Escalating Attacks; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Message; What Do Americans Think; Whistleblower Lawyers Say His Safety At Grave Risk; Whistleblower Fallout; Republican Defend Trump In Ukraine Scandal; Ukraine Braces For Fallout from U.S. Scandal; White House Steps Up Probe on Clinton Aides Emails
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Lawyers for the anonymous whistleblower say they are worried for their client's safety as President Trump escalates his attacks.</s>REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: Don't make this any worse than it already is.</s>DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Nancy Pelosi with a new message for the White House, about the House impeachment inquiry.</s>ROMANS: Plus, new polling shows Americans' opinion on impeachment is now shifting. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is Early Start. I'm Christine Romans. Good morning.</s>ROMANS: Good morning, everyone, I'm Dave Briggs. Monday, September 30th. It is 4:00 a.m. in New York, 11:00 a.m. In Kiev, 4:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, 10:00 a.m. on Johannesburg reports from all of those locations ahead. We start though in the nation's capital. Lawyers for the whistleblower, the Ukraine scandal, warning that President Trump's threats are posing a grave risk to their clients' safety. 60 Minutes report on their letter, the House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff came as President Trump escalated his war on the whistleblower and on Schiff. Tweeting, I deserved to meet my accuser and he said the whistleblower portrayed his conversation pressing Ukrainian President Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden quote, in a totally inaccurate and fraudulent way. And then, the president slamming Intel Chairman for misrepresenting his word writing, I want Schiff question at the highest level for fraud and treason. And then, then the president went after whoever gave information to the whistleblower about his call to the Ukrainian president. He tweeted, was the person spying on the president of the United States? Big consequences. Chairman Schiff confirming there is now a tentative agreement for the whistleblower to testify to his committee. He says the president's threats have heightened security concerns for the whistleblower.</s>REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): All that needs to be done at this point is to make sure that the attorneys that represent the whistleblower get the clearances that they need to be able to accompany the whistleblower and to testimony and that we figure out the list -- logistics to make sure that we protect the identity of the whistleblower. That's out paramount concern here.</s>ROMANS: Schiff said, he expects the whistleblower to testify soon.</s>BRIGGS: Meantime, the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is refusing to commit to a response to a House subpoena. House Chairman Adam Schiff, telling CBS, he plans to subpoena documents and perhaps testimony about the Ukraine affair from Giuliani.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you call Rudy Giuliani?</s>SCHIFF: We're going to need evidence from Rudy Giuliani. And it's our intention as soon as first thing next week, to subpoena him for documents. And there may very well come a time where we want to hear from him directly.</s>BRIGGS: Giuliani was noncommittal to CNN. Quote, I'm not saying I will or I will not. On ABC, he was more self-contradictory.</s>RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: I won't cooperate with Adam Schiff. I think Adam Schiff should be remove. If they remove Adam Schiff, if they put a neutral person who hasn't prejudged the case, if they put someone in a Democrat, who hasn't expressed an opinion.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you are not going to cooperate?</s>GIULIANI: I didn't say that. I said, I will consider it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said you wouldn't do it. You said, you wouldn't cooperate with Adam Schiff.</s>GIULIANI: I said I would consider it. I have to be guided my client, frankly. I'm a lawyer. It's his privilege, not mine. If he decides that he wants me to testify, of course, I'll testify. Even though I think Adam Schiff is an illegitimate chairman.</s>ROMANS: He said he would not cooperate. And then, he said he would consider it. And then, he said that Adam Schiff is illegitimate. I mean, the tape is very clear there. House and Senate Republicans now rushing to the President Trump's defense of the Ukraine issue, implying a variety of tactics on Sunday. Senator Lindsey Graham honing in on the whistleblower's report as hearsay, despite the fact the report was largely confirmed by the White House transcript of Mr. Trump's call with the Ukrainian president.</s>SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): It things to me like a political setup, it's all hearsay. You can't get a parking ticket conviction based on hearsay. The whistleblower didn't hear the phone call.</s>ROMANS: Ohio Congressman, Jim Jordan focused on the alleged corruption by Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. A corruption has been established as a conspiracy theory. He uses that as the allegation for which there is no evidence.</s>REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): And then, when the company that is paying him that money is under investigation, guess what? Daddy comes running to the rescue. The vice president of the United States.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is not what happened, sir. Sir, that is not what happened. The European Union, the Obama administration, the international monetary fund, pro-clean government activists in Ukraine, thought that the prosecutor was not prosecuting corruption?</s>JORDAN: You are saying Joe Biden didn't tell Ukraine to fire that prosecutor? I think he did. He bragged about it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did, but the guy was not prosecuting anything.</s>ROMANS: Republican Kevin McCarthy tangled with 60 Minutes Scott Pelley over the president's use of the word though in his call with the Ukrainian president.</s>SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: President Trump replies, I would like you to do us a favor, though.</s>REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): You just added another word.</s>PELLEY: No. It's in the transcript.</s>MCCARTHY: I would like you to do a favor, though.</s>PELLEY: Yes, it's in the White House transcript.</s>BRIGGS: Meanwhile, President Trump's first Homeland Security Adviser says he is deeply disturbed by the president's actions in the Ukraine controversy. Tom Bossert telling ABC, he repeatedly warned the president that the Ukraine conspiracy Mr. Trump was pushing, had been completely debunked.</s>TOM BOSSERT, FROMER TRUMP HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: At this point, I'm deeply frustrated with what he and the legal team is doing and repeating that debunked theory to the president. It sticks in his mind when he hears it over and over again and for clarify here, George, let me just again, repeat that it has no validity.</s>BRIGGS: Wow, in addition to requesting a probe of the Biden's, Trump also asked the president of Ukraine, to look into whether a computer base in Ukraine had been used to hack Democratic servers. In other words, the possibility that Ukraine had meddled in the U.S. elections, not Russia. Bossert says, he told Trump again and again that it simply was not true, to no effect.</s>ROMANS: As preparations for the impeachment inquiry ramp up, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells fellow Democrats, it's not about politics or partisanship, it's about patriotism. Pelosi telling CBS, 60 minutes, President Trump painted himself into an impeachment corner.</s>PELOSI: We could not ignore what the president did. He gave us no choice. It wasn't any change of mind. I always said, we will follow the facts where they take us. And when we see them, we will be ready. And we are ready.</s>ROMANS: Pelosi says her message to the president's White House concerning the impeachment inquiry is quote, speak the truth. Honor your oath of office to the constitution of the United States.</s>BRIGGS: Some new polling out this weekend shows Americans' opinions shifting on impeachment. A CBS News YouGov Poll finds 55 percent believe an impeachment inquiry by Congress is necessary. As usual, a sharp partisan split most Republicans disapprove on an inquiry. Most Democrats support one and Independence are closely divided. An ABC News IPSOS Polls taking a different approach to the question asked, how serious of a problem it is for President Trump encouraging the president of Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son. Nearly two- thirds say it's serious, about a third says it's not.</s>ROMANS: All right. CNN track down two Ukrainian men mentioned in the whistleblower's report, more on what they told us. We have a live report from Kiev, next.