is that giving the president second thoughts about william barr's nomination? >>> and rejected. president trump says no to a proposal by a senate ally, lindsey graham, aimed at re-opening the government. mr. trump refusing to budge even as our poll shows that most americans blame him for the longest shutdown in u.s. history. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> tonight, president trump is hitting back against fresh allegations that he's a puppet of vladimir putin. declaring that he, quote, never worked for russia. that extraordinary pronouncement by a u.s. president prompted by blockbuster reports related to the russia investigation. cnn has obtained transcripts showing that fbi officials say the bureau debating and investigated whether mr. trump had acted on directions from the kremlin. >>> also tonight, a former state department official confirms to cnn that president trump took his interpreter's notes on his 2017 talks with vladimir putin in hamburg, germany, and instructed the translat

amy: william barr being questioned by senator booker. kristenn clarke? ere is an encouraging bipartisan movement underway for criminal justice reform in our country. and will you barr is an outlier when you think about efforts right now underway to reform our criminal justice system. his ideas, his way of thinknking are outdated. they are from a bygone era. what i was looking for yesterday was for mr. barr to unequivocally disavow the views outlined in that 1992 report, the call for more incarceration. i was looking for him to distance himself from the work with alec, the american legislative exchange council, where he advocated for more tougher sentences and for more prison construction. i was looking for him to distance himself from the work that he did in virginia where he worked to abolish parole. i was looking for him to distance himself from an op-ed he wrote recently in "the washington post" where he condemns efforts under president obobama to address the need for police reform in our country. i think with william barr, we're going to get somebody

instead, william barr will write a summary report to congress on the conclusions from robert mueller. join us us now, a former fbi supervisory special agent and jennifer rogers, a former federal prosecutor. laura, i think there are two clear things that emerge from these hearings yesterday. number one, william barr is going to let the mueller investigation continue to its conclusion, he will not fire robert mueller. he does not think it's a witch-hunt, yet, yet, the final r product from the mueller investigation, the american people might not know exactly what it is. listen to how william barr explained why not yesterday. >> well, under the current rules, that report is supposed to be confidential. the attorney general, as i understand the rules, would report to congress about the conclusion of the investigation. and i believe there may be discretion there about what the

we knew last night that in the confirmation hearing today of william barr for attorney general, williamarr would say hevitally important to complete the investigation and we had the prepared testimony last night and knew he was going to say he's been friends personally and professionally for 30 years and knew he was going to say if confirmed, quote, i will not permit partisan politics, interests or improper consideration to interfere with this or any other investigation and we knew he was going to say his friend bob will be allowed to finish his work and all of that sounded good to supporters of the mueller investigation, then came today's questions. what will happen to robert mueller's report when he hands it to attorney general william barr? at first barr seemed to say he would make the report public. it was an important investigation and americans needed to know about it but as the questions wore on, it became much less clear how transparent william barr would be with the mueller report after he repeatedly sited the justice department rule for special counsel reports. that is a one-s

president trump's attorney general nominee, william barr, who will oversee the special counsel probe. bar is expected to say he will allow the special counsel robert mueller to complete his work and make his findings public but barr wrote a controversial memo where he said he cannot obstruct justice in some cases and we just learned discussed that memo with the president's own lawyers. >>> and the president on the white house lawn was forced to utter the words, i never worked for russia. and now rejecting a request by the legal counsel to question the president in person and repo robert mueller is not satisfied. we will go to jim clapper. i want to get to the information about vladamir putin in a moment. first, there is a story in the "new york times" that talks about the president once again talking to his aides about trying to get out of nato. senior administration officials said several times, mr. trump privately said he wanted to withdraw from the current atlantic treaty and allied military lagging behind the goals the president had set. >> if this was in fact a topic of discussio

melissa: fox news alert, the confirmation hearing for president trump's attorney general nominee, william barr, set to resume just minutes from now. mr. barr facing lawmakers on the senate judiciary committee, answering a range of questions from whether he will protect the special counsel to how he will handle any potential interference from the white house. plus, mr. barr defending his decision to write a memo critiquing the mueller probe and even discussed his opinion of robert mueller. >> do you believe mr. mueller would be involved in a witch hunt against anybody? >> i don't. i don't believe mr. mueller would be involved in a witch hunt. >> some have said, on both sides of the aisle, that it looks like a job application. i also think over the past 18 months you, rather harshly, prejudged the investigation and some of your writings. >> do trust him to be fair to the president and the country as a whole? >> yes. that's ludicrous. if i wanted the job and was going after the job, there are many more direct ways of me bringing myself to the president's intention. >> you also publicly criticize

william barr is of counsel and served as the u.s. attorney general for president george

william barr is now of counsel at the law firm of kirkland and ellis and served as the u.s. toge for president george h.w. bush. watch the confirmation process

according to the aclu, william barr also helped develop a secret drug enforcement administration programwhich became a blueprint for the national security agency's mass phone surveillance effort. after leaving government, barr became general counsel at verizon at a time whenen the telecom gigiant was secretly working with the nsa warrantless surveillance program. today's hearing is expected to focus in part on the future of special counsel robert mueller's russia probe. according to his prepared remarks, barr is expected to say it is vitally important mueller be allowed to complete his investigation. but last year, barr sent an unsolicited memo to deputy attorney general rod rosenstein in june, in which he criticized mueller's investigation. he then apparently spoke privately with trump's attorneys about the memo and his case for protecting executive privilege and executivive power. we're joined now by vince warren, executive director of the center for constitutional rights. needsbout what you think to happen today, the kinds of questions that william barr should be asked by the senators

it looks like william barr on the right.ator hatch will deliver his own testimony. >> sandra: bret, if we can squeeze in a few extra minutes, several democratic senators that are thought to be potential 2020 contenders will be in that room that could send sparks flying. >> definitely. as you look at william barr shaking warren hatch's hand, his seat is going to be filled by mitt romney. these moments, they are trying to create moments, specially on a potential presidential candidate. you remember cory booker's spartacus moment in the brett kavanaugh hearing. this is the ag. it is a big job, specially in this administration. bill and sandra? >> bill: thank you all in washington. we are going to pause for a moment and let our fox stations across the country join our coverage. william barr is in the room. at age 68, he will get ready to deliver his 3.5 page statement. he has been in washington, d.c. going back 27 years. he has served in the corporate world as an attorney for companies like verizon. you are about to know him a l

william barr/ attorney general nominee: i think he probably did the right thing recusing himselfbarr says he would not be influenced by the president - who has been publicly critical of the probe since it began.william barr/ attorney general nominee: i will not be bullied into doing anything i think is wrong by anybody. barr faced questions about a memo he wrote to senior justice department officials last year -- in it he called the special counsel's obstruction probe quote "fatally misconceived."william barr/ attorney general nominee: the memo did not address - or in any way question - the special counsel's core investigation into russian interference in the 2016 election. nor did it address other potential obstruction-of-justice theories or argue, as some have erroneously suggested, that a president can never obstruct justice.in washington, i'm camila bernal. (grant) coming up... the latest in the dysfunctional relationship between the raiders and the people in charge of the coliseum. why we're now learning the silver and black perhaps ácould play there next year after all. (catheri

william barr will promise that he will let the mueller probe go forward and that he will be transparent. barr will also explain why he wrote that 19 page memo to the justice department that many have read as barr concluding that the president cannot obstruct justice by firing the fbi director, but barr will tell senators that he often weighs in on legal issues of public importance and that his ultimate conclusion was not that the president can't obstruct justice, but the question is whether that explanation be enough for democrats. they are set to drill into barr about his motivations behind writing that memo, we know that barr sent the memo to several members of the president's legal team. and several will ask will it compromise his oversight of the mueller probe. >> all right. thanks. desperate times meanwhile for some of the 800,000 federal workers going without paychecks in the shutdown. tampa international airport teaming up with local charities to set up a food bank for struggling government employees. and a south florida restaurant, chef creole giving free meals. >> these people

and i think that's very troubling. >> trump's nominee for attorney general, william barr, vowed to protect mueller's investigation today saying he is committed to transparency, doesn't believe mueller would be involved in a witch hunt. could the president end up turning on barr the way he has on so many others? >> he could, don, but i have to tell you, i think there are a lot of people in d.c. tonight who are wondering about the divergence between some of barr's written testimony and some of the answers he gave today. and i think that there is a very great sense of caution that on the side of folks who are favorable to the mueller investigation, that barr was saying just enough of the right things to get through the vote and that he may have some other intention here, and he is carefully parsing his language in some of these questions today. i think one would be wise to be cautious about this given the how close we are to some very critical inflection points in the mueller investigation and how nervous the president is about anything, you know, that gets closer to him than it already is. >

when you look at william barr, i think you see somebody whose going to be a 180 or an exact opposite holder was , and of course, we expect that the democrats are going to oppose mr. barr and his confirmation, because they have look at how they three of them participated in suing the president to block matthew whitaker from being the acting assistant attorney general and they are on this obstruct tangent. everything that they can do to get in the president's way and the senate is there to provide advice and consent. maria: senator there is an argument being made william bar should recuse himself from the mueller investigation. your reaction? >> i think that mr. mueller should finish his investigation and deliver his report. i will tell you this, tennessee ans when i'm out and about, they are not talking about that. they are not interested in the story of the day. they are interested in the story of their lives. they like the fact that we have seen 2.6 million jobs created since we had the tax cuts and jobs act passed. maria: when would he have to recuse himself? do you think he'll hav

conversations and more coming up on "washington journal ." ♪ >> the senate confirmation hearing for william barrbe the next attorney general of the united states continues today at 9:30 a.m. eastern. we will hear from witnesses in support and opposition to the nomination. mr. barr is president trump's nominee to replace jeff sessions. watch the confirmation process for attorney general nominee william barr live today at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3. ," author anda journalist patricia miller and her book "bringing down the olonel" about a congressman sued by his former mistress. patricia: the number of middle names he has to signify that he is a southern elite, had been a confederate colonel in the confederate cavalry. at the time of the lawsuit, he is in his fifth term of congress. though woman was pretty much fromy, a poor girl kentucky, very hungry for an education. she was this hungry young woman who ran into breckenridge at the time, and she was desperate to make yourself something in the world and get an education. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q&a." >> "washington journal" c

in just hours william barr faces more questions in his confirmation hearing. lauren fox is live on capitol hill in the hearing room with more. lauren. >> reporter: good morning. this is the site of that eight-hour hearing yesterday where william barr faced tough questions from democrats on everything from mass incarceration to immigration, how he would implement the president's policy on immigration, and, of course, the mueller investigation. >> i am not going to do anything that i think is wrong. >> reporter: president trump's nominee for attorney general william barr reassuring lawmakers that he will resist any effort to politicize the justice department and promising to protect special counsel rooubt robert mueller's investigation. >> bob mueller could only be terminated for good cause and frankly it's unimaginable to me that bob would ever do anything that gave rise to good cause. i believe right now the overarching public interest is to allow him to finish. >>. >> reporter: but barr, who previously served as attorney general under president george h.w. bu

she is on the committee that grilled william barr. if you caught any of the hearing today or the news about the hearing, you know that william barr was questioned repeatedly more than any other about -- questioned repeatedly and more frequently than on any other topic about whether or not he'll respect the independence of the special counsel's investigation into russia's interference in our 2016 election. and of course the related question of whether americans were confederates in that operation. william barr handled those questions about the mueller investigation today. for the most part he handled them by -- by saying nice-sounding, noncontroversial sounding things. but bottom line, he also didn't answer any of the hard questions about it. watch him wiggle out of every single one of these. >> will you commit to make public all of the report's conclusions, the mueller report, even if some of the evidence supporting those conclusions can't be made public? >> you know, that certainly is my goal and intent. >> will you commit that you w

that's william barr talking. barr do to the mueller report what trump reportedly did with the notes from his putin meeting -- ditch them? chris coons sits on the judiciary committee and joins us now. thank you for racing from the train tonight, senator, and thank you. i don't know. i'm getting very skeptical about, rather wondering how far the president and his people will go. the president has apparently squirreled away the notes of all his meetings with putin. he doesp want even his own officials in his administration to know what he talked about. i wonder, are you worried about william barr and whether he will in fact deliver the robert mueller report to the public and to the congress? >> i am, chris. i'm looking forward to tomorrow's confirmation hearing. i had a chance to meet with william barr last week and to ask him a number of the questions i'm going to repeat tomorrow on the record in a confirmation hearing. i have an editorial that's just gone up in "the washington post" that repeats the context and why

watch the confirmation process for attorney general nominee, william barr, live tuesday at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3. >> over 100 new members members of the house and senate join the 116th congress on january 3. c-span interviewed several freshmen members while they were in washington, d.c. to attend orientation sessions. democrat harley rouda defeated 15-term republican incumbent dana rohrabacher. mr. rouda, a business man, lives in orange county, california. what motivated you to run?

how do you think william barr did yesterday? and what were the major take aways?m pretty sure he shocked all these democrats trying to run for president because he clearly stated that he would let bob mueller continue his investigation. he believes in the probe, believes that russia did middle in the election, he wants to see the reports on doctored. these are three key things democrats for a long time were saying the trump administration wanted to meddle with and do away with and the fact that he came in swinging in my opinion and essentially lay down the law was a very good starting point for these hearings. so i am excited to see what comes of it. >> anything bar said that you think democrats on the committee are going to hang their hat on as a basis for their what really is unjustified opposition to this nominee? >> you are right in saying it is unjustified, you've got dianne feinstein from california saying it is important the attorney general establishes some sort of independence and the mueller probe be allowed to continue, two things he has demonstrated ov

. >> the senate confirmation hearings for william barr to be the next attorney general of the united states begin on tuesday at 9:30 a.m. eastern. president trump nominated mr. .arr to replace jeff sessions william barr is now of counsel at the law firm of kirkland and ellis and served as u.s. attorney general for president george w. bush are you watch the confirmation process or william barr live tuesday at 9:30 eastern on c-span 3. >> on saturday former housing and urban development secretary julian castro announced he's running for president in 2020. before speaking at the event in san antonio, texas the crowd heard from his twin brother, , andin castro of texas their mother. this is about 45 minutes. ♪

william barr is now counsel at the law firm of kirkland and analysts and served as attorney general for president george h.w. bush. watch the confirmation process for attorney general nominee, william barr, live tuesday at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3. >> over 100 new members members of the house and senate join the 116th congress on january 3. c-span interviewed several freshmen members while they were in washington, d.c. to attend orientation sessions. democrat harley rouda defeated 15-term republican incumbent dana rohrabacher. mr. rouda, a business man, lives in orange county, california. what motivated you to run? democrat harley rouda defeated 15-term republican incumbent dana rohrabacher. mr. rouda, a business man, lives in orange county, california. what motivated you to run? rep. rouda: the 2016 election. it was not just donald trump. it was the sense that we are putting party first and country second on both parties, this unwillingness to reach across the aisle and serve your country for how you were elected. it seemed like that election came down to a vote on 2 personalities

c-span2. >> the senate confirmation hearings for william barr to be the next attorney general of the united states begin on tuesday 9:30 a.m. eastern. in december, president trump nominated mr. barr to replace jeff sessions to held the position for over a year and a half since the beginning of the trump administration. william barr is now of-counsel at kirkland and elliss and served as the u.s. attorney general for president george h.w. bush. watch the confirmation process for william barr live tuesday at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. and now, mick mulvaney speaking to the group in defense of christians and then budget direct mulvaney spoke for just under a half hour at his keynote address. this took place before he was acting white house chief of staff. [applause]. [applause]. >> thank you, marsha. good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i welcome you all tonight on our fifth annual solidarity dinner.

william barr is now of counsel at the law firm of kirkland and ellis and served with president george h.w. bush. watch the confirmation process for attorney general nominee william barr live tuesday at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3. >>> c-span. where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. and today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress. the white house. the supreme court. and public policy events in washington, d.c., and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >>> the "washington post" recently hosted a series of discussions about opioid addiction and treatment policy. the next panel features two substance abuse policy research experts who debate various treatment and recovery approaches and share what they think are the best ways to help people who sought to address their addiction and drug dependency. this is about 25 minutes. >> hello again, everyone. we are here now. our third panel is on harm reduction. we are very honored to have with us alex crawl

stay tuned >> harris: back in two attorney general confirmation of william barr. we have senator blumenthal from connecticut. >> -- a counterintelligence investigation, if it is of the president of the united states, for working with a foreign adversary, that decision would be subject to multiple levels of review within the fbi. correct? >> i assume. i don't know what rules were in effect at the time. >> welcome in your experience there would be? >> yes. >> and you have no reason to believe those roles have changed? >> i don't know what the practice was. >> it almost certainly come in that kind of extraordinary investigation, you would agree with me it would be asked ordinary for the fbi to be investigating the president or working with a determined foreign adversary. there probably would be information shared with the deputy attorney general, or the attorney general. agreed? >> i would hope so. the reason i'm hesitating is because -- you know, some of these texts that we've all read are so weird and beyond my experience with the fbi. i don't know what was going o

. >> bipartisan praise for william barr. the nominee for attorney general vows to let robert mueller finish his work, but will the public see a final report? >>> the calls for the government shutdown is growing rapidly. >>> and uk lawmakers reject brexit plan. theresa may faces another no confidence vote today. >>> happy birthday. >> a little girl hears her sister's voice for the first time. what happens next might melt your heart. good morning, welcome to "early start." i'm dave briggs. >> and i'm christine romans, it's wednesday, january 16th. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. president trump's nominee for attorney general, in an unnotably un-trumpian appearance in a hearing. barr split from the president and his aides on several talks points, among them disagreeing with the president's claim that the special counsel robert mueller is on a witch hunt, vowing that he will not robert mueller to quit and consistent with the regulations and the law. >> and barr assured it's best to reassure senators that he will allow mueller to fi

william barr, the president's nominee for attorney general is on capitol hill today is his confirmationrtiality that is in such short supply. barr making it clear he would not shy away from supporting the president, no matter the public outcry. >> president trump has sought no assurances promises or commitments for me of any kind. either express or implied. i have not given

william barr, the president's nominee for attorney general is on capitol hill today is his confirmation hearings began. barr assured lawmakers he would instill the impartiality that is in such short supply. barr making it clear he would not shy away from supporting the president, no matter the public outcry. >> president trump has sought no assurances promises or commitments for me of any kind. either express or implied. i have not given him any other than i would run the department with professionalism and integrity. i will seek the advice of the career ethics personnel, but under the regulations i make the decision as to my own recusal. i think one of the major problems is the president says is the immigration laws have to be changed. i feel it is a critical part of border security that we need to have barriers on the border. we need a barrier system on the border. >> lou: bars answers and pressing even some of the democrats. mainly, diane feinstein who expects barr to be confirmed easily. >> i think the candidate is answering questions. i think doing well the questions cover a fairly

senator, i want to ask you about that public statement that you made last month asking for william barr'son to be withdrawn. have your feelings with mr. barr changed in the interim time since you said that? >> absolutely not. the one thing that's became clear since we saw sessions fired is the top priority for trump is to find an attorney general that would undermine the mueller investigation and that also has a legal view that somehow the president is above the law and can't be say pa kub or held under possible transactions that this president may have committed. he showed that in his first choice, where he picked the acting attorney general mr. whitaker who seemed like his only qualifications was that he was against the mueller investigation and believed the president was above the law. what seems unseemly to me because mr. barr has a long history in washington and among some folks, is well respected but the fact he in a sense sent this job application brief into the president, into the justice department in a sense saying hey, i'm with you in terms of his view that the mueller investig

. >> bipartisan praise for william barr. the nominee for attorney general vows to let robert mueller finish his work, but will the public get to a see final report? >>> it turns out it costs more to shut the government down than to leave it open. now, the president's own economic advisers are doubling the projected losses. >>> another democracy in crisis. uk lawmakers reject the brexit plan. theresa may faces another no confidence vote today. >> baby sister. >> oh, my gosh. >> baby sister. >> can't get enough of this. a little girl hears her sister's sweet sound. what the family voices are like. good morning, welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> gets to you ever time. kind of like the trouper junes. i'm dave briggs, wednesday january 16th. 5:00 a.m. in the east on this day 26th, the longest day of the government shutdown in history. we start, though, with the president's nominee for attorney general, setting a tone in a confirmation that had both parties mostly pleased. william barr breaking from the president

he was, of course, leading these hearings with william barr today. good to see you. >> thank you, sean. thank you very much. >> sean: your thoughts on the hearings. let's start there. and will bill barr do the things that jeff sessions did not do and that the deep state, that's hillary clinton, and all the people we mentioned earlier? >> yeah. i believe so. i have seen no evidence collusion between the trump campaign and russians buttery have celine at love fbi and doj. how can you certify to the fisa court on four separate occasions that you have enough evidence to get a warrant against american innocence, the dossier is verified to this day. is he going to look hard and warm at the department of justice and the fbi the way they connected the clinton investigation and the way they started up the mueller investigation. here's long story short. mr. barr believes that politicians should not interfere in criminal investigations. but he also believes a criminal investigator should thought be out to get politicians and they were out to get trump. >> sean:

william barr is up for his second stint as attorney general. he spent two years as ag under the first president bush. this time he'll take the helm of a justice department in fact investigating the man who nominated him. he has attacked the probe as recently as last summer. >> about six months ago. in his opening statement to the senate judiciary committee this morning, you will hear it at the bottom of the hour, barr will pledge, bob mueller will be allowed to complete his work. moreover, it is very important that the public and congress be informed of the results of the special counsel's work. you can bet he'll be hammered on word choice there. what does he mean? is the public going to see the report or just be told what's in it? you can expect democrats to press hard on that. we are surrounded by a-list colleagues. what else as we count down to the opening gavel? we begin with laura jarrett on his background. this is an toeattorney general h a lot of experience with a particular world view and a particularly important legal view as it pertai

which is what william barr has said about the mueller investigation. but his confirmation hearing will start tomorrow. and tonight, next here on this show, we are about to hear from a former, very senior justice department official, who helped oversee the russia investigation at its earliest stages, at a time when the earliest stages of that investigation are the subject of renewed national fascination and horror. he's going to be with us here in studio next. stay with us. we'll be right back. we'll be right back. >>> senator saxbe the question being explored at great length today is whether mr. jaworski will be able to investigate without sbeinterference with yo. will he? >> the answer is an unqualified yes. >> what would you do if the new attorney general tried to interfere in any way with your pursuit of the investigation. >> i'd march him down to this congressional committee if he and i couldn't work it out among ourselves. i don't keep track of regrets. i never count the wrinkles. and i don't add up the years. but what i do count on, is staying ha

. >>> attorney general nominee william barr facing day 2 of nomination hearings. he says if he is confirmed he will protect these special counsel robert mueller t lls it- hunt. >> reporter: attorney general nominee william barr first day of nomination hearings was dominated by questions like this. >> you believe mr. moeller would be involved in a witch- hunt against anybody? >> i don't believe he would be involved in a witch-hunt. >> reporter: the big focus tuesday is the special counsel robert mueller investigation into the possible russian meddling into the 2016 election but william barr said he would not interfere with the probe if nominated. >> if the president orders the attorney general to hop the investigation for personal reasons would that be prohibited? >> i think it would be a breach of the duties of the president to interact in the laws, and abuse of power. >> last summer william barr argued the special counsel robert mueller obstruction theory is fatally conceived. >> to assert herself with the administration that is now nominating yourself with attor

william barr/ attorney general nominee: i think he probably did the right thing recusing himselfbarr ys he would not be influenced by the president - who has been publicly critical of the probe since it began.william barr/ attorney general nominee: i will not be bullied into doing anything i think is wrong by anybody. barr faced questions about a memo he wrote to senior justice department officials last year -- in it he called the special obstruction probe quote "fatally misconceived." attorney general nominee: the memo did not address - or in - the special counsel's core russian interference in the 2016 it address other potential obstruction-of- argue, as some have erroneously suggested, that a president can never obstruct justice.i'm camila bernal. bernal. i'm camila bernal. (pam)coming up tonight at 6:45... the miracle on the hudson happened ten years ago. a look back at the amazing water landing ... and where the key players are now. (ken) this storm will be a test for a new flood control project underway in the north bay. we'll take you to san anselmo where the hope is flooding w

william barr served as the u.s. attorney general for george h.w. bush. watch the confirmation process for attorney general nominee william barr live tuesday at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3. >>> a half dozen u.s. senate democrats are locking down final travel, staffing, and strategy to launch white house bids in the coming weeks. while plans may change, announcements are expected from senator kirsten gillibrand of new york, kamala harris, and new jersey senator cory booker. not running is tom steyer, a billionaire hedge fund manager and major democratic party donor. he held a press briefing in des moines to discuss his group need to impeach and its advertising campaign calling for impeachment of president trump. this is about 20 minutes. >> hey, guys. i want to thank you for coming and showing up on such short notice. a year ago yesterday i i nounsed that i'd be focusing on two things in 2018, engaging young voters and pushing for impeachment. i believed that those two causes would make the biggest differential positive impact on our country. and they did

he told the white house of his intentions to leave once william barr is confirmed. the big question is what will rosenstein's departure and barr's likely entry as attorney general mean for the russia probe? rosenstein said he would leave the department when he was satisfied mueller's investigation was either complete or close enough to completion that it was protect ed. rosenstein appointed mueller and made it clear mueller's authority could be expansive. rosenstein wrote in an august memo that mueller should investigate allegations that paul manafort was colluding with russian officials to interfere in the 2016 election. that directive became all the more poignant after yesterday's inadvertent revelation from manafort's lawyers that manafort gave polling data to a russian operative with ties to the kremlin during the 2016 campaign. of course that directive from rosenstein playing out in court documents yesterday. once rosenstein leaves the question becomes how will william barr, once he takes over presumably the attorney general position -- how will he handle the ru

let's take you back to a bit earlier today with the opening statement from william barr speaking to this senate judiciary committee. >> raise your right hand, please. do you affirm that the testimony you are about to give to this committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> i do. >> the floor is yours. >> before i begin, mr. chairman, could i introduce my family? >> absolutely. >> my wife of 46 years, christine, a retired librarian. my daughter, margaret, who we call meg. she was an assistant united states attorney in the district of colombia, but now has moved up to alcohcapitol hill and worr senator braun. my middle daughter, patricia, who is also an attorney, and she has been counsel to the house agriculture committee for how long now, patty? 10 -- 11 years. and my daughter mary, who is a long-time federal prosecutor and is currently the coordinator for opioid enforcement in the office of the deputy attorney general. mary's husband, mike, who is also an attorney at the department of justice in the national security division. and their son

. >>> on capitol hill, the president's nominee to be the next attorney general, william barr, before the senate judiciary committee. it's expected to be contentious and during the hearing, william barr said he would not go after marijuana companies where cannabis is legal, like california. more from washington. >> reporter: as attorney general, my allegiance would be to the rule of law, the constitution and the american people. the president's pick to be the next attorney general on capitol hill today. do you believe mr. mueller mr. mueller would be involved in a witchhunt? >> i don't believe mr. mueller would be involved in a witchhunt. >> in the opening remarks, william barr told the judiciary committee he intends to let the mueller investigation continue without interference. >> the country needs a credible resolution to these issues. if confirmed, i will not permit partisan politics, personal interests or any other improper consideration to interfere with this or any other investigation. >> reporter: the hearing, the first time a high profile nominee came before the committee sin

he took part in william barr's confirmation hearing today. >> i want to get to the barr hearing, in a moment. lots of questions, i want to begin with your quick reaction to these late breaking developments in the mueller probe, what does it say to you that the special counsel was able to produce so much documentary evidence, supposedly proving that paul manafort lied? >> well, it's striking that robert mueller continues to investigate, develop and release through filing charges more and more evidence. this is president trump's campaign manager, from his presidential campaign. who is now by mueller, being confirmed to have not just failed to fully cooperate, but to have actively lied and broken his cooperation agreement. the mueller investigation is the furthest thing from a witch hunt, i was encouraged today that it's not a witch hunt as the president has so often suggested. it's produced more than 30 indictments. the president's long time personal counsel michael cohen, the president's national security adviser and campaign manager have all either pled guilty. that's why in the barr

after a thorough review of the record, william barr is not a candidate. mr. barr's record demonstrates a lack of commitment to protecting the civil rights of all americans. the community represented by the naacp will have a difficult time placing our trust in the justice department, and by extension the justice system overall. even with the improvements just signed into law with the first step act. the justice department's enforcement of our voting rights laws is of paramount importance. the current department has jettisoned protections for the right to vote. voters fromed the rolls. because shelby county versus holder eliminated safeguards under the voting rights act, litigation under section two of the act is all more important. the justice department has filed no section two claims since this administration has been in place. as the nation experiences rampant voter suppression throughout the 2018 midterm elections, the justice department stood silently as communities of color were denied access to the polls. at a time when the justice department has abandon

so a lot of questions for william barr. know, we saw -- you talk about an abject failure, i would say that was the jefferson beau regard sessions administration during the department of justice. william barr has a lot of red flags. did he bury any of those today? >> politically, i think he did a decent job of kind of appeasing both sides. kennedy: where did he stumble? >> i don't know, i think he did a decent job. i mean, i don't like him, and i think your comparison between the war on drugs and the triangle offense, at least it worked once, and it was never immoral. but i do think the stuff you were talking about about investigating, you know, getting to the bottom of those text messages with page and strzok, that stuff, to me, is much more interesting than this questioning of will we get the mueller report. i can guarantee you if the mueller report has anything damning and they don't let it out, it will mysteriously leak. kennedy: of course. and if it's underwhelming, you've got democratic senators who will make sure. >>

william barr seems to be on his way to heading the justice department. it's too early to make a snap judgment. but almost everyone's judgment watching these hearings closely, he's comporting himself very well by challenging the authority of those that ultimately picked him, including president of the united states and others in the administration. even republicans and democrats on capitol hill who he says he will hear out but not necessarily cater too. let's get the latest with catherine herridge following the developments on capitol hill. hi, katherine. >> we're nearly seven hours in the confirmation hearings. one of the main themes from william barr is he's committed to protecting the russia special counsel investigation. any final report he wants to make public to the fullest extent possible. let's listen. >> the country needs a credible resolution to these issues. if confirmed, i will not permit partisan politics, personal interests or any other improper consideration to interfere with this or any other investigation. >> barr also testified that he h