Which saw democrats seized control of the house of representatives while republicans tightened their hold on the senate. The president s tone was combative, suggesting concern over his brandnew vulnerability to democraticled investigations. Democrats are now vowing to protect the special counsels probe. Ill speak with congressman Joaquin Castro of the Intelligence Committee and our correspondents and specialists. They are standing by with full coverage. First, lets go straight to our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta. Jim, first of all, what is the very, very latest . Reporter wolf, we have a new acting attorney general, his name is Matt Whitaker. He has been a cnn legal contributor in the past. But has also been the chief of staff to the outgoing attorney general, Jeff Sessions. Wolf, we have a letter of resignation we could put up on screen from the attorney general. Obviously, this was a forced letter of resignation, or a firing from the president. And as you can see at the top of that letter, it says, at your request, i am submitting my resignation. It doesnt get more i guess obvious than that that this was a forced resignation on the part of the attorney general, Jeff Sessions. It was also something that was widely expected to happen after this Midterm Election that we had last night, wolf. We were hearing from our sources inside and outside the white house for months that the president has been stewing over Jeff Sessions and how he recused himself on the russia investigation last year. That has been a source of frustration for this president for some time now. But now Matt Whitaker will be the acting attorney general until a permanent attorney general can be chosen, wolf. And one thing we should point out about Matt Whitaker, he was the chief of staff to Jeff Sessions. He also on occasion made some comments. Essentially sounded like he was parroting talking points over here at the white house, arguing that the special counsel, Robert Mueller, should look into the president s finances. And at one point, saying that donald trump jr. Was just fine in terms of taking that meeting with that russian attorney at trump tower in june of 2016. At one point, Matt Whitaker telling my colleague, pamela brown, that anybody would have taken that meeting. That is almost word for word from what we have heard from the president when hes talked about his own son having that meeting with that russian attorney at trump tower in 2016. One other thing we should point out, wolf. The letter of resignation from Jeff Sessions. Again, a forced letter of resignation from Jeff Sessions. Put that back up on screen, if we can. That does not have a date on it. And there have been questions raised throughout the day, well, is the fact there was no date on it, does that mean that Jeff Sessions had this letter sort of ready to go and was going to fire it off whenever President Trump wanted it . Im told by Senior Administration official just in the last few minutes that, no, that is not the case. That essentially they just did not put a letter a date on that letter earlier this morning when it was sent over to the white house. The chief of staff, john kelly, was apparently pressing the attorney general on behalf of the president , as well, in this resignation was wanted over here at the white house. And so obviously the president now is getting what he wants. Hes getting rid of Jeff Sessions, who had recused himself on the russia investigation. Keep in mind, Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney general, he was overseeing the russia investigation, because Jeff Sessions had recused himself. Now that is no longer needed, Matt Whitaker is free to oversee this investigation in terms of how the Justice Department and the white house, how they both view it at this point. And so that is a favorable development, obviously, for the president to have somebody like Matt Whitaker, who has, as i said, been parroting what the white house has said about this investigation with the president. Is now in charge of the investigation and overseeing the investigation. Wolf . What are you learning about how it was actually done, how the president fired sessions and in sessions letter begins with these words, at your request, i am submitting my resignation. Meaning he was fired. Reporter exactly. Well, from what we understand, this pressure has been going on for some time now. Obviously, the president has been talking about this, hes confided to aides, hes confided to outside advisers and friends for months, almost a year now. More than a year now, probably, that he has wanted to see his attorney general go. From what we understand, this has been building for some time. And there are some up on capitol hill who were expecting this to happen. I talked to a source gop source leadership source earlier today, wolf, who said that it was widely expected among the Republican Leadership up on capitol hill that the president would do this. And so with the president doing this today, forcing Jeff Sessions to resign, while it did change the narrative, did change the news cycle from a president claiming that everything had gone just fine last night, now were all talking about Jeff Sessions being out the door instead of what happened last night in the mid terms across the country, wolf. Jim acosta at the white house for us, thanks very much. Lets get some insight from our political and legal experts. And evan perez, you covered this for us. What is the firing of Jeff Sessions mean as far as the russia probe is concerned . I think there are some real questions, wolf, as to what happens to the investigation. Obviously, Matt Whitaker has made clear his points of view, that mueller has gone beyond his charge, gone outside the lines of what he was supposed to be doing. We know hes written these comments, hes made these comments in an oped here at cnn and also in comments here on the air at cnn. And so it does raise the question of whether or not Matt Whitaker should be the person who is in charge of this investigation. This is something, obviously, the Justice Departments ethics officials are going to have to review and see whether or not the appearance of conflict is enough to see whether Matt Whitaker needs to recuse himself. It is clear, the president deliberately chose somebody who he already knows has some strong opinions about the Mueller Investigation. Exactly. Hes made his feelings pretty clear. And its hard to think that the president and Matt Whitaker had never discussed this before. Matt whitaker has seen by people in the west wing as this liaison between the Justice Department and the white house. He was the one who when President Trump sometimes went for weeks or days without speaking to the attorney general, oneonone, we know they rarely ever met oneonone, Matt Whitaker was the one who really kind of guided the conversations between the white house and the Justice Department. So its not by accident that he picked Matt Whitaker to take over this position. And Matt Whitaker is described by people who know him as this bull in a china shop, this gregarious personality, someone who is going to make his feelings about something that if he doesnt think the russia investigation is credible and note worthy, hes going to let the president know that. And im sure that played into a lot of the reason the president picked him to take over this job. Instead of picking the Deputy Attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, as would be the norm here. And my colleague, Laura Jarrett and i are being told in addition to this, a little more detail about what happened with the resignation of Jeff Sessions today. John kelly called Jeff Sessions before that press conference that the president had today, asked him for his resignation, and were told by sources that Jeff Sessions asked if he could stay until the end of the week. John kelly was very firm to him, according to Laura Jarrett, he could not stay until the end of the week. That it had to be today. Which raises the question, if he did that before the press conference, why during that press conference did President Trump duck that question about how long Jeff Sessions was going to be here . Yeah. And its a real rebuke for the Deputy Attorney general, the attorney general resigns or is fired, the Deputy Attorney general would move up and become the acting attorney general, pending confirmation of whoever the president might nominate to become the permanent attorney general, assuming that person would be confirmed by the u. S. Senate. The question now is, will Rod Rosenstein quit himself . Will he resign, because he in effect was publicly slapped by the president of the United States. Slapped and then backhanded, as well, along with Jeff Sessions, who is told by your account, you have to leave today. Dont wait until friday. And by the way, its wednesday, for everyone to remember that. The idea here is that at power, even temporary power, can be extraordinarily impactful. This person, Matt Whitaker, has been told through the tweet that he is a temporary holder of this position. A more permanent person will be named at a later date. We know through the recess of appointment, it was going to be temporary. Y not a Senate Confirmed person at this point. What can he do in the interim is going to be extremely important. Will he undermine the investigation, the subpoena power . Will he if hes already received a copy of the report, will he not allow it to go to the public . Will he try to cut the budget, as he said, in one cnn account . Will he try to do a number of things to really hamstring the investigation . And thats all important. But it also may be reversible. Remember, a lot of this is being preserved by the fbi. All the documentation, the support, the logic, the follow thr through of Robert Mueller is in the hands of a democraticled house who can actually look at the information come january, regardless. So although its very impactful now and certainly one that was meant to denigrate not only Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein and to subordinate them immediately, it can be reversed. The question is, what will he do in the interim. Josh campbell, how do you see it . Two things. First of all, if you think about all of the issues that the Justice Department deals with, all of the cases under their purview, all of the crimes, there is singularly one investigation that the president cares about. And that is the investigation into his campaign. When you look at these past statements that whitaker has made on record, criticizing mueller, thats obviously something that would resonate with the president who simply wants this investigation to go away. Up to this point, the wisdom has been that rosenstein was the barrier, the one who protected mueller as long as he was there, with the responsibility now shifting over to whitaker as far as the purview of the investigation, we no longer have that barrier. So, again, it seems to be leading in that same direction. The second thing ill say to lauras point as far as the preservation documents, this shows the importance of election and the inclusion of politics and law enforcement, the importance of that democrat win last night in the house of representatives. Because every single fbi agent, analyst, prosecutor, working on bob muellers team right now is a potential witness. And if they try to make this investigation go away, naming the president and mr. Whitaker, all of those people could be subpoenaed to come back and explain, okay, they have shut this investigation down. You tell us what you actually found. So i think theyre on dangerous ground if they think that getting rid of mueller is going to make this go away. What do you know, evan, about the relationship between Jeff Sessions and Matt Whitaker . I think its been tense, wolf. Certainly recently, because its emerged that Matt Whitaker has gone around talking about his relationship, his conversations with the president. If you remember just a couple weeks ago, there was a drama with Rod Rosenstein, whether or not he was going to be fired. And during that morning, we know that the president had spoken to Matt Whitaker. So Matt Whitaker has made it very clear inside the department that he has some kind of a special relationship or he believes he has a special relationship with the white house. Which makes people at the Justice Department very nervous. And so theres been a lot of tension between whitaker and the attorney general. Jeff sessions. And with the Deputy Attorney general. I think thats the thing to watch today, and in the coming days, how that relationship really kind of manifests itself. He was the attorney generals chief of staff. Youre chief of staff, you need a Good Relationship with your chief of staff. Exactly. I mean, normally, a chief of staff is you know, has the back of his boss. In this case, it appeared to be some kind of shakespearean drama going on behind the scenes, where the knives were out, and no one knew who was going to get stabbed next. And so they sort of forced him on sessions, right . Yes, they did. This was he didnt really have a relationship beforehand. And so this is one of those things where there was a lot of suspicion about whitaker and whether or not he was there as some kind of spy for the white house. Whitaker has total disdain for the Mueller Probe, laura. I want you to hear what he said. Listen to this tape. I think what ultimately the president is going to start doing is putting pressure on Rod Rosenstein, who is in charge of this investigation, acting attorney general, and really try to get rod to maybe even cut the budget of bob mueller and do something a little more stage crafty than the blunt instrument of firing the attorney general and trying to replace him. I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recess appointment, and that attorney general doesnt fire bob mueller, but just reduces the budget so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt. That was in july of last year with don lemon. You were on that panel with him. Basically said, you know what, you cant just get rid of the Mueller Probe, the russia probe, but you could starve it to death. Its hard to now delineate whether he was opining or actually relaying the president of the United States own concerns at this point in time. Yes, he could actually do these things to try to hamstring the investigation. He could try to limit the budget. He could say, as he has in the past in addition to that actual clip about this being a lynch mob and not cooperating with muellers team. And also about not trying this being something beyond the pale and passing a red line, but looking into finances. The interesting thing about what he said then until now is the same. At this point in time, hes no more wellbriefed or wellversed in the Mueller Probe than perhaps anyone at this table. The reason for that is as chief of staff of Jeff Sessions, who has been recused, he also should not have been privy to the information. So hell have to be essentially briefed in at this point in time. And he may have some revelations about his own words. They may come back to haunt him. There actually may be some credence. And by all accounts, including Rod Rosenstein, just three weeks ago, the American People should have confidence in what the investigation holds and is forthcoming and its no witch hunt. And that raises the biggest question in america now, which is did President Trump ask Matt Whitaker whether or not he would recuse himself from overseeing the russia investigation before he tapped him to become the acting attorney general. Thats going to be a big question that were likely going to find out soon. Also, white house officials are questioning the logic of the timing here. I know that a lot of critics and pundits do not believe yesterday was a good day for the white house and mid terms, but in the white house, they thought it was a good day because they were bracing themselves for it to be ugly for them and kind of walked away with what they were expecting. A lots in the house and maybe picking up a few seats in the senate. So right now the conversation gore the last two weeks had been about the mid terms, not about the Mueller Probe. Less than 24 hours before even the polls closed, it is right back on being about Robert Mueller, the white house and the president s focus on this, which we should have seen coming since he was tweeting about it this morning. And i suspect, josh, the president would not have named whitaker acting attorney general if whitaker had said yes, im going to have to recuse myself from overseeing the russia probe. Thats right. We know his disdain that hes expressed to Jeff Sessions, for example, whenever he recused. Actually did the admiral thing and to look unconflicted here. One thing thats important to point out, wolf, i dont want us to walk away today thinking that Jeff Sessions is somehow a victim. Obviously, hes taken a lot of barbs from the president. Hes been this punching bag weve seen. But one thing thats interesting is that he knows what the views of his chief of staff would have been, since he was on record. He worked with him. He knew that. What Jeff Sessions could have done, if he assumed or if he determined in his own estimation he was being shown the door and this other person was being brought in for the purpose of influencing the investigation, thats not cause to resign. Thats cause to wait and get fired and to go out very loudly. We saw from that letter he was very adoring of the president. Again, i dont want folks to think that hes the victim. Because if he saw malfeasance here or saw the president trying to clear out obstacles in order to go after bob mueller, he should have spoken up. And he didnt do that. Given all of the public statements that whitaker has made, evan, including articles that he posted on cnn. Com, interviews with don lemon, other interviews, really going after mueller and the probe, and one of the articles on cnn, cnn. Com, actually wrote this sentence, and ill read it to our viewers. It is time for rosenstein, who is the acting attorney general for the purposes of this russia investigation to order mueller to limit the scope of his investigation to the four corners of the order appointing him special counsel. The Ethics Office over at the department of justice, they have pretty strict rules. Can they force him, given all the public statements, going after the Mueller Probe, can they force him to say, you know, what youve got a problem, you cant oversee this. You have to recuse yourself . Well, i think, first of all, they have to look whether or not its an actual conflict or just an appearance of conflict. At this point, wolf, based on the writings, based on his appearances on television, cnn, it appears to be more of an appearance of conflict. And so if the Ethics Office comes back and says we think you should recuse, because of the appearance of conflict, then he can choose to ignore it. He can say, im not going to i think youre wrong. And im just going to stay in charge of this. And so then, of course, it becomes an issue for people outside. And whether or not they want to pressure him to do it otherwise. But really, its going to be up to him whether or not he wants to listen to the Ethics Office. In the case of Jeff Sessions, he was part of the campaign. There was an obvious conflict there. And sessions has said it millions of times. He said, i had no choice. The president didnt really seem to buy that. But sessions really had no choice. Why didnt the president at least have the courtesy of calling up sessions and saying, you know what, its time to move on. Thank you for your support, i know you were the first republican senator to endorse me during the campaign, we went to alabama together. We did a lot of rallies. You were very supportive. We disagreed on the recusal issue. But thank you for your service to the country. Thank you for what youve done as attorney general of the United States. Instead he sends his white house chief of staff, john kelly and says you have to resign and do it today. He asaid, can i spend a few extra days, at least saying goodbye to staffers . No, you must resign today. And staffers found out from our coverage he had been fired or asked to resign. That adds to the saga of President Trump doesnt like to fire people. Doesnt like oneonone conflict. That is something we have known and seen with everyone else he has fired. Not only did Jeff Sessions go out on a limb and was the first senator to endorse President Trump, something that at that time right now it seems really easy to say, oh, well, he was the first one to endorse me. President trump brushes off that endorsement. At that time, donald trump was pretty toxic in the Republican Party. And not a lot of people were going out on a limb for him. Jeff sessions not only did that, he gave up a very safe senate seat in alabama. And now the president has not only done this and dragged him through the mud and fired him, essentially, he has also tainted his name. A lot of people in alabama look back and criticize Jeff Sessions, people who used to be loyal to Jeff Sessions. Now criticize him, because they believe he made the wrong decision to recuse himself. But going back to that point about if Matt Whitaker is advised to recuse himself from this, Jeff Sessions had been advised to recuse himself. He didnt physically have to. But it would have looked really bad if he had not recused himself. He was part of the campaign. And that was his argument. President trump didnt see it that way. So even if Matt Whitaker is strongly advised, you need to recuse yourself because of the comments youve made about the Mueller Investigation, it raises the question of if he feels he has the backing of President Trump and doesnt have to, will he do that . And his temporary status really is a disincentive for even the ethical offices at doj to say that he would be required to if it was not the appearance. Jeff sessions was slated to be the attorney general for presumably a fouryear term if not for consecutive terms, if the president got reelected. Youre talking about somebody in Matt Whitaker who is not confirmed by the senate. Therefore, he could not serve more than 210 days, if at all, under the vacancies reform act. Somebody who if he was appointed under the recess appointment could only start in january, it may be a cost benefit analysis, unlike what happened with Jeff Sessions, to say, you can choose to stay on, because your power is going to be temporary. Its a serious business. Did the white house plan this forced resignation today . Was this timing in the works for a while . Or did the president wake up this morning, see something on television and say, you know what, i want this guy gone today . The timing specifically of today was not in the works for a while. Everyone knew Jeff Sessions time was coming to an end. He was on borrowed time. Look, Jeff Sessions in the last week or two, some of his behavior, hes been visiting field offices, the fbi, he went to the fbi just this week. And some of the outward behavior of the of Jeff Sessions was of somebody who was saying goodbye to the department. So i think internally, he knew that this was very much a high now that theyve lost the house of representatives, the republicans, are other things lined up with the president might be planning on doing . About firing more people . Yes. That was essentially a big staff shakeup has been in the works for weeks now. And essentially what everyones deadline has been is im going to hang on until the mid terms. And then ill leave after that. And that advice actually worked for President Trump. He was convinced, did not fire Jeff Sessions before this. But its also interesting to see the time line of how this has evolved. Because when President Trump first started attacking Jeff Sessions, he didnt even know how to respond. He was shocked to his advisers. He said he was just going to keep his head down and do his work. And then as criticisms and attacks, very public attacks, continued to build, Jeff Sessions actually dug his heels in and said he was going to make trump fire him. Because this is his dream job. He was going to stay there. And if President Trump wanted him gone, he was going to have to fire him. But we reported in recent weeks he was essentially resigned to the fact he was going to be fired. He was mentally preparing for it. That behavior that hes been doing the past two weeks also contributes to that. So he was ready for this to come. Very quickly, josh. Go ahead. I was going to add, as we talk about personnel changes, i dont think we should lose sight of the fact that the attorney general is different. This isnt the secretary of commerce or the secretary of agriculture. This is someone who can personally impact the life and possibly the future of the president and those in his orbit. He is singularly focused on this investigation. So, yeah, shakeups i think are unusual after a midterm. But we cant lose sight of the fact that the person that sits in that seat at main justice as the attorney general, top cop, has significant influence on the president. All right, guys. Everybody stand by. I want to bring in democratic congressman Joaquin Castro of texas, a member of the intelligence and Foreign Affairs committee. Hes a congressman. Thanks so much for joining us. Do you believe that this is the first step toward ending the mueller russia investigation . Yeah. I very well believe that it could be. You know, the president had signaled for a long time that he didnt want Jeff Sessions to be the attorney general any longer. And he finally after the Midterm Elections actually took the step of firing him. And so we need to find out more about the reason he was fired. But we also need to make sure that the Mueller Investigation is protected, that its adequately funded. Unlike the position that Matthew Whitaker seemed to take, that bob mueller can continue to do his work. Should the acting attorney general, this guy, Matthew Whitaker, who has now been named by the president , acting attorney general, do you believe he should recuse himself from the Mueller Probe, given all the public statements hes made and going against that entire russia investigation . Yeah. He absolutely should recuse himself. And i hope that the Ethics Office will make that clear to him. And that he acts with integrity. Hes made some very damaging statements about the investigation, about its usefulness, about funding it, about bob mueller himself. So, yeah, the right thing to do would be for him to recuse himself. And allow the investigation to continue. Your party takes control of the house of representatives in two months in january. If the president takes steps to end the Mueller Probe, should that lead to impeachment proceedings . Well, you know, i have said for quite a while that i believe ive seen evidence of obstruction of justice. And if it becomes clear that this is another move to shut do you know down the Mueller Investigation, that is something well have to seriously consider. I think many folks in congress, both democrats and republicans, have been waiting for bob mueller to produce his report and perhaps the actionable items in that. But if the president is not even going to let bob mueller get to that point, then, yes, that becomes a problem. That combined with the fact with how he fired comey, what hes done on mccabe, Rod Rosenstein and others, there is a pretty strong case for obstruction of justice here. Senate majority leader, chuck schumer, said this could lead to a constitutional crisis. How do you see it . I mean, you know, wolf, nobody nobody gets elected to congress and goes to congress, i think, in order to be involved in a mess like this, right . Nobody wants that. So i hope the answer is that it doesnt happen. But at the same time, the legislative branch does have to hold the president accountable. And we cant just allow somebody cant just allow the president to put a yes man in there who is going to shut down the Mueller Investigation on his behalf. Is there Anything Congress could do at this point, congressman, to protect mueller and his investigation . Well, first of all, Adequate Funding for the work that bob mueller is doing. There should also be legislation. There was a bipartisan bill moving to the senate, i believe, that the white house basically squelched. But there should be legislation at this point, the parties coming together, the senate thats controlled by republicans, the democratic house, to protect bob mueller and make sure that this investigation can continue through. Do you think youll get some republican support for that effort . You know, the evidence from the past doesnt suggest that thats a great prospect. But i think its important to realize that what happened yesterday is that the American People voted for divided government. They voted for a Republicancontrolled Senate and a democraticcontrolled house. And it means that they want both parties to Work Together for the best of the country. Not the best of the president or even the best of the Republican Party or the democratic party. But for the best of the country. Even if whitaker doesnt end the Mueller Probe and hes going to be overseeing it, presumably now, he could severely limit the scope or bury any report that mueller might release. Are you prepared to respond to that possibility in january the democrats will be the majority in the house of representatives, and they will have, as we have been pointing out, subpoena power. El yeah. Absolutely. We need to make sure that that doesnt happen. Look, you know, when youre in the majority, i think part of and when youre in divided government, part of the trick is that you have to make sure that the politics of things doesnt overtake the substance of things. We shouldnt be fighting with the white house just to fight with the white house or just to fight with the president. But at the same time, the American People deserve answers on these very important and consequential questions about who interfered with our democracy in 2016 and when the president or his people had any role in that. So, yes. If he oversteps his bounds, we have to make sure that we push back. The bombshell announcement today that sessions has been effectively fired, just the day after the democrats won back the majority of the house of representatives, what do you make of the timing of all of this . I think that hes been waiting to do it for a long time. And i think, you know, they were probably concerned that it would have an effect on republicans viability in different house and senate races. So they waited until the next day. But theres no question, the president has wanted Jeff Sessions gone for a long time. And ive told you before that honestly, if youre Jeff Sessions, i dont understand after being beaten up by this president so much, somebody that as you all just mentioned, he supported from the beginning. I mean, he was the first guy to go out there and support donald trump. He went out on a limb at that time. I dont know why he would have stayed around this long. You think the democrats now that theyre going to be in the majority in the house of representatives, and theyll have oversight, theyll have subpoena capabilities, that are you afraid you might not you personally, but the democrats, might overstep . Youve got to be careful about that. Like i said, i think our posture needs to be that if were going to have clashes with the white house, and im sure that we will, that those clashes will not be about personality. That theyre going to be about issues and substance. And the American People, i believe, will understand that. They understand if you have a disagreement about health care or education or infrastructure, something else, i think when people turn off on politics, and when they tend to dislike both political parties, its they perceive that people are fighting just to fight. So yes, weve got to be careful about that. Congressman castro, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. Lets bring in our legal analyst, pretty farahry, former u. S. Top attorney, fired by the Trump Administration. Preet, thanks so much for joining us. Im anxious to get your thoughts on all of the drama unfolding at the department of justice right now. How precarious is this moment that were in right now . Not just for the Robert Mueller russia investigation, but for american institutions of justice . I think very precarious. I think you cant sound too many alarm bells about whatsing about going on. I think weve been seeing this in slow motion for a period of time. You have a president who has made clear he doesnt want the Russian Investigation to proceed, even though his handpicked fbi director and Deputy Attorney general have all said its not a witch hunt, there are real things to be looking at here. Real people have been indicted, convicted. Real people have decided to plead guilty and are cooperating with the government. And the moment of precariousness is i think especially significant now, because were in a lame duck phase. And so to the extent that there could be a check on the president because the house of representatives changed to the other party, that doesnt take effect until next january. So you have an acting attorney general who has already indicated that he has some problems without knowing all of the facts in prejudging what the Mueller Investigation is about, what it should be about, and how much it should be funded. You have an opportunity to do something very damaging to that investigation. As i mentioned. But then to your larger point, the crisis a little bit is what does congress do when youre in a lame duck period . And so, you know, i think that it may be the case that things are done that shouldnt be. That the investigation is constricted in some way, that it doesnt become public immediately. And its some months before at least one house of congress can exercise its oversight responsibility and make sure that those things are not happening. I think also with respect to the possibility of protecting the special counsel, and there are some bills that have been floating around and this Task Force Im on has also proposed such a thing. You know, given that youre dealing with a current congress, which is, you know, fairly supine and fairly in the pocket of President Trump, house and senate, i dont see the ability to make that progress over the next three months. Its a precarious time generally speaking, and at this moment. Because you were in a transitional phase. Is there any historical precedent for whats going on right now from your Vantage Point . The obvious precedent people talk about is watergate. This is different. In many ways, you know, more worrisome, because the president seems to be acting out in public in some of the ways that nixon did in private. And although theres one argument that that makes it less worrisome, i think its more so. I think this president acts often out of anger. Not just strategy. And i think part of what happened today is a response to the election from yesterday. I dont think those two things are unconnected to each other. You know, whether its to change the subject or to get back at people he perceives as his adversaries and enemies, even if theyre people he picked to hold positions as himself like Jeff Sessions, you have a dangerous situation. For which there is no precedent in this particular way. No. Some legal experts, preet, have suggested that Robert Mueller could have sealed indictments waiting to go under the assumption that he was worried about his own future if he was going to go, if rosenstein was going to go. Do you think he has been preparing for that possibility . I have two answers to that question. With respect to whether or not hes been preparing . I think yes. And i think one of the ways he probably prepared was to make sure they were doing the work as fast as they could. And another thing that i think may have been related to a worry about an eventual shutdown is parcelling out some aspects of things they found, including the cohen case, which went to my former offices in new york. With respect to whether or not they have indictments under seal because they were worried about being shut down, i dont think those are directly related. I think the mueller team, some of them i know personally, but havent spoken to, would decide to bring a sealed indictment because it was the right time and they had the facts and they had the law on their side. And part of the reason it might be sealed is they didnt want to do anything publicly in the run up to the election. So they wouldnt get criticized for doing something that might affect the election. So i think all those things are possible. I think there could be sealed indictments. I think they could be on the verge of getting indictments against other people. And it may be the case as somebody was reporting earlier on this network has suggested that the Mueller Investigation is coming to a natural close anyway over the coming weeks and months. Whitaker, the now new acting attorney general, in the past has openly mused about starving the Mueller Probe, starving it of funding. How would that work . Thats a good question. The way he talked about it in the oped he wrote was through the power of the attorney general generally, who has the ability to send certain resources to certain parts of the department. And not to other parts of the department, just like, you know, the United States attorney has the ability to decide if theyre going to staff hold on one second. Hold on. Were looking at live pictures from department of justice. There is the now soon to be former attorney general, leaving. Hes leaving department of justice. Saying goodbye to some of his associates there. Laura jarrett, our Justice Department reporter, is watching all of this unfold. Laura, this is a moment that Jeff Sessions probably anticipated, but not necessarily today. Reporter its a pretty incredible scene out here in the Justice Department courtyard, wolf. I would say by the way, laura, im going to interrupt for a second. That was whitaker saying goodbye. Whitaker and his chief of staff now going to be the acting attorney general. You see the round of applause that Jeff Sessions is getting from officials over there at the department of justice. Last time hes there getting into his vehicle, saying goodbye. And then moving on. A brief little fair werewell fo attorney general of the United States. Laura, go ahead. Tell us what else you know. Reporter he is joined here, we can also see the solicitor general, francisco, former chief of staff, joey hunt and Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney general. And its really quite a stage here, wolf. Officials i would say there are at least 100 people here. And when attorney generals depart, it is difficult for the officials to get whats called a clap out. Usually it would happen inside, outside the office. But, of course, this is an extraordinary circumstance and the situation is anything but typical in this instance. But clearly, everyone wanting to see him off in style, wanting to say their goodbyes and really show a level of somebody. That unusual here, you know, in a place that is filled with lawyers and not typically a scene where you see clapping like this. Yeah. Let me get back to preet. Laura, stabb laura stand by. Preet, what do you think of that . A little bit of dejavu all over again. I was fired at a certain point a couple of years ago. And had the experience of walking out of my building, 1 st. Andrews plaza in front of the people i served with and respect so much. And ive been critical of Jeff Sessions, as a lot of people have been with respect to some of his policies and how hes undone some civil rights initiatives in the department. But i never have doubted that Jeff Sessions loves the department. Loves the lawyers who work there. And was very honored to be in that position. And humbled by being in that position. So, you know, after several weeks of and months, in fact, of being humiliated by the president who appointed him, being taunted by the president who appointed him, i think its fitting he got a graceful exit such as it was. Yeah. It was graceful. Evan, youve got some more information, too. That was a staged event, obviously. There was an attempt by people around the attorney general, the Deputy Attorney general, Rod Rosenstein other people, trying to give the attorney general a graceful farewell. But it was a staged event to sort of show some kind of show of force to sort of show solidarity with him. But let me tell you. There was a lot of weirdness to those pictures. This is by the way, this is the way you traditionally say goodbye to attorneys general. I was there when eric holder walked out of the building. There were tears. People were clapping, just exactly like this. Obviously, the circumstances today are so, so different. Because, you know, eric holder wasnt fired as this attorney general was today. Preet, im anxious to get your thoughts on the treatment of Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney general. How much of a slap in the face is it for the Deputy Attorney general, the number two person at the department of justice, to be bypassed by the president and the president naming sessions chief of staff to now become the acting attorney general instead of rosenstein . I dont know if its any more of a slap in the face than, you know, the embarrassing things that the president has been saying about him from time to time. We had that moment a few weeks ago when it appeared he had been summoned to the white house and was going to be fired and that didnt happen. And there were these periodic statements they were going to get together and discuss Rod Rosensteins fate. Keeping him dangling to make sure that he knew his place. So i guess its a bit of an insult. But i dont think that Rod Rosenstein didnt expect this kind of thing to happen or that this was a possibility. I think, more importantly, more important than Rod Rosensteins pride, whether or not were now seeing the undoing of the special counsels work. Now that hes not going to have anything to do with the special counsels russia probe, rosenstein, whitaker is now going to oversee it, presumably, unless for some reason he decides to recusement himself, which is probably doubtful, i suspect, at this point. Wouldnt rosenstein just take the hint and resign . You know, im only laughing because im tired. Everyone has been up all night. But also, theres not a lot of people taking the hint these days. Jeff sessions, that was a nice walkout. But you would think he would have taken the hint months ago and rosenstein would have taken the hint months ago and other people in the white house might have taken the hint months ago. It would still be my hope that even though theres a new acting attorney general who will be the most senior person overseeing the Mueller Investigation, that that does not necessarily mean that Rod Rosenstein gets cast to the side. Hes still a person who has deep knowledge of whats going on there. Hes the one who appointed bob mueller in the first place. And im not aware of any regulation that requires Rod Rosenstein not to be involved. And i think it would be silly and it would also be a bad look optically if the new acting attorney general decided to freeze out Rod Rosenstein. Because he can still offer advice and guidance and counsel. And he should. Hes a former u. S. Attorney in baltimore, Rod Rosenstein. You know, kaitlan, im anxious what did you think of that little goodbye that the attorney general now the former attorney general, Jeff Sessions had . It was all staged, as evan correctly points out. They wanted to show that. But some are already suggesting maybe it was a little bit of a slap at the president for firing him. Well, of course. And we have seen Jeff Sessions take those actions over the past year with when President Trump has criticized him. He went to dinner that time really publicly with Rod Rosenstein at a very popular washington restaurant and a photo with them dining with the solicitor general quickly surfaced and that incensed President Trump after it surfaced online. Thats what likely this was. Look at me, im walking out. And you can see the faces on those Justice Department employees as Jeff Sessions is leaving. Theyre not pleased. Theyre clapping, theyre thanking him. But no one looks pleased to be there, to be watching Jeff Sessions marched out like this. And a lot of people in the white house also feel similar to that. They do not think Jeff Sessions deserves the treatment that hes gotten from President Trump. They think its unfair, but a lot of people dont stick up for Jeff Sessions, because they see it as just this futile attempt to do anything like that. And weve seen Jeff Sessions lose his defenders inside the west wing. He used to have reince priebus, steve bannon, who all stood up for him when President Trump first started criticizing him, telling the president to lay off of it. And also, he would have a weekly lunch with the white house counsel, don mcgahn, who is now gone as well. So there arent a lot of people in the west wing, except for Steven Miller, who did work for Jeff Sessions, and is largely a big reason why he works for donald trump now, is still in the west wing, still obviously very close to President Trump. So you wonder what those people are saying. He worked for him when he was a senator, Jeff Sessions, and Steven Miller was a speech writer. And laura, its interesting, because not only are people a lot of people in the white house sad, because they liked sessions, but a lot of republican senators worked closely with Jeff Sessions. He was a republican senator from alabama for a long time. They all had a very Good Relationship. And many of them are privately saying, why did the president of the United States treat this guy as badly as he did . Especially since sessions was the first republican senator to endorse him when he was a campaign when he was a candidate for the republican nomination. Its virtually unheard of to have a former u. S. Senator and a up until today, a u. S. Attorney general being a whipping boy of the president of the United States. Thats what hes been treated as. And i was a former career prosecutor for doj. As you enter the building and as you leave, as attorney general, you have people lining the hallways in support. Ive been under both bush and obama. And to see somebody like Jeff Sessions, the attorney general of the United States, have an unceremonious departure is just confounding to most people. I dont agree with his policies and the roll back of the civil rights agenda and the lgbtq issues and consent decrees, but you should give respect to the attorney general. And what you saw there were people in the line of succession, including Rod Rosenstein and the attorney general there, and his now successor who is not in the line, standing there. And i think that you had Jeff Sessions trying to be as gracious as he could to shake his hand. I suspect he was not pleased. And he never really had a Good Relationship with him to begin with. Preet, let me thank you very much. Always important for you be here. You have a final thought . Im worried about who the next attorney general might be. This person is only in an acting capacity. And i think its a precarious time, as you use that word. I think appropriately. Its a fraught time. And its a contentious time. And that person is very, very important. Theres a lot of time left in the Trump Administration not just with respect to the Mueller Probe, but all sorts of issues of law and order and fairness and justice going on in the country. And so i hope he chooses wisely and i hope he chooses someone who can get consensus support. Yeah, its a tenuous moment, indeed. Guys, thanks very much. Theres a lot going on. Lets take a quick break. Well resume our special coverage right after this. Instead, hes the tallest guy in his office. L basketball player. Yeah, erics had to compromise a lot in life. Ah yes, you need travel insurance when you travel. So, should i set some. Hello . But not when it comes to cutting the cord. Fubo gives him all the sports he needs as well as all the shows his family loves. Dont compromise. Get over 100 channels plus showtime and cloud dvr included. Call 844tryfubo. The sun goes down. You run those miles, squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom and floss to set a good example. You fine tune the proposal, change the water jug so no one else has to, get home for dinner and feed the cat. You did a million things for your family today but speaking to pnc to help handle all your investments was a very important million and one. Pnc. Make today the day. Vof hundreds of families, hese hmost proud of the one the heads hes kept over his own. Brand vo get paid twice as fast with quickbooks smart invoicing. Quickbooks. Backing you. You might or joints. Hing for your heart. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in Clinical Trials to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Your insurance rates skyrocket you could fix it with a pen. How about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead . For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise their rates because of their first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Welcome back. Were following the breaking news, including President Trump abruptly firing the attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions, earlier today. Lets bring in our political experts and get some analysis of whats going on right now. Dana, we watched this all very closely. A lot of people were bracing for at some point, sessions to leave. But it was a surprise it happened so quickly, only hours after the Midterm Election. That was the only thing that was surprising about it. Is when it happened, the fact that the president stood up in the east room of the white house with, you know, the entire White House Press corps for an hour and a half and didnt mention it. And he was asked about it. He was asked about it. Clearly, it was in the works. And the fact that the people who some people who are in the white house, people who are in his legal team, and maybe more importantly, the people in the senate, who have to carry the ball for the next person didnt know. And, you know, for any other cabinet official that would be like, okay, whatever. This is the trump world. But the attorney general this attorney general, with this Mueller Investigation going on, is hardly just any other cabinet official. It has so many implications. And, you know, so far, aside from this a new statement weve seen from senator elect mitt romney kind of a weird thing to say hes been everywhere, man. Is, you know kind of been crickets about the implications for the Mueller Probe. The thing i wonder the thing i wonder about is the timing. We knew that donald trump the second that Jeff Sessions reaccused himself last year he was frustrated and wanted to get rid of him after the mid terms. Does donald trump look and see a plus three in the senate and think, well, that gives us it does give more cushion. Right. You now could lose and get an attorney general confirmed. You pick a cabinet member other than state, thats going to be the biggest fight for democrats will have to stand firm on whoever he picks. Gets someone confirmed. Will any republicans in leadership come out and say this is not ok . I think jake tapper made the point earlier that this precedent will survive this president. Can republicans see beyond their own noses, that this could come back to haunt them at some point, that the president of the United States fires his own a. G. Who happens to be in charge of an investigation who implicates he and his family and his closest allies, that shouldnt be ok. Puts in charge by the way, a guy who passes over rosenstein and replaced him by someone whos more trumpian. The president has every right to pick his cabinet. However, the tone of his News Conference today and an hour later finding youll that Jeff Sessions is getting fired. He came out very combative, very tired. I slept 45 minutes last night. I look pretty darn good right now. He looked tired an drawn out. He fought with just about every reporter. Hes not surrounded by friendlies anymore. He didnt want to talk to you when you asked a question. No, he didnt. But speaking of that press conference and you guys are right, the fact that he was asked that question and he did not answer it. He went around it. Knowing what was happening an hour later. Yes, i in the middle of the president finishing an answer to a reporter and calling on another reporter, i found a space to ask the president a question about the issue of Voter Suppression and he responded. I took that as he was calling on me and i stood up. He told me to sit down on multiple occasions. He said about the cnn poll suppression. Voter suppression in georgia, florida, north dakota, and he told me to sit down yet again. Then he continued to say i was hostile, i was rude. I was just doing what a rorer does, asking questions of the president of the United States. I went through the transcript. It took several hours. Just finished it. On several occasions, he is asked about the Mueller Probe and sort of sessions, more broad and he says, look, i could fire everyone. He sort of could but it wouldnt go away. If you read that in light of what an hour later, two hours, in light of what then happened, john kelly was firing him, he was officially fired via tweet, it is ominous passing over rosenstein, the fact that hes called it a witch hunt 150 times. Thats someone who shares a view that mueller has already gone too far as of 2017. You add all that up, doesnt take a mathematician to see where this appears to be heading. I dont know if donald trump is willing to go all the way and try to either curtail, remove, cut budget of mueller. Thats what congress does. You made a points, a lot of republicans are reluctant to criticize the president at all. Theyve been castrated by a president who has emasculated his own party. This is a guy who was gloating hours after a midterm about the losses in his own party because since the day he ran, he didnt care at all about the health of the Republican Party. It was about him. So the republican members that serve alongside him have decided that he is the party and theyve completely lost any of their strength, their soul, not all of them, the ones who have said something have been, in his words, retired. Stand by. Theres a lot more news coming in right now. Were following all the news. Were going to take a quick break. All the tools you need for every step of the way. Make it, squarespace comcast business built the nations largest gigspeed network. Then went beyond. Beyond chasing down network problems. To knowing when and where theres an issue. Beyond network complexity. To a zerotouch, onebox world. Optimizing performance and budget. Beyond having questions. To getting answers. Activecore, hows my network . All sites are green. All of which helps you do more than your customers thought possible. Comcast business. Beyond fast. Happening now, breaking news. Firing sessions. The ax falls on the attorney general. Tonight, democrats are calling the move a blat about attempt to interfere with Robert Muellers investigation. Special counsel squeeze. With sessions out there are urgent concerns that mueller may be fired next. The day after the mid terms, is a constitutional crisis about to unfold . The president tries to spin the Election Results as a victory, despite republicans losing a major of the house. Were breaking down his rambling News Conference, his bluster, his threats. And two can play that game. As newly empowered House Democrats consider new probes of the president , President Trump is saying hell turn the tables. Will dueling investigation paralyze washington for the next two years . Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer, youre in the situation room. Were following breaking news on the firing of the attorney general Jeff Sessions and the impact on Robert Muellers russia investigation. President trump forcing