Giuliani Hires Lawyers; Interview With Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY); More Impeachment Inquiry Transcripts Released; Televised Impeachment Hearings To Begin Next Week As New Details Emerge About Star Witness Testimony
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The top diplomat in Ukraine has given lawmakers a detailed account of an obvious and brazen quid pro quo. We're going to tell you what we're learning from the transcript of his closed-door testimony. Trump team's heartburn. We're told White House officials are more anxious about some impeachment witnesses than others, as public hearings are about to begin. Who do they fear most? And Stone on trial. As a longtime Trump ally faces criminal charges, prosecutors accuse Roger Stone of lying to protect the president. We will have the latest on the trial, including plans for former Trump strategist Steve Bannon to testify. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in</s>THE SITUATION ROOM. ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>BLITZER: Breaking news, the case for impeaching President Trump is about to become a live TV blockbuster. House Democrats announcing that public hearings will begin in one week, with star witness Bill Taylor among the first to testify. We're getting new insights into what the top diplomat in Ukraine will reveal to a nation about a quid pro quo from the just-released transcript of his closed-door deposition. Taylor spelled out -- and I'm quoting now -- a clear understanding that President Trump wanted Ukraine to announce investigations of his political opponents in exchange for U.S. aid. Tonight, CNN has learned there's a heightened level of concern within the White House about the potential impact of Taylor's public testimony. I will talk with a U.S. congressman who questioned Taylor, House Intelligence Committee member Sean Patrick Maloney. And our correspondents of analysts are also standing by. First, let's go to our congressional correspondent, Phil Mattingly. Phil, House Democrats, they set the date now for the biggest moments yet in the impeachment investigation.</s>PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that's exactly right. There's been months of speculation, weeks of closed-door depositions. Now everything is about to spill into the public sphere. And the stakes couldn't be higher. This is as big as it gets, the Democrats scheduling two public hearings, more to come after that, according to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff. Those two hearings next week with three career diplomats, including, as you noted, Ambassador William Taylor, whose closed-door deposition became public today, with explosive testimony related to his understanding of a quid pro quo related to U.S. funding to Ukraine that was held up in exchange for potential investigations into political rivals of Donald Trump. Also, George Kent scheduled to testify, and, on Friday, Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador the Ukraine, who multiple officials have testified was deliberately undercut by people outside the Trump administration who believed she was not working for President Trump in the proper manner. In all, when you look at the big picture of what we're going to see next week, Democrats are going to attempt to paint a picture of a U.S. foreign policy that was essentially operated through rogue channels, outside the traditional way foreign policy is run, with a heavy emphasis on Rudolph Giuliani, the personal attorney for the president, and an acknowledgment that, based on what they are seeing, they believe they already have enough evidence for an impeachable offense. You're also going to see Republicans make very clear some of the defenses we have seen over the last couple of days, that they don't believe any of the witnesses, no matter how damning their testimony, have a direct link to President Trump. There will be a lot of that as we look forward, but bigger than anything else, Wolf, this is spilling into the public sphere, which means, more than anything, while impeachment is obviously part of what Congress has in its set of duties, it is also very much a public sentiment type of exercise. You talk to Republicans and Democrats, they acknowledge that fact, the public hearings a real opportunity to start to sway public opinion, which has largely broken down on partisan lines, into their favor as they move forward in this process. And also worth noting, the public hearings making clear this is moving forward, and it's moving forward quickly. After those public hearings, likely a full report. Then it gets kicked over the Judiciary Committee. Those articles of impeachment will come, and then a House vote before it moves to the Senate, Wolf. Very clear Democrats are moving forward and moving forward fast.</s>BLITZER: Very fast, indeed. Phil, we also have new information about another witness, a top aide to Vice President Pence.</s>MATTINGLY: That's exactly right. There will be one more, at least, closed-door deposition where somebody actually shows up. Look, there have been a series of depositions where top career officials have come, even some top White House officials have come to testify. But over the course of the last week, official after official, as the closer they get to the White House, as -- closer they get to the president, they have declined to show up. That will change tomorrow. Jennifer Williams, a top national security aide to Vice President Mike Pence, an individual who was on that July 25 call between President Trump and President Zelensky of Ukraine, is expected to testify, if she is subpoenaed, according to a source. And she will likely be subpoenaed, as everybody has been up to this point. One of the big questions lawmakers have is, sources say she was concerned or did express concerns about the content of that call. It's unclear how high up the food chain she took those concerns to. But she is now scheduled to testify behind closed doors underscoring there's a little bit of a dual track here. While they're scheduling public hearings, while Democrats are ready to move forward, they're still trying to pull threads and make sure their case is as solid as they can make it before they reach that public sphere -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Yes, they want to get as many facts as possible. Phil Mattingly, thank you very much. Let's break down the testimony of one of the most important impeachment witnesses, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine offering a very detailed and damning account of a quid pro quo. Our senior national correspondent, Alex Marquardt, is joining us right now. Alex, the transcript of Bill Taylor's closed-door deposition is now out.</s>ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And it is very long, hundreds of pages' long. And, Wolf, in page after page of this transcript, Taylor makes it clear that he did feel that there was a quid pro quo. Now, Taylor told lawmakers in his testimony that he hesitated to take this job as the U.S. senior diplomat in Kiev because he had heard about what Rudy Giuliani was up to in Ukraine. He says that, during his time there, he took meticulous notes and repeatedly described what he called an irregular channel with Ukrainians that was led by Giuliani that -- in the end to get Ukraine to meddle in the 2020 presidential elections.</s>MARQUARDT (voice-over): It's among the most explosive testimonies yet in the impeachment inquiry. Now the transcript of the deposition of Ambassador Bill Taylor, the most senior U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, gives a damning on-the-ground perspective. Taylor told lawmakers it was his clear understanding security assistance money would not come until Ukrainian President Zelensky committed to pursue the investigation, meaning into the Bidens and the 2016 election. Taylor added: "It was also clear that this condition was driven by the irregular policy channel I had come to understand was guided by Rudy Giuliani." It was also Giuliani, according to Taylor, who came up with the idea of demanding that President Zelensky publicly declare he would investigate the Ukrainian company Burisma that Joe Biden's son Hunter had been on the board of, an idea that former National Security Adviser John Bolton described at the time as a drug deal.</s>REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): I think you will see in the transcript what a dedicated public servant Ambassador Taylor is, someone who graduated from West Point, someone who served in Vietnam, someone who is, I think, performing another vital service for the country in relating the facts that came to his attention.</s>MARQUARDT: Taylor testified that he was told about a meeting on September 1 between the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, and a top aide to President Zelensky, in which Sondland told the aide: "The security assistance money would not come until President Zelensky committed to pursue the Burisma investigation. Everything was dependent on such an announcement." Days prior, Taylor had written a rare so-called first-person cable to his boss, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, "describing the folly I saw in withholding military aid to Ukraine at a time when hostilities were still active in the east and when Russia was watching closely to gauge the level of American support for the Ukrainian government." Taylor was embarrassed he couldn't tell the Ukrainians why the aid was being held up, and he prepared to resign. Despite these concerns, Taylor admitted he had never talked to the president.</s>MARQUARDT: Ambassador Taylor's testimony is full of references to Rudy Giuliani. And Taylor says that Ukrainian officials listened to Giuliani because they knew that he was working at the president's direction. Tonight, we have learned that Giuliani has hired himself a team of lawyers, tweeting out the names of three of them, Giuliani certainly feeling the heat, Wolf, as this inquiry ramps up.</s>BLITZER: Yes, he's under investigation, as we know as well. Alex, thanks very much for that report. Over at the White House, we're told there's heightened concern right now about Bill Taylor's public testimony next week. Let's go to our chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. He's joining us from Louisiana right now, where the president will be holding another political rally later tonight. Jim, even as Mr. Trump hits the campaign trail, he's clearly beefing up his so-called impeachment defense team.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He certainly is, Wolf. The president is on his way to Louisiana right now to campaign for the Republican candidate for governor in this state. But you're right. The White House is very much focused on impeachment right now, bringing on some new staffers, announcing those staffers today to message -- countermessage the impeachment inquiry that's playing out up on Capitol Hill. But there is a lot of jitters. There are plenty of jitters inside the Republican Party right now about some of these elections that are playing out, not just here in Louisiana, but in Kentucky and other states. As one source close to the White House put it to me, Wolf, they're calling these elections that have played out this week a bad omen for the president.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): President Trump is escaping to the campaign trail with the cloud of impeachment hanging over his every move.</s>QUESTION: Are you concerned about the hearings next week?</s>ACOSTA: The White House is bracing for the upcoming public hearings and the inquiry, and getting more nervous about the newly released testimony from senior officials, like the top diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, and European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who revised his recollections to say there was a quid pro quo with the Ukrainian president. But aides to the president say they still don't see a quid pro quo.</s>KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: That is the White House's position, and I don't think that his latest revisions change that.</s>ACOSTA: The White House is bringing on new staffers to beef up the counterimpeachment message, despite Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham's claim last week that Mr. Trump can handle all that.</s>STEPHANIE GRISHAM, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He is the war room. The difference between Clinton and Nixon, which is what people constantly compare us to, is that those two did something wrong. The president has done nothing wrong. So, at this time, he feels confident with the people that he has in place.</s>ACOSTA: The president's loyalists are changing their tune on the inquiry, now claiming the administration was too incoherent to engage in a quid pro quo.</s>SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): What I can tell you about the Trump policy toward the Ukraine, it was incoherent. It depends on who you talk to. They seemed to be incapable of forming a quid pro quo. So, no, I find the whole process to be a sham, and I'm not going to legitimize it.</s>ACOSTA: Contrast that with the excuse that the whistle-blower's account was all hearsay.</s>GRAHAM: This seems to me like a political setup. It's all hearsay.</s>ACOSTA: Other Trump loyalists are saying they no longer believe what Sondland says, preferring the account of former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker.</s>REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): You all want to make a big deal out of Mr. Sondland's presumption that he had in his statement yesterday, but Mr. Volker is the one who has, in my mind, the definitive account.</s>ACOSTA: But hold on. The president once said Sondland could be trusted.</s>TRUMP: The text message that I saw from Ambassador Sondland, who's highly respected, was, there's no quid pro quo. He said that.</s>ACOSTA: The president is licking his wounds after campaigning for Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin, who lost a close battle for reelection.</s>TRUMP: If you lose, they're going to say Trump suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world. This was the greatest.</s>TRUMP: You can't let that happen to me.</s>ACOSTA: One of a slew of contests to swing to the Democrats from Kentucky to Pennsylvania to Virginia. A source close to the White House told CNN the results were: "Totally bad. Kentucky and Virginia signaled to the GOP they are underestimating voter intensity against Trump, and it could be terrible for them next year. Bad omen for impeachment." The president is spinning it all as a big win, tweeting: "Our big Kentucky rally on Monday night had a massive impact on all of the races. The increase in governor's race was at least 15 points and maybe 20. Will be in Louisiana." The president is betting his most vocal supporters will remain loyal, no matter what he does.</s>QUESTION: If he shot someone on Fifth Avenue, would you vote for him?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would have to know why he shot him.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, why did he shoot him?</s>ACOSTA: Now, one very important thing to note, the president did not talk to reporters as he left the White House for this rally in Louisiana later on this evening. That is notable because, as the president heads out of the White House for these rallies, he typically talks to reporters. That may mean he's saving up his energy and what he has to say for later on tonight. But, Wolf, I talked to a campaign official -- senior official with this campaign, who did not rule out the president may be talking about not only the whistle-blower, but other officials who have been testifying in this impeachment inquiry -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, we will monitor that, together with you. Jim Acosta, thank you. But joining us now, Democratic Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney. He is on the Intelligence Committee, which is taking the lead in the impeachment investigation right now. Thanks so much, Congressman, for joining us. So let's get right to Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine. He laid out a quid pro quo in his closed-door testimony. What sort of follow-up questions do you think you're going to have for him?</s>REP. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (D-NY): Well, it's very important that the American public see for itself Ambassador Taylor's testimony. I'm glad the transcript is out. I'm glad he will be in public session soon. This is an infantry officer who served with the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. This is a graduate of West Point. This is a guy who spent 40 years serving in the military and in the Foreign Service in some real hot spots, some hardship posts around the world. And he knows right from wrong. And when he saw what was happening -- and, remember, he replaced Yovanovitch and came to the party a little bit late. And he, at first, tried to read the best intentions into what he was seeing. But then it became unmistakably clear that an improper political objective was being pushed on the Ukrainians, a quid pro quo. He lays it out very clearly. He's a key witness to what happened.</s>BLITZER: In the transcript that was just released, the ambassador, Ambassador Taylor, answered one of your questions by saying -- and I'm quoting him now -- "The reason for investigating Burisma was to cast Vice President Biden in a bad light." Is it plausible that key players didn't make the connection to the Bidens?</s>MALONEY: No, it was their purpose. The reason I asked that question is because it detonates this Republican talking point that this was a generic concern about corruption or a request for investigations generically of some type of wrongdoing in Ukraine. This was always and explicitly about the Bidens and about the 2016 campaign. And the only other thing it was about were the shabby financial interests of Rudy Giuliani's now indicted clients. But that toxic mix of financial shenanigans and political gain was at the heart of this. And guys like Bill Taylor, thank God for them, don't pull their punches. And when he saw it, he did everything to bring it to his superiors to do the right thing, to try to stop it within the system. And he came and responded to a subpoena and told the truth. And I'm glad the public's going to hear it for themselves. And the State Department should release his notes and the other documents that he kept. This is a copious notetaker. And the State Department has refused to release those documents, which is -- which is wrong.</s>BLITZER: After hearing Ambassador Taylor's closed-door testimony -- and you heard it -- you asked questions as well -- how certain are you that President Trump was actually directing this quid pro quo?</s>MALONEY: Oh, 100 percent. I mean, this is -- this starts and stops with the president. This is not some rogue project being done by others. There's no question that the president was personally, with Rudy Giuliani, directing this quid pro quo. And I want to say, Wolf, it's heartbreaking to realize that. I represent a district that voted for the president. I don't take any pleasure in reading or hearing about the president's explicit wrongdoing in linking foreign assistance to helping him in a political campaign. It's heartbreaking that any American president would engage in this type of activity. But it is unmistakable. And we must not shrink from it. We must hold him accountable.</s>BLITZER: Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, thanks, as usual, for joining us.</s>MALONEY: My pleasure.</s>BLITZER: The breaking news continues next. And we're going to have much more on the White House. And Rudy Giuliani, he is now lawyering up, as the impeachment probe picks up steam. We're going to talk about that, the upcoming public testimony, and a lot more with the former U.S. attorney -- there, you see him -- Preet Bharara.