diadtional charges against those defendants who did not go ahead and accept a plea deal. >> thank you so much for that. a special edition of "the lead" with jake tapper starting right now. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. welcome to this special edition of "the lead." white house in crisis. we begin with breaking news. sources tell me that the anonymous senior trump administration official who penned that 2018 "new york times" op-ed, warning about president trump from the inside of his administration, well, that anonymous author has written a new book about president trump. one that will be released next month. it is distinctively an attempt to convince the nation to not re-elect president trump in 2020. cnn has exclusively obtained a cover of the book titled "a warning." a book a closely guarded secret until this moment and released officially november 19th. the anonymous senior administration official you

recall warned in the "new york times" op-ed of an amoral, erratic, petty and ineffective president trump. the author said officials inside the administration occasionally worked to thwart the president's worst inclinations and the president at the time called the "new york times" op-ed treason suggesting that then attorney general jeff sessions investigate and find out who wrote it. a draft press released describes the book, "a warning" as explosive with a we shocking firsthand account of president trump." the author remains anonymous to protect the author the identity and the publisher and literary agent agents verified he wrote this piece. the author of "a warning" refused to chance as a seven digger advance and will donate profits to organizations that fight for a free press that

seeks the truth. the book not written by the author lightly and written as an act of conscious and duty. refusing to say whether or not the author remains part of the trump administration. we have just reached out to the white house for comment and will bring you their reaction when and if they respond. let us first discuss with our group right here and jeremy diamond as a white house correspondent, president trump responding to just an op-ed version of this called "a kreezkreez -- treasonist" set of the attorney general should investigate. i can't imagine this will be anymore calm of response. >> no. probably very similar and, in fact, i was surprised when you just read that, the fact that this author will remain anonymous with this book. highly unusual here. also, it does feed into where the president is right now. the attacks he has been

launching against the whistle-blowers who raised complaints against him. the other administration officials raising concerns about his dealings with ukraine will feed into the president's deep state narrative, i think, as he tries to make the case he's somehow being undermined by a kabul of officials. that is not necessarily what this is but by releasing an entire book anonymously on that premise it feeds into that narrative from the president. however, i must say looking back at the op-ed, so much of what that author wrote at the time remains true today. you see the author described the president's impetuous adversarial leadership style and we still do see that where the president is reacting so you know, on the fly, and impulsively. very much a lot of this remains true and sure the book will have a lot of subject matter to cover. >> laura, one of the big parlor games a year ago september. september 5th op-ed came out trying to figure out who it was.

a guessing game and a lot of people looking at the charges this anonymous individual is making and sayings sounding pretty serious? >> and things in theed that will potentially also be in the book come from examples we've seen from the president. appointees trying to stop him from making certain impulsive decisions when it comes to foreign policy or other things. democrat would probably, i assume maybe want to stay away from this. stay away from the book and not include it unless it has specific details they want to ask questions about. pretty much keep it away from their impeachment inquiry ongoing now. >> turn to the opinion side of the table. i believe you and mary kathryn are probably on the same page? not a fan of anonymous authors. >> i rarely agree with donald trump but when he called this

person gutless i kind of agreed. all this lawlessness, come out. say it in onother name, testify in front of congress, talk to the media. there's an impeachment inquiry going on. why not be part of the impeachment inquiry and in front of the house oversight committee? gutless then and nonsays. the justification staying inside to protect america from within, be one. adults from within. they used that phrase. quiet resistance. look what's happening last year from the mueller report, obstruction of justice, abandonment of the kurds. strolling in north korea, nothing in return. it doesn't hold water anymore. >> and mary kathryn? your take? >> i find of tiresome. put your name on it. it's a whole book. put your name on it. it makes your account more credible if your name is on it. by the way, these are not hard

criticisms to make. i understand donald j trump goes after people but a lot of people make criticisms of him every day. bring it with your maim. makes it more powerful. and his statement about a cabal acting to thwart him, this guy anonymously writing the book sort of that a point. >> we don't know if the person's in the administration or not. >> a little -- also a debate among republicans don't like trump's style and the way he governs but want his policies to succeed and concern for the country. the same argument we saw from john kelly, for example, the president's former chief of staff. general james mattis, served as dense secretary. officials at times disobeying the president's orders or not carrying them out saying he'll forget about it by tomorrow. let's not do it. sounds too crazy. these two factions, people who

say i don't want a part of this and others say i have a duty to the country to at least be a solid advice-giver some sort of -- >> guardrail. >> exactly. >> these people -- >> can you -- >> i know. mentioning names that drive me up the wall. james kelly, jim mattis. mattis was on your show and wouldn't answer any questions. they have enabled trump to be reckless, abandon people. enabled that. they could help stop it speaking out against it and choose not too. >> i have hope for people who would be the adult it's in the room, although we don't see them that often. just do the thing and don't parade around -- >> mattis makes jokes about it but refuses to talk to you about it. >> breaking news right now. in politics lead as the impeachment inquiry begins we

get our first look at the opening statement of ambassador bill taylor. he is the key diplomat testifying in the impeachment investigation today. taylor the top american diplomat in ukraine raised concerns in text messages about whether or not the trump administration was forcing a quid pro quo. demanding one. go to cnn's manu raju live on capitol hill. manu, you're reading an opening statement. what does. say? >> reporter: yes. just obtained 15-page very detailed opening statement that raises serious questions about the president's actions and the reason why military aid was delayed to ukraine. military aid approved by congress. read you a little of this 15-page testimony that was delivered this morning. he is referring to, text message that bill taylor, top diplomat in ukraine had sent to the ambassador to the european union, gordon sondland. in this text message we've already seen publicly says we're now saying that security

assistance and the white house meeting are conditioned on investigations? that was a question taylor asked. sondland responds to call him. he did. according to this it testimony he says, during that phone call and sondland told me president trump told him he wants president zelensky to state publicly ukraine will investigate ba rees ma and alleged ukrainian interference in the 2016 election and goes on to talk more about, his conversations with ambassador gordon sondland saying that, ambassador sondland told him that "everything was dependent on such an announcement including security aassistance." said president trump wanted the president of ukraine in a public box making a public statement about ordering the investigations. jake, republicans have for some time, of course, said there has been no quid pro quo at all. this statement raises serious questions that there may have been a quid pro quo based on

exactly what the top diplomat, current top diplomat, the president's top diplomat to ukraine is testifying that the president had, that he had been informed that the president wanted this public declaration of investigations that could help him politically in exchange for releasing stalled military aid. he goes on to raise serious concerns about the delay of aid, the aid being delayed and a meeting the ukraine administration wanted a meeting in washington. also put on ice and we know separately the president put that on ice until top u.s. officials communicated with his personal attorney, rudy giuliani seeking those same investigations both into the 2016 elections as well into the bidens and makes it clear. according to what he had been told, the top diplomat told, because of his demand to issue this proclamation those two investigations to help the

president politically would remain in ukraine. >> man meuh raju, a lot of breaking news. what the white house is saying about bill taylor's testimony. squeeze in a quick break and be right back. ♪ ♪ the calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. laundry isn't done until it's done with downy.

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in his tem he says he was informed that president trump wanted a public commitment. a public declaration by the president of ukraine that he and his administration would conduct investigations that would benefit president trump politically in exchange for the military aid from the united states for ukraine. let's discuss. start with this testimony going to the heart of what the impeachment investigation is about in many people's views. some democrats say you don't need the quid pro quo. just asking foreign countries to do these crazy investigations like the server in 2016 or into the firm joe biden's son hunter worked for, that that's enough, but even worse, democrats say, if military aid is a condition of doing these things for the president. >> what we heard so far from reporting and democrats comes out of the testimony is that taylor did say that in instances

when talking to sondland and others that military aid is what was being withheld, and there was, and he backed up the text we've seen already and was saying that there was a quid pro quo, and i spoke to rhett melonnowky of new jersey telling ut reporters in the gaggle hinting that taylor has taken cope cious notes because he is career official rather than a political one and known to take very good notes and also a representative from california described the atmosphere in the room saying members had audible gasps and sighs as taylor was testifying and said that the body language of members hearing what taylor was saying was "holy expletive." yeah. mary kathryn, the fact is, this is a widely respected diplomat,

bill taylor. asked to come in after president trump had gotten the previous ambassador yovanovitch removed from the post. vietnam veteran. this could be theoretically difficult for even the president's staunchest defenders to dismiss? >> yes. i think it is. glad we have the entire opening statement. quite extensive. part of what i don't know are things leaking selectively. you don't get a full picture. in this case you might get a more full picture. if i was in this administration i would take notes about everything all the time. >> and maybe write a book about it. >> but put your name on it. >> yes. a slight distinction between asking them to dig up dirt on biden and the part you asked to investigate interference, which we know there was some not this weird theory about the servers but actual interference by ukrainian officials on behalf of hillary against trump.

that having strings attached to it in foreign policy is not the end of the world and what biden was saying, the corrupt prosecutor he was going after. the integrity of american elections we can attach strings. about attacking your domestic political adversaries, that's the real problem. >> for an intents and purposes we can determine, it's about a crazy dnc conspiracy theory. the former homeland security advisers said i tried to convince him, there's nothing to this. it's not true. not whether or not ukraine was offering damaging information on paul manafort clearly people in ukraine were doing that. >> trump doesn't listen to intelligence officials. that leads to the problems we see and rudy who listens to the same. the big point, one the mentioned at the start. number one do you need a quid pro quo? the idea of investigating joe biden is outrageous, illegal

many argue, impeachable, et cetera. and then quid pro quo, when mick mulvaney went on fox and said i never said the words quid pro quo. thai they've reduced it to that. don't say the words. that's not it is. it's the act. and summary of the transcript. much as ian joy the hearing, important, add stuff, you don't need that stuff. there's literally the white house phone call summary particular the wred of ukraine said can i have anti-tank missiles? trump said, do us a favor. that's the quid pro quo. i'm done there. then brings up two things. >> ukraine and said, and also. >> investigate the election and crazy conspiracy and what about hunter biden? >> and how's the white house dealing with these allegations and notes from this ambassador who, by the way, the trump administration put in his current post at acting, running the u.s. embassy in ukraine right now? >> one of the major frustrations at the white house they haven't

gotten a full read what every single person is saying because they're concerned what some of these administration current and former are saying and what the house democratic investigators are doing, slowly piecing together a picture of exactly what happened when this aid from the moment the aid was withheld until the moment it was released and what all of the reasons were around that. what we've seen so far, largely from the career folks on the state department side and the embassy and ukraine what we still don't have exactly is the picture of what did the president tell his chief of staff mick mulvaney directly or tell rudy giuliani when they met as they frequently do at the white house and the residence of the white house? those are the pictures that the elements of the picture we don't yet have. the question is whether or not democrats will need that or not to proceed. certainly this white house wants to have a better picture, though, are exactly what all of these current and former officials are saying. >> and laura, an open question whether or not we'll ever find out this information.

mick mulvaney is not likely to ever testify before the hout impeachment inquiry privately or publicly. they'll exert consecutive privilege. the trump administration tried to block in of these individuals such as bill taylor and others from testifies and the house democrats had to subpoena them. >> a big question. one that some members raise today which is at what point do we stop with the behind closed doors testimony, depositions and move everything to being public so that we can proceed with the investigation, with the proceedings, impeachment proceedings. right now it appears as though the timeline for whether or not they will have a vote to impeach the president is continually pushed back and there is a fear among democrats how close are we getting to next year? to really when voters are starting to head to the polls for the primary? >> squeeze in a quick break. when we come back, more on the breaking news. bill taylor is sharing explosive testimony on the hill right now. president trump used the word

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a key witness testifying on capitol hill behind closed doors president trump facing backlash from democrats and some republicans about how he's being treated in the inquiry to a lynching. pointinging out head of the congressional black caucus, karen bass accusing president trump of throwing out racial bombs. and what are you hearing from the white house or the president's supporters about why he used such an incendiary term with such historical weight today? >> reporter: back here at the white house aides struggle to defend that remark one saying publicly earlier the president wasn't trying to compare what he's going through to one of the darkest moments in american history. though not really being able to expand further than that. if you're listening to republicans up on capitol hill, some of them are distancing themselves from what the president said including the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy, top republican in the house saying that's not language they

would use, but there is one person who's defending the president's language. not only defending it, earlier senator lindsey graham asked multiple times about this and not only did he not criticize the president over it he endorsed his language. >> i think that's pretty well ak dlat this is a sham. this is a joke. accurate. i'm going to let the whole world know doing this to a democratic president you would be all over me right now. yeah, this is a lynching in every sense. this is un-american. >> reporter: now, lindsey graham is obviously from south carolina. the other senate from south carolina is tim scott. he's the only black republican senator, and earlier said that was not language he would use but essentially said he understood the president's frustrations, jake, with this impeachment probe. also there are questions what a distraction this is from the pressure that is on the white house right now as these people like bill taylor are going up to capitol hill and testifying, a lot of that frustration from the white house because they don't have a white house lawyer present for those testimonies

happening and not fully read in what exactly is being said about the president 's conduct and lok at new cnn poll that came out today showing 50% of americans now endorse or approve of impeaching and removing the president from office. those are numbers they are paying close attention to back here at the white house. >> all right. thanks so much. let's bring in democratic congresswoman debbie dingell of michigan. congresswoman, thanks for joining us. what's your reaction to bill taylor's opening statement and his testimony? he says he was informed, told, that president trump wanted a public commitment from the president of ukraine to conduct these investigations that would help trump politically in exchange for military aid. >> jake good to be with you. again, i wasot hearings. it is reports that we are hearing of what he said. so -- and i think it's good the hearings are happening and because this whole investigation

matters because of what it's doing to our national security. but if true, if that is what he said it should be deeply disturbing. we cannot have somebody using our country's national security, our resources, for personal gain or to undermine an election. so i'm continuing to let the committees do their work, get the information, be as transparent at possible, tell the american people what's happening, but if these reports are true it should bother all of us. >> just this afternoon senate majority leader mcconnell denies the call was perfect, despite the president's assertion mcconnell had said the call was perfect. what do you make of that? >> i think that the president's got to start to be very careful. i think this is a vesolemn timen our country, it's a sad day. i told people when i was younger, i'm not old, but when i was younger i worked for a

republican senate from michigan and flew with him the day he came back from washington and called richard nixon and told him he had to resign. never forget that airplane ride and the things told about ethics and morality. all republicans totally against impeachment until the facts became such they knew what their oath of office meant and where the duty was to the country. so it's not only this particular comment but even the fact that the leaders of both the house and senate actually had the courage today to speak up about inappropriate language in a tweet, or twitter. i think the president needs to be careful, because i think a lot of republicans are becoming very uncomfortable about where they are. >> i want to ask about this new cnn poll that's out today. it finds half of the american people polled support not only impeaching president trump but removing him from office. 43% say no. 50%, yes. a cnn college survey in six swing states, battleground

states including your home state of michigan finds that the majority, 53%, do not support impeachment and removal. 53% oppose. 43% support. obviously you're very attuned to what your constituents in michigan think and want. that's a state that president trump won. why do you think there's such a difference and does that concern you that maybe democrats are moving too fast even? >> i'm going to give you two different -- first of all, i don't trust polls. you and i have discussions before the last election that president trump could win michigan and you said i was crazy. you were reading polls. >> i remember that . absolutely. >> i talked to people from one end of the district another that have different feelings. one of the thingsoehaabo worry about is in the mueller report and hearing from others across the world that russia

tried to interfere in our election, they're trying to destabilize our government. people are trying to divide us as a country. and i was reluctant at first while i have deep concerns about much of what he did, until the whistle-blower came forward and a president trump appointed inspector general said it's credible, urgent and a danger to our national security, people understand that, and i think as an elected official my job is to protect the constitution. know the rule of the law. nobody's above the law. i have to make sure we protect our democracy and the fundamentals of our democracy are under attack and i think people are trying to sort it out. why we have to do these briefings in a class tified setting. as much as we can make it transparent so everybody understands and we do not allow russia and other people, governments, that want to divide us to do so and i think that's

very complicated. >> congresswoman, i want to askable the story cnn broke top of the hour. the author, senior administration official from the trump administration who wrote that op-ed for the "new york times" last september. 2018. they've written a book titled "a warning" coming out november 19th. it is the literary agents and publishes say definitely the same person. he or she remaining anonymous and won't say whether or not the person still works for the administration but cloerly lcl stated it's an attempt to convince the american people especially trump voters, do not vote to re-elect president trump. what do you make of it? >> i haven't read the book. >> it's not out yet. i haven't read the book either. >> so we're speculating. i think we all need to pay attention. i love this country. you know, i'm not a democrat or a republican first. i'm an american. i think we worry, need to worry

about forces that are dividing us. i, every day and home and get yelled at by everybody. people are more engaged than they've been. people are more on all sides of the issue than they've ever been. a lot of intense and emotional feelings. last week i was emceeing something as group, business la nonprofits and education together and i'm co-chair of the group and talked about it being more important than ever and maybe we all could learn from president trump and ellen degeneres. followed into the ladies' room by two young people screaming at me about defending george bush and i looked at them and said, you are too young to hate. you can't have hatred like this and we have to stop the hatred, aren't each other. you can disagree. a good disagreement can get me energized's people have different life experiences but the hate and fear in this country is destroying us and we have to fight against that.

>> congresswoman debbie dingell democrat from michigan. thanks for your time. appreciate it. >> thank you. breaking news. moments ago the cease-fire between turkey and syria officially ended as russia cements more control in the region than ever before. great! here you go... well, it does need to be a vehicle. but - i need this out of my house. (vo) with fair, transparent value for every trade-in... enterprise makes it easy.

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traveled back from xesyria and joins us from northern iraq. what does this mean for the situation on the ground? what does it mean for the syrian kurds? >> reporter: it's extraordinary how wide-ranging this agreement between moscow and ankara actually is. we're 40 minutes away from the searsfire having expired now but this deal seems to essentially eclipse that. in fact, the russian defensemen overly called off the united states to kind of back off and allow this new deal to take effect. noon tomorrow we're supposed to see the syrian regime with russian military police backing them up going along the border between syria and turkey and taking control of it and asking the syrian kurds formerly american allies to put back their fighters and weapons to a distance of 30 kilometers in the deal. kirky gets to keep the chunk of territory it essentially annexed inside of syria.30 kilometers.

and six days give tn to pull ba then the russian pa controlened and turkish patrols move in. like that phone call setting in motion the turkish incursion. that patrol goes ten kilometers deep inside syria essentially making russia the peacekeeper and giving turkey a say on its border. and keeping them away from their border. how do syrian kurds feel about it? after the betrayal of the united states dealt them probably the lesser of evils because a syrian regime stepping to do help at russia's backing and a new ally to some degree. some exceptions. a major town a syrian kurd stronghold is not part of the deal and we don't know about kobani. this is extraordinary. russia and turkey calling the

shots and bear in mind more broadly this is nato's southern border, turkey's southern border and now russians military patrols going up and down it for an in's definite period of time enforcing a peace deal america tried to enforce but since in her own president withdraw them from. xro extraordinary time. >> not jur for president erdogan but for putin. the iraqi military announced u.s. service members do not have per in addition to stay in iraq. comments made by defense secretary mark says purr. barbara starr is at the pentagon. what does this mean for u.s. service members in the region? >> reporter: all those who crossed over it means get out of iraq. hard to see how soon that might actually happen. in an interview with cnn's christiane amanpour defense secretary mark esper tried to explain it all.

>> we're conducting a phased withdrawal, deliberate phased withdrawal from north syria that began with what we calls phase one. in the immediate zone of attack. now under phase two, from the northeast corridor if you will and eventually other phases that we'll draw all forces out. we will temporarily reposition in iraq, pursuant to bringing the troops home. one part of a continuing phase but eventually those troops are going to come home. >> reporter: they are coming home? >> they will come home. >> reporter: none will stay in syria? >> right now the president authorized some would stay in the southern part of syria. >> and if you believe president trump's contention that the fight, the u.s. fight against isis is over, that isis is defeated, well, earlier today a top u.s. envoy said on capitol hill there may be up to 18,000 isis fighters and still spread out between esyria and iraq. >> thank you so much, barbara starr at the pentagon.

both sides seemed to be consumed by the impeachment inquiry. traveling to a key state to find out more. stay with us.

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so come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today. poll numbers that show that the impeachment trendline is moving in a direction that president trump will not like. half of the american people polled now say that president trump should not only be impeached but removed from

office and that number was only 36% in march of this year but does the national mood match what voters in iowa think? howard county, iowa, flipped from blue to red in 2016 and miguel marquez talked with folks to find out. >> reporter: erin schatz in iowa. >> this is corn. and then we feed it to the cows. >> reporter: his world, a wife, two kids, 1500 acres of corn and soybeans, milk and beef cows, two dogs and a goat named gus. he's one of many voters in the northeastern iowa county who supported obama twice then voted for donald trump. >> i don't see i guess anybody in the democratic field that i am too comfortable with yet. i guess we have to wait and see who comes out. >> so your open for voting for a democrat. >> i'm open but not by a lot. >> trade and health care his biggest concerns.

impeachment doesn't rate. >> does impeachment play into your decision about him or your feeling about him at all? >> not yet. >> reporter: it hasn't broken through for you? >> no. the things see kind of minor as of yet. >> reporter: minor in that all politicians do this sort of stuff? >> i'm sure they do. they could dig up dirt on everyone. >> reporter: business owner barb garner voted for trump and something she won't do again but not because of impeachment. >> i kind of still like him but i don't like what he says, i don't like his -- the way he presents himself. >> reporter: it is voters like these that help propel donald trump into the white house. howard county is unique, flipping from obama in 2012 and to trump in 2016 by more than any country in the country. a 41 point swing. >> what is it like to be a

democrat in iowa county nowadays. >> people hiding and not talking about. >> reporter: the democratic chair in howard county said impeachment is making her job to convince others to vote democratic. >> if they bring something worthy of impeachment, i could see independents saying there is something. >> reporter: the county gop chair said trade policy will move votes in howard. impeachment? right now -- >> it all becomes a hum. it all becomes -- background noise. and we've almost come to expect it. >> reporter: now we spoke to lots and lots of voters, democrats and republicans and independents and they say what the president is accused of is slimy and shady but don't think it sounds like it is an impeachment offense. jake. >> miguel marquez in cressco,

iowa. thank you. cnn has obtained the opening statement of the key witness testifying on the hill now. that story is next. stay with us. so has t-mobile's newest signal. now reaching farther than ever before. right now, switch at a t-mobile store and get the new iphone 11 on us! only at t-mobile. ♪ ♪ ♪ the calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. laundry isn't done until it's done with downy.

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medicare supplement plan. call today for a free guide. no, just a sec. what would it look like if we listened more? could the right voice,

the right set of words, bring us all just a little closer? get us to open up? even push us further? it could, if we took the time to listen. the most inspiring minds, the most compelling stories. download audible and listen for a change. oh, wow. you two are going to have such a great trip. thanks to you, we will. this is why voya helps reach today's goals... ...all while helping you to and through retirement. can you help with these? we're more of the plan, invest and protect kind of help... voya. helping you to and through retirement. a democratic lawmaker calls it a sea change in the impeachment probe. "the lead" starts right now. tale of the texts. the diplomat who called president trump's ukraine policy crazy in a text message testifying on the hill and now cnn has his stunning opening

statement. as a very shaky cease-fire expires, vladimir putin meets with turkey president. what decisions are these two autocrats makes with u.s. allies in harm's way. plus breaking right now, that anonymous senior trump official from "the new york times" op-ed coming out with a book that serves as a warning for the country not to vote for president trump. this hour, the white house responds. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. welcome to the special edition of "the lead: white house in crisis" and we begin with breaking news. cnn has obtained the 15-page opening statement from perhaps the key witness in the impeachment inquiry so far. bill taylor explaining how the u.s. ambassador to the e.u. gordon sondland told him that president trump wanted a public commitment from ukraine's president, and ukraine's president would publicly state that he would open investigations that would

benefit trump politically in exchange for a white house meeting and u.s. military aid. according to taylor, those investigations included both the conspiracy theory that it k-- that was ukraine and not russia that interfered in the 2016 election and investigate burisma. taylor testified president trump wanted president trump zelensky, quote, in a public box by making a public statement and ordering the investigations. >> reporter: a key impeachment witness telling investigators he was told aid to ukraine would not be released until ukraine publicly announced the the political investigations trump was demanding into the biden family and 2016. the top u.s. diplomat to ukraine bill taylor offered the details in the opening statement obtained by cnn. he explained what he expected trump of taking part in a quid pro quo. something the president has denied. taylor told veefrs the

ambassador from the union gordon sondland talkehi