JUDY WOODRUFF: The explosive reports of a whistle-blower complaint against President
Trump is raising more questions than answers.
Yamiche Alcindor begins our coverage of this fast-moving story.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: A mysterious whistle-blower, and a president on defense.
Today, President Trump was insistent, any communications between him and foreign leaders
are strictly above-aboard.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I have conversations with many leaders.
They're always appropriate, always appropriate, at the highest level, always appropriate.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Sitting next to Australia's prime minister in the Oval Office, he dismissed
a complaint by an intelligence community whistle-blower reportedly aimed at him.
DONALD TRUMP: It's just another political hack job.
That's all it is.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The Washington Post and New York Times have reported the complaint
involves the president's communications with an unspecified foreign leader and other actions,
and centers on Ukraine.
It is public record that, on July 25, the president spoke on the phone with Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky.
That was two weeks before the whistle-blower complaint was filed.
Today, new reports surfaced that President Trump repeatedly pressed Zelensky to work
with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The president wanted Hunter Biden's dealings with a Ukrainian gas firm investigated, in
a bid to aid the Trump reelection campaign.
Biden's father, former Vice President Joe Biden, is a potential 2020 challenger to President
Trump.
On CNN last night, Giuliani first denied it, then admitted it.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN: Did you to ask the Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden?
RUDY GIULIANI, Attorney for President Donald Trump: No.
Actually, I didn't.
CHRIS CUOMO: So, you did ask Ukraine to look into Joe Biden?
RUDY GIULIANI: Of course I did.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Giuliani eventually said the president had no knowledge of his actions.
But the administration has blocked access to the whistle-blower's complaint, setting
up a standoff with Congress.
In letters released Thursday, the intelligence community inspector general called it an urgent
concern related to serious or flagrant abuse that he said should be given to lawmakers.
Michael Atkinson also testified behind closed doors before the House Intelligence Committee,
but he said he was barred from revealing the substance of the whistle-blower's complaint.
Committee chair, Democrat Adam Schiff, said he may sue to access it.
REP.
ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Given the inspector general said this is urgent, it can't wait.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: In a statement today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said all of this raises
-- quote -- "grave, urgent concerns for our national security."
Those concerns will get an airing next week.
On Wednesday, President Trump is scheduled to meet with President Zelensky.
The next day, Acting Director of National intelligence Joseph Maguire is set to testify
before the House Intelligence Committee.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Yamiche Alcindor.
JUDY WOODRUFF: To provide insight on how the Ukrainian government is factoring into all
of this, I'm joined by Nina Jankowicz of the Wilson Center, an independent nonpartisan
research institute.
Nina Jankowicz, welcome back to the "NewsHour."
So now we have this new information, The Wall Street Journal reporting that President Trump
repeatedly pressured the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden's son.
What is the Ukrainian government saying?
NINA JANKOWICZ, The Wilson Center: The Ukrainian government has been very deft in their avoidance
of this issue, which I think is intentional.
They're trying to kind of walk a thin line of not really upsetting anyone in the Trump
administration or a potential next president.
And in a readout of a call -- the call from July 25, they said that President Trump discussed
anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine that have been stalling U.S.-Ukrainian relations, perhaps
a nod to this scandal that has come up recently.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Could be seen as a reference to that.
NINA JANKOWICZ: Mm-hmm.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But what are -- so, if the government is not commenting officially, what
are people around his administration saying?
NINA JANKOWICZ: Well, I think anti-corruption activists in Ukraine, which represent a very
strong and vibrant portion of civil society, are saying, you know -- they are pretty bemused
that Viktor Shokin, this prosecutor general who was involved in this scandal, is being
championed by Rudy Giuliani and the Trump administration as some sort of anti-corruption
crusader.
Actually, he was an obstacle to anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine, and the fact that the
Trump administration is trying to paint this as a sacking for Hunter Biden's own protection
is just not really ringing true with the Ukrainians who are closest to the material.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And that's what I wanted to ask you about, because the president, President
Trump, keeps saying the news media needs to investigate what this prosecutor -- what happened
with regard to this prosecutor.
And you're saying people there don't see there is anything to that.
NINA JANKOWICZ: Right.
Right.
They say that claim doesn't hold water, that Joe Biden asked former President Poroshenko
to fire Viktor Shokin in order to protect his son.
Actually, these anti-corruption activists are saying, by firing Viktor Shokin, Biden
was almost certainly inviting more investigation into his son, because this former prosecutor
had been stonewalling anti-corruption investigations.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So the plot thickens.
And, meantime, Nina Jankowicz, there's this question of the fact that these conversations
between President Trump and President Zelensky of Ukraine were taking place around the same
time the administration was about to say it was going to deliver foreign aid to Ukraine.
NINA JANKOWICZ: Right.
JUDY WOODRUFF: How does that factor into all this?
NINA JANKOWICZ: Well, the delivery of military assistance to Ukraine was one of the Ukrainian
government's top diplomatic priorities over the past five years.
As a reminder, there is a hot war on in Europe.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes.
NINA JANKOWICZ: Ukraine has been resisting Russian aggression for the past five years.
And this military assistance is very much needed and very important to Ukraine.
The fact that, over the past couple of weeks, it was frozen, for reasons unknown to the
Ukrainian government, not related to any reform efforts, seemingly out of the blue, was really
seen as a shock in Kiev.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So does this -- what we're learning today and yesterday, is that -- are
people now putting some puzzle pieces together, and to suggest that there's a connection?
NINA JANKOWICZ: Yes, absolutely.
It seems like maybe the Trump administration was considering withholding this aid in order
to pressure the Zelensky administration into opening or reopening this investigation into
Biden and the company, the gas company, that he was working with.
And that's extremely troubling to me, because Ukraine is a democratic beacon for millions
of people in the former Soviet space.
They just had a very historic election in the spring, in which Russians were saying,
when are we going to have an election like that?
And we should be supporting this new administration, building bridges with them, not burning it
down.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And just quickly, what is the overall impression of President Trump among
Ukrainians at the high levels there?
NINA JANKOWICZ: I think it's confusion.
It's one of confusion.
On the one hand, he has delivered this military assistance package that for a long time the
Ukrainian administration could not get under President Obama.
But, on the other hand, they have these crazy mixed signals coming from the president's
personal lawyer.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, it's quite a story, and we're going to continue to follow it.
And I know you're going to continue to as well.
NINA JANKOWICZ: Absolutely.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Nina Jankowicz, thank you so much.
NINA JANKOWICZ: Thanks for having me.