special counsel s investigation now say that there was considerable discussion about issuing a subpoena for president trump to be interviewed. ultimately, the decision was to not move forward with that. and we have cnn reporters and analysts covering every angle of this story this evening. this hour reports from the white house to capitol hill. let s get right to cnn s kaitlan collins starting oh of in washington. kaitlan, you have new information on the president s mood? ana, we are learning how the president learned of this. the president had been expressing restraint over the weekend, not sure what was going to happen today. but then the two white house lawyers briefed the president after bill barr s chief of staff called emmett flood and gave him the readout. we re told by hogan gidley, when
democrats in congress might call in to testify regarding the findings from the mueller report, since they already mentioned they want to see barr. yeah, and adam schiff had said before the report was issued he wanted bob mueller before his committee as well to answer questions. they have threatened to bring him in. the question, will they do that in a public setting or behind closed doors. that s unclear too. but barr seems to be the person right now they want to bring in. barr himself said he would release as much of the report as possible, consistent with the law, consistent with regulations. that s a line he s been saying since his confirmation hearings. but expect him to, of course, be called, perhaps bob mueller we ll see if anybody else and who else they plan to bring in as part of their own investigations, the democrats still plan to pursue despite mueller ending his. manu raju with the reaction from capitol hill. cnn s laura jarrett at the justice department. and cnn just
reaction in the past few minutes, the head of the house judiciary committee, congressman jerry nadler, took reporters questions. we brought it live here on cnn. he says after the conclusions reached by attorney general william barr, the judiciary committee will be calling barr in to testify. let s get cnn s senior congressional correspondent, manu raju from capitol hill. and manu, this may be the end of the mueller probe. but is this just the beginning for democrats in congress? absolutely. house democrats making it very clear, they plan to push to get the full release of the mueller report. they re not satisfied with the four-page summary from bill barr. they question his motivations. they have been critical of him for some time. barr himself critical of the mueller investigation. democrats say what did he mean when he said the obstruction did not exonerate the president? the president himself said he was completely exonerated, but just moments ago, jerry nadler said that s just
with this. before i even got elected it began and it began illegally and hopefully someone is going to look at the other side. this was an illegal takedown that failed. and now saying that america is the greatest country on earth, as he returns to the white house. so we continue our breaking news right now. sources telling cnn, the president and his camp are thrilled by the mueller report conclusions. one trump adviser who speaks to the president regularly said, quote, this is like geraldo rivera and al capone s vault all over again. joining us now, cnn chief political analyst, gloria borger and cnn senior political commentator, former senior adviser to president obama, david axelrod. also with us, former special assistant to president george w. bush, scott jennings, and cnn national security analyst,
exoneration. it s a shame that our country had to go through this. to be honest, it s a shame that your president has had to go through this for before i even got elected, it began. and it began illegally. and hopefully, somebody will look at the other side. this was an illegal takedown that failed and, hopefully, somebody will be looking at the other side. so, it s complete exoneration. no collusion, no obstruction. thank you very much. thank you. and then just moments ago, as he returned to the white house, he added this. i just want to tell you that america is the greatest place on earth. the greatest place on earth. thank you very much. thanks. those were the final words from the president today. cnn s white house correspondent abby philip joins us now.