Two Giuliani Associates Arrested At Airport; Will Trump Block Yovanovitch From Testifying?; Deadly Turkish Military Strikes in Syria
ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: If, honestly, if you look and if you compare the ingredients in an incredible burger and a regular burger, I've actually read that the incredible burger isn't as good for you as you think.</s>DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. I need all three. Taste test, next week. All right. EARLY START continues right now.</s>BRIGGS: A dramatic arrest at the airport. Two associates of Rudy Giuliani detained over campaign finance violations. They're linked to the growing White House/Ukraine scandal.</s>KOSIK: A former ambassador set to testify on Capitol Hill today in the impeachment inquiry. Will she show up or be blocked by the White House?</s>BRIGGS: Turkey says it's killed hundreds in its operation in Northern Syria. The Trump administration trying to broker a cease-fire.</s>ROCKETS' PR: Excuse me, we are taking basketball questions only.</s>CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN SPORTS: It's a legitimate question.</s>ROCKETS' PR: It's not.</s>MACFARLANE: This is an event that happened this week during the</s>NBA. ROCKETS' PR: It's already been answered.</s>KOSIK: And the NBA cancelling all press conferences during their China trip after this moment during the league's face-off with Beijing. Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik. Happy Friday, Dave.</s>BRIGGS: Happy Friday. They can't stop the questions from coming. These guys have to answer them at some point. Happy Friday, October 11th, 5:00 a.m. in the East. We start with the stunning and dramatic airport arrest that could have links to the Ukraine scandal engulfing the White House. Two associates of Rudy Giuliani were arrested on charges they violate violated campaign finance laws, including donations they made to a Trump super PAC. The men are Soviet-born U.S. citizens. They were detained on Wednesday, after the feds learned they had one-way tickets out of the country.</s>KOSIK: Giuliani told "The Wall Street Journal", the men were traveling to Vienna, where Giuliani was also headed. Giuliani tells CNN that beginning in November of last year, the two men helped him in the Ukraine, digging up dirt on Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. You can see the two men here with Giuliani in a Twitter video. We don't know where or when the video was shot. But we know the three met for lunch on Wednesday before the men headed to the airport. President Trump denies he knows them.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know those gentlemen. Now, it's possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody. I don't know them. I don't know about them. I don't know what they do. But -- I don't know. Maybe they were clients of Rudy. You'd have to ask Rudy.</s>BRIGGS: As it happens, yes, there is a photo of the president with at least one of the men. Here it is. Jessica Schneider has more of the shocking details.</s>JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: These two men arrested, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, they could be key characters in this broader Ukraine impeachment inquiry. That's because of a few things. First of all, Rudy Giuliani has said that they helped dig up dirt in Ukraine on the president's political rivals, including Joe Biden. Also, that these two men introduced Giuliani to former and current Ukrainian officials. And this indictment alleges that these two men asked for the help of a former U.S. congressman, who we've seen learned is a Texas Republican, Pete Sessions. They asked him to help with the firing of the United States ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. She, of course, eventually was fired in May, mostly at the behest of Rudy Giuliani. Now, these two men were arrested late night on Wednesday at Dulles Airport. The prosecutors had to act fast here. They did not intend to unseal their indictment on Thursday, but these two men had one-way tickets. Prosecutors had to act fast to unseal the indictment and to make the arrest. Now, these two men, along with others, are facing several charges, including conspiracy and false statements and also funneling foreign money into U.S. elections. They were accused of giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Trump-aligned PAC. And the indictment says they did it largely at the behest of a Ukrainian official. The two are accused of funneling in $1 million from a Russian national that they put toward other state candidates in Nevada here. So, these men are ultimately facing charges in New York but will be held in Virginia on $1 million bond in the meantime. And they are also facing new congressional subpoenas. Congressional investigators really want to know more about their role in Ukraine and their relationship with Rudy Giuliani.</s>KOSIK: And as Jessica just mentioned, those two Giuliani associates, they were subpoenaed by House Democrats in connection with their impeachment inquiry. And they were not the only ones. Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill with the details.</s>MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Subpoena after subpoena now coming out to demand documents, as Democrats try to move to wrap up this impeachment probe in the coming weeks. Potentially decide whether or not to impeach this president as soon as Thanksgiving. Now, what -- the latest information subpoena for Rick Perry, the energy secretary, over conversations that he had with President Zelensky of Ukraine and about with President Trump and Rudy Giuliani, is part of Giuliani and Trump's efforts to get the Ukraine government to investigate the Bidens. Now, Perry has said all along he did not speak to Zelensky at all about the Bidens. He said it was all about energy and energy issues. But Democrats have raised concerns about some of the conversations, saying this in their letter to Perry, saying these reports have raised significant questions about your efforts to press Ukrainian officials to change the management structure at a Ukrainian state energy company to benefit individuals involved with Rudy Giuliani's push to get Ukrainian officials to interfere in the 2020 elections. This comes amid the subpoenas that have gone out to the White House, the White House and the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Pentagon, the State Department, and Giuliani and Giuliani associates, including those two Giuliani associates who are arrested yesterday. Democrats hope to get information. If they don't, or if the White House continues to deny their demands, expect that to be rolled into an article of impeachment against this president because what they say is that the president is obstructing Congress from doing its job. So, no matter what happens here, the Democrats believe they could get more evidence to go after the president and also potentially more evidence on obstruction of Congress. Back to you.</s>BRIGGS: Manu Raju, thanks. Some breaking news now. The Nobel Peace Prize has just been announced. It was awarded to the prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed. He's being honored for his role ending the two-decade long war between Ethiopia and Eritrea waged over a border dispute in which nearly 100,000 people died. Ahmed also helped recently to broker a power-sharing deal in neighboring Sudan. Breaking overnight, an Iranian oil tanker set on fire and badly damaged by an explosion in the Red Sea. The tanker company says it was hit by missiles. Oil prices are already soaring.