Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Poppy Harlow And Jim Sciutto 20190529

What forecasters call at an enhanced risk of more violent storms. Thats something that they take very seriously. Linwood, kansas, is just outside that zone but only barely. Cnns scott mclean is there. Tell us about preparations on the ground now for more tornadoes. Reporter hey, jim. Luckily this area specifically is out of the woods for any tornadic activity for the next two days, but as you said, there are some 40 Million People across the country who could have a possibility of seeing a strong tornado today. Here in linwood, this is all about the cleanup effort today. This thing came through last night and it came through pretty last minute for the these people, a lot of people were watching tv, they got down in their basements, got the alert on their phone, heard the sirens and got in basement. The mayor said a lot of these houses look like theyre completely gone. This doesnt look like a house, this looks like a pile of garbage. That is somebodys belongings there. Believe it or not i spoke to a friend of the homeowners here and he said that they were actually home at the time. They were in the basement. It doesnt look like there is a basement, but if you look over here there is actually one just a little bit dug into the ground there. So they were able to get out thankfully out of that area. Now, an insurance adjuster actually came by this house earlier today. Not because the homeowners had called them, but because he had seen on facebook a piece of their mail with their address on it had actually ended up in another town about 50 miles away and so he figured perhaps the house is no longer there or at least severely damaged and when he got here obviously he realized that it was. Here is what a different homeowner said about the moment that the tornado actually came through. Listen. I saw my bedroom just leave. It was gone. We were underneath the one part of the house that didnt get taken. We knew it was coming, i was just hoping it wasnt coming right at me, and it did. Reporter and, jim, i just want to show you a little more of the destruction. You can see the debris field here, a house there completely destroyed, another one over there. The homeowner here, we actually just spoke to him. The house looks relatively intact, i can tell you it is not. It is missing a wall with bricks on it that are scattered across the ground now, part of the roof that is collapsed, he was actually inside of his house. Despite the obvious safety risk, trying to get medicines and things that are not easily replaceable. What is incredible about that situation is he said he actually had a trailer 7 feet by 14 foot trailer, he says he doesnt know where it is. Its nowhere to be found. Jim . The speeds, the power of those winds, you can see it there behind you, scott mclean great to have you on the ground. Where there are storms already often also floods and those two in the central u. S. Are well past the point of extreme now. Just look at these photos from the air. This morning the Arkansas River is cresting in spots, still rising in others, setting each time all time records for some of these areas. Cnns ed lavandera is in tulsa, oklahoma. We talked to you yesterday along the river there. Tell us what the story is today. Reporter well, the weather is, again, the factor today and depending on how muh rainfall comes and where that rainfall will determine just how much more complicated this flooding situation gets here in eastern oklahoma and in western arkansas. We are, jim, on the edge of the Arkansas River, you can see it humming past by. We also have a drone shot up so you can get a sense of just how strong the current is as it rages its way through tulsa and pushes eastward toward ft. Smith, arkansas. The good news is here in the tulsa area the Arkansas River is close to cresting if it hasnt crested already, but as i mentioned, rain is in the forecast today and depending on where it falls more water from the keystone dam might have to be released and if they have to increase that flow that means everyone downstream from that dam is in possibly more danger. So we will have to see how that plays out today. But there have been communities from tulsa all the way to ft. Smith, arkansas, who have been warned over the last few days to be prepared to either voluntarily evacuate or be ready to move quickly if these floodwaters continue to rise. So that is what residents here along the Arkansas River in oklahoma and arkansas will be monitoring today. Jim . So many homes, so many lives in danger there. Ed lavandera, we know you will stay on top of it. Another story were following, please take a moment here to listen to the Senate Majority leader, republican Mitch Mcconnell to make a promise, a threat perhaps to revaries a standard he himself set on filling a Supreme Court vacancy. If a Supreme Court judge [ inaudible ] what would you do . We would fill it. Fill it in the year 2020. Remember, that is, of course, a president ial Election Year and that pledge, lets be clear, contradicts the argument that mcconnell himself used repeatedly in 2016 to justify blocking president obamas nominee to the Supreme Court at the time, the judge, Merrick Garland. All were doing, chris, is following a long standing tradition of not filling vacancies on the Supreme Court in the middle of a president ial Election Year. The American People should have a say in the courts direction. Well, it wasnt only mcconnell who used that line of argument, other republican senators including the chairman of the Judiciary Committee which of course runs the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court justices lined up and repeated that argument almost verbatim. If you have a vacancy when a president is a lame duck that it ought to not be brought up during the heat of a president ial campaign, that its unfair to the Supreme Court, its unfair to the senate, its unfair to the nominee. For 80 years it has been the practice that the senate has not confirmed any nomination made during an Election Year. Mcconnells Spokesman Says that the difference today is both the senate and white house are held by republicans. That is not the reasoning that the Senate Majority leader and his colleagues repeated in public at the time. You can call it moving the goal posts, tearing down the goal posts might be a better analogy. Im joined by cnn Supreme Court reporter arian da vogue and you will hear a lot of justification for mcconnells pledge now from himself and other republicans. You have covered the Supreme Court for some time. Is this tearing down the goal posts on that pledge, that reasoning . It sure seems like it. Keep in mind that audience yesterday they responded to his comments with laughter. There was outrage in washington by the democrats contrasted back to march 2016 Justice Antonin Scalia had died, president obama looked for a consensus candidate, he nominated Merrick Garland and mcconnell said, nope, no hearings, were going to wait until after the election and that nomination lingered and went away. When President Trump did win, he then replaced Justice Antonin Scalia with neil gorsuch. It was a conservative replacing a conservative, so it didnt change the direction of the court so much, but of course gorsuch is much younger. We learned one other thing from that speech yesterday and its, again, how proud mcconnell and other republicans are of what theyve done with judges because theyve put two Supreme Court nominees on the bench, but theyve also changed the face of the lower courts and were going to see that as these abortion cases, for instance, play out, theyre going to hit these judges and trump nominees judicial philosophy is likely going to be different than an obama nominees judicial philosop philosophy. With cases moving through these courts on roe v. Wade and others it will have a real effect on peoples lives. Let me ask about how the court would react to mcconnells pledge yesterday because the chairman of the court, not the chairman, but the justice, chief justice, he has very publicly la ept lamented that the court has become so political in the eyes of american public. I wonder would he bristol at Mitch Mcconnell making such a pledge. He bristles anytime that there is any movement to make the court look in any way political. Keep in mind we are talking about this, there is no vacancy on the court and there may not be a vacancy. Weve got ruth bader ginsberg, 86 years old, threetime cancer survivor. She issued a biting dissent yesterday, justice breyer, would in i one of them step down during a republican administration, maybe not. Some think what about clarence thomas, hes 80 years old, would he move over to give President Trump a chance at a younger nominee. Sources close to him say, look, hes having the time of his life right now, finally a lot of his dissents will be the majority opinions in the future he may not go either, jim. Im not sure that there is a vacancy among all this talk. Folks dont like to give up those lifetime appointments. Thanks very much. Lets speak with Sabrina Siddiqui and ested herndon. Sabrina, again, spokesman for mcconnell, other republicans will make the point, well, this is different, its not quite the same as 2016, but, you know, as arian said its pretty clear cut. Any hesitation from republicans making that argument . Well, look, remember in 2016 as much as republicans said that they were simply following precedent, they didnt even give Merrick Garland, president obamas nominee, a hearing, much less a vote. So there was really wasnt much precedent for that, if any. I think that its become transparent, it was at the time to many, that they were acting out of political motivations. When mcconnells office says, well, the difference now is that there is a republican in the white house, thats almost openly conceding that this president would nominate someone who republicans are more likely to support than a democratic president would have in the past in obamas case. Whats also important to remember is republicans will use that vacancy to galvanize their base, to go to the polls and vote for donald trump who they had said they had maybe disagreements with that he wasnt their preferred nominee, but this was really about the Supreme Court and the judiciary. So the question now is can democrats turn the tables, especially as you have this slate of antiabortion laws and other issues that perhaps have generational consequences, can they use this moment to actually galvanize their base around the judiciary which they have struggled to do in years past. Thats what youve seen democratic contenders try to do in the wake of this abortion debate. There is no issue arguably that comes before the Supreme Court, particularly for women voters, that is more visceral than a womans right to choose here. I wonder is this a galvanizing issue for democrats . Could they have the advantage if republicans, mcconnell, push their hand on this . Weve seen democratic nominees in the 2020 race try to go in pure horse race terms on offense on this issue recently. Youve had several nominees put out plans saying they Want Congress to codify abortion laws. This he know that that probably would likely not happen in congress but what theyre doing is trying to galvanize the base, trying to rally support around these issues because there is a sense that maybe democrats have been too defensive on this for too long. Maybe theyve conceded the premise to republicans around the issue for too long and that has had negative consequences. I dont think we should beat around the bush around the majority leader here. This isnt really a reversal but more so a continuing of what weve seen from him for a listening time which is the willingness to use power to produce republican results at any cost and so that has sometimes come at the cost of the Senate Institution and precedent before, but thats why republicans love him, because he produces those kind of republican desired results and doesnt care about the consequences. Or at the cost of contradicting himself. Theres that, too. Thank you both very much. Still to come, a standing ovation for republican justin amash. We are hearing from the congressman for the First Time Since he called the president s conduct impeachable. Look at the reception he got. Plus biden does not take the bait. The Democratic Front runner back on the trail for the First Time Since the president s latest very personal attacks, but it is what he did not say that is making the headlines this morning. And the hiker who went missing for 17 days in a hawaiian forest is speaking out about her ordeal saying that she let a voice guide her and she has some advice for anyone planning now to hike alone. Can you love wearing powerful sunscreen . Yes neutrogena® ultra sheer. Unbeatable protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer with a clean feel. The best for your skin. Ultra sheer®. Neutrogena®. Ahhhh were here. Has been excellent. They really appreciate the military family and it really shows. With all that usaa offers why go with anybody else . We know their rates are good, we know that theyre always going to take care of us. It was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. It was funny because when we would call another Insurance Company, hey would say oh we cant beat usaa were the webber family. Were the tenneys were the hayles, and were usaa members for life. Get your usaa Auto Insurance quote today. Its a revolution in sleep. 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Clearly things that violate the public trust are impeachable. Im confident that if you read volume two you will be appalled at much of the conduct. And i was appalled by it. Congress has a duty to keep the president in check. Joining me now is cnn sunlen serfaty. So sunlen, amash says that in private at least hes not the only republican who feels this way. Im sure you have had this experience, i certainly have speaking to republican lawmakers who will speak about the president in critical terms in private, but never do that in public. Im curious if youre hearing any defenders of amashs position from the republican side of the aisle. Well, not yet. It is notable, as you say, that congressman amash, jim, is saying hes having phone conversations with his republican colleagues and theyre telling him that they agree with his position, but theyre just not saying it publicly yet, but it is notable that amash is still essentially on an island alone, he still is the only sitting republican member of congress to say out loud that he believes the president committed impeachable offenses based on his reading of the Mueller Report and last night we saw him really double down on that position at this real significant town hall that he had in his district last night, saying he believes that pelosi should move ahead with an impeachment inquiry, but he was somewhat critical of the speaker of the house, her take it slow, show restraint strategy. No matter what any individual member of Congress Wants to do, if the speaker is not on board, the thing is not happening. I think it would be appropriate for her to proceed with that. I think shes very nervous about some of her democrats who are in what she considers tougher districts and i think shes trying to maintain the majority so she sort of is playing it both ways. At his reception last night at that town hall was significant, the fact that he received at many points many Standing Ovations from the crowd, praising him for what many in the crowd said was courage and standing up to take this position, but he also did have his fair share of critics in the crowd, many republicans who were essentially unhappy with him breaking from his party. Ive been your supporter since you started running for congress and i cant even tell you how disappointed i am. How can you become a democrat when we voted for you as a republican because youre just drink the same koolaid at all the democrats. An interesting moment there. You hear the crowd booing that person down. Jim, its going to be certainly interesting to see how 2020 candidates are reacting to this. We heard from Kamala Harris last night after his town hall, she says she praised him for that position and said im glad to see people are putting country before party. Sunlen serfaty, thanks very much. Brach with me sabrina and ested. The real question it is significant that you have a republican lawmaker very publicly going after the president on this and making cogent legal arguments based on his interpretation of the Mueller Report. Have you spoken to republican lawmakers in private who say, yeah, do you know what, i agree with him, but, man, political price too high for coming out in public . This tracks from what weve seen from republicans for years now. I remember when i was in washington, you would hear from republicans all the time basically saying on every individual trump controversy how shocked or appalled they were in private, but, again, those statements were not happening in public partly because they understand the control that the president has on his political and republican base. Its interesting to see the congressman take this stand, experience some backlash and some support, but what i think will be the most consequential thing is the pressure it puts on Speaker Pelosi because that now has a republican saying things that they wish the most powerful democrat in congress was saying but she is not doing so, partly because of those political and electoral calculations. Sabrina, thats arguably the more interesting conflict here is the conflict within the Democratic Party where you have widespread criticism of the president but sis agreement on whether pursuing impeachment is the right course. Is Speaker Pelosi feeling more of this pleasure or has she successfully headed it off . We made a big deal of her comments last week saying the president if you are seed some coverup and that gave her some political cover not to pursue impeachment right away. In a private meeting with her caucus last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosis message was clear, that pursuing impeachment would play doctor ektly into the president s hands, that he would welcome impeachment proceedings from democrats because its a politically divisive issue. Now, whether or not her caucus agrees with her is a separate question. There is certainly increasing support to at least open up an impeachment inquiry because democrats of course want to access documents and witnesses and are being stonewalled by the white house, they are frustrated with the lack of cooperation from the executive branch, this he feel they are not able to conduct thorough oversight. At the same time you did have these two Court Decisions last week that essentially ruled in the favor of democrats by suggesting that they should, in fact, be allowed to access some of the president s financial records. So that was being pelosi could point to and say, look, there are other options before us and we could litigate these issues in court and thats how we could continue and press the white house for the materials that we need and we are just not there yet on impeachment. Now, amash is so far the only republican to join the chorus of those calling for impeachment. If other republicans joined or echoed that message it would be a different calculation for pelosi, but at this particular point in time amash is on his own, thats certainly the case. We will see about that. There are republicans and i will mention one, conservative columnist matt lewis, he is out with a piece today calling for republicans to draft amash to challenge President Trump in the republican primary in 2020. He said as a conservative who has grave concerns about donald trump i have arrived at an unavoidable conclusion its time to draft justin amash for president. I wonder is that a serious possibility as you are out on the campaign trail . I think the lessons from 2018 through now is this is Donald Trumps republican party. We have not seen an appetite from republicans to really have an opening for that kind of never trump republican, a kind of return to republicans of the past. So while theres certainly an appetite for that in washington, amongst more academic republican circles, among the base on the trail thats not something ive seen reflected and i dont think thats something justin amash would want to do. Astead, sabrina, thanks very much. President trump wasting no time going after his top democratic rival, but former Vice President joe biden hes got an interesting response to those attacks. That is, no response. paul great. Another wireless ad. So many of them are full of this complicated, tricky language about their network and offers and blah blah blah. Look. Sprints going to do things differently. And let you decide for yourself. Theyre offering a new 100 total satisfaction guarantee. Try it out and see the savings. If you dont love it, get your money back. See . Simple. Now sprints unlimited plan comes with one of the newest phones included for just 35 a month. So switch now. For people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay. Com welcome to seattle. Where people are into coffee, tech, and retirement planning. The perfect retirement for me is doing the things that i want to do, not the things i have to do. Unlike seattle, less than half of americans participate in their Employer Retirement plans. 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You rambling about xfinity again . Youre so cute when you get excited. Anyways. Ive got their app right here, i can troubleshoot. I can schedule a time for them to call me back, its great you have our number programmed in . Ya i dont even know your phone anymore. Excuse me . what . I dont know your phone number. Aw well. He doesnt know our phone number you have our fax number, obviously. Todays xfinity service. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Ill pass. Democratic front runner joe biden kicked off his president ial campaign with a harsh rebuke of President Trump, but if you were expecting that same fighting strategy against the president s latest personal attacks on the former Vice President , you did not see it last night. Biden back on the campaign trail, but not taking aim at the, quote, low iq digs from the commander in chief, and one that he shared, of course, with the north korean dictator. Former Vice President saying off camera that hes, quote, not going to get down in the mud wrestle with this fella. Jessica dean joins me now from washington. Youve been covering the campaign here, is this going to be a consistent strategy from biden to sort of let these things pass and focus on his message . Jim, this campaign is banking on americans wanting a return to normalcy, to have this old hand at the wheel to kind of return things back to normal, and what you notice with the statement that they put out after all of those critiques and criticisms and slams on twitter from the president , first of all, the statement came from a Deputy Campaign manager, they also made a big deal pointing out they waited until the president was back on american soil to make this statement here to be on foreign soil on memorial day and decide repeatedly with a murderous dictator against a fellow person and former Vice President speaks for itself. What youre seeing is when trump lashes out like this, it allows them to create this contrast and to say, we waited until the president was back on american soil to even comment on this because thats what has been the norm, that is how we do things in america. They keep kind of returning back to that angle. And you mentioned that he said last night at a fundraiser that he wasnt going to get down in the mud with him. I think they recognize that its one thing to go after policies and where they see hes gone wrong on foreign policy, its another thing, jim, to get into a twitter battle with president donald trump. To be clear, though, this is something of a change for the former Vice President because in the past he has not pulled punches, you remember the famous line you want to take him behind the schoolhouse and punch him in the nose. Right. Im paraphrasing there. But he has not in the past hesitated to take on the president directly. So it sounds like they made a political calculation here. Yeah, i think and remember yesterday he also, too, rolled out his big first policy rollout which was about education, they wanted to make sure that that message was getting out as well. But as so many of these 2020 candidates are trying to do, former Vice President biden chiefly among them, find out where to take on trump, what battles to pick, and, again, how to draw that contrast if the Vice President starts tweeting back at him, does that really help draw the contrast of that argument theyre trying to make, which is that joe biden can take america back to its place among the world and kind of restore what they consider these norms back to the office to the white house, the office of the presidency. Jessica dean on the biden campaign, thanks very much. Just a reminder that democrat tk president ial candidate senator Michael Bennet he will join my colleague dana bash for a town hall live from the cnn center in atlanta. That will happen tomorrow night at 10 00 only on cnn. Democrats may be ready to dig into the president s personal finances, but will they actually be able to . Im asking one lawmaker what is their plan b if a judge denies their latest request. Thats coming up. vo speed. The faster it goes, the faster we make it go. Until one day at verizon we went beyond speed. With 5g ultra wideband, we are now entering a new era where you can live, work, and play in real time for the first time ever. 5g is now in your hands. Be first to real time with verizon 5g ultra wideband. Get the new Samsung Galaxy s10 5g. On verizon. I got it what . What . L. A. Bookers book apartments and vacation homes as easy as hotels. Ridin scooter l. A. Baby l. A. Baby be a booker youre welcome. At booking. Com the best way to hit the beach . With neutrogena® beach defense® sunscreen. Helioplex® powered, uva, uvb strong. Beach strength protection for the whole family. For the best day in the sun. Neutrogena®. 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We have this breaking news just into cnn and that is that the special Counsel Robert Mueller will speak on camera about the russia investigation at 11 00 eastern time, about an hour and 20 minutes from now. This will be the special counsels first Public Comments on the russia probe since the completion of the probe, really since the start of the probe as well. Truly remarkable. We are told he will make a statement on camera, again, at 11 00 eastern time. This statement will be on camera at the department of justice. It is not clear at this point whether he will take questions, but this sets up really a remarkable moment here because, of course, others have spoken for the special counsel to this point, including the attorney general who, of course, released his own summary of the special counsels filings before releasing the whole report after which the special counsel wrote not one but two letters to the attorney general saying in those letters that the attorney general had not fully reflected the findings of the special counsels investigation here. This sets up a remarkable point, perhaps counterpoint from the special counsel to what the president s appointed attorney general has said about this investigation. We have our jessica dean who is following this as well. Jessica, i dont think we can underestimate the meaning of this, especially since we have not heard from him in public yet. We dont know fell take questions here, but sets up the possibility of a different portrayal of his findings than that weve heard from the attorney general. Yeah, jim, thats exactly right. This is the person everybody wants to hear from. Mueller himself. Thus far as you pointed out, we have not heard from him. There have been calls on him to testify, there have been, you know, will he testify in public, will it be behind closed doors, will he speak out, because, again, as you alluded to, some of this some of his report left up to interpretation because he didnt make a determination on that obstruction of justice and so now we are going to hear from him himself today, as you mentioned, at 11 00. Unclear at this point if he will be taking questions, if this will be more of a statement. Jessica, on that point, im sorry to interrupt but looking at the announcement from the department of justice, it says there will be a statement only, no question and answer period to follow. So that answers our question on that. That sets up something potentially unsatisfying here, right, because, of course, some of the special counsels findings beg for followup questions there. I want to bring in Jeffrey Toobin who, of course, has been covering this investigation from the beginning here. Set up the significance of this, the first Public Comment from the special counsel since really the start of this investigation. Well, its significant at many levels, jim, including the location. He will be making the statement from the department of justice and i think thats important to keep in mind because he is an employee of the department of justice. He is a subordinate of william barr, the attorney general, and that suggests to me that he will be trying to explain how his work is consistent with doj policy. Now, what exactly hes going to say, i certainly dont know, but it will be interesting whether inside the department of justice, physically inside, he will continue to express his disagreement with his boss, the attorney general. Obviously one issue that we want information about is whether he will testify before congress about his findings in his report. I have to believe the statement will involve that to a certain extent, but i am happy to admit that i am in the dark about what hes going to say and why he chose to say it now, but certainly the biggest pending issue regarding mueller is his possible testimony before Congressional Committees. No question. And as Jeffrey Toobin says there, is he going to comment on his congressional testimony solely . Will he contradict the attorney general . Will he in any way characterize his filings or attempt to clear up. And we should note he did send not one but two letters to the attorney general following his summary of the special counsels findings to say that, in fact, they had not been reflected accurately in those statements coming from the attorney general. Sarah westwood is at the white house now. Sarah, probably too early to get reaction from the white house, but i imagine this is a statement that they will not only be watching very closely but perhaps nervously as well. Reporter thats absolutely right, jim. We dont know what mueller is going to say. We dont know if the white house was given a heads up that the special counsel was going to make a statement. And President Trump has sort of gone back and forth on whether he believes that mueller should speak out publicly. He has said that it should be up to the attorney general whether mueller should testify, but hes also taken to at which time for say that Robert Mueller should not testify, that there is no need for the special counsel to speak out publicly. Of course, President Trump has relied heavily on attorney general barrs assessment of the findings, President Trump has been very highly praiseful of his attorney general for the way that he summarized muellers report initially, even though attorney general barr has received a lot of criticism for sort of whitewashing some of the stickier reports in the Mueller Report so President Trump may be really wanting to rely on barrs version of events and not so much looking forward to mueller finally having a chance to speak out on his version of the events, jim. And that is one piece of significance of justin amash, the republican lawmakers comments about the Mueller Report because you now have a republican very publicly saying that barr misled in his words the American People on his interpretation of the special counsels filings. So we are in a different place than we were even a couple days ago. We are joined now by jerry conley democratic congressman. Congressman conley, as we see this news just breaking now id like to ask you what you would want to hear from the special counsel now, what would you like him to address in this Public Statement . What do americans deserve to hear from him in this Public Statement now . Well, jim, first of all, let me say im disappointed that hes not going to take questions because i think thats the only way to get sort of at whats behind that report. I doubt very much that a statement without questions is going to clarify some of the Unanswered Questions or some of the lines of inquiry that need to be pursued. I find it disappointing that this Public Statement is going to be issued from the department of justice. That suggests to me that it is orchestrated by the attorney general and his people at the department of justice and, therefore, would suggest rather narrow confines for mr. Mueller, either addressing why hes not going to appear or doesnt want to appear before a Congressional Committee or to reaffirm that he didnt mean that attorney general barr had deliberately misled in his fourpage summary of a 108page report. We will certainly see on that. It was interesting to watch the attorney general in his public testimony make not too subtle reminders that mueller, in effect, works for him as the attorney general. A lot of folks who know the law and the Justice Department better than me noted those comments in effect declaring precedence over the special counsel. But as you know and im sure you have encountered Robert Mueller in your many years in washington, he has served republican and democratic president s, he is his own man, he has not shied away from stating his own positions. I wonder if you see the possibility here that he would say, well, listen, im the special counsel, this is what i found, and leave it at that. He may very well do that. There is a certain irony, though, jim, in his deciding to have a public appearance to address his report. It kind of undermines the argument of but i cant do it before congress. If youre finally going to break your silence after two years and issue a statement, why wouldnt you come before congress and let the American People hear what youve got to say with respect to what that report means or does not mean. To be clear in your view, do members of congress, members of the public or even journalists in a Statement Like this one have the right and does Robert Mueller have the responsibility to be asked and answered questions. Yes, Robert Mueller has to be accountable like anybody else in public life. He is obviously a very consequential figure. When you read the report it is anything but exonerating both with respect to russia and certainly with respect to obstruction of justice, and i think he needs to clarify what did you mean . What went into your thinking . Why did you decide to do some things and not some others . For example, why didnt you insist on deposing the president . Previous special counsels have done that, certainly in the case of bill clinton, why did you ultimately decide not to do that and did that affect your findings . Certainly we want to know a lot more about why you decided not to indict the president because in the report he basically says because the department of justice wouldnt let me. That would suggest the president is very indictable and has, in fact, crossed the line in terms of criminal behavior. Congressman conley thanks very much. My pleasure, jim. We have laura jarrett, justice reporter at the Justice Department right now. Laura jarrett, he hasnt spoken yet, of course, and wont for an hour. Do you have any guidance from your sources there as to what the function of this statement is and what he will address . Reporter well, as you can imagine thats what were working on right now, jim, trying to figure out what exactly he will say after nearly two years of absolute silence. We have never seen him in court, we have never seen him at the Justice Department in all the times that the Deputy Attorney general who was sort of overseeing the investigation would come up and make statements. You remember the indictment of those 12 russian nationals, mueller was nowhere to be found. When the attorney general, the current one, bill barr, closed the investigation and he made a Public Statement, mueller was nowhere to be found. So this time mueller is going to get a chance to come to the microphones all by himself. You know, the Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein is no longer here, bill barr is actually out of the country so mueller will have the stage all to himself. The big question is what exactly will he address . Will he get into the substance of the report, sort of answering some of those lingering request he is or will he address his testimony . There have been a lot of questions about whether he will even appear in public. We know from house judiciary chairman jerry nadler last week who said that mueller essentially wants to make an Opening Statement before members of congress, but then take questions behind closed doors, something that rank and file democrats are not happy with. So all of this remains to be seen, exactly what he will say after so long, jim. Yeah, we should note that what little we know from the Media Advisory here is it does say he will make a statement on the investigation into russian interference in the 2016 president ial election. Does that signal that he will talk about the investigation itself rather than his own intention to testify before the house or senate. Lets go to Sarah Westwood now, because it is our reporting that the white house got a heads up that the special counsel was going to make this statement today. What do you know, sarah . Reporter thats right. A white house official tells our colleague, jeremy diamond, that the white house did get a heads up that special Counsel Robert Mueller was likely to make a statement about the investigation today. That official says that the white house is going to wait until after the statement from Robert Mueller to put out any kind of reaction. So we are going to have to wait to see what the official white house line will be. But certainly, eyes will be glued to the tvs here in the white house, watching what Robert Mueller has to say about the investigation. And we should also just note that Robert Mueller is speaking out as President Trump and his allies have been stepping up their attacks on the investigators. Theyve been railing to declassify some of the materials that went into the investigation because they are accusing mueller without evidence of bias, of corruption. So that is the backdrop of which mueller is finally emerging from behind the shadows, breaking his silence, as the presidnt has been spearheading this effort to discredit his investigation now that its over, jim. Thanks very much, Sarah Westwood at the white house. And if youre just joining us now, the Justice Department has announced that Robert Mueller, the special counsel will make a statement at 11 00 eastern time, this from the Justice Department. And the way they describe it, he will make a statement on the investigation into russian interference in the 2016 president ial election. This will be the first time weve heard in public from the special counsel since the start of the russia probe and of course, since the conclusion of it. And the issuing of his report. Sunlen serfaty is on the hill now. This, of course, happens as negotiations are underway regarding his testimony on the hill. Still no agreement yet. Whats the latest on the status of those negotiations, the timing, and the circumstances under which he will speak on the hill. Yeah, still no agreement yet, jim, and i think Many Democrats on capitol hill will be paying very close attention to if Robert Mueller addresses the issues still outstanding of his testimony on capitol hill. There have been very active negotiations over the last days and weeks. This has really been held up because cnns reporting reflects that the special counsels team is really hesitant to put Robert Mueller out there, seeming that it would be too political, the fact that this would potentially be an inpublic, in front of tv cameras testimony, and his preference is to go behind closed doors for at least the q a portion of the testimony. That not satisfying Many Democrats. They feel that the gravity of the situation calls for a public testimony and the chairman of the house Judiciary Committee, who of course has been pushing hard to get him in front of his committee has said, one way or the other, we are going to hear from Robert Mueller, i will subpoena him if need be, but there certainly have been active negotiations reflecting that theyre giving him room to figure that out. So, of course, that issue certainly, for democrats on the hill, who want to speak to Robert Mueller, want to question him in public, is going to be top of their mind listening to him later today. Well, we ask a lot of officials who dont want to be seen as political to testify in public, whether they be intelligence officials, military commanders, people accused of crimes. So, the question is, why would the special counsel be given that privilege . Sunlen serfaty, thanks very much. Sean wu, hes been covering this story for some time. He was involved representing one of the witnesses in this, rick gates, for some time. Shan, the significance of hearing the first Public Comments from the special counsel . Well, its like hearing the sphinx finally Say Something. So i think were very anxious about it. It is unusual circumstances. Hes making a statement from the department of justice, so i dont know how much we should expect from it. He might simply be confirming hes going to testify. He might just make an affirmative statement with regard to his findings. I this is total speculation, but i would doubt hes going to Say Something very controversial, given what the circumstance is here. So it might be that the purpose of having him talk right now is to eliminate some of that space that people may perceive as building up between him and the attorney general. So my guess is we may see a statement that tries to reconcile some of these issues and calm things down some. Let me ask you this. So, by the structure, the chain of command, the special counsel is under the authority of the attorney general here. Right. Can we assume that the attorney general, of course, appointed by this president and made his opinions and interpretations of the special counsel findings very clear here and has been accused of politicizing them, would the attorney general have veto power or editorial power over any words that come out of the special counsels mouth in this statement . I think that he would in a chain of command sense, but given who mueller is, given barr knowing him for a while, i doubt that he would be very blatant or overbearing about it. But i can imagine him having a conversation with bob saying that, hey, this is not good for the department, it looks like were at odds with each other, you know, can you Say Something that helps with that . I think he would be very hesitant to tell mueller to Say Something that he thinks mueller is going to disagree with or hes being forced to come up with a conclusion. Well, this, though, is a special counsel who wrote letters to the attorney general, letters that the public has since seen, in which he says, mr. Attorney general, your Public Comments do not properly reflect the findings of my report. Yes. And thats probably why barr would be reluctant to make mueller do anything like that again. I think, though, when we read muellers letters, theyre still carefully worded. Hes being very cordial, hes trying not to make it sound like a disagreement. He wants to give the full picture. And that would be great to have it from him. I just dont know that this is the right kind of forum that were going to get a very comprehensive view from him. Shan wu, thanks very much. Stay with us. Again, if youre just joining us for the first time, were going to hear from the special counsel since the start of the russia investigation. Its going to happen in just over an hour, an hour and three and a half minutes at the department of justice. Sunlen serfaty, i want to bring you back if i can for a moment. This will be his first Public Comment, not, we think, his last Public Comment, because he is expected to testify on the hill. The question really is timing and circumstances. Is it not . Its no longer a question of if, but when and how. Thats right. Thats according to jerry nadler, who of course is the chairman of the house Judiciary Committee. Hes threatened to subpoena Robert Mueller if this does not get worked out in due time. And it seems like hes giving him a little bit of time to figure this out. This has been actively negotiated between the special counsels team and the committees on capitol hill, trying to get him in front of congress. And theyve negotiated over the terms of the testimony. What part is in public . What part is behind closed doors . And this has really irritated a lot of democrats on the committee, saying that this is a huge and very important issue and we need him to say these things in front of tv cameras, in front of the public, and they wont they do not want for him to appear behind closed doors. So a little bit of negotiations and things still, of course, have not come together. There was the hope from jerry nadler, the chairman of the committee, that he would have appeared already. He was really circling in, penciling in on the calendar the middle of this month, and that did not happen. That deadline came and went for jerry nadler, but he has said that he will get mueller in front of the committee. He will hear from mueller one way or the other. Of course, those details are the things that are still being worked out. So these comments at 11 00 could be the beginning of Public Comments from the special counsel after more than two years of work completing this investigation. Sarah westwood remains at the white house. This, of course, happens, sarah, as this president and his advisers have continued to broadside on really any investigation into them. First of all, claiming falsely that the special counsels report exonerated the president both on collusion and obstruction of justice, because it did not. In fact, it stated explicitly that it does not exonerate the president on obstruction of justice, but on all other democratic investigations, whether it be a financial records, requests for subpoenas, documents, et cetera. How will muellers comments on the russia investigation play into that and this white house strategy . Well, jim, the white house has employed the strategy of allout stonewalling on all fronts, and theyve made the argument that all of the questions about russia, about obstruction has been asked and answered by Robert Mueller. So mueller staying silent, remaining in the background really helps that strategy, because it helps the president to be able to portray this as a done deal with mueller reemerging, perhaps confronting some of the questions, that could really hurt the president s ability to undermine the democratic probes, as just reinvestigating something thats already done with, here mueller is emerging. So clearly, there are still some lingering issues that the special counsel needs to address. And the president has relied heavily, as you said, on this perception, this false perception, that the Mueller Report did exonerate him. Thats largely because of the way attorney general barr has spoken about the russia investigation. And the fact that barr has been really the only voice speaking out on this has fed that perception. So with mueller now finally adding his voice, that will hurt the president s ability to continue this line of total exoneration, jim. Especially when its not true. Doesnt match the facts. Sarah westwood, thanks very much. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Top of the hour here. I am jim sciutto in new york. Our breaking news, a bombshell in the making. Robert mueller, the special counsel, who has not said a word in public since he took over the russia investigation two years ago this very month, is set to make a Public Statement, his first Public Statement one hour from now. This comes amid weeks of negotiations with the house Judiciary Committee over whether and how he will answer questions on the hill about the report that he submitted in march and will he take questions, will he take them in public . A lot of open questions there about the testimony. But no question now that in one hour, less than an hour, you will hear from that