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 man there
for the First Time Since the start of this investigation. Our dana bash is In Washington. Dana, you and i have been covering this investigation since the very start. Tell us about the significance of this moment. You really cant overstate how significant it is, in that, as you said, we have not heard from Robert Mueller. Obviously, we have a very dense, lengthy, detailed report from mueller and his team about the investigation that lasted two years, the conclusion of what it meant, but even in trial after trial, courtroom after courtroom, we heard and saw members of muellers team. Not Robert Mueller himself. We basically have, you know, the pictures and the video that our team got of him going in and out of his office all that time. So this is hugely significant. The fact that they are telling us from the Justice Department that he is going to make a statement. He is not going to take
questions, obviously begs a very big question in terms of the content. Why does he feel so compelled to come out to say whatever it is that hes going to say, especially given the back and forth that youve been talking about with our colleagues over whether or not he should or will testify, not just privately, but more importantly, publicly before the House Judiciary Committee. You know, we have not heard his voice, words come out of his mouth, dana, but as you know, he did submit not one, but two letters to the Attorney General following Attorney General barrs characterization of the mueller findings, which mueller in those letters, we now know, says hey, wait a second, youre not saying what i said in my report here, and i wonder what kind of potential conflict that sets up in these comments here. Again, we dont know if hes going to repeat that line of
argument. We also dont know if bill barr signed off on whatever Public Statement bob muellers about to make here. But the fact is, there is already a Public Disagreement, is there not, between bob mueller and bill barr on this . Absolutely. Absolutely. A Public Disagreement that Robert Mueller clearly wanted to be public after he was frustrated, to say the least, by the way that the Attorney General characterized his report in the summary that was sort of the only thing out there for weeks before the actual Mueller Report came out. You know, we dont know. The real we hate to see this when were on television, especially at something so big. We are trying to do reporting, but we dont know the content of what he is going to say in about an hour. It is going to be about the most dramatic moment, i think, its fair to say, that we have had. And that says a lot, given the drama that we have seen and we have been a part of for all of
these months and even years in the trump era. No question. It makes you think of the comey testimony a couple of years back after his firing. Dana bash, stand by. Certainly a lot more to cover here. Laura jarrett is at the Justice Department where, in less than an hour, the Special Counsel will make these groundbreaking Public Comments, or at least Public Statement here. Laura, what are you learning now as we get closer to that moment . Well, jim, were still trying to figure out exactly what he will say, but as dana pointed out, i think the timing here is really interesting. The investigation has been over for quite some time, so why now is the day that he chooses to speak out, of all days . We know that hes been going into work every day, weve been trying to figure out exactly what hes been up to. The Justice Department really wont provide any details on what hes doing every day and so weve been asking the question, and hes finally now going to get to speak for himself. We havent even heard his voice. In many, many years, he hasnt made any Public Statement, he hasnt come to court, he hasnt appeared at the justice
department for any of the Press Conference that other senior justice officials have done on some of the cases, some of the indictments. He has let his deputies handle all of those proceedings. It so will be interesting to hear how he frames whatever argument or statement that he wants to make about the report itself or about his testimony. We dont yet know whether he will address some of the findings of the report. We recall, as you pointed out, in the last hour, he had concerns about how the Attorney General, bill barr, had characterized some of the findings. He and his team members really wanted the Attorney General to put out those summaries that the team had worked up, because he thought that those provided a more fulsome explanation of some of their findings and that the public wasnt getting the full picture. Obviously, the Attorney General opted not to do that and instead to release a redacted report. So well see how much of anything he mentions on some of the substance of the findings versus his testimony, which is still in doubt at this time, jim. Laura, you know how that building works. And i wonder, based on the chain
of command, a statement announced bip ty the Justice Department to be given from the Justice Department, by a Special Counsel who by the Chain Of Command serves under the Attorney General, as head of the Justice Department, would that mean that this statement had been vetted by the Attorney General or even perhaps the white house as well . I think the question is vetted versus given a heads up. I know our colleague Jeremy Diamond is told by a Senior Administration official that the white house was given a heads up, i think, last night, that he was going to make this statement. The Attorney General, bill barr, is actually out of the country in alaska right now, so were trying to figure out exactly what the coordination was between those two men. Obviously, they go back quite some time. Bill barr had been muellers boss for many, many years back in the 90s, so they know each other well. Were trying to dig into what is going on there. But in terms of vetting the statement, i think you get in tricky terrain when you Start Talking about, Someone Vetting It in terms of editing it. I think mueller probably has some things that he wants to say
and theres nothing anyone could do to stop him at this point, jim. Hes been around a while, hes an old marine scout from vietnam, hes proven himself to be his own man through the years. Again, if youre just joining us now, bob mueller will make his first Public Comment on the Russia Investigation, the Justice Department statement says a statement on the investigation into russian interference in the 2016 president ial election. It will be the first time that we hear from the Special Counsel since the start of this investigation. I want to go to joe johnsons a to the white house. I imagine its not a stretch to say that the white house is bracing itself for what words will come out of the Special Counsels mouth in less than an hour now. Reporter that certainly appears to be the case. What is clear to us through our reporting from the White House Team is, number one, that the white house got a bit of a heads up on the fact that he was going to make this statement. And also, that the white house will not make any statements until after they hear what mr. Mueller has to say. One thing i can tell you from my
own personal experience in my time covering the Justice Department and the supreme court, bob mueller appears to be at least reasonably fond of making exit statements. And i know that because i interviewed him when he left the fbi in a round robin with a number of other journalists from around town. So the question, of course, weve been told for a while that he was about to leave any day now. The question is whether this would be the appropriate time for mr. Mueller to make an exit statement, if you will, as he leaves the office of the Special Counsel. Thats just based on past experience and no direct knowledge, though i have raised the question with the office of the Special Counsel, jim. Interesting possibility. And again, as you say, we dont know. But is that what hes going to say . That hes completed his work and nows his time to go home . Open question. Well know in 52 minutes. A little less than that. David gergen is joining us now. Hes worked for a handful of president s through the years. Again, were in theory territory now, because the Special Counsel has not tipped his hand yet. What is your view of what he hopes to accomplish here . Haha, great question. A dramatic moment. First time bob mueller has spoken in two years. Hes almost been a sphinxlike character. You know, given what we learned in the last two or three weeks about his reluctance to testify in front of an open hearing in the house or the senate, that he does not want to get involved in a political circus, i think thats one pressure hes by putting this at the Justice Department with no questions, he can control the message and the atmosphere much better than going up to the hill. So i think hes partly doing that, but he is also under pressure to clarify, because he put out his report and then along comes barr, the Attorney General, and puts a new gloss on the report, which is much more favorable to the president. And so you have to mueller has to decide, do i want to take that on or not . Or do i want to clarify what my thinking was and where were going . So my sense is, he wants to clarify, but he does not want a circus and this is the compromise to get there. Let me ask you this, because he doesnt want to be seen as political. Okay. But this is a fundamentally political question, is it not . Theres even a theory that what mueller tried to do here was, in effect, give this evidence and allow congress, a political body, to decide if this is evidence of impeachable offenses. I mean, we require a whole host of nonpolitical figures, be the intelligence commanders to testify in public. Whats so special about bob muellers status to avoid such public questioning . I dont think there is all that much difference. But one could understand his reluctance, after spending two years of his life doing this and going so seriously into it. He and his in the final
report, he dodged the political questions. He stuck to the legal issues, and dodged the question of whether this these would be impeachable offenses, if the house so held. Or whether he thought they were impeachable offenses. Remember, since his report, weve had some 900, is it now, former Justice Department prosecutors on both sides of the aisle who come forward and said in a sense that if what mueller had presented to us, if trump were a private citizen, he would be indicted and charged and hed be facing possible jail time. Well, mueller has never spoken on that. And i think people are extraordinarily curious to know, whats his view . What is his view on obstruction given where weve been . And did the Justice Department distort and in some ways spin his report in ways that made him uncomfortable . And to be clear, just a reminder, we mentioned this a few moments ago and we have an image of the letter on screen, on march 27th, Robert Mueller sent a letter that we now have
and has been testified about in congress, it is public, in which he calls out the Attorney General for not properly conveying the weight, the seriousness, the specifics of his findings there. So theres already a Public Disagreement. Of course, the difference between one in writing and one a spoken Public Disagreement is different. Yes, i think thats right. And jim, this may be the last time we hear from mueller. Given his desire to stay out of the spotlight, to stay out of politics, you know, this may be the first and may be the last statement. Well have to wait and see. Its clearly going to raise new questions pant what he thinks, about his judgment, and those reporters are going to be wanting those answers, as will members of various committees on the hill. But it may be very hard to extract them after this statement. This may be his sayonara. His sayonara. Shan wu, youve encountered the Special Counsel through the years, shan, including representing a witness, a
significant witness in this investigation, rick gates, former Deputy Campaign chairman for trump and now someone whos pled guilty to crimes. Tell us what questions he needs to address. Hes going to answer questions, but what questions he needs to address in this statement . I think if it is a farewell statement, it kind of gives him a clear shot at saying what he wants to say. I think what would be really important is for him to address the whole question of, there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges about conspiracy or conclusion with russia. And the problem is, i just cant see mueller making some type of Grand Unveiling that in fact there was a lot here, its an impeachable offense. I cant see him saying that in these circumstances. So he may just kind of amplify a little bit some summary of his findings. And i think that could be very disappointing. But that would be a really crucial piece of insight for him
to give us as to what was really going on there. Do you think that even though theres not enough to bring a criminal charge, that these are very Serious Problems that you found and very serious misgivings and that you really did Want Congress to take a look at that. The problem is, i cant see him giving that much of an opinion about it. Turning to the obstruction side, hes already opined that He Cannot Exonerate the president. So there he may be willing to speak more forcefully, and ideally, shed light on whether that office of Legal Counsel opinion really kept him from bringing a charge. And weve heard some rumors that theres actually an indictment drafted. So i think that would be something i really want the answer for. Was it but for that rule that he would have been charged . Will he address that. I want to quote from his letter march 27th from bill barr to Robert Mueller. He said the following. The Summary Letter that the department sent to congress and released to the public late in the afternoon on march 24th did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this
offices work and conclusions. That is already in letter form a Public Disagreement between the Special Counsel and how the Attorney General portrayed the Special Counsels findings as he put them together over those two years of this investigation. Ga garb, i believe youre still with us. Weve already had two people on the air raise the possibility this could be his swan song, his farewell here. Are you hearing anything in that direction i just spoke with a key republican congressional source, one who should be in the know about what Robert Mueller was going to do, just even the fact that hes going to give this statement. And unlike the white house, which according to our reporting did get a heads up, just that hes going to give the statement, that heads up came last night, that did not happen for republicans, it seems, on
capitol hill. At least those who are in a position to before kind of, you know, dealing with this kind of thing. You know, we dont know yet and were still doing reporting about whether or not the same goes for democrats who are in charge of the house of representatives, but when it comes to republicans, my understanding in talking to a key republican source is that did not happen, as it seems to have had with the trump white house. Now, would hill need to be notified based on a Special Counsel law in advance if the Special Counsel was completing his work . Thats a good question. The answer is no. My understanding, i dont know, maybe you read it a different way, jim, but its because the work has been completed. They did, by law, have to be notified when the Attorney General got the report from Robert Muellers team and, of course, they got notified when that report was going to be made public. But this is something that seems
to be outside the bounds of and the parameters of the Special Counsel rules and regulations that were put in place by the Deputy Attorney general when he appointed Robert Mueller two years ago. We should note, and again, if youre just joining us now, Special CounselRobert Mueller will give his first Public Comments since the start of this investigation and of course, its completion, just a number of weeks ago. This is what the advisory from the Justice Department says. It says that he will make a statement on the investigation into russian interference in the 2016 president ial election. His statement will be about the investigation. Is it his involvement in it . Will he offer any clarity on his findings, particularly the characterization of those findings as they differ between what the Attorney General has said about him and what the Special Counsel meant to say in his conclusions in this report . Were going to find that out in 43 minutes, 42 1 2 minutes right now. Sunlen serfaty, i believe youre still with us, up on the hill. Are you hearing from lawmakers, democrat and republican, as they
wait for the Special Counsels statement . No word from any members yet, jim. Certainly, i think, many people are waiting to see what hell be saying in now just under 45 minutes today. And certainly, weve been discussing over the last hour, i think of utmost important to many on the hill is whether Robert Mueller today says whether he will testify or not. This has been the source of a lot of back and forth between the teams on the House Judiciary Committee and the Special Counsels office over the last days and weeks. This has stretched on for over a month now, active negotiations of the terms of how that testimony might go down. They are still certainly negotiating this. Many democrats are concerned about restrictions placed on his testimony. The fact that the Special Counsels Office Behind the scenes has expressed some reluctance for him to testify for not only the opening statement, but the question and
answer segment in front of tv cameras in public. There have been some questions around him potentially being allowed to testify Behind Closed Doors for the question and answer section. They say this is an issue of jut most gravity and importance and he should appear and explain his findings and be questioned by Members Of Congress in front of the public. And that should happen before tv cameras. Now, a lot of different potential variables that could come into that, including potentiallily him testifying Behind Closed Doors and a transcript being made to public, but that not satisfying Many Democrats that are pushing hard for the entire testimony, if and when it happens, to be in front of tv cameras. The chairman of the committee, jerry nadler has been very clear that he says he will get mueller in front of his committee one way or the other. He has given him room to try to negotiate this, but he says that he will subpoena it if need be. And another issue that i know
youve been talking about, mueller still being an employee of the Department Of Justice, you know nadler has questioned why he is still there. So this will be interesting to see if this is him issuing the end of his official employment there. Nadler intimating that that could be a way for him to appear in front of the congressional committees, despite objections from President Trump. Sunlen serfaty, thank you. Joe johns, i understand youve been speaking to house members about their expectation for the hearing. What are you hearing . I just got off the phone from one of the senior aides on one of the committees that is seeking very much to have bob mueller come and testify before him. And the indication i got from that senior aide is there has been no movement on negotiations to get mr. Mueller to come voluntarily to the committee. Of course, there is that option of a subpoena, which certainly has the potential to be
problematic, unless mueller would want a subpoena in order to do it along those lines. Also, i do have to mention to you, and its one of the things thats kind of underreported about the Justice Department, is that technically, regardless of whether the individual who worked for the Justice Department is an employee or is not an employee, according to doj rules, they may still be constrained from speaking publicly, unless they are authorized by the appropriate supervisor, in this case would likely be the Attorney General himself. And the other thing i think is important to mention is running in the background of all of this is that mr. Mueller, despite the fact he did do Exit Interviews years ago when he left the fbi has been very, very reluctant to go public, to speak in front of the cameras to news media unless he feels theres an absolute necessity. Now, of course, the question here is, is this an absolute necessity . It certainly seems to be the case. Back to you. Were getting new information
into cnn and that is that bill barr, of course, the sitting Attorney General was notified ahead of time as to the Special Counsels intention to make this statement in about 40 minutes time here. Barr not In Washington, though. Hes traveling in alaska now, so he will not be physically present, but it is notable that this statement will be coming from the grounds of the Department Of Justice. Special counsel serves under the Department Of Justice and thats where he will be making this statement. Again, no questions to follow. Laura jarrett, you continue to follow this sorry, Laura Jarrett is making phone calls. News is breaking, our colleagues are making phone calls to learn more about this. Evan perez also covers the Justice Department. Evan, what are you learning as we get ready to hear for the first time from the Special Counsel since the start of this investigation . Reporter jim, one of the things that people have been puzzled by the is fact that Members Of Congress have been pushing for mueller to come testify and theres been sort of weeks and weeks of talks that
have gone nowhere. And one of the things that i think people dont understand, perhaps, going on behind the scenes, is a reluctance by mueller himself to appear in what he believes is going to be a very partisan, very political setting. And a lot of what the democrats are asking of him, i think a lot of the questions and a lot of the answers that theyre seeking are ones that he, most likely, wont be able to deliver on. Hep wont be able to give them exactly what theyre looking for. And thats one of the reasons why theres been this hesitation, as joe johns just mentioned, you know, joe obviously covered the Justice Department for many years. And i covered him for years at the fbi. And these things, these hearings were always the least favorite thing that he had on his calendar. Perhaps, just behind talking to reporters. And one of those reasons, one of those things is that he would prefer to do private briefings for members. He would be able to talk a little bit more frankly, but he believed that his job was not to
become part of the partisan jockeying that happens at a lot of these hearings. A lot of the questions are not really questions, theyre more about statements and trying to get a tv moment. And so thats one of the things that he dislikes the most. And i think thats one of the sticking points, one of the reasons why its been so difficult to try to get to come to terms to do this public hearing. Well, he wouldnt be the First Official who would not would prefer not to take those questions. But its a democracy. Laura jarretts at the Justice Department. Youre getting new information, i understand, on what this statement the first Public Comments from the Special Counsel are about. Reporter well, jim, were told that the statement will be substantial. What exactly it will say, how far it will go, whether it will go into the reports conclusions or whether it will go into muellers perception of how the Attorney General depicted those conclusions in that controversial fourpage memorandum, all of that remains to be seen. But i am told that it will be substantial, so it will be a substantiative statement. It will not be just a twominute goodbye. He is not taking questions, though, however. And so it is important to note, there will be no back and forth with reporters. It will only be mueller up there making a statement. Im also told that the Attorney General, bill barr, who is actually traveling right now in alaska, he did receive a heads up about this. I know that was a question that you had for me in the last hour. Just in terms of the Chain Of Command here, you know, mueller does report to the Attorney General, obviously, as the Special Counsel. He has a great deal of autonomy, but he does still report to barr at the end of the day. So he did give his boss a heads up that he was doing this. And of course, the white house was also given a heads up, according to our colleague, Jeremy Diamond, jim. Laura, just to be clear, and i dont want you to tell me who your sources are, but when youre told that this will be a substantial statement, youre hearing this from the Justice Department . A source with good, solid knowledge of what he plans to say. Understood. When we say that barr got a heads up, that the Special Counsel is giving this
statement, a heads up simply that a statement was going to happen, or should we expect he also got a heads up on the content of that statement . A heads up on the content, a heads up that it was going to happen. I dont have any reporting on any sort of back and forth iterative. I dont expect that this was sort of, you know, a really lengthy process, but that he was informed, which should be expected, again, given the Chain Of Command, given the role here, given that under the Special Counsel regulations, mueller does report to barr. That is to be expected. But, again, barr will not be with him. The Deputy Attorney general, Rod Rosenstein is no longer here. Theres a new dag in town, jeffrey rosen. So this is not going to be the same show of force weve seen in the past at Press Conferences at the Justice Department that have to do with the Russia Investigation. This is just mueller making a statement on his own. A substantial statement, your sources are telling you. Final question, and this gets to Chain Of Command. The Special Counsel turns under the Attorney General, the Attorney General serves under the president , appointed by the white house. We know the wohite house got a heads up that this statement was happening. By past practice, would the white house get an okay on the content of the statement, as well . I think that would be unusual. It would be hard to imagine how they would even try to go about Something Like that. I imagine that the White House Counsels Office would be involved. You recall, during all of the rollout of the actual report, even the closing down of the investigation, the white house lawyer, emmet flood, the Top White House lawyer who has been working on the Russia Investigation, was heavily involved, talking about barrs staff about how everything was going. So i think that they have been in close contact throughout this investigation, but in terms of actually making a call on what he would say, i think that that would be unusual to say the least, jim. All right, Laura Jarrett, i know youre going to stay on top of that. Please get back to us if you get anymore information. Were about a half hour away
from the Special Counsel. This is quite a moment for the country. Its been two years since this very consequential investigation started. This is the first time were going to hear from him at that podium right there about 33 minutes time at the Justice Department. First Public Comments from the Special Counsel. David gergen remains with us. Been involved in a lot of administrations. Tell us your thoughts again as we come up to this moment. Well, i very much respect lauras reporting. I must say, jim, if you were at the Justice Department a senior to bob mueller, you would want to see the contents of the statement before he goes out. And the fact hes doing it at the Justice Department, you know, shows very much hes an employee of the Justice Department. And i would think that they would want us to not only see it, but if possible, have editing rights. I think thats a crucial questi question. Is this coming directly from him or gone through channels and
been approved and check marked and so forth. We would put different weight on it if its gone through channels than if we were told this is his raw statement and nobody else looked at it. Well, youve been in government long enough the to know that the difference between seeing it prior and having editorial power, veto power prior is significant. It sure is. And this, of course, is a Special Counsel who at least in written form, has not shied away from differing with his boss, quote unquote, bill barr. He issued a letter march 27th. Well put it up on screen again in which he said, your summary did not get at the context, nature, and substance of this offices work. So it is a Special Counsel with some credibility here who you might expect would be willing to Say Something that he was not told to say, as it were. Well, because hes not answering any questions, we may to that. Ow the absolute answer im sure therell be background
statements coming out of the Justice Department officials and the white house and the like. But it would be really helpful if he, himself, clarifies exactly whose statement this is, whether its from him and the counsels team, period, or whether it had to be cleared. I can just tell you from a white house perspective, you would be really anxious to get your hands on that and have a Clearance Process before he goes public. You would be really anxious. Its just in the Nature Of The Beast of the white house. You know, they try to be protective of the president. Yeah, im sure they would beg, borrow, and steal to be well know shortly if they did. If they did. Shimon prokupecz, youve been covering this investigation, like me, since the beginning here. We dont know what the statement and how far its going to be. Laura jarrett reporting that its going to be substantial. We should expect, as a substantial statement now in the investigation into russian interference in the president ial election, how significant a moment is this for the investigation . Its a significant moment for the investigation, really, a significant moment for this country. Here we are, were going to finally hear from this man who has been at the center of this investigation, who we have not heard from, has never spoken. All of a sudden now, today, we get word that hes going to speak and given all the buildup, you know, weve been waiting to see if were going to hear from him in congress, its clear he does not want to do that. This allows him to control the situation, this lengthy statement. Hes going to do it his way and say what he needs to say. A couple of key things, i think, that people need to look for here is whether or not he is united with the Department Of Justice, with specifically, the Attorney Generals findings, and what the Attorney General has said in terms of this investigation. Or is there some kind of divided front here, where hes going to offer his own take on how things went here. And really speak to what he feels in terms of this investigation. And the other thing is, i think what were going to see, hes
going to really make this probably about russia, right . In the end, thats what this investigation was about. How much does he go into that versus the whole obstruction thing, which weve all been focused on, the Obstruction Part of this investigation. The other thing i think is important to note is that this is being done on a day when the Attorney General is not in the building, right . Hes traveling. I think thats really interesting, the fact that this is happening when the Attorney General is not there. Hes going to have the podium, Robert Mueller, on his own, sitting there, standing there, perhaps, and hes going to speak. Look, a lot has been said about Robert Mueller for the past two years, about where he stands. There have been some assumptions made about his wellbeing, about things going on in his life. Of course, people have been wanting to hear him speak for so long and now were going to have this moment. And also, were going to get a lot of detail, i think. If this is going to be as lengthy as folks have told us its going to be, so, you know, i suspect hes going to go into a lot of the thinking behind his decisions. And really, ultimately, in the
end, try to defend what they did here and what they didnt do, which is just as important, jim. Lengthy . How long are you being guided that this statement is going to be . We know its going to be several minutes. I think Laura Jarrett has said it probably best in terms that its going to be pretty detailed. Depending on where he goes and how much detail he goes into, i think its going to be pretty lengthy based on what she has heard. And just repeating our colleague Laura Jarretts reporting there, is that the Special Counsels stadium there at that podium, youre seeing live pictures where it will take place in 27 minutes, that that statement will be substantial. The Department Of Justice says it will relate to the investigation into the russian interference in the 2016 president ial election. We still have a number of colleagues with us who have covered this investigation for some time. Shan, you have the advantage of having, i dont want to say, participated in, but youve certainly been a party to this investigation, because you represented one of the most significant witnesses and that is rick gates, the former deputy
campaign chairman for the Trump Campaign in 2016. A substantial statement expected from the Special Counsel here, a Special Counsel who has disagreed, differed publicly with the Attorney General on his characterization of the Special Counsels findings. If it is, indeed, a detailed statement, what should we be looking for, as he takes that podium there . Well, the details well be looking for, will be, i think, to expand upon what they really found on the russian side of the investigation, and i want to echo both david gergen and shimons comments. Looking at the hierarchy, the way the department usually works, theres a big difference between the independent counsel, like when he was counsel to janet reno, we had a lot of independent counsels, but we also had some Special Counsels working on specially designated cases. A Special Counsel like mueller is very much subject to the hierarchy and you would certainly expect that a statement would have been really vetted through the Attorney General. Now, to shimons point, on the schedule, i found it was a very intriguing thought, actually. The ags schedule is very well
known. Everything has to be planned around when the ag is in town, when theyre not in town. For something as significant as this to be planned when the ag is out of town, it suggests either barr is very comfortable with whats going to be said or mueller being quite an old hand and his team being quite e experienced, deliberately chose a day when the ag is not in known. Its a good point, shan. Youve been around washington for a wile, that things like that listen, could just be an accident of timing here, but significant to have the boss out of town when that happens. So you would say, its unlikely that those two things are not connected . I would say its a little bit unlikely. Those sorts of schedules are pretty carefully coordinated. And, you know, the sort of tableaus weve seen with everyone standing on the podium is how the department likes to project its unity. So to have this statement possibly muellers last
statement be just the image of him be himself delivering it, rosensteins not there anymore, barrs not there, thats a very different image than what the department normally likes to put on. Understood. Shan wu. Were joined now by jennifer rogers, former federal prosecutor here with me in new york. Has been around cases like this for some time. Jennifer, tell us what questions well, he wont take questions, but he will be making a statement. What information do you want the Special Counsel to address and do the American People need to hear the Special Counsel address when he goes to that podium 24 minutes from now . I think they do, because theres been so much misinformation about what the Mueller Report said. So im less interested in an, i said this and barr said this and i wrote a letter that said this, that back and forth. I want him to summarize in very simple terms why he made the decisions he made and what the report says. Just in, you know, very, very concise statements. Because thats what the American People really dont understand, even though weve had the report for a month or so now. The trouble, of course, is since he is not taking questions, he cant be crossexamined. He could make a statement, characterize it any way he wants to, but you would want a reporter or a lawmaker in the room to say, wait a second, in your march 27th letter to the Attorney General, you said his summary did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of your findings. Why is that . Did you have disagreements . How did you settle those disagreements Behind Closed Doors . The trouble is, there are public differences here that if he doesnt address in the statement, well have to wait, i suppose until he goes to the hill. I think thats right, but at the end of the day, what the public really needs to know is what his investigation found h pcpc. So we can save all of that back and forth and was the Attorney General misleading the public. I dont think Robert Mueller will want to get into all of that now. I think he thinks his job is to tell everyone what he and his
team found, spending 22 months investigating these things, what they concluded. Because thats whats been lost in all of the back and forth and all of the misleading comments from the Attorney General and the president s supporters. So i think thats really what we need from him. I hope thats what we get from him. And maybe hell surprise us and also give us some information about why what he said is not what the Attorney General reported. But i suspect not. You know, i suspect hell keep it to the four cancorners of th report, and thats the most important thing. Jennifer rogers, great to have you here. Dana bash back with us In Washington. A little more than 20 minutes away, dana. What are you hearing . I just thought it was noteworthy, listening to you talk with shan and Laura Jarrett about the fact that bill barr is not in that building. He is not in the Justice Department. Hes traveling in alaska today. And, you know, its noteworthy that Bill Barr Isnt The Only One gone from washington. Congress, as well. This is a memorial day week and Members Of Congress are not
here. And this is a man, Robert Mueller, who has been in intense negotiations, not with republicans who run the senate, because Lindsey Graham would be in charge of that and he says he doesnt need to hear from Robert Mueller, but House Democrats who are desperate to try to find a way for him to testify in public. And as evan was talking about, there has been some stiff resistance, not from the Justice Department necessarily or the president , which has been quite public, but from Robert Mueller, because he has been so reluctant to jump into the political circus that is always congress. And the fact that hes doing this when congress isnt here, i think, is knows wortnoteworthy. Now, its 2019. There are cameras everywhere. People can use their iphones to make a video and make a comment, but its not the same as having manu or phil or any of our colleagues chase after you in the hallways. No question. The significance of the Special Counsel speaking now after only
one, but one republican lawmaker has said its not just democrats who believe the president has committed Impeachable Bayehavio here, because there is, of course, a school of thought that Robert Muellers intention was, if hes not making a recommendation to indict, that his view is, it well and truly is up to congress, and that here, congress, is what you should consider. How different is it now that you have a republican very publicly voicing that opinion . You know, very publicly and he said during his town hall youre talking about justin amash that his gop colleagues have said that, not all, but some of them have said that to him privately, as well. You know, the fact is, jim, that impeachment is an inherently political decision. And there is no question i mean, it wasnt even subtle the way Robert Mueller spelled out what he thought. Yes, he didnt make a decision. He didnt say explicitly that the president of the United States obstructed justice, but he did pretty explicitly say, it is up to congress to make that decision. And so i think its still a stretch to call the notion of wanting to start Impeachment Inquiry bipartisan. It is one republian. Well see in that changes. But im not so sure that justin amash is going to push people who are very reluctant for political reasons on the gop side to say much more publicly, unless something changes significantly with what weve learned. Dana bash, thanks very much. Its often been noted that the watergate proceedings took about two and a half years from breakin until the president s eventual resignation. Its not an direct or identical parallel to watergate here, but in that situation, republicans
were reluctant to join until later as well. You never know. Gloria borger, youve been covering this like me from the beginning. A substantial comment from Robert Mueller happening in fewer than 20 minutes here. So a substantial statement. How significant is this moment to hear his first Public Comments . I think its as i think shimon said earlier, i think its a substantial moment for the country. I think everybody wants to hear from bob mueller. Democrats and republicans. What weve heard from him is his 438page document and the letter that he sent to the Attorney General, which was stunning to us, saying that the Attorney General had really misrepresented his conclusions in his report. I think what the question, the obvious question that Everyone Wants to know if he will answer today, and we dont know whether he will or wont is would you
have indicted the president of the United States if there were not an office of Legal Counsel opinion that said you cannot do that . And how did that play into your thinking and into your teams thinking. And i hope he elaborates a little bit on that. Its clear that he is a reluctant witness. He doesnt want to go before congress. It seems like he doesnt even want to go before congress Behind Closed Doors. We will find that out. And so, im hoping that in this statement which Laura Jarrett says is substantial, that it is substantial and it does answer a question like that. Absolutely. And another question, too, you know, whether he makes a statement on his decision to indict, does he does he address and say, in effect, that his boss, bill barr, the Attorney General, did not pro r properly characterize the findings of the report, as he said, gloria, you know as well
as me, in a letter, you did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this offices work and conclusions. That would be a very simple thing for him to address here, and different, i imagine, to hear that coming out of his mouth as opposed to in written form and letter to the Attorney General. Hes done that, as you read from his letter. The question is whether he goes beyond that and whether he says like, this is now up to the congress. Or gives the democrats any encouragement. We just dont know the answer. Gloria borger, great to have you there. We know youre going to be there to digest these comments as they come. We have some news into cnn just now. And that is that the house judiciary chair, that, of course, jerry nadler, democrat from new york, was told in advance about the mueller statement. This a Committee Spokesman tells cnn, the committee has been in talks with mueller, as weve been reporting here, and those talks continue about Robert Mueller testifying on the hill, that the fundamental disagreement there has been the Special Counsel willing to make a Public Statement there, as
hes about to do here in 15 minutes time, but also, as hes about to refuse to do here, not answering questions in public. The Special Counsel prefer as those questions on the hill to be made in public. That is not a position that the chairman of the house judiciary or other democrats, and in fact some republicans, support. Shimon prokupecz, you cover the Justice Department here. 15 minutes from now were going to hear from the Special Counsel, now, a substantial statement. What does that mean . Probably pretty detailed. Hes probably going to go into a lot of what we want to hear about, certainly in terms of the investigation i dont think hes going to get political. But the big thing is going to be whether or not there is a united front here. Whether or not were going to see Robert Mueller and ultimately, the Department Of Justice, under the current Attorney General, bill barr, whether or not theres a united front here in what has been said about this investigation, in how the Attorney General feels about this entire investigation. And also, does he support the
fbis work . That has come under scrutiny, obviously, in some ways by the Attorney General, but the intelligence community. Theyre gathering, so to speak, the investigation of the investigation that we have heard so much about, how does mueller how does he talk about that . Does he talk about it . Does he go into detail and voice his support for how this investigation was conducted . He probably will. Obviously, he wouldnt have been conducting this investigation. But you know, what he says, the optics of this are tremendous. Tremendous for this country, theyre tremendous for the Department Of Justice, for all the work that has gone into this entire investigation that he has been overseeing all the scrutiny that hes been under by the president , by Members Of Congress, by others in terms of this investigation. All will hopefully be addressed in this statement hes ultimately going to give. Perhaps this is his goodbye here after being part of this for two years, jim. You raise a good point. Will he defend the investigators . You have the president of the United States accusing people who participated in this investigation early on of treason. Hes used the word treason. You heard a republican lawmaker, liz cheney said the same on sunday programs. Will Robert Mueller come to their defense here. Jennifer rogers is with me here in new york. A longtime federal prosecutor. Tell us about from a legal standpoint the significance of an investigator here who likes, like many investigators do, to do their work behind the scenes, outside of the public eye, but lets be frank, this is a very public investigation, of public importance. Tell us about how he walks that line. Well, muellers been even more reticent than many Public Servants are to speak publicly outside of the four corners of whatever document or indictment it is that hes working on. So for him, it is a big deal. And contrary to what many of the president s supporters say about him, he is a republican, hes a lifetime republican. So it must be challenging for
him to try to speak against bill barr and against the president and other people, at least thats how the president and his supporters see it, but i think first and foremost, hes a person who wants to uphold the rule of law. So thats going to take precedence over this loyalty that im sure he feels that he has to the republican party. At the end of the day, you know, hes got to do whats right in terms of the law. So i think that thats what hell do here. We have some new reporting on this statement coming in. This also from our colleague, Laura Jarrett. She says that bill barr was not the Attorney General, not only given a heads up that the statement was coming, but the Attorney General was briefed on the contents of the statement, so he knows, in effect, in general, at least, what the Special CounselRobert Mueller is going to say. However, when asked if barr requested that mueller make this statement, our colleague, Laura Jarrett is told, unequivocally, no. So at least based on that reporting that this is the Special Counsel who chose to make this statement. Did give a heads up to his boss,
effecti effectively, the Attorney General, as well as briefing him on the contents, but it was the Special Counsels decision, the Special Counsels decision to come out and make this statement at that podium. Im going to turn you now over to my colleagues, jake tapper and wolf blitzer as cnn continues this special coverage of this truly momentous moment for the country and the Russia Investigation. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer In Washington along with jake tapper. Just minutes from now, a critical turn in the Russia Investigation. The Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, will make a statement on camera over at the Justice Department. If youre racking your brain, trying to remember what Robert Muellers voice sounds like, you might not actually have ever heard it. This will be muellers first Public Comment since the start and the completion of his investigation into russian interference into the 2016
election. And muellers remarks come amid the political debate over the findings of his report and specifically, whether President Trump obstructed justice. Also, whether Attorney GeneralWilliam Barr Mischaracterized the findings of the Mueller Report zp report. The 22month investigation loomed very large over the last two years of the trump presidency. A Senior Administration official tells cnn, the white house will wait until after muellers statement to issue remarks of its own. Our team of cnn reporters, our correspondents, our analysts all are here. Lets go to cnns Laura Jarrett. Shes over at the Justice Department. What are you hearing, laura . Reporter well, wolf, after nearly two years of complete and utter silence from the Special Counsel, he is breaking that silence finally today at the Justice Department. Were expecting to see him very shortly up on the podium. Im told that he is going to make a substantial statement, but we still are waiting for details on exactly what he will say. We know that hes been going into work every day. Weve been asking the Justice Department what exactly hes been up to now that the investigation has been closed, for nearly two months, they havent commented. But he will now have his chance to speak about whatever he wants. Hes not taking any questions from reporters, but again, i am told his statement will be substantial. Just to give you a little bit of behindthescenes color on how this all came together, my colleague Jeremy Diamond is told that the white house was given a heads up yesterday that mueller would be making a statement. And im told by a source familiar that the Attorney General bill barr was also given a heads up that mueller would be making this statement, and not only a heads up, but actually informed about the contents, briefed on exactly what he would say, and so even though the Attorney General is actually traveling in alaska right now and will not be here for it, he knows exactly what is about to come out of the Special Counsels mouth. And i was asking that source whether barr actually requested that mueller do this. After so much speculation about the report and all of the fallout over barrs memo, i asked if barr requested that
mueller did this, and the source said unequivocally no to that. So we wait to see what hell see in just a short time from now. Very interesting that barr is actually out of the country. Hes in alaska. Im sorry, he was out of the country, now hes in alaska. Lets bring in Cnns Abby Phillip at the white house. And abby, the white house has had any number of interpretations of the Mueller Report. They have said it exonerated the president , which it does not do. They have attacked Robert Mueller. They have attacked his team. Any idea of what they might say or if they even know what mueller is going to say . Reporter well, jake, it really is going to depend on what exactly mueller has to say in this statement. The white house will not say, at this moment, if they know of the content of what mueller will say at the top of the hour, but they were given a heads up, as laura just said, last night, that this statement was coming. And this morning, there has been a flurry of activity here in the white house. Several senior Staff Meetings convened. Its not clear exactly what
those were about, but you can imagine that they might be trying to coordinate what their response might be. And as you pointed out, jake, the president has been saying this report was a complete exoneration of him, but at the same time, he has not let up on his attacks on the investigation itself. In fact, he has cheered this effort to investigate the investigators. So this is clearly a white house who is still on the defense about the content of the Mueller Report, even as they claim that It ExoneratesPresident Trump. And the white house says theyre going to wait until mueller completes his statement before responding. Whats not clear, is, are they going to issue a paper statement, is the president going to respond himself, either in person or via twitter. But i think you can bet that he is not going to just let what Robert Mueller has to say stand. This is a president whos still deeply skeptical of this investigation from start to finish. He still calls this investigation an illegal witch hunt. So i dont think youre going to see the white house really
cheering anything that Robert Mueller has to say, based on their actions and their words over the last several months since the report was completed. Well stand by to get reaction from the white house as soon as mueller finishes his statement. Evan perez, you cover the jpt for us, as well. What are you hearing . Well, wolf, i think a lot of people are taking note of the fact that the Attorney General is out of town. But i should note that his immediate boss, Robert Muellers immediate boss, who is the Deputy Attorney general, jeffrey rosen, hes in the office. Hes actually still near washington. You know, just based on having covered Robert Mueller for a number of years, i dont expect, perhaps, that there will be that much daylight between him and the bosses. Its simply because, you know, thats not his style. Again, we could be surprised here and he could stand up and go out with a big bang, but, you know, i think one of the things that he wants to do is let people hear from him. He still does not want to testify in public, in congress. I think hes always been reluctant to do that, because he
believes that when youre testifying, you invariably become a part of like this political football, you know. And i think he wants to resist that, especially for an investigation this important. So i think one of the things hes trying to do is show the public, here i am. If youre going to hear from me in private, then Members Of Congress can do that and ask me questions, but in public, i dont expect that youre going to hear a lot of daylight or see a lot of daylight from him between him and his bosses. And people im talking to on capitol hill are leaning into the fact although i should be clear, that neither key republicans who control the senate nor democrats in the house, nancy pelosi included, got a heads up, not even about the content, but just about the fact that he is giving this statement. Having said that, my impression in talking to sources, is that, like evan was saying, he wants to close this out. Hes closing out his office. There have been questions about when hes finally going to leave. So this is partly a swan song. But we cant forget the fact that Laura Jarrett is reporting, also, that its going to be substantial and substantiative. So, yes, hes saying goodbye, but also clearly wants to make a very heavily a statement with a lot of heavy content. And shan wu, let me bring you in. One of the things that we dont know obviously, there are any number of topics that he could be discussing, why he doesnt want to testify publicly, for example. Claims made in a book about whether or not the Mueller Office was pursuing charges against President Trump, claims that the Mueller Office has denied wholeheartedly. James comey wrote an oped yesterday. I mean, there are any number of things that he could be addressing. Right. I think hell probably be expanding on what he thought might have been not fully represented in the Attorney Generals letters. But i think look to mueller for a very, as evan was saying, a
very carefully worded expansion. Hes not going to be coming out to criticizing barr, but i think he feels a strong obligation to make sure that the American People have as full a picture and as accurate a picture as he can give. So i think we will get some details, but i dont think were going to see some sort of strong disagreement between the two men. When you havent spoken for two years he was asked one question outside of church and gave a one or twoword answer. He gave a Commencement Address that was previously scheduled. When you havent spoken for two years in this town of constant tweets and constant controversy, your words have added import. Just a backdrop, hes still a company man. He didnt wait until he leaves. Hes coming into the headquarters to do it. That tells you hes a company man. But to the point of, whats he going to say . Weve all been going through this now for quite some time. This is the letter from Attorney General to congress and this is to Attorney General to the Special Counsel to the Attorney General saying, whats this . You know, that this does not fairly characterize this, the Mueller Report. And so can he come out after two years he has to come out after two years, he has to understand this. Hes a former fbi director, hes a former prosecutor, hes viewed as mr. Integrity In Washington. He has to address these things. Is he going to try to bring some clarity to this, or does after two years he only adds to the confusion. Thats a pretty big bar. And its fascinating timing, because Robert Mueller did not want to come out and speak publicly when he finished his investigation. He did not want to be the one who shared the conclusions of what he found. He left all of this up to the Attorney General. And hes coming out and speaking publicly at a time when members of Congress Want him to have testify. When many members of Congress Want him to testify publicly. So i think in some ways, maybe he will accomplish what evan says could be a goal here, which is to say, here i am, im speaking to you in public. Im addressing you, the nation, but i want to testify in private. But in other ways, he may just irk Members Of Congress, okay, youre going out there and speaking in front of the cameras to give this statement, now we
want you in front of the cameras in our committee. Ill be interested to hear if he strongly defends his team of investigators and prosecutors in the face of all of the hate that the president of the United States leveled against them. 18 angry democrats, a coup, and all of that stuff. The evidencefree Conspiracy Theories that james comey in his oped pointed out that only fringe media is really paying any attention to. The other thing that i think is going to be very interesting to see is whether or not he addresses what President Trump has said the report does, which is no collusion and the report actually takes great pains to say, were not addressing the issue of collusion, per se, were addressing conspiracy. And no obstruction, which again, the report does not exonerate the president on, but the president has been saying that for all this time. Do you think that he might want to establish what his report actually does . Or is that too political for him . If i were Robert Mueller, i would want to establish what my report actually does