the department of justice has been under control of an acting attorney general, an appoint ee from the obama administration and sally yates released a dramatic statement, saying as long as she is attorney general, running the juts cities department, the justice department would not be legally defending the travel ban and the refugee ban that president trump ordered on friday. she says she is not convinced that the executive order is lawful. she put out this statement tonight that reads in part, "consequently, for as long as i am the attorney general, the department of justice will not present arguments in defense of executive order unless and until i become convinced that it's appropriate to do so." so that's where we were heading into this hour. that letter was sent at 6:30 p.m. now, just moments ago, just literally minutes ago, the acting attorney general, sally yates, has been fired by president trump. sally yates, congratulations, you have made history. here's the statement from the white house explaining that she has been fired. the acting attorney general sally yates has refused

installed tonight after sally yates was fired he immediately rescinded her order which told department of justiceawyers that they shouldn't defend their refugee and immigration executive order in court. that means he has rescinded that order, he is effectively oshding the department of justice lawyers that they need to go to court and defend this thing. >> right. >> do we expect that her resistance, the principled stand she took here might echo down through the lower levels of the justice department? >> i think very good chance. i mean the new acting attorney general i guess gets the robert bourque award if we are talking in terms of the saturday night mass car, bourque being the number three in the neckson justice department who would make the decision that nixon wanted that his two superiors did not. and i think yeah because there are a lot of very principled you know, career people in the justice department just like sally yates who came into the justice department in 1989 under a republican president george h.w. bush. and i have to assume that if they think that the independence of the justic

she's somebody from the justice department.'s not necessarily a democratic longtime democrat throughout her career. she's worked through the ranks of the justice department through her career. >> any reaction at all from trump yet. >> we have not heard a reaction yet, wolf but this is something that's going to present a crisis for the administration. obviously they want this order defended. if this attorney general won't do it, then they are going to have to find someone who will. >> this is a major, major development. i want you to stand by. gil kerlikowske is with us. what's your reaction to this truly extraordinary development, commissioner, that the acting attorney general won't, in effect, defend the president's orders? >> i've known sally yates for many years. i worked with her when she was united states attorney in the atlanta year and i was the drug czar. she is a career prosecutor. she has never shown to me any sway one way or the other for political leanings. she's always been stand up for the law and people of this c

acting attorney general was to announce he was rescinding yates' order ask was ordering the justice department to defend the immigration order. that just came down within the last few minutes. >> in terms of that order, it's presumably the case that the department of justice lawyers who would be defending the order in court, would those be people who are brand new political apoint knpointees of the trump administration? >> no, the lawyers who would be appearing in court in the five city its where lawsuits had been brought would presumably be career attorneys. it would be unusual for a political appointee to appear in court. these are people who from the civil division who would be there to state what the normal circumstances would be. the justice department's defense of the government's position. so what the attorney general said tonight is we are going to continue to set this as we're going to do before about 6:30 when sally yates said she could not in good conscience defend him. >> we have an interesting human question about if these assistant u.s. attorneys. we have assistant u.s. attorneys

obviously, sally yates, a 30-year career lawyer at justice department. was appointed under president obama. but she is acting here as some one who has been in the department for nearly three decades. >> evan price, appreciate the update. let's get legal add viegs from law professor, jonathan turley, lauren kocoates, paige pates. is this a political move by acting attorney general? the right legal move? >> i don't think it is the right legal move. i have a great deal of respect for ms. yates. wonderful career, recognized as a true career prosecutor. and that's why it surprises me a bit abut this. she hasn't explained why she thinks it is unlawful. at best i think the law is unclear. there is arguments on both sides. if anything, i think, the administration has the stronger argument based on past cases. also, she cites statements made before the executive order was signed. presumably, statements by mr., by president trump during the campaign, and by rudy giuliani. the justice department has routinely opposed those types of statements from being considered i

there is a new investigation tonight into how the fbi and the justice department handled the probe oflinton's private e-mail server. i want to go straight to our justice correspondent evan perez. evan, tell us what the justice department inspector jenna no s general announced today. >> the justice department inspector general is investigating whether the fbi director james comey and other officials at the justice department and the bureau followed the rules in their handling of the investigation of hillary clinton's private e-mail server. now, at the top of the concerns is that extraordinary july press conference which comey said he would recommend no charges against clinton and that no reasonable prosecutor would bring a case against her, but then breaking with protocol comey went into great detail about all the things that he thought clinton did wrong, including calling her extremely careless in her handling of classified information. the inspector general is also taking a look into comey's unprecedented letter to congress a few days before the election in which he announced that ne

and we at the justice department have brought our full resources to bear on this issue. om the fbi, atf, u.s. marshals service, and the dea. who participated in joint task force into combat violence. to the department of violence reduction network. now our efforts to work closely with local authorities to fight violence in the number of ways began long before we opened this investigation, and they will continue during and after this investigation. and no one understands that better than zach. under his outstanding leadership, the u.s. attorney's office for the northern district of illinois has worked literally around the clock to tackle gun violence, gang cases, and other serious crimes afflicting this great city. and at the same time that zach has actively partnered with our civil rights division on this pattern and practice of investigation, the prosecutors in his office in 2016 charge the highest number of illegal firearm cases in any year since 2004. so the u.s. attorney's office here and federal investigative agencies have truly ramped up their efforts to help stem t

administration, they're inviting a wholesale revolt from the justice department. and they may have to replace it all the way down to the studs. you know, they may have to take it -- may have to gut that department entirely. if so, that will be one of the only things they can accomplish in their first year in office. and that's a fight that they didn't need to pick and they picked it as a show of force. the question is what happeneds after they throw that punch? >> what does it do for jeff sessions' confirmation scheduled for tomorrow? >> i think it will slow it down because the democrats aren't going to be in any hurry -- >> if they slow it down, donald trump is going to say they're risking the nation's security because we need someone who can issue fisa warrants. >> they can get somebody else to issue those fisa warrants, that's a solvable problem. look, to me, this reminds me of a sports metaphor, unforced errors. you hear that in sports. this is an unforced crisis. we have had presidents in the past, franklin roosevelt, ronald reagan, barack obama, who came to

the justice department does have a role. that's also to preserve the credibility of the golf in making any arguments in front of the courts. one of the responsibilities of the doj is to ensure that it has that credibility going forward and that they have the backing to be able to say -- to walk into any court that what they're defending and actively trying to enforce is a lawful -- completely lawful act. here i think what she's doing is not just making a political statement. what she's doing is saying because of the ambiguity and because there are portions of it at least that may defy not only the constitution perhaps the not to discrimination against people for national origin, we cannot make a straight-faced argument in a way that preserved -- it's a smart decision. >> but don't lawyers all the time make arguments based on what their clients bev, not their personal beliefs? >> one of the issues with this particular executive order is not just the morality portion. legally speaking, there's not clear guidance on how to enfo

the justice department's inspector general saying how he is going the rehow the fbi and the justice department handled certain aspects of the clinton e-mail investigation including fbi james comey's news conference in july. and his two letters to the hill in late october and early november. joe, are you surprised at all that the inspector general has decided that this is worthy of review? >> no. i'm not surprised at all. i was quickly looking up michael horowitz's term. how long it is. there is the subject of whether or not he could be fired by the president-elect. he is on a ten year term. >> who appointed him? >> president obama. >> okay. >> here's what we know. we know that the fib's field office, to brian fallon's point was self actualizing an investigation based on a book, based on clinton cash a widely debunked anti-clinton book that is actually tied to stephen steve bannon of it's tied to the think tavern he has in florida. his partner in the think tank is the author of the book. bannon was promoting the, into. suddenly conservative member of the fbi in new york wants there to be an inv

yates who served under president obama and was asked to stay on in the interim sent a memo to justice departmentnd trump's order to block refugees and citizens from seven mostly muslim countries. that memo said in part, "my responsibility is to ensure that the position of the department

it's not the department of justice -- it's not the secretary of justice, it's the department of justice. it is not the president's attorney, it is the attorney general of the united states. one who is there for everybody, everybody in the united states. now sally yates exemplaified th best of this role, when she strongly prosecuted some of the most serious crimes in this country, did so irrespective of the political leanings of the people she was prosecuting and she served in the finest tradition of the justice department. she sets a high standard for the department and for the nation. i called her this morning and told her that. i also remember the question she was asked by senator sessions under oath. and she was asked would you be willing to stand up to a president? would you be willing to tell a president when he's wrong? those of us around this table remember that and under oath she said she would. well, she kept her word. she upheld her oath. she did what she was supposed to do. senator feinstein mentioned elliott richardson and bill ruckleshouse. they did the same. i knew them bo

>> well, erin, she has a distinguished career really over a couple of decades inside the justice department as a career lawyer and it's really late in her career she was tapped to become deputy attorney general by president obama. this is someone who grew up in the department if you will. she has made her entire career and so the fact that she -- this weekend we know from our sources have been struggling with what to do about this executive order she was not consulted. neither were any of those lawyers around her, were not consulted about this executive order. which is something that you'd want to do if you're going to ask them to defend this in court. we do know from the white house, the white house says they did consult the white house of legal counsel inside the justice department. they act separately from the attorney general which reviewed just the language in the order. but doesn't really look at the policy implications of the order, erin. so what we know is that over the weekend, she was struggling with whether or not this thing was even legal. as the language in her order that she w

as compared to the department of justice. w do you have any opinion on this, at this point, that the department of justice, which is more accountable to the president and therefore has some connection to the people should be more actively involved in communicating with foreign antitrust or competition authorities? >> i wouldn't attempt to comment on that. i would be glad it hear your thoughts on it. i think it can be problematic if you ask officials, encourage foreign officials to join with them to against an action of a private company. they could put so much excessive pressure on them that they are not able to resist and when they may have a lawful basis to resist. these are big issues. you have to be sensitive to the power of the justice department has, antitrust division has, and that there is a principled policy and lawful basis for what is done. >> thank you, senator sessions. i see our chairman is back. oh, he's not back. senator flag stan? >> it is my understanding that senator durbin hasn't yet add second round so i w

yates, an obama hold over, said her justice department lawyers could not defend the travel ban because she felt it was unlawful, and she was promptly replaced. and then the senate judiciary committee expected to vote on jeff sessions but it may not become a referendum on the immigration order itself. tonight in primetime in an address, president trump will announce his pick for the u.s. supreme court. no word if that nominee is among these three perceived frontrunners. we are covering all the developments on this whirlwind morning. let's get to the white house first. >> reporter: an extraordinary series of events here overnight at the white house that is threatening to take this young presidency off message. this criticism is not just coming over democrats over the immigration order, it's coming from inside the trump administration, from cabinet secretaries and republicans on capitol hill who say they were not consulted about this. it was an extraordinary series of events, really, in the last 12 hours that is threatening the justice department and could influence the confirmation heari

the inspector general, justice department is now launching this investigation, the justice department and the fbi, what does that mean? moving ahead? stay with me. test test test test >>> the inspectors general is launching a investigation into the fbi office and specifically into the investigation of hillary clinton's e-mail server. among some of the concerns whether proper procedures were followed whether the deputy director of the fbi should have we accused himself from the investigation all together and whether staffers improperly disclosed information. and we heard from josher -- >> we wouldn't weigh in publicly or privately on any sort of investigative decision made by the inspector general, presumably the stakes are even higher for the inspector general responsible for conducting these types of investigations of independent law enforcement agencies. i can tell you the white house was not involved in this. and whatever the inspector general decide will do it on whatever he or she wants to do and follow the evidence wherever it leads if they find any evidence. >> we'll have much

and lawyers from the justice department, lawyers from the voting rights division of the justice departmentwere due back in that judge's courtroom on tuesday, this upcoming tuesday, to make their case again. they're due back on -- they were due back on tuesday. now they're not going to be there on tuesday. as of 12:01 p.m. today, the justice department is run by a new administration and the new administration for all of its disorganization and failure to staff key government posts, they made clear today that they've got a few priorities they're going to be jumping on immediately -- or i guess actually they made clear they've got this one substantive priority that they're going to jump on immediately. they did not announce anything about it. but this is one of the very few things they actually did today on day one. they filed a motion in texas asking to postpone that hearing on tuesday in this voting rights case. the request -- they asked the hearing be put off "because of the federal government's change in administration which took place on january 20, 2017. because of the change in adminis

it's the department of justice and you would be the leader of the department. you would have the authority and discretion. there is a responsibility in your own department. >> they are admitted or not admitted to the united states on the approval or disapproval of the secretary of state. the gentleman that you mentioned should have a strong case with his acceptance as a refugee because he has been damaged and injured and attacked and at risk for his writing, so that would give more potential acceptance. >> i hope that we both agree there are compelling cases of those that are victims around the world, terrorism and war, discrimination and many of them walked to the last possible place for them to find safety and security. i hope after the heated language of the last campaign we can come back to some of the standards that have guided the nation since world war ii. we will not end the refugee program that we do have a responsibility to make sure those that are admitted have been vetted and are not in danger. >> the boats kind of made this a convoluted round so we

obviously been a fierce debate about how the chicago police department does its job, and the justice departments going to issue findings saying that there are serious problems within the chicago police department. normally what would happen is that would lead to a judge whereeing consent decree the police department promises to make certain changes, and a judge makes sure they do. what is tricky about chicago in particular is what is going to happen today is the government is going to announce its findings, but the people in the justice department who are announcing these findings will not be there long enough to enforce a consent decree, most likely. up to the really be trump administration and the people he puts in those jobs to decide, essentially, what chicago has to do about it. there is always a slim chance that the obama administration officials to cut a real last-minute deal with chicago, but that would be an incredibly rushed timeline, and the folks i talked with are skeptical that they could get it done before they leave. host: devlin barrett, a staff reporter for "wall street journal

that sally yates told her team of lawyers at the justice department she was not convinced the executive order was lawful. she instructed her team not to defend the order in court. now as we know, there are lawsuits going on right now. it would have mattered. not have a u.s. attorney in court defending it. three hours later, she was fired. the white house put out a statement saying yates quote betrayed the department of justice by refusing to enforce a legal order. trump replaced her with dana boente. a top prosecutor out of virginia. boente quickly issued new guidance to lawyers at the justice department defeirecting them to defend the order. the office that proves advice to the executive branch is the office of legal counsel signed off on the executive order.

and lawyers from the justice department, lawyers from the voting rights division of the justice departmentwere due back in that judge's courtroom on tuesday, this upcoming tuesday, to make their case again. they're due back on -- they were due back on tuesday. now they're not going to be there on tuesday. as of 12:01 p.m. today, the justice department is run by a new administration and the new administration for all of its disorganization and failure to staff key government posts, they made clear today that they've got a few priorities they're going to be jumping on immediately -- or i guess actually they made clear they've got this one substantive priority that they're going to jump on immediately. they did not announce anything about it. but this is one of the very few things they actually did today on day one. they filed a motion in texas asking to postpone that hearing on tuesday in this voting rights case. the request -- they asked the hearing be put off "because of the federal government's change in administration which took place on january 20, 2017. because of the change in adminis

yates who served under president obama and was asked to stay on in the interim sent a memo to justice department lawyers ordering them not to defend trump's order to block refugees and citizens from seven mostly muslim countries. that memo said in part, quote, my responsibility is to ensure that the position of the department of justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts. that memo tonight led to her dismissal. the white house just put out a statement saying, quote, the acting attorney general, sally yates, has betrayed the department of justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the united states. ms. yates is an obama administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration, close quote. the new acting attorney general is dana bente who was serving as u.s. attorney for the eastern district of virginia. and just tonight, another development. we know not what to make of it, involving the head of immigration and customs enforcement. as you saw bri

department. she said i am responsibility for ensuring that positions we take in court remain consistent and this institution obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right. a statement issued yates for being weak on immigration. she defied the department of justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the united states. the new ag is dana boente. he will remain in office until the senate confirms senator jeff sessions expected later this week. christine and george. >> thank you, evan. the new ag issued a statement overnight reversing the earlier directive. based upon the office of legal counsel analysis which found the order lawful and properly drafted, i hereby direct the men and women to defend the lawful orders of our president. >> reaction has been strong from both sides. lawmakers statements highlighting different interpretations of the ban and the widening political gulf. chuck schumer saying the firing under scores how important it is to have an attorney general to stand up to the white house. it should pledge fidelity to the law and white house. the fact that this administration doe

and then the whole question about the justice department's pretty aggressive use of these consent decrees these pattern and practice investigations of the nation's police departments. will this justice department under jeff sessions continue that pretty aggressive use of that? we've seen something of a practical consequence of this in baltimore. we expect that baltimore and the justice department will reach a final agreement on the consent decree that was informally reached earlier this year. there had been some concern from the justice department that baltimore was sort of slow-rolling this, hoping for a better deal under the trump administration, but it appears likely that that will be wrapped up pretty soon, stephanie. >> well, it seems we are now just a minute away from things kicking off. as we look in room, we can see jeff sessions is there. just moments ago we were showing lindsey graham and orrin hatch. but also, one of the reasons things are somewhat chaotic -- there you have a protester right now being arrested. we've seen protesters for around the last 15 minutes concerned abou

you and i are both alum night department of justice and -- alumni of the department of justice and it has a long by tart san position of staying outside politics, simply and fairly enforcing the law. i will say right now if i believed that you would implement policies, even policies i agreed with contrary to law, i would vote against your confirmation. and the reason i am so enthusiastically supporting your confirmation is i have every degree of confidence you will follow the law faithfully and honestly. and that is the first and most important obligation of the attorney general. now, earlier in the hearing, senator franken engaged you in a discussion that i think was intended to try and undermine your character and integrity. and in particular senator franken suggested that you had somehow misrepresented your record. it is unfortunate to see members of this body impugn the integrity of a fellow senator with whom we have served for years. it is particularly unfortunate when that attack is not backed up by the facts. senator franken based his attack primarily on an op-ed written by an

she told justice department lawyers that i am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with the solemn obligation to always seelk justice and stand for what's right. she went onto say she didn't think the executive order was lauf lawful. the white house release add statement that yates has betrayed the department of justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the united states. he will remain in office until they confirm jeff sessions, expected late they are week. cnn, washington. >> let's get more with michael moore. he knows sally yates. thank you for joining us. >> glad to be with you. >> i want to read this quote we are getting from the new acting attorney general who ordered the department of justice to quote do our sworn duty and defend the lawful orders of our president. as somebody who knows both of the characters involved in this, what is your perspective on this situation? >> i'm not surprised to hear dana's order. i think the keyword in there is lawful. she injecting the employees to carry forth the

live at the department of justice, i'm melanie alnwick, "fox5 local news". >> and 4:33 is the time now. happening today senate judiciary committee will vote on senator jeff sessions to lead department of justice as attorney general vote is set for 9:30 this morning sessions could be confirmed by full senate by thursday. >> meantime one group hopes to stop that con fir nraition happening and the women's march on washington will hold a rally outside the senate judiciary hearing and calling on the committee to block sessions because his background shows he's stood against civil rights and minoritys and women and they're also behind the sevingt education. >> and president trump is expected to announce who he wa the court. he september a tweet monday saying he would reveal nominee today. front runners federal appeals court william prior, neal goresich and thomas hardman there's been an opening on the court following justice antonin scalia's death. >> the former president says he does not agree with discrimination based on faith or religion. he says it's expected so many americans are exerci

in fact, that is the role of the department of justice to be able to understand the breadth of an order and figure out whether or not they can enforce is uniformally. you misconceive the notion the department of justice is somebody who the president of the united states says here is my directive. now figure out a way to make this lawful and legal. that's actually the opposite theory of the doj. in fact, their role is supposed to figure out how they can enforce any lawful order. but if there are questions about whether or not it's ambiguous as to its lawfulness, let alone its constitutional eig constitutionality. and the doj, the attorney general or the acting attorney general, they will have the same conundrum. which aspects can be enforced in conformity with the constitution and in conformity with what we know about the immigration and national act? >> patricia, i don't know if you heard -- >> that statement is just wrong. i'm sorry. that statement is just wrong. the role -- what sally yates did was an affront to the institution of the department of justice and the career men and women

the acting us attorney general tells justice department lawyers not to defend it in court. there is a growing outcry against the immigration clampdown, from the public, politicians, and now former president obama. police in quebec charge a french—canadian student with shooting dead six muslim worshippers at a mosque. and a special bbc investigation into the traffickers selling baby chimpanzees from west africa. the real tragedy of this trade is that to get one infant chimpanzee out of the jungle, all of the adults and its family have to be killed. a dramatic setback for president trump's executive order banning people from seven muslim—majority countries coming to the united states. it is already the target of widespread protests in the us and beyond, and now the acting us attorney general has told justice department lawyers not to defend it in court. in a letter, sally yates says she is not convinced it is lawful. sally yates is a barack obama appointee. she was asked to stay on temporarily by president trump, but is due to be replaced within days, depending on senate conf

let's assess the justice department turmoil this morning. best selling author ellis henican joins us. the bigger picture here. so fascinating to me. the idea that democrats would slow off the confirmation process of the appointees. that's expected. president trump complains about that. what does surprise me is the rift developing among republicans. that could slow the priorities from here on out. over the travel ban. >> are you look at the right thing? i think the cost is getting higher by the day of the support that would naturally be given to a new republican president in a situation. if donald trump says stick with me, stick with me. that is fine if the cost is not high. how you have to stand up and explain the travel ban. what the problems are with the allies. why congress wasn't included. that is a heavy lift for a republican who may one day need to be elected. >> jeff sessions is the person who is set to take over. >> in the hot seat. >> and it is interesting to see jeff sessions questioning sally yates for the deputy role. i want to l

what happened at the justice department tonight is quite sad for the department.or the acting attorney general. >> if an attorney general, acting or otherwise, has responsibility as the lawyer for the executive branch. then her job is to either work that problem out or to resign. if she can't work it out to her satisfaction. it's an bomb nation for her to order the lawyers of the justice department to stand down from doing their jobs. we have an adversary system of justice as we all know. and the job of the justice department's lawyers is to go into court and be an advocate in that adversary system for the legal position, and when the acting attorney general took the stand to make herself an umpire, and stand between and arbitrate between the president and legal opponents of this executive order. if she didn't resign, she had to be fired and rightly so. >> i want you to listen to chuck schumer from the senate floor just a short time ago. >> i would say this to the president-elect and his minions, there are a lot of people who voted for president trump, not the har

lawyers and i don't know how he takes bad news, but i do believe it's very important for the department of justice and lawyers at the department of justice to be able to express their views freely, and i'm hoping in this particular case, acting attorney general, sally yates, has a chance to discuss her views. and the president of the united states is entitled to have his lawful orders carried out, and i am concerned about the blanket order for attorneys not to enforce this order. >> do you think -- >> what is america? we live in a post 9/11 world, and it's a very dangerous time right now and if we don't have the capability to fully vet individuals come into this country and that -- >> but do you think we don't have the capability to fully vet? as we have heard, refugees go through a vetting process that takes 18 months. do you think they are not being fully vetted? >> what i worry about is often times the vetting is based upon a database that may not exist. it's fine to have somebody come in and say this is who i am, but the question is what kind of records exist back in the home countries, and of

of justice's vehicles to make sure that police departments across the country, new orleans, baltimore and others are under cop sent decrees to make sure that justice is done and justice is applied across the board. let's not talk about all the desegregation cases for education that are still out there. there are 30 education cases under consent decree to make sure that children from every zip code will be treated fairly in terms of quality access to a public education. and the attorney general of the united states has a responsibility to ensure those thing. his record, his words, i think demonstrate that he does not have the desire to do it and he wouldn't do it. in those roles of the department of justice are just as important as any of the other roles. >> congressman richmond, very quickly because i want to get mr. brooks' take on this as well. it looks like he will be confirmed. are you going to be able to work with him going forward? >> well, part of our duties is oversight. and to make sure that the rules and the guidance of not only the

his final beat for the los angeles times was in ashington covering the justice department. when he shifted to the new york times, we can -- he continued serving justice. he was very well sourced after the september 11 attacks to report on the bush administration, stepped up the spying operations. in 2006, he and another new york times reporter received a pulitzer prize for national reporting or as the pulitzer committee put it, there carefully sourced stories on a secret domestic eavesdropping that served a national debate and the boundary line between fighting terrorism and protecting civil liberties. that reporting led eric a couple of years later to come out with his first book bush's law, the remaking of american justice. he talked about the nsa wiretapping program and other secret activity. in his new book, "the nazis next elaborates on another an older story of covert activity, this one accounting out of the cia and fbi of former nazis in the united states after world war ii to serve as spies and informants in the cold war against the soviet bloc. some of the stories h

and if confirmed, that is the way i will lead the department of justice. in my over 14 years in the department of justice, i tried cases personally of every kind. drug trafficking, very large international smuggling cases, many firearms cases, other violent crimes, a series of public corruption cases of quite significance. financial wrongdoing and environmental violations. our office supported historic civil rights cases and major civil cases protecting the people of this country from crime and especially from violent crime is a high calling of the men and women of the department of justice. today i'm afraid it has become more important than ever. since the early 1980s, good policeing and prosecution over the period of years have been a strong force in reducing crime, making our communities safer. drug use and murders are half what they were in 1980 when i became a united states attorney. so i'm very concerned that the recent jump in violent crime and murder rates are not anomalies but the beginning of a dangerous trend that could reverse those hard-won gai

it's in the justice department. if they signed off on this, they basically meant they didn't find any fault with it as far as the law. i think she clearly understood what she was doing when she waved the red flag in front of trump and she got speared. i think to a certain extent, the story will be a terrible story for a day or two until we have a new chief justice or new justice tomorrow night and the story goes to the next round. this is a very aggressive team. they want to get things done. this is an active president. i think to a certain extent, a week from now we won't be paying much attention to this story. >> let me run more quotes by you. florida republican congressman said tonight on lawrence o'donne o'donnell's show, "by the end of this year we may see a president drifting toward an impeachable moment." your other good friends at "the new york times" wrote this in two headlines today, in days trump upends america's enduring image, and with little regard for basic governance, unleashed global chaos. that's n

trumps executive order isn't just barking defiance from protesters, it's also riling up the justice department. her department will refuse to -- we are joined by trace gallagher. hey, trees. >> the reason the acting attorney general will not defend the president's executive orders is because she is not convinced it is legal. in a statement late today, sally eight said -- my responsibility is not only legally defensible y our best view. critics say her decision is much more political than legal. in the meantime, despite protests and legal challenges, the administration is calling it a success story with the president himself blaming any disorganization on others, tweeting... referring of course to chuck schumer who teared up when he talked about the band. today, trump signed another executive order living up to his one into ad campaign promise, meaning for every new regulation the feds want to impose on businesses, to existing regulations would have to be defunded by the office of management and budget. before signing the order, mr. trump invited business leaders to the white house for a listen

the position of the department of justice and it has a duty, the department of justice does, to defend the laws passed by this body. , by congress. they should be defended vigorously whether or not the solicitor general agreed with them or not. unless it can't be reason bring definitive. sometimes you have a disagreement about whether it's reasonably defensible or not. that's the fundamental question. the department of justice should defend laws that congress passed unless it's -- they're unable to do so in a reasonable way. >> what is the place of independent agencies in a unified executive branch, and do you envision that you will be making any recommendations to the president to reign in independent agencies in an effort to preserve the constitutional distinction between the powers of the congress and the administrative responsibilities of an executive branch? >> kind of a historic question at this point in time because it does appear to me that agencies oftentimes see themselves as independent thiefdoms, and sometimes you even hear the president complain about things clearly under

do you agree with the way the justice department has handled such cases? >> mr. chairman, i do believe that the law has been passed by congress. i'm interested to see how it plays out in the real world. i will do my best to make my judgment about how to enforce that as attorney general. i'm sorry the law itself has many powerful provisions that i'm glad was passed and that is in law and provides protections to women as victims against victims of violence. >> on the tribal lands it's been used and prosecuted for three years. do you feel it's been used correctly? >> mr. chairman, i have no understanding of that but of the results so far, i'm interested. it's the first time i've heard it commented on. >> in i have quite a number. perhaps more than any other issue that i learned about. non-indians going on to tribal lands and committing crimes, including rape, have not been effectively and that has not been happening sufficiently i am now convinced so i do this the the fbi, particularly maybe the bureau of indian affairs investigators should be beefed up and the u.s.

justice department have brought our full resources to bare on this issue, from the fbi, atf, u.s. hall service and the dea, who have participated in joint task forces to combat violence to the department's violence reduction network. our efforts to work closely with local authorities to fight violence in a number of ways began long before we opened this investigation and they will continue during and after this investigation. and no one understands that better than zach farden. under his outsatanding leadership, they have worked literally around the clock to tackle gang cases and other crimes that afflict this city and at the same time partnered with this investigation, the prosecutors in his office in 2016 charged the highest number of illegal firearm cases in any year since 2004. so the u.s. attorney's office here and federal investigative agencies have truly ramped up their efforts to help stem the recent rise in violence. but as i have seen firsthand from my community policing tour, that work is undermined if the community does not trust law enforcement. and that's why in addit

yates had served in the justice department for 27 years. trump had asked her to serve as acting attorney general until the senate confirmed senator jeff sessions who is a close , ally of trump. on monday, richard blumenthal praised sally yates for speaking out. >> i want to salute sally yates, who has taken a stand based on moral and legal principle in the highest tradition of the department of justice, saying that these orders cannot be the rule of law and morality is more important than the politics at the moment, of ahe impulsive edict ruler who apparently fails to understand that law -- or at least, his administration. amy: widespread resistance to trump's immigration ban continued across the united states and the world in nearly monday all sectors of society from the streets to silicon , valley to branches of the halls of washington. more than 100 employees of the state department have signed onto drafts of a dissent memo that condemn trump's executive order. one draft of the memo reads -- "this ban stands in opposition to the core ame

it's in the justice department. if they signed off on this, they basically meant they didn't find any fault with it as far as the law. i think she clearly understood what she was doing when she waved the red flag in front of trump and she got speared. i think to a certain extent, the story will be a terrible story for a day or two until we have a new chief justice or new justice tomorrow night and the story goes to the next round. this is a very aggressive team. they want to get things done. this is an active president. i think to a certain extent, a week from now we won't be paying much attention to this story. >> let me run more quotes by you. florida republican congressman said tonight on lawrence o'donnell's show, "by the end of this year we may see a president drifting toward an impeachable moment." your other good friends at "the new york times" wrote this in two headlines today, in days trump upends america's enduring image, and with little regard for basic governance, unleashed global chaos. that's not readi

sent out a statement saying in part, the acting attorney general sally yates has betrayed the department of justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the united states. this order was approved as to form and legality by the department of justice office of legal counsel. my yates is an obama administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration. it's time to get serious about protecting our country. calling for tougher vetting for individuals traveling from seven dangerous places is not extreme. it is reasonable and necessary to protect our country. democrats responded on the senate floor late last night. >> of course we had a monday night massacre. sally yates, a person of great integrity, who follows the law was fired by the president. she was fired because she would not enact, pursue the executive order on the grounds it was illegal. we are a nation that is a rule of law. you can't sit down, twitter something out and think, okay, let's enact it. >> yates replacement boente has been with the justice department 30 years. resume i

the position of the department of justice, and it has a duty, the department of justice does, to defend the laws passed by this body, by congress, and they should be defended vigorously, whether or not the solicitor general agrees with them or not, unless it can't be reasonably defend defended. so sometimes you reach a disagreement whether it's reasonably defensible or not but that's the find mental question and the department of justice should defend laws that congress passed, unless they're unable to do so in a reasonable way. >> what is the place of independent agencies in the unified executive branch, and do you envision that you'll be making any representation reco the president to rein in independent agencies no an effort to preserve distimpgs between the powers of congress and abilities of the executive branch? >> good question, senator, kind of historic question at this point in time because it does appear to me that agencies oftentimes see themselves as independent thiefdoms, and sometimes you even hear the president complain about things, clearly under his control. iemember pr

more about theit findings of the justice department, report of the chicago police department. the report found that officers are described as running after who they had no reason to believe committed serious crimes. some of those chases ended in fatal gunfire. chased cases officers demand that they described as fidgeting with their waistband. the officers claimed the man fired at them during the chase. a gun foundtates almost a block away was fully loaded and in operable. charlie. view of police >> policerelations? here they are ok. they don't have a big problem with them usually. nation -- we have a big divide between the citizens and police. the other cities need to be investigated. basically 10 years of tender. all of them aren't good either. here we don't have no problem. worse. it >> as we discuss police community relations, we have live shots from the setup. marking martin luther king day. the march will be live on c-span. we have some sites on the ground. preparing for the rest of today's show. electponse, the president has tweeted something to congressman john lewis. f

he's a sharp man. >> -- department of justice standing outside. what happens when the department of justice can't be trusted to stand at your side? >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> your thoughts about how the day went and how, you know, your thoughts on the nominee. >> i think the hearings had been ultimately differential and on occasion confrontational. there have been moments of accountability. but there is far too much deference to the senator. we need to be very clear about this. the collegiality that allows you to serve in the senate does not translate into the constitutional suitability to lead the department of justice. if the united states senate is going to give him credit for his personality serving in the senate, they also have to give him accountability with respect to his record in the senate. and so we appreciate all the questions that point to his support for mandatory minimums. his opposition for -- to immigration rights. his failure to stand up for lgbtq rights and the rights of women with respent ct to hate crimes. we appr

scenes, but as near as i can tell, nobody in congress, republicans or democrats, nobody at the justice department, homeland secu secure -- -- homeland security, state department, had input on this. >> i want to get your input on the supreme court nominees that mr. trump will be announcing tonight at 8:00 p.m. here are the top two contenders. we have judge gorsuch and judge hardiman. interestingly, president trump's sister sits on the court with judge hardiman. she knows him and likes him. who do you think mr. trump will be naming tonight? >> i have no idea. i'm going to do what i've done throughout this process. i'm going to listen to the hearings. i will probably go to the judiciary committee hearings, even though i'm not a member. i did that with rex tillerson and jeff sessions, for example. i'm going to listen. i don't know these two gentlemen. i don't know their judicial temperament and record, i'm going to make an independent judgment whether i believe they will interpret the law and constitution rather than trying to make law. that's my criteria. >> thank you very much for being on "new day