Impeachment Inquiry Transcripts Made Public
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Democrats release closed-door depositions in the Trump impeachment inquiry with more expected coming in the hours.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Voters head to the polls for election- day match-ups that could offer hints about the 2020 race.</s>BRIGGS: A fight over a Popeyes chicken sandwich turns deadly in Maryland.</s>ROMANS: A transit worker's last-second save is caught on camera at a California train station. Right place, right time. Wow, that was close. Good morning and welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.</s>BRIGGS: Good morning. I'm Dave Briggs. Tuesday, November 5th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East. This morning, we finally know exactly what some of the key witnesses in the Trump impeachment inquiry said behind closed doors. Among the revelations, testimony that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was silent as Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani campaigned to oust then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Maria Yovanovitch. The president was asked yesterday about the effort by Giuliani and others to undermine Yovanovitch.</s>REPORTER: Was Marie Yovanovitch the target of a smear campaign by your allies? She testified she was.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really don't know her, but if you look at the transcripts, the president of Ukraine was not a fan of hers.</s>BRIGGS: Fact-check, the rough transcript of Mr. Trump's call with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shows Zelensky criticized the ambassador only after Trump called her bad news. Lauren Fox has more on the newly released transcripts from Capitol Hill.</s>LAUREN FOX, CNN POLITICS CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: A significant day on Capitol Hill as we saw the release of the first transcripts from these closed-door depositions that have been going on now for the last month on Capitol Hill. It's a big opportunity for lawmakers who haven't been in the room over the last several weeks to see what has actually been occurring. One of the transcripts that we saw was from the former ambassador to Ukraine who grew very concerned that her reputation was being damaged and that the president was losing faith in her. There was rumors basically that she was not supportive of the president, and she essentially wanted the State Department to put out a public statement defending her. She was told that the State Department couldn't do that because there was concern if they put out a statement, that the president could potentially undermine it even with something as simple as a tweet. She said, quote: What I was told is there was concern that the rug would be pulled out from underneath the State Department if they put out something publicly. She also went to her colleague, E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland and asked him for some advice. His advice to her, go big or go home. Essentially, what he argued was that perhaps she should tweet her support for the president, say that these rumors weren't true. Now, Michael McKinley's transcript was also released today. He's a former top aid to Mike Pompeo. Essentially, he said he left the State Department because he believed the career diplomats were being used to advance the president's political agenda, something that he did the not support. But more testimony and transcript expected to be released this week, including that of Kurt Volker and Gordon Sondland -- Christine and Dave.</s>ROMANS: All right, Lauren. Thank you for that. In his testimony statement, Michael McKinley gave another reason for stepping down as a senior adviser to the Secretary of State Pompeo, one that directly contradicts his old boss' version of events. McKinley told the lawmakers he felt the department, and especially Pompeo, were not defending Yovanovitch against that smear campaign. He testified: There were numerous media articles appearing about Yovanovitch and, frankly, I did grow concerned we needed to say something forceful on her behalf. Question, how many conversations did you have with the secretary about this matter? Answer, three probably. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remembers things differently.</s>MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: From the time that ambassador Yovanovitch departed Ukraine until the time that he came to tell me that he was departing, I never heard him say a single thing about his concerns with respect to the decision --</s>GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: So you were never asked to --</s>POMPEO: Not once. Not once, George, did Ambassador McKinley say something to me during that entire time period.</s>ROMANS: So, note that Pompeo was giving a television interview and McKinley was testifying under oath.</s>BRIGGS: Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is joining a growing list of Republicans who are trying to reveal the identity of the whistleblower at the center of the impeachment inquiry.</s>SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): The whistleblower needs to come before Congress as a material witness because he worked for Joe Biden at the same time Hunter Biden was getting money from corrupt oligarchs. I say tonight, to the media, do your job and print his name.</s>BRIGGS: Senator Paul calling on every Republican in Congress to step up and subpoena Hunter Biden, even though there's no evidence to support the claims about Joe Biden's son. Paul also wants the whistleblower subpoenaed. The whistleblower's lawyer firing back. Mark Zaid says, quote, a member of Congress who calls for the identity of any lawful whistleblower to be publicly revealed against their wishes disgraces the office they hold and betrays the interest of the Constitution and the American people. Not all Republicans are on board with exposing the whistleblower. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says whistleblowers are entitled to, quote, maximum protection and it's up to them to decide if they want to come forward.</s>ROMANS: So, how is the impeachment inquiry playing in a swing district in a swing state? That defines Michigan's 11th congressional district just northwest of Detroit. No surprise then that voters there are split on impeachment.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a sham. OK? I think the president --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Horrible.</s>REPORTER: Horrible?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's horrible. Just horrible what they're doing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president is doing a great job.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's an important that an inquiry be going on. I also think it's important we not be distracted by it and there's actually governance going on.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the Democrats are trying to overturn the results from 2016. And I think it's going to fail miserably.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's heading in the right direction finally, the impeachment. We're getting the evidence we need. I hope he gets what's coming to him.</s>ROMANS: Michigan's 11th win for President Trump then flipped in the midterms, electing Democrat Haley Stevens to Congress.</s>BRIGGS: All right. Voters head to the polls just hours from now, for election day 2019. A look at the key races, next.