and not be caught off guard. ken dilanian, can you remind our viewers of the role of rod rosenstein in this process? the relationship between him and mueller and why it s crucial here and why mueller would have had to have given him a heads up. well, because attorney general jeff sessions has recused himself from this investigation, brian, rod rosen see rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, is the person at the justice department who is overseeing this special counsel investigation. he approves the budget and he gets regular reporting on the scope. in fact he negotiates the scope. but if mueller wants to expand the scope of his investigation, he needs rosenstein s permission. so he plays a crucial role here. and in fact, you know, he played a role in getting mueller appointed. he is the reason mueller is there. matthew miller, there s another name in the news, dana
the relationship between him and mueller and why it s crucial here and why mueller would have had to have given him a heads up. well, because attorney general jeff sessions has recused himself from this investigation, brian, rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, is the person that the justice department who is overseeing this special counsel investigation. he aprooufrs the budget and he is he gets regular reporting on the scope. in fact, he negotiates the scope. and if mueller wants to expand the scope of his investigation, he needs rosenstein s permission. so he plays a crucial role here. and in fact, you know, he played a role in getting mueller appointed. he s the reason mueller is there. matthew miller, there s another name in the news and that s dana been take, a prominent u.s. attorney who of all the nights of the calendar has retired effective tonight. can you bring everyone up to
of the quotes. it does. he s not disputing them, and second of all, what do you make of the leaking? i have been on the end of some of them. i have reported some of them. i think that some of the leaks are coming from people that are concerned about this president and his temperament and his fitness. i think that may be. i think i ve never really seen the volume of the leaking that is going on, but it is not helpful and it s not constructive. look, you know, the american people elected donald trump to be president of the united states, and all of those particularly who are brought into his administration, but those people who serve in the military and our diplomatic corps, in the civiler is vicious have an obligation to try and serve this president and by doing so serve the country, so this leaking is not helpful. it is not constructive in my view, and it is not how the system works. we ve now got mueller appointed.
mueller. great, michael, paul callan, gentlemen, thank you all so very much as this piece of news has dropped on this friday afternoon. i m brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me here today. keep it right here on cnn. special coverage with jake tapper continues right now. good afternoon and welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. president trump is on his way to saudi arabia, the first stop on his very international trip since taking office, and shortly after air force one left the tarmac this afternoon new explosive headlines about the russia investigation continued to break as they have for the last week or so. the new york times now reporting that according to a white house document president trump in the oval office told russian officials ten days ago that james comey, the fbi director, was a, quote, nut job. the paper, quoting the document, based on notes taken during the meeting in the oval office with
down a little bit. i feel like washington, d.c. ex exhaled. the entire town. congress, the white house. now there s a process. the investigation into russia s meddling now in the hands of the former director of the fbi. robert mueller appointed special counsel. he has the power to investigate, to question, to issue subpoenas and prosecute federal crimes if any discovered. mueller appointed by deputy rod rosenstein. rosenstein said the move was not a finding crimes had been committed, but quote based on the circumstances the public interest requires me to place this investigation under authority of the person who exercising the degree of independence from the normal chain of command. the appointment following a series of damaging headlines from the firing of the fbi director james comey to the president divulging sensitive