1 00:00:01,466 --> 00:00:03,433 JUDY WOODRUFF: A new twist in the impeachment inquiry. 2 00:00:03,433 --> 00:00:07,933 Two associates of Rudy Giuliani who were to appear before Congress today and tomorrow 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,433 have been arrested on charges of violating campaign finance law. 4 00:00:12,433 --> 00:00:17,433 The two, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were apprehended at Dulles International Airport 5 00:00:18,866 --> 00:00:21,766 in Washington with one-way tickets out of the country. 6 00:00:21,766 --> 00:00:26,766 This afternoon, a U.S. attorney in New York and assistant director of the FBI laid out 7 00:00:28,666 --> 00:00:31,766 the severity of the charges and how they strike at the heart of our democratic system. 8 00:00:31,766 --> 00:00:35,066 GEOFFREY BERMAN, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York: They sought political influence 9 00:00:35,066 --> 00:00:39,966 not only to advance their own financial interests, but to advance the political interests of 10 00:00:39,966 --> 00:00:44,933 at least one foreign official, a Ukrainian government official, who sought the dismissal 11 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,266 of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. 12 00:00:48,266 --> 00:00:52,000 WILLIAM SWEENEY, Assistant FBI Director: These allegations are not about some technicality, 13 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,366 a civil violation or an error on form. 14 00:00:56,366 --> 00:01:00,266 This investigation is about corrupt behavior, deliberate lawbreaking. 15 00:01:00,266 --> 00:01:05,166 JUDY WOODRUFF: To examine these latest developments and how the American public views them, our 16 00:01:06,333 --> 00:01:08,533 own Lisa Desjardins and Yamiche Alcindor. 17 00:01:08,533 --> 00:01:09,900 Hello to both of you. 18 00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:11,100 So much going on. 19 00:01:11,100 --> 00:01:13,200 Yamiche, I'm going to come to you first. 20 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,366 Tell us who these men are. 21 00:01:15,366 --> 00:01:17,433 And what is their connection to Rudy Giuliani? 22 00:01:17,433 --> 00:01:22,033 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, the allegations laid out against them are very serious in this 23 00:01:22,033 --> 00:01:24,066 21-page indictment. 24 00:01:24,066 --> 00:01:28,166 Parnas and Fruman are accused of trying to channel and funnel foreign money into U.S. 25 00:01:29,466 --> 00:01:32,000 elections to try to interfere with U.S. elections. 26 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,366 They're accused of setting up a company to mask hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations 27 00:01:35,366 --> 00:01:40,366 to foreign -- to U.S. politicians and candidates in a pro-Trump super PAC. 28 00:01:42,366 --> 00:01:45,666 They are accused of also working with President Trump and Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukraine 29 00:01:46,566 --> 00:01:48,700 to investigate Joe Biden. 30 00:01:48,700 --> 00:01:51,933 That's really important, because, even as Rudy Giuliani is saying he's not really connected 31 00:01:51,933 --> 00:01:55,766 with these two men in terms of the work that they were doing, these two men are accused 32 00:01:55,766 --> 00:01:58,933 of essentially trying to meddle in these elections by using this money. 33 00:01:58,933 --> 00:02:02,500 Now, it's also important to note that these are two men that House Democrats want to know 34 00:02:02,500 --> 00:02:04,533 a lot about. 35 00:02:04,533 --> 00:02:08,500 There are photos of President Trump and these two men circling around on the Internet, both 36 00:02:09,666 --> 00:02:11,366 with Rudy Giuliani and with the president. 37 00:02:11,366 --> 00:02:13,833 The president just took questions about this on the White House lawn. 38 00:02:13,833 --> 00:02:15,933 He says: I don't know these two men. 39 00:02:15,933 --> 00:02:18,500 I take photos with a lot of different people. 40 00:02:18,500 --> 00:02:22,533 The president said that he hopes Rudy Giuliani doesn't get indicted, but he wouldn't say 41 00:02:22,533 --> 00:02:25,000 whether or not he was concerned about that. 42 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,833 It's also important to note that these two men were arrested, as you said, with one-way 43 00:02:28,833 --> 00:02:30,866 tickets on an international flight. 44 00:02:30,866 --> 00:02:33,300 Federal prosecutors are essentially saying they were trying to get out of town. 45 00:02:33,300 --> 00:02:36,200 Rudy Giuliani says that they were just going on a business trip. 46 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:38,833 JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, so again, so much to follow. 47 00:02:38,833 --> 00:02:43,833 So, Lisa, tell us more about how all this relates to Ukraine, as Yamiche mentioned, 48 00:02:44,966 --> 00:02:47,066 and to the House impeachment inquiry. 49 00:02:47,066 --> 00:02:49,033 LISA DESJARDINS: There are so many complicated threads, but here are the connections we know 50 00:02:49,033 --> 00:02:51,133 about right now distinctly. 51 00:02:51,133 --> 00:02:56,033 First of all, we know that these two men worked not only for Rudy Giuliani, but, specifically, 52 00:02:57,933 --> 00:03:01,033 that they assisted the president's work -- Giuliani's work for President Trump. 53 00:03:01,033 --> 00:03:05,333 We also know from reports from many different outlets that these two were pushing Ukraine 54 00:03:05,333 --> 00:03:09,033 to investigate Vice President Biden and his son Hunter Biden. 55 00:03:09,033 --> 00:03:13,400 Also, these two men are cited in the whistle-blower complaint. 56 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,433 So it does draw together some of these threads. 57 00:03:16,433 --> 00:03:21,433 Judy, also today, we had a new subpoena, not only for these two men, but for Energy Secretary 58 00:03:22,033 --> 00:03:23,400 Rick Perry. 59 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:25,466 How does that connect? 60 00:03:25,466 --> 00:03:29,733 Part of that subpoena is asking for information about why Perry was pushing for a change in 61 00:03:31,033 --> 00:03:32,966 management at a Ukrainian energy company. 62 00:03:32,966 --> 00:03:36,700 Who else might have an interest in that Ukrainian energy company? 63 00:03:36,700 --> 00:03:41,333 Democrats say these two men also had interest in that Ukrainian energy company. 64 00:03:41,333 --> 00:03:45,033 So a lot of sort of early edges to this puzzle. 65 00:03:45,033 --> 00:03:47,100 Many questions still remain. 66 00:03:47,100 --> 00:03:50,933 JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, separately from all this, Yamiche, we have the results now of a new 67 00:03:50,933 --> 00:03:55,933 poll, "PBS NewsHour"/NPR/Marist, looking at how voters are reacting to the impeachment 68 00:03:58,266 --> 00:03:59,266 inquiry. 69 00:03:59,266 --> 00:04:01,266 What do we see from that? 70 00:04:01,266 --> 00:04:04,233 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: This new poll that is out this afternoon shows that a slim majority 71 00:04:04,233 --> 00:04:08,766 of Americans now support going forward with an impeachment inquiry against President Trump. 72 00:04:08,766 --> 00:04:11,600 I want to walk you through some of the numbers. 73 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,566 The poll shows that national support for an impeachment inquiry has actually been up after 74 00:04:15,566 --> 00:04:17,633 - - from two weeks ago. 75 00:04:17,633 --> 00:04:20,666 Two weeks ago, 49 percent of U.S. adults supported an impeachment inquiry. 76 00:04:20,666 --> 00:04:22,766 Now it's 52 percent. 77 00:04:22,766 --> 00:04:26,833 That -- those numbers dovetail with The Washington Post and FOX News and a number of other polls 78 00:04:26,833 --> 00:04:29,466 who show that the majority of Americans want to see an impeachment inquiry. 79 00:04:29,466 --> 00:04:32,866 I also want to walk through that independents are a big part of this. 80 00:04:32,866 --> 00:04:37,133 Two weeks ago, when we took this poll, 44 percent of independents supported an impeachment 81 00:04:37,133 --> 00:04:38,866 inquiry. 82 00:04:38,866 --> 00:04:42,600 Now the poll that's out today shows an uptick of 10 points to 54 percent. 83 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,666 That's -- that's bad news for President Trump. 84 00:04:44,666 --> 00:04:48,466 He wouldn't answer questions about this poll specifically at the White House lawn today. 85 00:04:48,466 --> 00:04:52,733 But what it tells you is that the president is essentially facing more pressure with impeachment 86 00:04:52,733 --> 00:04:56,466 inquiry, as he says that he did nothing wrong, as he says that he doesn't want to comply 87 00:04:56,466 --> 00:04:57,466 with House Democrats. 88 00:04:57,466 --> 00:04:59,433 JUDY WOODRUFF: Fascinating. 89 00:04:59,433 --> 00:05:01,933 And, Lisa, I know they're watching all this closely on Capitol Hill. 90 00:05:01,933 --> 00:05:02,933 What are you learning from there? 91 00:05:02,933 --> 00:05:04,466 LISA DESJARDINS: They are. 92 00:05:04,466 --> 00:05:07,400 Democrats were not sort of like jumping in the aisles over this. 93 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:12,400 But they do feel that this adds to the cloud over the Trump presidency, and it raises more 94 00:05:14,433 --> 00:05:17,333 questions about corruption in his administration and among those around him. 95 00:05:17,333 --> 00:05:20,533 So they obviously are trying to get details themselves, but they think that this adds 96 00:05:20,533 --> 00:05:25,500 to what they see as their narrative, which is, this is an administration that tries to 97 00:05:25,500 --> 00:05:28,400 cross legal boundaries on a regular basis. 98 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:32,433 Now, Democrats are also paying attention to some other kind of effects of this. 99 00:05:32,433 --> 00:05:36,266 As part of the indictment today, it named - - it said these two men had been reaching 100 00:05:36,266 --> 00:05:38,633 out to a specific congressman. 101 00:05:38,633 --> 00:05:43,633 We know, from transactions, dates, times and other reporting, that that congressman is 102 00:05:43,633 --> 00:05:45,566 former Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas. 103 00:05:45,566 --> 00:05:47,000 There he is right there. 104 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:48,600 He's not just any Republican. 105 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:52,066 He was chairman of the Rules Committee, a very powerful position. 106 00:05:52,066 --> 00:05:56,633 The allegation here in the indictment is that these two men were trying to get him -- to 107 00:05:56,633 --> 00:06:01,366 leverage donations with him to get him to pressure for the ouster of that Ukrainian 108 00:06:01,366 --> 00:06:03,366 ambassador. 109 00:06:03,366 --> 00:06:05,733 He has released a statement saying there was no such transaction, no request. 110 00:06:05,733 --> 00:06:07,533 I never did anything like that. 111 00:06:07,533 --> 00:06:10,266 But, Judy, he's trying to get back into Congress. 112 00:06:10,266 --> 00:06:13,566 And so this is again where Democrats see a gain for them. 113 00:06:13,566 --> 00:06:17,233 Two other quick notes about what's happening with Democrats tonight. 114 00:06:17,233 --> 00:06:22,233 Nancy Pelosi is planning a call tomorrow afternoon with all of the Democratic members in Congress. 115 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:25,366 They're going -- or in the House, rather. 116 00:06:25,366 --> 00:06:27,833 They're going to talk about impeachment and talk about things like, do they hold a full 117 00:06:27,833 --> 00:06:28,866 House vote? 118 00:06:28,866 --> 00:06:30,233 What do they do next? 119 00:06:30,233 --> 00:06:32,233 How fast do they move? 120 00:06:32,233 --> 00:06:36,100 As these layers pile up, Democrats again will have to choose which ones they pursue and 121 00:06:36,100 --> 00:06:38,400 for how long. 122 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:42,166 Finally, tomorrow, Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, who we keep bringing up, the one that Giuliani 123 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,666 wanted out, is supposed to testify behind closed doors. 124 00:06:46,666 --> 00:06:49,833 And my Democratic sources say, even though she's still at the State Department, they 125 00:06:49,833 --> 00:06:50,833 think she's going to come. 126 00:06:50,833 --> 00:06:51,833 We will see. 127 00:06:51,833 --> 00:06:52,833 It's tomorrow morning. 128 00:06:52,833 --> 00:06:54,366 We will know within 24 hours. 129 00:06:54,366 --> 00:06:56,366 JUDY WOODRUFF: Her testimony was delayed from last week. 130 00:06:56,366 --> 00:06:58,500 LISA DESJARDINS: That's right. 131 00:06:58,500 --> 00:07:01,133 JUDY WOODRUFF: And you remind us, there has not been a formal vote yet to pursue an impeachment 132 00:07:01,133 --> 00:07:02,366 inquiry. 133 00:07:02,366 --> 00:07:03,133 LISA DESJARDINS: Not by the full House. 134 00:07:03,133 --> 00:07:04,400 That's right. 135 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:04,533 JUDY WOODRUFF: Lisa and Yamiche, thank you both.