ukraine's president followed a mere zelinsky sat he did not feel pressured by trump's threat to withhold military aid but analysts say it has affected the image of the united states and ukraine and could even push some towards moscow what we're seeing in washington now that is under threat of unraveling completely as widely reported a series that for true. tropp is not interested in the larger issues of democracy promotion state building and human rights in ukraine rather he's interested in using grain for his old political needs. but the us president still has some fans in kiev this coffee shop only opened a few months ago i would say it would make ukraine more famous and more people aware ukraine was happening in ukraine about war in the middle of europe. but it wouldn't hurt the planes in that many americans don't even know that you're training this young teacher by us military i don't feel any particular help from america so i think we have to rely on ourselves. not the sort of message ukrainian soldiers fighting what is known as the forgotten war against russian b

ukraine. william taylor was speaking at the house impeachment hearing into whether trump pressured ukraine to ate his rival. trump has been hosting the turkish president at the white house for the first time since turkey's syria offensive. the president said europe should be paying more to cover the costs of syrian refugees. according to medical sources, two palestinians were killed overnight as israeli military jets continue to target gaza. rockets are being launched into israel. since tuesday, the number of dead in gaza is 24. gaza's skies filled with smoke for the second day as israel's military continues to target what it says our rocket launch sites. level, theernight rockets are fired from gaza into israel. gaza city has all but shut down. many of its people are hiding. >> i think the situation is going toward war like in 2014. still, it is not clear. in the coming hours, the situation will become more clear. tuesday, israeli fighter jets killed a leader. israel blamed him for dozens of attacks. islamic jihadists responded by launching more than 200 rockets into israel. israeli armored v

president of trump's now ended america's acting ambassador in ukraine says he was told trump cared more about an investigation into his rival joe biden then he did about ukraine called turkey a great nato ally during president reject type one visit to the white house is happening at same time is that your and i discussed turkey's offensive into northern syria and purchase of a russian missile defense. and israel's continued to bomb dancer in the early hours of thursday islamic jihad 5 is also fired more rockets into israel 27 palestinians have been killed in the past 2 days. 2 protesters in bolivia have been killed on the interim president's 1st day in office security forces fired tear gas at hundreds of supporters of the former president evo morales who resigned on sunday over his disputed reelection demonstrations took place near the presidential palace where action is proclaimed herself interim president the session that we had been boycotted by morality has left wing parties here is more from theresa bush at a demonstration in support of morales on the streets of. we're here just a

until she was recalled earlier this year the inquiry is looking into whether trump withheld military aid to ukraine. in exchange for a promise of an inquiry against his political rivals but coleman al-jazeera castro has more from capitol hill. president trump has said he too busy to watch the impeachment inquiry hearings threatening to end his presidency but he found time friday to catch some of the hearing unfolding on live t.v. and he tweeted about the witness on the stand his former ambassador to ukraine a woman he ousted from the post as we sit here testifying the president is attacking you or twitter. and i'd like to give you a chance to respond read part of one of his tweets everywhere maria on average when it turned bad but would you like to respond to the president's attack that everywhere you went turned bad i mean i can't speak to what the president is trying to do but i think the effect is to be intimidating you vonnegut is a career diplomat who served more than 30 years under presidents of both parties in a july phone call the basis for the current impeachment inquiry trying to told the

anticorruption efforts in ukraine. trump put his personal and political interests above those of the united states. the ambassador would tell david holmes after speaking to the president, trump did not give a expletive about ukraine. he cares about the big stuff that benefits him like the biden investigations rudy giuliani was pushing. ambassador sondland was a skilled dealmaker put in trying theatisfy a directive to president found himself embroiled in a deal to press the ukrainian president that departed from the norms in policy and process. in february ambassador sondland traveled to ukraine on his first official trip to that country. he met with the then ambassador to ukraine and found her to be an excellent diplomat with deep command of ukrainian internal dynamics. zelensky was elected president of ukraine and spoke to president trump, who congratulated him and said he would look into attending zelensky's inauguration and pledged to send someone at a high level. between the time of that call and the inaugural on may 20,

anti corruption efforts in ukraine. trump put his personal and political interests above those of the united states as a bastard son and would later tell career foreign service officer david holmes immediately after speaking to the president trump did not give a expletive about ukraine he cares about big stuff that benefits him like the biden investigations that rudy giuliani was pushing investors on and was a skilled dealmaker but in trying to satisfy a directive from the president himself increasingly embroiled in an effort to press the new ukrainian president that deviated sharply from the norm in both terms of policy and process in february a baster sonnen traveled to ukraine on his 1st official trip to that country while in kieve he met with then u.s. ambassador to ukraine marie avant of edge and found her to be an excellent diplomat with a deep command of ukrainian internal dynamics on april 21st zelinsky was elected president of ukraine and spoke to president trump who congratulated him and said he would look into atte

saw and the mainstream media accounts describing you saw you diplomats who disliked president trumps ukraine policy discussing secondhand and thirdhand conversation about their objections with the trump policy meanwhile they admitted they had not talked to the president about these matters and they were unable to identify any crime or impeachable offense the president committed what you read in the press were accounts of shocking damning and explosive testimony that fully supports the democrats' accusations if these accounts have a familiar ring it's because this is the same purpose reporting the media offered for 3 years on the russian hoax on a nearly daily basis the top news outlets in america reported breathlessly on the newest bombshell revelations showing that president trump and everyone surrounding him were russian agents it really wasn't long ago that we were reading these headlines from c.n.n. congress investigating russian investment fund with ties to trump officials this was false new york times trump campaign aides had repeated contacts with russian intelligence also false slate

national security goals in ukraine one week later on july 25th president trump spoke with president selenski by phone when presidents alinsky brought up u.s. military support and noted that ukraine would like to buy more javelin antitank missiles from the united states trump responded by saying i would like you to do us a favor though trump them requested that selenski investigate the discredited conspiracy theory that ukraine interfered in the 2016 election even more ominously trump asked alinsky to look into the bidens neither request had been included in the official talking points for the call prepared by the n.s.c. staff but both were in donald trump's personal interest and the interests of his 2020 reelection campaign and the ukraine president knew about both in advance in part because of efforts by ambassadors sonnen volcker to make him aware of president trumps the man's the next day july 26th in kieve homes served as a note taker during a meeting between acting ambassador bill taylor volker and solomon with presidents alinsky and others senior ukrainian officials selenski said on th

you'd have to ask trump what it is he wanted to be honest i don't have a clue on the other nurses in the police probably wanted to make ukraine join nato and the e.u. . this to turn 33 but it trump has his reelection to think about. and selenski really wants to be friends with world leaders that's why he caved in. as far away as the so-called ukraine scandal might feel to ordinary ukrainians this is clearly about more than just making friends with world leaders $400000000.00 in military aid to be precise dependent on presence selenski willingness to launch an investigation into trump opponent joe biden's son hunter so the allegation goes in ukraine's 5 you conflict with russia u.s. military assistance and financial support being crucial until now aid for ukraine has enjoyed bipartisan support in washington but could that support now evaporate if ukraine was seen to be meddling in u.s. domestic politics well i think his strategy was to avoid taking sides because he understands that the american support the international support is crucial for for ukraine because ukraine is facing russian aggression imagine if you crane is lose

it is good idea. >> giuliani's anti-biden crusade dovetailed perfectly with president trump's conviction that ukraine in the 2016 election. all of which leads back to that fateful phone call. and the new evidence, reams of text messages that showed how hard president trump and his men were willing to push a foreign government to dig up dirt on a domestic rival. >>> still ahead, the impeachment crisis just keeps getting worse for president trump. >> it's a very simple story. it's an abuse of power. t mattre. whether you're looking for a top-brand at a great price. ready to upgrade. moving in. moving on up. or making big moves. deliveries ship free and come with a 100-night free trial. no matter your budget. or your sleep style. we have quality options for everyone. so search and shop. save and snooze. and rest easy, knowing that we've got your back. literally. that's what you get, when you've got wayfair. so shop now. hey allergy muddlers... achoo! ...do your sneezes turn heads? try zyrtec... ...it starts working hard at hour one... and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. zyrtec m

ukraine. in the hospital the former. he's currently. president trump ambassador to ukraine. uty assistant secretary of state. they are responding to a congressional subpoena. they are being truthful and saying what the calling it like it was and kept saying we're not taking sides we're fact witnesses. in a way it was amazing demonstration of the american constitutional system working. not a lot of other countries where people who are subordinates of the leader would be out there in open congressional testimony saying this is the stuff he did. and it's not good. we don't like it. >> it's interesting to see how conservative media played taylors testimony. i read it. i think i'm right. taylor when they were bringing up the conspiracy theory, he was just laughing at them. like i don't see how that makes sense. or that has to do with anything. he laughed it off. his face showed what he was thinking. >> his best moment the republican counsel says trump could have been more out landish. and taylor looks and says, yeah. i guess he could have been more outlandish. it's possible to ima

ukraine delivered a bombshell. now details about president trump's added push for ukraine to open investigations that could boost his reelection effort. bill taylor recounted a conversation between trump and u.s. ambassador to the european union gordon sondland on july 26th, a day after trump spoke by phone to ukrainian president zels and pressed them toin investigate the biden family and the 2016 election. >> the member of my staff could hear president trump on the phone asking ambassador sondland about the investigations. mr. sondland told president trump that the ukrainians were ready to move forward. following the call with president trump the member of my staff asked ambassador sondland what president trump thought about ukraine. ambassador sondland responded that president trump cares more about the investigations of biden, which giuliani was pressing for. >> reporter: at the time trump had already frozen military aid to ukraine. diplomats were panicking about the facial security ramifications of with holding the funds and ukrainian soldiers were dying on the front lines in the battle with russia. according to

president trump and the ukrainian president followed amusin lansky. this summer ukraine was trying to end a military conflict with russian back separatist forces in the east of the country and was looking for aid from the us democrats allege that trump urged ukraine to investigate the son of democratic politician joe biden and his dealings with the ukrainian and the g. company called burruss ma the career diplomat william taylor was u.s. ambassador to ukraine at the time. i mean july was becoming clear to me that the meeting president alinsky wanted was condition on the investigations of barista and alicia crane interference in the 26000 us elections it was also clear that this condition was driven by the irregular policy channel i'd come to understand was guided 'd by mr giuliani rudy giuliani stand up and. that's donald trump's personal lawyer and embassador taylor says mr giuliani was involved in an unofficial communication channel that was unaccountable to congress and was involved in pressuring ukraine. president trump dismissed the inquiry i'm too busy to watch it

have you ever thought about getting out of ukraine? trump: my support is very good, my relationship with ukraine is very good. my relationship with russia is very good. my relationship with china is very good. people don't understand, i get along. nobody is going to mess with me. >> -- under investigation? trump: the investigation is moving along, that is up to attorney general barr, highly respected. john durham is one of the most respected prosecutors in the last 50 years in this country. and i let them do their thing. bill barr and john durham and what they come up with will be very meaningful. we will see what happens. i do not get involved with it. and by the way, i would be allowed to get involved with it, but why? i chose not to. it is up to bill barr. the john durham investigation is very important. i feel, one of the most important investigations in the history of our country. >> do you have a date or a venue for your meeting? trump: i know they would like to meet, something like that could happen. >> du one house republicans to cal

for the impeachment hearings the question everyone wants him to answer did president trump hold back financial 80 ukraine in exchange for a corruption probe into his democratic rival joe biden and his links to energy fund the research the own said he was following instructions from trump's attorney rudy giuliani thank you as i testified previously mr giuliani's requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a white house visit for president selenski mr giuliani demanded that ukraine make a public statement announcing the investigations of the 2016 election d.n.c. server and very smart mr giuliani was expressing the desires of the president of the united states and we knew these investigations were important to the president but what about the millions of dollars of military aid that ukraine was waiting for from reza we learned that the white house had also suspended security aid to ukraine. i tried diligently to ask why the aid was suspended but i never received a clear answer in the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid i later came to believe that the resumption of security aid woul

hunter biden, trump once in about 2016, new york times ukraine for donald trump's campaign.y had a black ledger and people in the government were leaking it to news outlets in the united states for the purpose of embarrassing the president, the president let his campaign manager go and they were digging as much dirt on his consulting for business over there in leaking out and leaking it out to the new york times, the associated press and others. for example, the near times is very long, headlines of mysterious payments, it has offshore companies, there is more and more. there is a disputed investment as ukrainian governors try to affect the american election pretty is the follow-up by the new york times, ukraine releases details for trump aid, paul manafort, ukrainian authorities under pressure for assertion that once secret county documents show cash payments from a pro-russian political party for donald trump's campaign manager, some for millions of dollars, the russians did interview with our election, the obama administration interviewed without election, the fbi, cia, f

president on the trump have ended america's acting ambassador in ukraine says he was told trump cared more about an investigation into his rival joe biden and he did about ukraine trump's accused of pressuring key have into investigating biden in exchange for military and aides it's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the white house it's another thing i thought. to leverage security assistance security assistance to a country at war. dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support it was it was much more alarming the white house meeting was one thing security assistance was much more alarming in reaction donald trump was dismissive of what he has already labeled a witch hunt i hear it's a joke i haven't watch i have a watch for one minute because i've been with the president which is much more important as far as i'm concerned this is a sham and shouldn't be allowed it was a situation that was caused by people that shouldn't have allowed it to happen who want to find out who is the whistleblower and because the whistleblower gave a lot of very incorre

trump. >> ambassador bill taylor, trump's top diplomat in ukraine and george kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state laying out what they saw and heard as the trump administration held up military aid while demanding investigations into trump's political enemies. >> the odd push to make president zelensky publicly commit to investigations of burisma and alleged interference in the 2016 election showed how the official foreign policy of the united states was undercut by the irregular efforts led by mr. giuliani. >> reporter: taylor and kent testifying that rudy giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, was leading what taylor called a highly irregular channel with ukraine. >> what interests do you believe he was promoting, mr. kent? >> i believe he was looking to dig up political dirt against a potential rival in the next election cycle. >> i agree with mr. kent. >> both men making clear how unsettled they were with the rogue ukraine policy and the demands on the ukrainians. >> it's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the white house. it's another thing, i thought, to levera

anti-corruption efforts in ukraine. trump put his personal and political interests above those of the united states. as ambassador sondland would later tell david holmes immediately after speaking to the president, trump did not give a expletive about ukraine. he cares about big stuff that benefits him, like the biden investigations that rudy giuliani was pushing. ambassador sondland was a skilled deal maker. but in trying to satisfy a directive from the president, found himself increasingly embroiled to press the new ukrainian president that deviated from the norm in policy and process. in february ambassador sondland traveled to ukraine on his first official trip to that country. while in kyiv be he met with marie yovanovitch and found her to be an excellent dip with deep command of the internal dynamics. on april 21st, zelensky was elected president of ukraine and spoke to president trump who congratulated him and said he would look into attending zelensky's inauguration but pledged to send someone in a very, very high lev

president trump was aware of a whistle blower's complaint against him when he throws military aid to ukraine trump is facing an impeachment inquiry of allegations that he withheld the money to force ukraine into investigating and political rival those were the headlines stay with us here. is still a major killer and african nations are struggling with the highest infection rates thousands of experts will meet in rwanda to exchange ideas and work out how to confront one of the world's most serious health challenges special coverage on al-jazeera. hi i'm steve clemons and i have a question has congress convince the american people that impeaching president donald trump is justified let's get to the bottom line. the impeachment agrees officially 2 months old and it seems that the only thing that it is really proved is that americans live side by side in 2 parallel universes in one donald trump tried to bribe a foreign country into investigating a political rival to win the elections next year and then the other democrats are conspiring to destroy the president at any cost and their partners are an ev

later zelinsky thanks trump for his support in the area of defense and says that ukraine is ready to purchase more javelins an anti-tank weapon that was among the most important deterrents a further russian military action trumps immediate response i would like you to do us a favor though from then requested that selenski investigate the discredited 2016 crowd strike conspiracy theory and even more ominous the ominously look into the bidens neither of these investigations was in the us national interest and neither was part of the official preparatory material for the call both however were in donald trump's personal interest and in the interests of his 2020 reelection campaign and the ukrainian president knew about both in advance because stalin and others had been pressing ukraine for weeks about investigations into the 2016 election. and the bidens after the call multiple individuals were concerned enough to reported to the national security council's top lawyer the white house would then take the extraordinary step of moving the call record to a highly classified server exclusivel

vladimir putin knew donald trump's intentions in the ukraine before anyone outside of trump and sondland knew himself. >> what does that mean? what's the practical impact? >> the practical impact is he is now one step ahead of what every player in this game is doing. and he can actually, through his own intermediaries, through spies that he has in the ukraine, through his allies in the russian ole garky and the ukrainian cole gole garky, they actually steer donald trump in the direction that russia wants him to go and can actually craft his counternegotiations with zelensky through hints, tips, tricks, or even direct communications to him, saying that he wants the united states to take a harder line on certain things like javelin missiles. >> i mentioned the classic frog-boiling experiment so fun, i've toyed with the idea of airing it. but the video on youtube is so sad, we don't dare do that on behalf of frog advocates everywhere. but how did it come to pass that russian involvement, per se, has been baked into the cake, has been boiled into the frog in our society in 2019? >> you have

. >> reporter: trump held desperately needed aid to ukraineing russian invasion. >> i have been far tougher on russia than any president in many, many years. >> reporter: trump has now made that claim repeatedly. >> i would certainly think about it. president putin invited me. >> reporter: and still he says he may accept an invitation to join putin in moscow next may for a parade showcasing russia's military might. jim sciutto, cnn, new york. >> what a look when you lay it all out there in one place. >>> this morning there is a republican politician who seems to be suing a when he will lole people over ridiculous things for a ridiculous amount of money, and it's not donald trump. find out who that politician is ahead in our reality check. you wouldn't do only half of your daily routine so why treat your mouth any differently? listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99.9% of germs. try listerine®. need stocking stuffers? try listerine® ready! tabs™. so why treat your mouth any differently? listeri

impeachment inquiry of the president trump is due to begin its 2nd day of public hearings on friday on the witness stand will be the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine who was recalled after what one state department official called a campaign of lies against her by trump's personal lawyer thousands of kilometers away the man on the other end of the phone call that sparked the inquiry ukrainian president blogger may have selenski is getting more attention from the u.s. than he ever wanted so how does the impeachment inquiry look from kiev and what's at stake they had. i think good phone call to us normal we spoke about many seeing such and such so i think and you will read is that nobody bullshit bush me yes or no great. no pressure on ukraine to launch an investigation into trump rival joe biden's son hunter that's a claim that since been challenged by numerous top u.s. officials testifying to congress irrespective of whether this ends in impeachment for trump what does this mean for his visibly uncomfortable guest polluting as events q. and the country really. is worrying is ukraine gate is for ukraine's leaders in the streets of the capital kiev

anti-corruption efforts in ukraine. trump put his personal and political interests above those of the united states. as ambassador sondland would later tell career foreign service officer david holmes immediately after speaking to the president, trump did not give a expletive about ukraine. he cares about big stuff that benefits him, like the biden investigations that rudy giuliani was pushing. ambassador sondland was a skilled deal maker but in trying to satisfy direction from the president found himself increasingly embroiled in an effort to press the ukrainian president, and deviated sharply from the norm in both terms of policy and process. in february, ambassador sondland traveled to ukraine on his first official trip to that country. while in kyiv, he met with marie yovanovitch, and found deep internal dynamics. on april 21st, zelensky was elected president to north carolina, and spoke to president trump who congratulated him and said he would look into his inauguration, but plans to send someone at a very, very high le

put on ukraine's leader. and donald trump's threat to withhold military aid to ukraine is an important part of the inquiry care of has received an estimated one and a half $1000000000.00 from the u.s. over the past 5 years surpassing reports from the center of western ukraine where u.s. military specialists train local soldiers. that are. laying low seems to be the message in ukraine after u.s. military aid was temporarily suspended in july the country was suddenly at the center of an american political storm involving a phone call between the u.s. president and the newly elected ukrainian leader. undeterred by what's going on in washington ukrainian soldiers are preparing war games with the u.s. colleagues at the joint multi national training center in the west of the country tactics they can use in the ongoing war against russian backed separatists in the east where we pay attention to politics that doesn't affect our process will be here tomorrow or as long as both governments agree that we're needed here. besides having ukr

following the call a member of my staff asked ambassador sondland what president trump thought about ukraine. sondland said mr. trump cares more about the investigations of biden. >> reporter: it's a call sondland never mentioned in his testimony getting to the heart of democrats' argument military aid to a white house meeting were being with held until ukraine announced the investigation into the president's political rival. >> neither of these investigations was in the u.s. national interest. both however, were in donald trump's personal interest. >> have you ever seen another example of foreign aid conditioned on the personal or political interests of the president of the united states >> no, mr. goldman, i have not. >> reporter: the hearing testy at times. you yourself, mr. chairman, mischaraterized the call >> will suspend. >> reporter: with republicans denouncing it as a partisan sham. >> i'd like to congratulate you for passing the democrat star chamber additions held for the last weeks in the basement of the capitol. it seems you agreed whiting or unwittingly to participate in a dram

we know these statements against ukraine trump has been making have gone back and preceded even manafortas campaign manager. during the summer of 2016, he was calling into question ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty saying maybe crimea is actually part of russia, maybe i won't support that as president, which was very worrying for ukrainians, and ambassador taylor and george kent made that point during thars testimony. of course, ukrainians had a reason to be worried about a trump presidency, because he calling into question the very existence of their nation. >> nina, pleasure to have you on. >> thank you for having me. >> next on "gps," the hong kong protesters want real democracy. it's highly unlikely the chinese government will grant it. so are we in for a forever war between the two sides? i will talk to one of the founders of the protest movement in hong kong when we come back. pharmacist-recommended e memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. we chose eleanor. it was great-grandma's name. s

, ambassador bill taylor, about president trump's priorities in ukraine. >> in the presence of my staff at a restaurant, ambassador sondland called president trump and told him of his meetings in kiev. >> reporter: taylor testifying that an aide overheard a call between trump and the u.s. ambassador to the european union, gordon sondland. >> the member of my staff could hear president trump on the phone asking ambassador sondland about the investigations. ambassador sondland told president trump the ukrainians were ready to move forward. following the call with president trump, the member of my staff asked ambassador sondland what president trump thought about ukraine. ambassador sondland responded that president trump cares more about the investigations of biden, which giuliani was pressing for. at the time i gave my deposition on october 22nd, i was not aware of this information. i'm including it here for completeness. >> reporter: that incident taking place just one day after the infamous call between presidents trump and zelensky in which trump asked for a favor

envoy reveals scope of trump ukraine push. this was the l.a. times, testimony builds case against trump. here's the st. louis post dispatch, "pressure campaign, testimony ties trump more directly to ukraine efforts." this was the philly inquirer. "historic hearings begin." this was the print edition of politico. "democrats land damning new evidence in testimony." this was one of my favorites actually, the providence journal in rhode island. they kept it simple this is the whole top half of the front page all driven by that big photo and the supporting photos in the supporting cast of characters, but that simple headline, "impeachment begins." if you still subscribe to the print edition of the paper, number one god bless you. that's how i learned how to read as a little kid was reading the newspaper at the kitchen table. thank you mom and dad for always having at least one newspaper around. if you do get the print edition of your paper wherever you live today with whatever your local paper's headline was on the front page with the start of the im

we will hear first hand accounts of the controversial july 25th phone call between president trump and ukraine'seader in which president trump asked him to do us a favor. it has become the center of these impeachment proceedings. now, as you can see, the committee room in the long worth building is already gng toromee officials who were listening in on that call. they'll be giving public testimony. jennifer williams, an aide to vice president mike pence. she described president trump's actions on that call as, quote, unusual and inappropriate. we are also going to hear from lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. aries the top ukraine specialist on the unusual security council. he called the president's actions troubling, disturbing, and wrong. this afternoon we will hear from former national security council official tim morrison who also listened in to that call and former ukraine envoy kurt volker who was part of communications between ukraine and the president's personal attorney rudy giuliani. both are witnesses the republican members of the committee asked to hear from as well. so that sets

trump. >> reporter: ambassador bill taylor about president trump's priorities in ukrain. >> in the presence of my staff at a restaurant, sondland called president trump about kiev. >> reporter: his aid over heard a call between ambassador to ukrain sondland and president trump'. >> he could over hear him asking about the investigations and heard sondland say the ukrainians were ready to move forward. he asked sondland what hoo president trump thought about ukrain and said he care more about the investigations of joe biden that giuliani was asking for. i'm including it here for completeness. >> that happening one day after the infamous call in which trump asked for a favor and for ukrain to investigate the bidens. over the course of half a day laying out for law makers what they saw and heard as the trump administration withheld military aid. >> i encountered an irregularer informal channel with respect to ukrain, unaccountable to congress that included special envoy voleker, gordon sondland, rick perry, white house chief of staff, mick mulvaney and mr. giuliani as i subsequently learned. >>

trump's dealings with ukraine. but we have learned several of those set to appear are refusing to testify. former national security adviser john bolton has also been asked to appear. but bolton's lawyer said his client would not show up unless he is subpoenaed. well, at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, the allegation that president trump withheld military aid to ukraine to get dirt on a political rival. ukraine is extremely dependent on that aid as it's been locked in a bloody five-year battle with russian-backed separatists. white house senior counselor kellyanne conway told yovanovitch she stands by the administration's response that there was no quid pro quo between mr. trump and the ukrainian president. >> you feel totally confident that at the heart of this there was no -- >> i feel confident about the fact that ukraine has that aid and is using it right now that it's because of this president that they have it. >> kellyanne you won't say yes or no. quid pro quo, yes or no. >> i just said to you i don't k

where trump asked if ukraine would- zelensky was quote, going to do it adding that the president would do, quote, anything trump would ask him to do. holmes testified the conversation happened on yul 26th, the day after the call between trump and ukraine's leader at the heart of the inquiry. the state department officials claims back up what his boss ambassador to ukraine bill taylor revealed during his opening testimony. >> president trump released a rough triplanscript of the phon call. that differs from a summary of the call released by the white house months ago. the memorandum of the call shows the two men praising political acumen, predicting an era of warm relations between the u.s. and ukraine with no mention of trump's determination to have the ukraine's government investigate political rivals. however the administration said some promise to work with zelensky to implement reforms that strengthen democracy, increase process pasperity and t corruption. appeared to blame the discrepancy on the national security

trump was using his clout as the u.s. president and using his private attorney as his emissary to pressure ukraine to help with trump's reelection campaign by digging up dirt on his political opponents and of course we can't lose sight of what was at stake here it was the the security assistance to ukraine about $400000000.00 that congress in the united states had already appropriated and was just about to be delivered to ukraine iran of it has said that that was so essential as part of the u.s. support for ukraine in its self-defense against russia and democrats say that trump deliberately withheld this money to use as pressure to get the now since that would be detrimental to his political opponent has adamantly denied that and still up to this point republicans have zeroed in on the fact that not you have on a bench nor any other of the witnesses we've heard in these public hearings have been able to direct. we tie the president to these accusations there have been conversations involving him but they still haven't put on the stand witnesses who spoke to the president directly that's something that republicans are targeting a

during that call, trump complained that the u.s. relationship with ukraine had not been reciprocal. later zelensky thanks trump for his support in the area of defense and says ukraine was ready to purchase more javelins that was one of the most important deterrents of military action. trump's immediate response, i would like you to do us a favor, though. trump then requested that zelensky investigate the discredited 2016 conspiracy theory and even more ominously, look into the bidens. neither was part of the official preparatory material for the call, but they were in donald trump's personal interest and in the interest of his 2020 re-election campaign. the ukrainian president knew about both in advance because sondland and others had been pressing ukraine for weeks about investigations into the 2016 election, burisma and the bidens. both colonel vindman and ms. williams were on the july 25th call. vindman testified that due to the unequal bargaining position of the two leaders and ukraine's dependency on the u.s., the favor trump asked of zelensky was really a demand. after the call

ukraine. one week later, on july 25th, president trump spoke with president zelensky by phone. when president zelensky brought up u.s. military support and noted that ukraine would like to buy more javelin anti-tank missiles from the united states, president trump responded by saying, i would like you to do us a favor, though. trump then requested that zelensky investigate the conspiracy theory that ukraine interfered in the to 16 elect20 election. even more ominously, he wanted him to investigate the bidens. neither included official talking points for the call prepared by the nsc staff, but both were in donald trump's personal interest and the interest of his 2020 re-election campaign. and the ukrainian president knew about both in advance, in part, because of efforts by ambassadors sondland and volker to make him aware of president trump's demands. the next day, july 26th in kyiv, holmes served as a note taker during a meeting between acting ambassador bill taylor, volker and sondland with president zelensky and other senior ukrainian officials. zelensky said on the previous

ally's vulnerability and invite ukraine's interference in our elections. whether president trump sought to condition official acts such as a white house meeting or u.s. military assistance on ukraine's willingness to assist with two political investigations that would help his reelection campaign. and if president trump did either, whether such an abuse of his power is compatible with the office of the presidency. the matter is as simple and as terrible as that. our answer to these questions will affect not only the future of this presidency, but the future of the presidency itself. and what kind of conduct or misconduct the american people may come to expect from their commander in chief. there are few actions as consequential as the impeachment of a president. the founders did not inattend that impeachment be used for differences over policy. they made impeachment a constitutional process congress must utilize as necessary. the facts in the present inquiry are not seriously contested. beginning in january of this year, the president's personal attorney, rudy guiliani, pressed u

ukraine. and president trump was pushing for that on thees phone with th president of ukraine. and some of the republicans in congress are pushing that theory themselves at these impeachment hearings while the entire u.s. intelligence community said, no, actually, it was russia that did it. the bipartisan senate intelligence committee did it and a dozen russian officers are under indictment because, yes, it was russia who did it. against all of that evidence and all of those we thought relatively ounoncontroversial conclusions,nt where does this alternate theory come from, that russia didn't actually do it? thatly russia didn't interfere thesi election. that's a hoax. it was ukraine that interfered in the election. where did that come from? i mean, that is as much a part of this impeachment in terms of what trump was trying to get out of ukraine as joe biden. he's trying to have a dock ka may me theory that russia didn't do it, it was ukraine. where does that come from? among the other things we're getting from the witnesses at all of these hearings is that they're all subject

during that call, trump complained that the u.s. relationship with ukraine had not been reciprocal. later zelensky thanks trump for his support in the area of defense and says ukraine is ready to purchase more javelins, an anti-tank weapon that was of more deterrence in military action. trump said, i would like you to do us a favor, though. trump then suggested that ukraine investigate the 2016 election theory and look into the bidens. neither of these investigations was in the u.s. national interest. and neither was part of the official preparatory material for the call. both, however, were in donald trump's personal interest and in the interests of his 2020 reelection campaign. and the ukranian president knew about both in advance because sondland and others had been pressing ukraine for weeks about investigations into the 2016 election, burisma and the bidens. after the call, multiple individuals were concerned enough to report it to the national security council's top lawyer. the white house would then take the extraordinary step of moving the call record to a highly classified s

ukraine. and president trump was pushing for that on the phone with the president of ukraine. and some of the republicans in congress are pushing that theory themselves at these impeachment hearings. while the entire u.s. intelligence community says no, actually it was russia that did it and the bipartisan senate intelligence committee says no, it was russia that did it. and a dozen russian military intelligence officers are under indictment right now from the justice department for that attack because yes, it was russia who did it. and against all of that evidence and all of those we thought relatively noncontroversial conclusions, where does this alternate theory come from, that russia didn't actually do it, that russia didn't interfere in the election, that's a hoax, it was ukraine that interfered in the election? where did that come from? that's as much a part of this impeachment in terms of what trump was trying to get from ukraine as the thing about joe biden. he's trying to get ukraine to give him back up for this cockamamie theory russia didn't do it. ukraine was the r