[Jim Sciutto, Co-host, Newsroom:] In just minutes, President Trump will head to the Supreme Court for a formal welcoming ceremony for Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Also there, the new acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, his first day on the job, Whitaker will speak at the event in place of the ousted, the fired Jeff Sessions.
[Poppy Harlow, Co-host, Newsroom:] Meanwhile, calls continue for Whitaker to recuse himself from overseeing the special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. He has made very critical remarks about the probe, the scope of it in the past. Joining us now, our Justice reporter Laura Jarrett who broke all the news yesterday as it was happening, remarkable reporting by you and the entire team
[Sciutto:] Yes
[Harlow:] As this was going down yesterday, Laura. What should everyone this morning waking up know about the man that will now oversee the entire Russia probe.
[Laura Jarrett, Cnn Justice Reporter:] Well, Poppy, Whitaker has fiercely defended the president in the past, writing both for cnn.com, appearing regularly on TV, always talking almost as a surrogate for him. And I want to read a piece that he wrote for Cnn back in August of 2017 before he was Sessions Chief of Staff where he talked about how he agreed with the president, that there would be a limit, perhaps a bridge too far that Mueller shouldn't cross if he tried to go after the president's personal financial information. And he says this, quote, "the president is absolutely correct. Mueller has come up to a red line in the Russia 2016 election meddling investigation, that he is dangerously close to crossing." And then he goes on to say, quote, "if he were to continue to investigate the financial relationships without a broadened scope in his appointment, then he would raise serious concerns that the special counsel's investigation was a mere witch-hunt" Echoing there, of course, the president's derision catchphrase that we hear all the time about a witch-hunt. Again, something that we would hear from a surrogate. But now of course, he's the top Justice Department official as the acting Attorney General supervising the Mueller probe. And I also want to play for you just a little bit of sound to give you a color of what he said with our Cnn Don Lemon. Take a listen.
[Matthew Whitaker, Acting Attorney General, United States:] I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recess appointment and that Attorney General doesn't fire Bob Mueller, but he reduces the budget so low that his investigation grinds to almost to a halt.
[Jarrett:] In the meantime, Democrats on the House Judiciary, Intelligence and Oversight Committees, the Democrats who plan to take the lead in these investigations in January have already sent preservation letters over to the Justice Department and the FBI asking that officials maintain and preserve all documents related to both Sessions firing and the Mueller investigation guys.
[Harlow:] And Laura, before you go, let's just make people aware of the checks here, though, right? I mean, yes, he has the power to fire Mueller if he wanted to, but he would have to have good cause to do so, conflict of interest, he'd have to defend the decision before Congress, right?
[Jarrett:] That's exactly right. So under the Justice Department regulations, Whitaker can't just fire Mueller because he wants to. Now, of course these are not normal times, but the regulations do contemplate oversight. And I should mention it's not just the firing of Mueller, it's also if he curtails the probe in any significant way. If he says Mueller, you've gone too far, he actually has to report that to Congress, Poppy.
[Harlow: Ok -- Sciutto:] Laura Jarrett, thanks very much. Joining us now, Cnn chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin as well as former Ohio Secretary of State and former Mayor of Cincinnati, Ken Blackwell. He also happens to be a long-time friend of Jeff Sessions. Thanks to both of you. Jeff, if I could begin with you, just on the power that Whitaker now has over the Russia investigation, and there are limits we should clear and Laura laid some of those out. Is the issue less him outright firing Mueller ending the investigation and more limits barriers that he could put around it. For instance if I have this right, Mueller would have to OK indictments with the Attorney General before he goes forward?
[Jeffrey Toobin, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Yes
[Sciutto: Ok -- Toobin:] That's right. And I wouldn't say it's one or the other, I would say it's both. I mean, yes, of course the new Attorney General has the power to fire him, but he also has the power to restrict the investigation, limit his budget, reject indictments, reject requests for travel and investigative options for Mueller's office. That's you know, that's what he's advocated in the past.
[Sciutto:] Right
[Toobin:] That, it appears, is the reason the president named him in the first place. And, you know, the checks that you and Laura were talking about, they're not really big checks. All they are
[Harlow:] Maybe because of the makeup of the Senate
[Toobin:] Yes, well, because of it just because they are simply requirements to testify and explain to Congress.
[Harlow:] OK, no teeth.
[Toobin:] Yes, I mean, Congress can't really do anything about it except impeach him
[Harlow:] Oh,
[Ok -- Toobin:] Or impeach the president which they're not going to do.
[Harlow:] Look, you said when this news broke yesterday, this is a president now in charge of the Mueller investigation. The Senate is going to do exactly nothing about it. But then I kept asking myself, Jeffrey, OK, but what about Senators Lindsey Graham, you head members of Congress Thom Tillis, et cetera, who had proposed and backed legislation to protect Mueller.
[Toobin:] Never happened. Never happened in a million years. Mitch McConnell, given the Republicans gratitude to the president for what he did for them, which was a lot during this campaign, they are never going to pass legislation that restricts or protects Mueller in any way. Yes, it is true Thom Tillis has this piece of legislation with Chris Coons; the Democrat from Delaware, that is going exactly nowhere.
[Sciutto:] And then to have a bigger majority, may make that even less likely
[Toobin:] Right
[Sciutto:] Ken Blackwell, you knew Jeff Sessions, friends with him, I'm curious, does he believe that he was wronged here?
[Ken Blackwell, Former Ohio Secretary Of State:] Look, there are those of us who thought that he had earned a more graceful exit. He had been in the forefront of advancing the president's agenda, but in the final analysis, it was the president's call. You know, one of the things that I think is important to underscore here is that he and now Attorney General Whitaker got along. They, in fact, are friends. I happen to know Mr. Whitaker, and I actually think that he will color within the lines. He will understand what he can do and what the president can do. But I think he will advise the president as to what he should do that stays within the framework of constitutional governance and common sense.
[Harlow:] So, gentlemen, to you both, to you mayor and to you Jeffrey Toobin. Whitaker also wrote this last Summer on Cnn opinion piece. If he, meaning Mueller, were to continue to investigate the financial relationship without a broadened scope in his appointment, meaning of the president, then this would raise serious concerns that the special counsel's investigation were a mere witch-hunt. The fact that he used the word witch-hunt, which the president has used
[Sciutto:] Yes
[Harlow:] Over and over about the probe, compare that with this. This is an exchange he had that really struck me reading it again this morning with our Jake Tapper.
[Whitaker:] I don't see any current reason or good reason that Bob Mueller shouldn't stay in that special counsel role. There is no honest person that sits in the world of politics and the world of law that can find anything wrong with Bob Mueller.
[Harlow:] So Jeffrey Toobin, which do we to you first, which do we believe?
[Toobin:] The first, not the second.
[Harlow: Ok -- Toobin:] I mean, why was he appointed? There was only one reason. I mean, you know, with all respect to Mr. Whitaker, he is a person not with the stature, nor the experience to be Attorney General of the United States. He was briefly U.S. Attorney in Des Moines, which is an honorable position, but it is not the kind of position that leads to this usually. He was appointed to limit the Mueller investigation. Whether he will, how he will, I don't know. But, I mean, who is kidding who here?
[Harlow:] You don't have any question about that
[Toobin:] Yes
[Harlow:] What do you think, mayor?
[Blackwell:] Well, look, I think here's the fact that it gets passed by Mr. Rosenstein actually is conflicted. So the issue is can Mr. Whitaker now provide oversight, stay within the lines of constitutional governance and, in fact, you know, keep Mr. Mueller on the straight and narrow. The fact of the matter is that he didn't get a blank check, he didn't he didn't get a license to go into a whole variety of areas. There was a very precise course of action that he was supposed to be pursuing. So, look, there are no free lunches for anybody in this. I think we are lucky that folks will, in fact, stay within the lines and act within constitutional governance norms.
[Sciutto:] Jeffrey, just very quickly, Comey's firing sparked the Mueller investigation.
[Toobin:] Correct.
[Sciutto:] Can Sessions firing spark another special counsel investigation?
[Toobin:] I don't think it would spark another special counsel investigation. It could be evidence in the existing Mueller investigation
[Sciutto:] For obstruction of justice.
[Toobin:] For obstruction of justice. Laura Jarrett and others, our colleagues have reported that even while he was Attorney General, Jeff Sessions gave interviews to the Mueller about his own involvement
[Sciutto:] Right
[Harlow:] Right
[Toobin:] In this case.
[Sciutto:] So we know it's another inquiry
[Toobin:] I assume that the Mueller office will interview him again.
[Sciutto:] Right.
[Toobin:] Because it is all part
[Sciutto:] Maybe this will
[Toobin:] Of the same
[Harlow:] Well
[Sciutto:] Maybe it don't have to be a self-inflicted wound, we don't know, yes
[Harlow:] And we know that those four top Democrats are now asking the you know, to preserve the documents for their own investigation
[Sciutto:] Yes
[Harlow:] As well. All right, thank you both very much, Ken Blackwell and Jeffrey Toobin. Also we're getting new details right now about the shooter in this horrific mass shooting overnight in California. We'll have more on that after the break.
[Sciutto:] And we are just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Dow expected to drop slightly, investors will be watching the Federal Reserve announcement this afternoon on interest rates. A hike another hike could come as early as next month.