Texts Link Ukraine Meeting To 2016 Probe; President Trump Asked Chinese President To Probe Bidens
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: -- new twist for the White House. The texts show how the U.S. leveraged a possible meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to push for an investigation into the 2016 election. The texts were provided by former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, who testified behind closed doors yesterday.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: On July 25th, the morning of the now- infamous call between the presidents, Volker texted a top Zelensky adviser. "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 investigate corruption. The statement ultimately made it to President Trump's personal attorney and point man on Ukraine, Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani said that statement didn't go far enough and suggested adding references that would imply investigation of Joe Biden and his son Hunter and the 2016 election.</s>BRIGGS: The newly-released texts also show a top U.S. diplomat was concerned President Trump was withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid would amount to a quid pro quo. On September first, the senior U.S. diplomat in the Ukraine, Bill Taylor, texted Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union. Taylor wrote, "Are we now saying that security assistance and a White House meeting are conditioned on investigations?" Sondland responded, "Call me."</s>ROMANS: There it is there.</s>BRIGGS: Yes.</s>ROMANS: On September ninth, Taylor spelled out his concerns. "As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign." Four and one-half hours later, Sondland replied, "I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The president has been crystal clear no quid pro quos of any kind."</s>BRIGGS: Sources say Volker told investigators yesterday he urged Ukraine not interfere in U.S. politics. "The Washington Post" reports Volker said he warned Giuliani that Ukrainian claims were unreliable. Today, the inspector general for the Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson, will testify to House panels behind closed doors.</s>ROMANS: All right. The texts capped a whirlwind day of developments on the impeachment front. Perhaps the most shocking, that President Trump, already under investigation for secretly asking a foreign government to interfere in U.S. elections -- he did it again for all the world to see. CNN's Jim Acosta is at the White House.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Christine, it was a remarkable moment -- one for the history books -- as President Trump stood outside the White House and called for foreign interference in the 2020 election. The president asked China to dig up dirt on former vice president Joe Biden. Unlike his conversation with Ukraine's president, no call transcript is necessary here. The president said the quiet part out loud.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: China should start an investigation into the Bidens because what happened to China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.</s>ACOSTA: It's become more difficult for the White House and its defenders to accuse the whistleblower complaint of relying upon hearsay to accuse the president of asking a foreign government to interfere in the upcoming election, as the president did that in front of the cameras -- Dave and Christine.</s>BRIGGS: Jim Acosta there at the White House. The president also saying yesterday that he had not spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping about investigating conspiracy theories about the Bidens. That is not true. CNN has learned exclusively Mr. Trump did raise Joe Biden with President Xi in a June phone call. The president's suggestion that the Chinese investigate the Bidens thrust his political grudge into the world's most complicated and consequential relationship. Kylie Atwood, part of the team that broke the story, has more.</s>KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Christine and Dave, now, during a phone call between President Trump and President Xi in June, we are learning that Trump did mention Joe Biden, the former vice president and now his most formidable Democratic opponent leading up to 2020. He also mentioned Elizabeth Warren, according to sources familiar with this phone call, and it was in the political sense that they were doing well in the polls and that they were the ones opposing him when it comes to 2020. We are also learning that the transcript of that call was put in the highly sensitive server -- the same server that the Ukrainian transcript was put into that we have consistently reported on over the last few weeks. I did speak with one Chinese diplomat today who said it was chaotic as they saw these media reports coming in, but also said that China wasn't interested in getting involved in the domestic politics of the U.S. But we are still waiting to see how the Chinese government officially reacts to those statements from President Trump today.</s>ROMANS: All right, Kylie. Thank you for that. Amid the avalanche of Ukraine-related news Thursday, there was new damaging information about Vice President Mike Pence. Two sources tell us the vice president was told about the July 25th call between presidents Trump and Zelensky the day after it happened. Those two and a third source confirmed Pence was provided a transcript of the call. It's not certain whether the vice president read it, but CNN has reported that Pence prepares and relies on briefings before meetings with foreign leaders and he did meet with President Zelensky weeks after the July 25th call.</s>BRIGGS: Several key subpoena deadlines today. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he intends to respond to a congressional subpoena calling for documents related to Ukraine by today. And, House Democrats plan to subpoena the White House if it fails to comply with broad requests for documents, but the White House may have another idea. Axios reports the White House is planning to send House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter as soon as today arguing President Trump and his team can ignore lawmakers' demands until Pelosi holds a formal House vote approving an impeachment inquiry. Axios reports a letter has been drafted but has not been finalized or signed as of last night.</s>ROMANS: All right, much more on this. Plus, it could be one of the biggest movies of the year, but social media threats have the Feds warning about safety at theaters showing "Joker."