to the failed effort to prosecute former senator john edwards on similar charges. and this is according to gop aides who were in the room, anderson. >> i don't quite understand how nadler and -- the democrat and the republican can have such diametrically opposed accounting of what whitaker actually said and the meaning of it. is the transcript going to be released? is there any way to tell what whitaker actually said? >> well, unfortunately for us, this was behind closed doors today. there is no transcript. so like most things in life, it will come down to credibility determination and whose side you believe and which one sounds more like the facts. all right. laura jarret, thanks. you'll recall the question of whether the president asked him acting attorney general to take action against the southern district. it has come up before. such as this moment not long after whitaker's testimony. >> did you ask acting attorney general matthew whitaker to