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Ex-Diplomat on Hill as First Witness in Ukraine Probe; Democrats Set to Subpoena White House for Documents; Ukraine Docs Provided by Giuliani Delivered to Congress; Boris Johnson Presents Plan to Parliament on Brexit; 18 Dead, 900 Injured in Violent Protests Across Iraq; Trump Considering Asking Ukraine and China to Investigate Bidens. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired October 03, 2019 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To impeach a President over a fraud that was committed by other people that wanted to win an election
in 2020 -- which they won't -- is incredible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: A White House in crisis. A President enraged, and a key witness being grilled right now in what is this impeachment
investigation. Also --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY CORBYN, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY LEADER: These proposals are nothing more than a cynical attempt by the Prime Minister to shift the blame for
his failure to deliver.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Parliament is weighing in on the British Prime Minister's latest Brexit proposals. And curfews in place after two days of deadly protests
across Iraq.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
ANDERSON: It's 3:00 p.m. here in London, 10:00 in the morning in D.C. where it is all going on. Welcome to this show.
Connecting now, a defining moment in the Trump era. For the first time a key witness in this impeachment inquiry is speaking to Congress, and it
seems to really be getting under the American President's skin.
Here are the headlines you need to know this hour. Former U.S. envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, is on Capitol Hill to testify before three House
committees. Now he's mentioned in the whistleblower complaint and is a key figure when it comes to the President's dealings with Ukraine. Sources
tell us that dozens of documents were delivered on his behalf yesterday.
This as House Democrats plan to subpoena the White House Friday to compel them to turn over documents. And scrutiny over the Ukraine scandal now
shifting to include now Vice President Mike Pence.
The Volker testimony really matters because he has been right at the center of everything here, including accusations of a cover-up. Let's get right
to it.
Suzanne Malveaux is on Capitol Hill, and we'll get to Anita Kumar, White House correspondent for "Politico" in Washington momentarily and CNN legal
analyst Paul Callan is in New York. So let's start with you, Suzanne. What is going on where you are could really shift the balance in this
impeachment investigation. This is testimony before a committee. This is closed so we can't know what is going on as we speak. But who is Kurt
Volker, and what might he be briefing this committee?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Becky. I mean, this is a make-or-break moment for the Trump presidency as the President becomes more
and more outraged and is expressing that anger. You have the House Democrats who are methodically moving forward and real building momentum on
this. So in the hot seat, the first person to go behind the door -- behind closed doors and actually testify here being deposed that being Kurt
Volker. He is the former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine.
What do they want to know? Well, primarily he has been named as part in this whistleblower report as the person who's really the go-between, if you
will, trying to negotiate, navigate what the President wants and what he's expressed to the Ukrainian President. But the questions that they have
behind closed doors is how much of a role did the State Department play in pushing forward conspiracy theories or investigating the Bidens? How much
did the President's own personal attorney Rudy Giuliani play in this? And was there punishment? Did he feel pressure in any way to move the
President's agenda forward? Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): House Democrats eager to begin depositions as President Trump appears increasingly furious over their impeachment
inquiry. Kurt Volker, former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine will be deposed by three House committees about the whistleblower complaint. Which alleges
President Trump repeatedly pressured Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.
REP. ANDRE CARSON (D-IN): I hope that he will be truthful, and I hope that he will give those questioners and investigators the tools that they need
to get to the bottom of this very pressing matter.
MALVEAUX: Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson will appear at a closed-door briefing tomorrow. Which is also the deadline
House Democrats have given the White House to submit documents related to the Ukraine phone call or face subpoenas.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): We're not fooling around here though. We don't want this to drag on months and months and months which appears to be the
administration's strategy.
[10:05:00]
MALVEAUX: It comes after the State Department Inspector General gave lawmakers dozens of pages of documents that make many of the same unproven
claims about the Bidens that Trump allies have been making. Congressman Jamie Raskin was the lone lawmaker to attend the briefing.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): It's essentially a pact of propaganda and disinformation spreading conspiracy theories. Those conspiracy theories
have been widely debunked and discredited.
MALVEAUX: The documents attempt to smear Joe Biden and former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. President Trump's attorney, Rudy
Giuliani, told CNN some of the documents originated with him and he then gave them to the White House. A source telling CNN the White House then
passed them to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
RASKIN: Why was Secretary of State Pompeo in possession of this packet of disinformation? It raises more questions than it answers.
MALVEAUX: The President continuing to show his rage sending this profane tweet writing, the do-nothing Democrats should be focused on building up
our country, not wasting everyone's time and energy on bullshit.
Trump's tirade continuing offline, too.
TRUMP: You look at the whistleblower statement and its vicious, vicious. To impeach a President over a fraud that was committed by other people that
want to win an election in 2020 --which they won't -- is incredible.
MALVEAUX: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying she thinks it's part of President Trump's strategy to divert attention.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I think the President knows the argument that can be made against him and he's scared.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And Becky, this mornings I had a chance to talk to an aide who is part of the House Intelligence Committee who said that there's a
bipartisan effort, that the Republicans and Democrats will have opportunities to ask Volker questions. Of course they want to give the
sense and project a sense of legitimacy here as well as not being a partisan exercise. We also expect, Becky, that the President perhaps will
be expressing even more outrage, frustration as the tension builds throughout the day, hour by hour as we get closer to that deadline tomorrow
for the White House to turn over documents related to the phone call. Because there is a subpoena that has already been drafted by the House
Oversight Committee. The chair Elijah Cummings saying they had no choice but to do this and so they are waiting for those documents. If they don't
arrive then that subpoena will be issued officially tomorrow -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Busy times, Suzanne, on Capitol Hill thank you. For the time being, Anita, let me bring you. The President told in no uncertain terms
yesterday that should he or his allies in any way obstruct this investigation that would also be deemed impeachable. We will likely to see
the President as he leaves the White House shortly. One testy exchange between him and a reporter I think really highlights his growing and very
public anger with this probe. I just want our viewers to listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: The question, sir, was what did you want President Zelensky to do about Vice President Biden and
his son hunter?
TRUMP: Are you talking to me?
MASON: Yes. It was just a follow-up of what asked you, sir.
TRUMP: Listen, you ready. We have the President of Finland. Ask him a question.
MASON: I have one for him. I just wanted to follow up on the one that I asked you.
TRUMP: Did you hear me? Did you hear me.
MASON: Yes, sir.
TRUMP: Ask him a question.
MASON: I will, but --
TRUMP: I've given you a long answer. Ask this gentleman a question. Don't be rude. Ask the President of Finland a question, please.
MASON: OK. I'll move on now. Mr. President, the WTO ruled today in favor of the United States saying that the United States can now impose tariffs
on European goods because of illegal subsidies against Airbus.
TRUMP: It was a big win for the United States, right?
MASON: It was a big win for the United States.
TRUMP: You never had wins with other Presidents, did you? But we're having a lot of wins --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: I imagine what it felt like for the Finnish President there. Donald Trump never did answer that question, and that is really at the
heart of all of this, Anita, isn't it?
ANITA KUMAR, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR, POLITICO: It definitely is and he didn't answer that question. I was really struck by
what happened, what you just showed yesterday because that's a reporter that he knows and calls on frequently from Reuters. So, you know, we've
seen that language from him before with the media. But I would definitely agree that over the last week, and this has only been going on a week and a
couple of days now, that we've seen him grow a little bit more frustrated each day.
And you know, I was really struck that I was with him last week in New York for the United Nations General Assembly right after this happened that
Nancy Pelosi opened the impeachment inquiry, and he has changed very dramatically. He was very subdued last week, very sort of monotone when he
was talking. But he has grown angry, as you have said. He is tweeting more. He is talking more to reporters and growing more and more angry.
[10:10:00]
I expect that he will talk to reporters today even though we haven't been told that officially. And I think that we're going to be hearing a lot
more from him today and tomorrow as this goes forward.
ANDERSON: And Joe, what are his aides saying behind the scenes? And what is White House strategy at this point?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's quite clear is the strategy is to let the President defend himself which he's been
doing both on Twitter and as you saw in front of the audience there -- here at the White House with the Finnish President sitting right next to him.
The question is whether he can sustain this for a long time or if he's going to need a team that would be a rapid response team or what they call
a war room to try to deal with each and every issue as it comes across. So far though the President has pretty much decided he's going to do this on
his own.
And we do know also, and it's very important to say, that there are a bunch of lawyers who are on staff who were brought in to deal, for example, with
the Russia investigation and those lawyers remain in place to try to deal with this -- Becky.
Let me bring you in, Paul, at this point, if I can. We know this is an extremely busy day. Testimony, of course, from the former State Department
envoy to Ukraine. We'll see President Trump -- we may hear from him in during this hour. And, of course, much more to come. Democratic
Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden has been weighing in. He's had very little to say about this to date since the
whistleblower report and the transcript was released, but he's knocking back Donald Trump on allegations against him. His message, I am not going
anywhere. Let's have a listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We weren't pressing Ukraine to get rid of a tough prosecutor. We were pursuing Ukraine to
replace a weak prosecutor who wouldn't do his job. It was someone at the time we hoped would finally crackdown on corruption in Ukraine. That's
what it was about.
Trump, on the other hand, was secretly putting at risk our national security by pursuing a personal political vendetta against me because I
don't think he wants to run against me. What is --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That's Joe Biden. Paul, is it clear whether this controversy has had any effect on Joe Biden's 2020 campaign?
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think it has had an effect on Biden's campaign. There's no proof, by the way, that Biden himself, the
Vice President, engaged in any kind of corrupt act with respect to his contact with the Ukrainians. But, unfortunately for him, it's put the
focus of the American people every time the subject comes up on his son Hunter making huge amounts of money from a Ukrainian gas company. And
Hunter presumably didn't know a whole lot about Ukrainian gas when he got this very lucrative position over there.
So when you step back and look at it the from the distance, it makes the Bidens look bad. And this, of course, I think is the President's whole
strategy with it, to try to try to shift everything to the Bidens and say that he had a right to look into corruption involving the Bidens and that
there's no grounds to impeach here.
ANDERSON: I'm going to have Anita and Paul stand by and They're going to join us a little bit later. I know Suzanne and Joe have got an awful lot
of work to get on with. So before I let you two go, Suzanne, briefly, to you. It is Thursday. Let's get that crystal ball out. Where will we be
this time tomorrow?
MALVEAUX: Well, this time tomorrow we've got some critical deadlines. As I mentioned before, the White House has to produce those documents or face
subpoenas. And they've already been warned by various committee chairs that if they don't, it's all going to add up as part of the case of
obstruction of justice. And so they've some decisions to make, whether or not they are going to cooperate or stonewall.
We're also going to see the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community once again. He is the one who hand -- handed this over. It was his job to
hand the whistleblower complaint over to Congress. He was the one who said it was credible and urgent. We'll be hearing from him as well.
And so we don't know what's going to come out of today's hearing, but there will be some drip, drip at the end of the day, and hopefully we'll have a
better sense of some of those key questions answered. But this is just one part of a big, big puzzle. We don't know where it's going to end up, but
it certainly does have an incredible sense of momentum now as we move very quickly forward into next week.
[10:15:00]
ANDERSON: Joe, any chance that this is a President who would just jack in at this point, who would resign?
JOHNS: Highly unlikely quite frankly. I mean, this is a President who tends to fight out just about everything and he showed that in the last
campaign despite some real body blows to him personally as well as his campaign. He kept on fighting. It doesn't seem likely at all that this
President is going to do anything but fight absolutely to the bitter end. And also important to say, up there on Capitol Hill where Suzanne is, the
fact of the matter is even if this President is impeached by the Democrats in the House of Representatives certainly does not mean he will be
convicted and removed from office by the Senate -- Becky.
ANDERSON: To all of you for the time being, always a pleasure. Thank you.
Well, borders, back stops and blowback. With less than a month to go until Britain is due to least European Union, British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson has presented his latest Brexit proposals to Parliament. Saying his government has made a, quote, genuine attempt to bridge the chasm
between the U.K. and EU on the issue of the Irish border. Crucially a northern Irish DUP, Democratic Union Party, on whom the Conservatives
relied on for support in Parliament, are onboard with the new plans.
But opposition leaders say that they are unworkable. The Irish Prime Minister says they fall short, and the EU says the plans have problematic
points. So how different are they to Theresa May's doomed deal? Hadas Gold joins me with more and that's a really important point. What's new
and what is different?
HADAS GOLD, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: What is new in this proposal that was just released last night is that it keeps Northern Ireland in the single
market but out of the customs union. Essential it will create two borders that Boris Johnson says will not have the any actual infrastructure on a
north-south border and east-west border. Now Boris Johnson said in Parliament today that there will be no physical checks on or near any sort
of border. That they will be done electronically and elsewhere somewhere in the supply line.
That is not enough as we heard through the Irish P.M. and for some of the opposition parties. Who said, that this violates the Good Friday
Agreement. There's a lot of fear, especially in Northern Ireland, that any sort of new physical infrastructure of any kind, any sort of friction,
something that prevents frictionless trade will ramp up those tensions that we saw again during the troubles. We have already seen some tense moments
in the past few years and there's a lot of concern of what this sort of separating out -- this is separating out Northern Ireland from the rest of
the U.K. -- will mean for this political situation there.
ANDERSON: Boris Johnson specifically started his speech on these proposals by saying this does not violate that Northern Ireland agreement. He was
very specific about that. So, I mean, there will be those who are going through the details of this, you know, minutia by minutia. But I guess if
we step back for a minute, and you would to a certain extent expect the opposition to be saying what they are saying.
GOLD: Of course.
ANDERSON: They fundamentally do not agree or will not agree with anything that Boris Johnson provides. The question is, is there now momentum by
enough lawmakers in Parliament to, as he says, get this thing done.
GOLD: So right now if you're kind of doing the back of the envelope math, there is a possibility of a slim but shaky majority. Which is a great
change if you want this Brexit deal to happen under what Boris Johnson is putting forward. The problem though is as we are now discussing with
Brussels what, Brussels wants. There is a problem though if Boris Johnson moves a little bit too much towards Brussels. There's question that those
hardliners might start falling and then that slim and shaky majority falls.
Of course, there's a whole other question here. What does Europe think of all of this? Now Boris Johnson, I think sort of gave a bit of a veiled
threat to Europe. Saying that if you don't show a willingness, then we will leave on October 31st, do or die. I think we have a clip of Boris
Johnson saying that. And then we hear right after that the European Union's response. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: If our European neighbors choose not to show a corresponding willingness to reach a deal then we shall have
to leave on October the 31st without an agreement. And -- and we are ready to do so.
NATASHA BERTAUD, EUROPEAN COMMISSION SPOKESWOMAN: We would disagree, and as we've said problematic points in the United Kingdom's proposal and
further work is needed. But that work needs to be done by the United Kingdom and not the other way around. We would remind you that it's U.K.
leaving the European Union and not the European Union leaving the U.K.
[10:20:00]
And we are doing everything in our power to ensure that that exit is on an orderly basis, and we are willing to engage constructively with our
counterparts, but we're not going tonight ones left holding the bag, the ball or any other kind of object.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLD: And to throw even more cold water on Europe's responses. Just in the last 45 minutes or so the Brexit steering group of the European
Parliament just put out a statement that said the proposals in their current form represent a basis to which the European Parliament could not
necessarily give consent. The proposals do not address the real issues. They need to be resolved, namely, of course, the all-island economy and the
full respect of the Good Friday Agreement.
And one thing that they bring that I think is really important. Is Boris Johnson in Parliament earlier today said there wouldn't be checks on or
near the border. But there's no specifics on where near the border, and what does that mean? And that's something they bring up. It's unclear as
to exactly where and how these checks would be carried out.
ANDERSON: So the question is, has he provided enough at this stage for serious discussion? We've had so much complaint from the Europeans saying
there isn't anything credible on the table for us to even discuss at this stage. The window is slim, but there may be just at this point enough of a
serious proposal that the Europeans will at least get their feet dirty with this.
GOLD: Right, the Europeans are saying at least this is something . I's not nothing, but they need more clarification. There's clearly a lot more
work to be done. The question, of course, is always in this Brexit scenario is the time. Is there enough time to do this before the October
31st deadline? Will Boris Johnson actually ask for that extension as he's required to do so by law?
ANDERSON: He'd rather be dead in a ditch is what he has announced but who knows. Thank you. Hadas Gold in the house for you on Brexit.
In Paris, a police union official says an attacker armed with a knife killed four officers at a police headquarters. That's from our affiliate
BFM-TV. The attacker was shot dead. There is no indication of a motive just yet, but the assailant was an administrative overs employed by police.
A police union official says the attack had been with them for over 20 years. The HQ is located near Notre Dame. Right now the island in the
Seine is on lockdown.
And Baghdad and other cities in Iraq are now under curfew after two days of deadly protests. Coming up, we'll take a look at what is causing all of
this chaos.
Plus, it's another defining moment in the Trump presidency. A former U.K. special envoy to Ukraine testifies before Congress behind closed doors.
The very latest from Washington is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is the people's protest. It is not being directed by anyone. These people are all revolting and will
not stop until the government changes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:25:00]
ANDERSON: The border crossing between Iran and Iraq has been closed after two days of violent protests inside Iraq killed 18 people and injured more
than 900. Iranian media report the Iraqi government has requested that the border close. Curfews are now in place in Baghdad and in other cities.
And a group that monitors the internet says that the government has shut down 75 percent of the internet's service.
The protesters have been marching against unemployment and the government corruption. Ben Wedeman following developments for from us Beirut. And
that is not an unfamiliar refrain across many countries in the Middle East. How has this got to this point, Ben, and these images that we're now
seeing?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is really the result of years of government neglect. An economy where, you know,
Iraq is literally, literally floating on oil, but the benefits of that oil simply have not trickled down to the great mass of the population.
This is a country where there are daily power cuts in cities like Basra in the south. That people have fallen ill because of the poor quality of the
drinking water. This is a country that on Transparency International, the group that monitors corruption, puts Iraq as 168 out of 180 countries when
it comes to corruption, very near the top. And, therefore, you have the people who have simply had enough.
They are calling for Parliament which is seen really as just a den of corruption to be dissolved. Many people, in fact, are nostalgic for the
good old days when Iraq had a strong leader who could solve these problems, but at the moment it appears that the country is in a state of political
paralysis. The leader is simply unable to address corruption and the fact that most -- many young Iraqis simply cannot find work. And, therefore,
this is a situation that is not unlike that in many countries in the Middle East which have poor economic growth, political systems that simply are
incapable of addressing corruption. And, therefore, we've seen this not just in Iraq. We've seen protests in Egypt, in Lebanon, in Jordan and
elsewhere across the Middle East.
ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating. Ben, I guess the question at this point is that the government will be considering how they put a lid on what is going
on in Iraq. What likelihood that they can quell what is now clear outrage and outrage on the streets and very visibly?
WEDEMAN: Well, they have instituted this basically open-ended curfew that went into effect at 5:00 a.m. this morning banning vehicles and
individuals from going out in the streets. There are few exceptions for hospital workers, people going to and from the airport in Baghdad. That's
the short-term way to address the problem. In the long term we've heard Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who is the Prime Minister, promising more jobs for
university graduates. Saying that going forward any contracts concluded with foreign companies will require that 50 percent of the jobs go to
Iraqis. But at this point these are just words and promises. If they are not put into effect, I think we can expect these protests to continue and
perhaps escalate -- Becky.
ANDERSON: 5:28 in Beirut and Lebanon. We're watching street scenes there in Iraq. But as Ben rightly points out this is not unfamiliar now in many
parts of the Middle East.
Still ahead. President Trump lashes out, Democrats and critics as the impeachment inquiry against him heats up. We are now waiting to see if he
will address the media before heading to an event in Florida. Stay with us for that.
[10:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: In the last few minutes the U.S. President has said he wants both Ukraine and China to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and
his son Hunter. Well this comes as the former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, is testifying as we speak behind closed doors on
Capitol Hill. CNN has learned that dozens of pages of documents were delivered on his behalf ahead of his testimony to three House committees.
Volker resigned just a day after he was named in the whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, House Democrats say they will subpoena the White House on Friday if the Trump administration refused to voluntarily provide documents
related to the President's phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Let's bring in our panel of experts once again. White House correspondent and associate editor of politico, Anita Kumar, joining from New York and
CNN legal analyst Paul Callan is in Washington. Smart minds for you folks. Paul, let me start with you. The very stable genius as the President likes
to describe himself, hasn't said nor has the White House whether they will voluntarily provide documents related to this call with the Ukrainians. If
they don't, Paul, what, happens? Just work -- walk us through the sort of the legal aspects of all of this.
CALLAN: Well, the biggest danger I think the President faces is non- cooperation with Congress in a legitimate impeachment inquiry. If he and the White House refuse to respond to subpoenas, that can be viewed as a
form of obstruction of justice or also obstruction of Congress. And those charges have popped up in prior impeachment proceedings against prior
American Presidents. So I think the President has to be version very, very careful about that.
In the Nixon case that eventually he tried to obstruct turning over the tapes you'll recall of his conversations. That went into the federal court
system. Ultimately the Supreme Court decided that he had to turn over the tapes. And I suspect that the President would face such a decision from
the Supreme Court if he tried to withhold legitimate information from an impeachment inquiry committee.
ANDERSON: So while the process goes on, we've got Kurt Volker speaking behind closed doors to committees today and then we've got further
subpoenas as we move through this week and beyond. Anita, we are hearing from the U.S. President. He has just said that he wants to see China as
well as Ukraine investigate both Hunter Biden and his father, the former Vice President jo Biden. So the call with the Ukrainians was perfect and
furthermore it is absolutely fine according to the President that he be asking other countries to put pressure on his opponents.
[10:35:00]
Because that is in the end what Joe Biden is to Donald Trump, isn't he?
KUMAR: Yes. I mean, I know that comment that the President just made that China and others should look into this and look into the Bidens might be
surprising to some people. But I have to say it's really not surprising to those of us who cover him because people who are following him, he never
backs down. That's just part of his personality. You've seen --
ANDERSON: Well, he thinks he's right.
KUMAR: He thinks he's right. Sometimes you see silly mistakes coming out of the White House. Obviously, everybody makes them.
Standby, Anita, standby. Let's just hear from the American President Donald Trump just moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: We're doing a lot of work on health care. We're very successful at it, and so we're going to be speaking to the great people of Florida and I
think they are very happy with the job we're doing, Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What exactly (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Well, if you look at the whistleblower's complaint it's totally inaccurate. Because the conversation that I had was absolutely perfect,
and most people that have read it say the same thing. The whistleblower never saw the conversation. He got his information I guess second or
thirdhand. He wrote something that was total fiction and now when people see that they're not happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Well, we're looking at a lot of different things. China is coming in next week. We're going have a meeting with him. We'll see, but we're
doing very well. Some of the numbers I think are being affected by all of the nonsense, all of the politics going on in this country by the
Democrats. I call them do the-nothings. They do nothing for this country. They don't care about this country. But the numbers really are looking
very good going into the future, so we'll see. I have a lot of options on China, but if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous power.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what exactly do you hope Zelensky will do about the Biden phone call exactly?
TRUMP: Well, I would think that if they were honest about it, they'd start a major investigation into the Bidens. It's a very simple answer. They
should investigate the Bidens because how does as company that's newly formed and all these companies, if you look -- by the way, likewise, China
should start an investigation into the Bidens. Because what happened to China is just about as bad as what happened with -- with Ukraine. So I
would say that President Zelensky, if it were me, I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Bidens.
Because nobody has any doubt that they weren't crooked. That was a crooked deal, 100 percent. He had no knowledge of energy, didn't know the first
thing about it. All of a sudden, he's going $50,000 a month plus a lot of other things. Nobody has any doubt. And they got rid of a prosecutor who
was a very tough prosecutor, they got rid of him. Now they are trying make it the opposite way, but they got rid. So if I were the President, I would
certainly recommend that of Ukraine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: I haven't, but it's certainly something we can start thinking about, because I'm sure that President Xi does not like being under that
kind of scrutiny where billions of dollars is taken out of his country by a guy that just got kicked out of the Navy. He got kicked out of the Navy.
All of a sudden, he's getting billions of dollars. You know what they call that. They call that a payoff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Well, I leave that to the lawyers. I can say though that Schiff has now been proven to be a liar. We've known it for three years because
they have been trying to impeach for three years. He's a liar -- he's a stone-cold liar. So I leave that to the lawyers. That's up to them to
decide, but the whole investigation is crumbling. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you still work with Congress to get other work done?
TRUMP: I can, yes, I can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How?
TRUMP: I can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Well, we have a real problem. We've been hitting the Taliban very, very hard, and as far as I'm concerned, they still haven't recovered from
killing 12 people. One of them who happened to be a great American soldier from Puerto Rico, and they still have not recovered, and they probably
never will.
[10:40:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is the (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: No, but I read Mitch McConnell's statement yesterday, and he read my phone call. And as you know he put out a statement that said that was
the most innocent phone call he's read, and I spoke to him about it, too. He read my phone call with the President of Ukraine, Mitch McConnell. He
said that was the most innocent phone call that I've read. I mean, give me a break. Anybody that reads it says the same thing. And the only people
that don't understand it is when they look at the false, fabricated, fraudulent statement made by shifty Schiff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Well, I think Biden is going down, and I think his whole situation because now you may very well find that there are many other countries that
they scammed just like they scammed China and Ukraine and basically who are they really scamming, the USA, and it's not good.
And that's probably why China for so many years has had a sweetheart deal where China rips off the USA because they deal like people with Biden where
they give their son a billion and a half dollars. And that's probably why China has such a sweetheart deal that for so many years they have been
ripping off our country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you support (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: We're looking at it. We're looking at it very closely. It's under study.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: We'll see. They want to talk and we'll be talking to them soon. We'll see. I'm going to -- yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you recall the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine? Was he a problem? Why did you recall her?
TRUMP: I heard very bad things about her, and I don't know if I recalled her or somebody recalled her. But I heard very, very bad things about her
for a long period of time. Not good.
Thank you. I'll see you in Florida. I'll see you all in Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: That's the U.S. President speaking moments ago making more completely unfounded accusations about Hunter Biden, the Vice President Joe
Biden's son, this time about his activities in China. As Donald Trump says, China and Ukraine should look into the Bidens' activities.
It was interesting when he started this impromptu press conference, he real doesn't like the idea that the markets are jittery at the moment. The
major New York exchange down yesterday 500 points. Off the day's session lows but it is still off. He's blaming what he's calling this nonsense for
market concerns. He does say he thinks things are looking good long term. One assumes, you know, this is the sort of narrative that he would use to -
- when he's speaking to his base. Anita and Paul still with us. Before we were listening, we had to go listen to the President, you were saying that
Donald Trump believes that he is right. That he has done absolutely nothing wrong. That this is a witch hunt and that Adam Schiff, he says,
and I quote him here, is a liar, and he says he's been investigating for years. What do we make of all of this?
KUMAR: Well, I mean, I think it's just what we were saying, that he doesn't believe he's wrong. In fact, he believes he's correct and he's
going to continue to call for these investigations, continue to ask for these investigations and just sort of not stop that language. If you've
heard his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has been out there, as you know, giving so many interviews to so many media outlets saying the same thing.
That they feel like there should be more of an investigation and he's been pursuing an investigation. Having people look into whether the Ukrainians
helped the Democrats in 2016.
So not only reliving sort of 2016 but looking ahead to 2020. And, you know, this is -- this is Donald Trump's M.O. though. He just does not
back down at all. When he is called out on something, when someone thinks he's wrong, he doubles down on it even more, and he refuses sort of to give
up and to be honest, talking to his supporters around the country these last few years, it's the thing they love about him. More than any policy
proposal, it's the thing that they love. He's a fighter and he never gives up.
ANDERSON: Anita is with us, as is Paul Callan. I'm going to take a very short break. Guys, don't go the anywhere. We'll be back with you both
after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, blink and you will miss it, this impeachment inquiry goes on, and the President of the United States continues to speak. In the last
couple of minutes he said he thinks both Ukraine and China should investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. This all comes,
of course, as the former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker is testifying behind closed doors on Capitol Hill.
CNN has learned that dozens of pages of documents were delivered on his behalf ahead of his testimony to three House committees. Volker, remember,
resigned just a day after he was named in the whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump.
Let mow bring back Anita Kumar and Paul Callan. Anita, of course, is the correspondent and associate editor of "Politico" and our CNN legal analyst
Paul Callan is in New York.
Let's just talk about Volker because this is an interesting guy. This is a man who resigned just a day after he was named in this whistleblower
complaint against President Donald Trump, and Donald Trump's personal attorney shared texts on television that spoke to conversations with Mr.
Volker as far as I understand it. So what do we know about Volker, and what do we know about his involvement if at all with what is alleged to
have been going on at the White House?
CALLAN: Well, you know, Rudy Giuliani, the personal attorney for the President, has made many references to Volker. And Volker is in fact --
was in fact an employee of the State Department and he came back into the State Department even after his retirement to continue working with Ukraine
because he had a good relationship Ukraine. Giuliani is now saying that he was acting as a rogue negotiator sort of off the map but that he was
working closely with the State Department and Volker, he says, was the one who was conveying orders to him and getting information back from him. So
really, Volker is a witness that the Trump administration had hoped I think would legitimize the President's relationship with Giuliani and Ukraine.
We'll have to see what he says before the committee. I'm doubting that he's going to parrot the Trump line.
ANDERSON: Yes, but we don't know that for sure do, we?
CALLAN: We don't and we won't know until we get a transcript of whatever testimony is going on.
ANDERSON: And as far as you understand it, Paul, just give us a sense of timing here. When will we find out what is going on behind closed doors?
CALLAN: Well, I would suspect that it's going to be released fairly quickly, unless there's classified information involved, and that -- if
that's the case we may never see some of the testimony. But given that three Congressional committees are going to be interviewing him, you can be
sure there will be leaks and probably by day's end we'll have a pretty clear picture as to what he said.
ANDERSON: All right. We are going to take a break at this point. Again, we're going to pay for the show. It's great having you guys on. Short
break, folks. Back after this.
[10:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Within the past few minutes, the U.S. President -- let me start that again. Within the last couple of minutes the U.S. President --
getting my teeth in -- said he thinks both Ukraine and China should investigate the former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. It
comes as the former U.S. special envoy to the Ukraine Kurt Volker is testifying behind closed doors on Capitol Hill. CNN has learned that
dozens of pages of documents were delivered on his behalf ahead of his testimony to three House committees. Volker resigned just a day after he
was named in the whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump.
A whistleblower complaint, of course, which suggested that a number of people had witnessed the U.S. President leaning on a foreign country for
aid and dirt on an opponent. Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden has hit back at President Trump's allegations
against him. This was before we just heard from Donald Trump, but it was same message effectively. This is Joe Biden's message. I'm not going
anywhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We weren't pressuring Ukraine to get rid of a tough prosecutor. We were pursuing Ukraine to replace a weak prosecutor who wouldn't do his job.
It was someone at the time we hoped would finally crackdown on corruption in Ukraine. That's what it was about.
Trump, on the other hand, was secretly putting at risk our national security by pursuing a personal political vendetta against me because I
don't think he wants to run against me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: It isn't clear, Paul, although you said -- let's further the conversation that we had at the top of the hour when we started speaking
today. I asked you whether it was clear that this controversy has had anywhere effect on Biden's 2020 campaign. Just remind our viewers what you
said.
CALLAN: Now what I was saying was that even though independent investigations seem to have pretty conclusively established that Hunter
Biden didn't do anything illegal in his relationship with Ukraine and for that matter China and that Vice President Biden also did nothing that seems
to be illegal. Nonetheless the Trump campaign is painting this in such a way that the American public may just look at it and say, well, what is
Hunter Biden making so much money from a gas company in Ukraine while his father is visiting Ukraine and negotiating with him, and they may make
similar observations about China. And I think I think that in the end it will be harmful to the Biden campaign regardless of whatever the true facts
are.
[10:55:00]
Because it looks bad, and in political campaigns sometimes it's the big picture that moves people as opposed to the details that the lawyers like
to look into.
ANDERSON: And Anita, Donald Trump's critics will say this is a familiar tactic. It doesn't matter what the truth is. It's where you are trying to
get to that matters.
KUMAR: Yes, you're exactly right, and we've seen this strategy from the President since day one. Since even before he was actually sworn into
office with all these, you know, allegations swirling around about the -- about Trump aides colluding with Russia. And this is, of course, what the
entire special counsel's investigation was about, whether Trump aides colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.
We have seen how he's handled that the last couple of year, and they are going to be handling it the same way the next couple of years.
I think the one difference we are seeing is that the President is pretty much doing this by himself. His campaign is with him. They have put some
things out, but in the White House there's a lot of confusion on sort of who is in charge of, you know, putting out, responding to this
investigation -- to the impeachment inquiry. Who is in charge? How are they going to do it? What that message will be. So far, we've pretty much
seen the President in charge of that message, delivering the message every single day multiple times a day.
ANDERSON: Fascinating, and terrific, guys. Thank you, your analysis and insight has been incredibly valuable through this past hour. We really
appreciate it.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. We will condition with this show after this short break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This is a fraudulent crime on the American people, but we'll work together with shifty Schiff and Pelosi and all of them.
KURT VOLKER, FORMER U.S. ENVOY TO UKRAINE: We're not fooling around here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kurt Volker, former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, deposed by three House committees.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is mentioned repeatedly in the whistleblower complaint.
TRUMP: To impeach a President over a fraud that was committed by other people that want to win an election in 2020 -- which they won't -- is
incredible.
BIDEN: I'm not going anywhere.
TRUMP: Are you talking to me?
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
[11:00:00]
END
