton and mick mulvaney, i don't think that's likely to happen if only because the appeal -- you know, we saw the appeals filed today in the mcgahn case. that's going to delay things. and as far as the ukraine testimony in and of itself, i don't know that the democrats are in a position to get much more useful testimony on this because some of the key questions that

joining me now susan glasser, michael isikoff and harry lipman. i'll start with you. the testimony from white house national security official corroborates claims of a quid pro quo. unfolding. with holding ukraine aid in the exchange for investigation into the bidens. but he's also said that he didn't think anything on the call was illegal. the white house says testimony is good for them. how do you see it? >> obviously i'm looking forward to reading the full deposition. the report of the testimony suggests he did in fact corroborate realtime concerns about the with holding of $400 million in u.s. security assistance to ukraine with the condition being trump wanted the investigations launched. remember that others especially u.s. acting ambassador to ukraine have said he was a key source conveying this information and conveying concerns to realtime. morrison would have been in a tough position to deny the information that taylor already testified to. under oath. how much does it matter what his interpretation is. is he a lawyer, i don't know what to make of him saying

michael isikoff, great to have you on.>> sure. >>> dealing with a series of incredibly troubling racists. students say the university is not doing enough. >>> but first you might have heard of facebook's plans to launch cryptocurrency sit. the man who created it said it would change the world for the better, but it's controversial. >>> facebook's david marcus has business aspirations for libra. the proposed cryptocurrency could change the global system, making it easier to send money cheaply and quickly. >> when you have over 7 billion people that don't have access to digital money, something is wrong. he's also overseeing the digital wallet calibra. why facebook? >> we have distribution, we have two of the largest messaging apps in the world. we also bring a lot of bagsage that we have to be aware of. >> the libra association is a separate governsing body. >> there have been some setbacks. has the bleeding stopped? >> we just need to do a really good job at clarifying what the regulatory framework will be. once we have do

let's bring in laura coates and michael isikoff. good evening. trump ambassador to the eu admitting he realized trump wanted a quid pro quo all of a sudden now he remembers this? >> that's quite an epiphany and end to the amnesia. and it indicates to everyone, this is why you have closed-door testimony, don. and you don't want witnesses to be able to get the story straight. you want them to remember the facts. and the second everyone else was corroborating and had the conversation about the quid pro quo, he was able to change his story. and you want that to happen. you want them to be able to have the realization. no matter how disingenuous it may be because it helps to go forward with the inquiry. >> bill taylor testified about multiple occasions of quid pro quo with sondland. are we really supposed to believe -- they're on the screen. that sondland didn't know of a quid pro quo until september 1? >> no. and actually, first of all you have sondland admitting that he basically in september in warsaw tells zelensky aide that the suspension of mili

natasha bertrand and michael isikoff, thank you.appy thanksgiving, both of you. >> thank you. >>> and now, a triple threat. a number of storms looking to upset the thanksgiving week. and now, look at which actors returned to "saturday night live" to spoof the latest democratic debate. >> i did have a heart attack, tack, tack, tack, and you should know by now i am doing better than ever. the doctors are surprised i made it. >> i know some of you think that i am is making, because i am nervous, by it is the quivering bang. >> america, i see you. i see the faces that you all make when you, when i talk, you are scared. scared i'll say something off color or even worse on color. >> hi, guys. i'm billionaire tom steyer, and i'm running for president for the simple reason. it's fun. it gets me out of the house. >> did somebody say billionaire? >> mayor bloomberg, how did you get in here? >> well, i tipped the doorman $30 million. ♪'cause no matter how far away you roam.♪ ♪when you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze.♪ ooh a >>> 47 pas

. >> michael isikoff and christina wilkie, thank you. >>> a judge says don mcgahn must testify in the impeachment hearings and the supreme court makes a move on the fight for the president's tax returns. more on those two very big developments and legal battles with the trump administration in two minutes. tles with the trump administration in two minutes. ll the things you want to do. because when you're ready for what comes next, the only direction is forward. yeah right. iand the earth is flat. ahhh!! treat your cough seriously with robitussin cf max. nothing lasts longer and treats more symptoms for your cough, cold and flu. robitussin. because it's never just a cough. fidelity has zero commissions for online u.s. equity trades and etfs, plus zero minimums to open a brokerage account. with value like this, there are zero reasons to invest anywhere else. fidelity. >>> big breaking news tonight on the extremely active legal front between congress and the white house. a u.s. district court in washington, d.c., ruled that former white house counsel don mcgahn does indeed have to testi

well michael isikoff is such chief investigative correspondent for you he nice and he says john bolton'sabsence isn't a surprise if you're john bolton to show up today for his testimony he had the same lawyer he has the same lawyer and his deputy his former deputy charles complement who actually sued went to court seeking a judicial order as to whether or not he has to testify in response to a subpoena when the white house has directed them not to because of executive privilege grounds that the committee the democrats have now withdrawn that subpoena because they did not see a favorable outcome coming from the judge who was assigned to that case he was a republican appointee a judge leon and they were afraid that the judge was not going to give the direct order for mr kopper men that they wanted so once they leave withdrew that they basically said we're not going to force this in court right now that affects mr gold bolton who will almost certainly not be testifying before the house the real question though is what happens when this goes to a trial in the senate and. whether i think it's

isikoff, and rick santorum who voted to remove clinton from office during the mock trial. president trump has repeatedly discussed firing his own pick, his own hand-picked ig for the intelligence committee michael atkinson because atkinson determined the whistle-blower's complaint was credible and urgent. the president apparently believes he's disloyal and trying to sabotage his presidency. what does this tell you? >> well, it concerns me greatly, erin, as a former federal inspector general myself. this inspector general like all inspector generals was doing his and for that he's drawn others who seem to have a commitment to finding the facts and the facts that the president may not like, but let me point out one thing that should also concern us and that is this idea that this ig or any ig should be loyal to the president. that's not how the system works. the igs -- >> right. -- are in place to root out waste, fraud and abuse and that is their sole mission. they don't play politics. they're not loyal to anybody. the only thing they're loyal to is the truth and that's how they do their job. >> so, senator, according to the times, people close to the president believe the political consequences