i talked to the president this morning. we ve got to find somebody who the president trusts that can get confirmed. a lot of good choices. i m looking forward, not backward. we ve got a new chapter at the department of justice and i m excited about the opportunity. gosh, he s a positive person. that s an optimistic republican senator, lindsey graham, moments ago, reacting to the news that attorney general jeff sessions has been fired. and because sessions had recused himself from overseeing the russia investigation, his dismissal means his replacement, matt whitaker, not only becomes attorney general, but robert mueller s boss. let me start with you, bakari, because lindsey graham, at one point said there could be holy hell to pay if president trump ever fired jeff sessions. he revised that a little bit a couple months ago as it became clearer that this relationship
president trump, because you want to clear your name. do you actually think that he has this red line? i do. because i think he would have actually, in fact, executed a firing of robert mueller. i think he does think in his mind that the majority of the american people would rise up against him and that the judiciary committee and now the democratic control of the house would be a check in balance on his ability to do that. congressman ted lieu, thank you so much. and presumably, congratulations on your re-election. i m assuming if you re talking to me, you won re-election last night. yes, thank you, jake. okay. the resignation of jeff sessions as attorney general has frankly been a long time coming. and as cnn s laura jarrett reports, the frustration and tension between sessions and president trump goes both ways. reporter: at president trump s request, jeff sessions is out as attorney general. submitting his resignation letter to the president, quote, i have been honored to
been frustrated that mueller s investigation is not yet completed. and the attorney general hopes he will be remembered for never undermining the integrity of the department. with sessions now gone, his chief of staff, matt whitaker, will take over the department in the interim. matt whitaker, a former u.s. attorney from iowa and former cnn contributor, has served as sessions right-hand man since september 2017. but with sessions now gone, the question is, who will replace him? republican senator lindsey graham has reportedly been asked about the job and has repeatedly said he is not interested. others said to be in the running include former federal prosecutor and current republican congressman, john radcliffe, boeing general counsel michael lewdig and federal appeals court judge edith jones who sits on the fifth circuit. and janice rogers brown who used to sit on the d.c. circuit.
investigation after the mid terms. what could an end in the investigation under matt whitaker mean? right. i think a lot of people are focusing on whether matt whitaker might try to end the investigation. the probe is coming to a close, probably perhaps as soon as the end of the year or early next year. but what happens to robert mueller s report is now in the hands of matt whitaker. whether any of it becomes public. whether it even the report goes to congress. all of that now lies in the hands of matt whitaker. and so that s i think an even bigger and perhaps even more important question. because, you know, probably the investigation is almost complete anyway. so the question now is, what happens to robert mueller s report? all right. thank you so much. shimon and evan. joining me now is former u.s. attorney in the southern district of new york, also dismissed by president trump. preet, many speculated attorney general sessions would be out after the election. what does this mea
special counsel, robert mueller s investigation. here s senate minority leader, chu chuck schumer, earlier today. protecting mueller and his investigation is paramount. it would create a constitutional crisis if this were a prelude to ending or greatly limiting the mueller investigation. and i hope president trump and those he listens to will refrain from that. reporter: and we are also hearing from key house democrats as well. jerry nadler who stands to take over the house judiciary committee, he raised obstruction concerns earlier today and says that he could potentially investigate this decision to fire sessions. meantime, similar sentiments coming from elijah cummings who will take over the house oversight committee. top democrats in their new found majority in the house emboldened