-- something was redacted from the report that mr. mueller objected to? atty. gen. barr: i wouldn't say objected to. my understanding is the categories were defined by me and the deputy. i don't think -- i have no -- i don't -- senator graham: did you work with him to redact the report? atty. gen. barr: those categories were executed by d.o.j. lawyers working with his lawyers. i think there were maybe a few judgment calls, very few as to something as a prudential matter that should be treated as a reputational interest so there may be occasions of that. senator graham: i understand you did not want to hurt somebody's reputation unless it really affected the outcome, is that correct? atty. gen. barr: right. senator graham: was there any disagreements about 6-e material? atty. gen. barr: not that i am aware of. senator graham: any disagreement about classified information? atty. gen. barr: not that i am aware of. senator graham: so the conclusions in your four-page summary, you think, accurately reflect his bottom line on collusion, is that correct? atty. gen. barr: yes. senator graham: a

mueller sent a letter to attorney general william barr expressing misgivings about how barr characterized his findings and saying the attorney general didn't fully capture the substance and conclusions of mueller's 448-page report. and tonight barr has released his written statement pour the record for the senate judiciary committee hearing, a hearing that is set to begin in a matter of hours. a statement that reads in part. when i appeared before the committee just a few months ago for my confirmation hearings, senators asked for two commitments concerning the special counsel's investigation. first, that i would allow the special counsel to finish his investigation without interference, and second, that i would release his report to congress and to the american public. i believe that the record speaks for itself. the special counsel completed his investigation as he saw fit. as i informed congress on march 22, 2019, at no point did i or anyone at the department of justice overrule the special counsel on any proposed action. in addition, immediately upon receiving his confid

counsel disagreed with mr. barr's handling of the investigation's release. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to my colleagues for letting me go out of order. i promise to be as brief as possible. general, thank you for coming today. human beings have a general desire to be listened to and understood. has mr. mueller or his team changed their conclusions? you mean during the course of the investigation? >> today. it is clear that at one point unhappy.er came was first, has the mueller came changed its mind as to its conclusions? >> as to what? >> conclusions as to conspiracy and collusion. >> not as far as i know. >> the conclusion not to bring an indictment to conspiracy with russia has not changed. >> it has not. i take it from your testimony that the mueller came was unhappy when you receive the .oader or mr. mueller >> i cannot speak as to the team. when i talked about mueller, he was concerned about the press coverage and he felt that was to be remedied by putting out more information. thatunderstood you decide the first concern mr. mueller had was he felt like your letter was

attorney general barr about how barr has misrepresented mueller's findings and mueller has apparently confronted him about it. we are going to be all over that story tonight as well. we've got "the washington post" reporter who initially broke that story coming up with us actually in just a second. but i have to tell you before we go to that reporter this is another one of those days where we had a whole show planned and everything has gone out the window as we have followed stuff that come out we didn't expect. we are now tonight following two very dramatic and still-developing stories that we really had no idea that we should be expecting. in one case, 24 hours ago, and in the other case, as recently as two hours ago. it's just another one of those days. but i'll tell you, the first story we are keeping an eye on tonight broke open with a shock at dawn this morning, when venezuelan opposition leader juan guaido appeared in this video message at a venezuelan air force base just outside venezuela's capital city of caracas. in this video this morning, juan guaido announced that the ven

developing, what we know in the news, but william barr himself, the what was he thinking? >> yeah. >> that's an hour of tv right there, what was he thinking? he knew -- he knew that we were at some point going to know about this letter. >> yeah. >> and in government, when you -- when someone in government writes a letter to someone else in government, it's not because they're trying to communicate with that person who is receiving the letter, okay? never. >> right. >> it's i need this letter to live after this moment. and so robert mueller knew what the life of this letter was going to be. robert mueller knew it was going to be a night like this that was about this letter. but most importantly, william barr knew and he still went out there and said all of the things that he said and actually gave these answers in house and senate testimony about, i don't know if mueller's okay. i don't know what mueller thinks. >> yeah. >> you know? >> he knew exactly what mueller thinks. and i will say, i mean, this is coming out ahead of that testimony tomorrow before the lindsey graham-led senate judiciar

robert mueller did not stay silent after all about the attorney general william barr's testimony to the senate tomorrow. he did not stay silent after all, so we're going to see what happens tomorrow morning. you've got to wonder whether the timing of this news is a coincidence. tonight a source tells cnn that mueller wrote a previously unknown letter to the attorney general. that was on march 27. that was three days after the a.g. released his own four-page letter laying out what he said were the principal conclusions of the mueller reports. but listen. what mueller said about that was pretty scathing for the notoriously tight-lipped special counsel to do. guests that we have coming up on this show told us they are absolutely stunned that robert mueller took that step. we're going to hear from them. that will be in just a little bit. but first let me read to you from the letter mueller sent. this was from the "washington post" reporting, okay? it says, quote, the summary letter that the department sent to congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of march 24 did not

what he saw and heard. enough to write a letter to barr objecting to how his 22-month worth of work was being portrayed. the two men spoke on the phone and the attorney general continued to verbally carried the president's water. the story first broke tonight in "the washington post," this comes out on the eve of barr's appearance before senate judiciary tomorrow. mueller laid out his concerns on march 27th was about barr's four page now famous summary for congress that had been released three days prior. the post had quotes, "this was mueller to barr." the department of justice sent to congress and released to the public late in the afternoon, march 24th did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office's work and conclusions. there is now public confusions about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. this threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the department of justice appointed the special counsel. to assure public confidence of the outcome of the investigation. mueller did not stop there. according to the post, the letter from mue

now barr is refusing to show up tomorrow before house judiciary because the democrats in charge there want lawyers to question him and now that means it's possible the nation's top law enforcement officer could find himself in contempt. tonight, the calls for bill barr to resign are growing, and all eyes, again, turn to one robert mueller whose testimony becomes more critical by the hour as "the 11th hour" gets under way on this wednesday night. >>> well, good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. day 832 of the trump administration. a full day, an explosive day on capitol hill, as attorney general barr defended the man who appointed him, defended his handling of the mueller report, to members of the senate. we'll take you through the hearing in just a moment, but the latest news from today came tonight. it's about tomorrow. barr has decided he's one and done, where hearings are concerned. he turned down house judiciary tomorrow. he's not going to show. he didn't like the idea of getting questioned by the committee's appointed lawyers in addition to

aisle, republican and democratic to at the conclusion of members' questioning be able to ask bill barr? questions to try to nail him down on some things. there are a couple theories so why this was not okay with barr. i think it was pete williams or perhaps an analyst used the word that in the view of william barr, these lawyers are pip squeaks. he's the attorney general, why should he allow these lawyers to be able to question him. but on the other hand i think you saw the effectiveness of having questions from seasoned lawyers who know how to conduct this kind of pressured questioning. kamala harris was a great example. i saw her on the program earlier. she is one who used veteran techniques across examination as a former prosecutor to yield new information and put barr on the spot. so that is also kind of a potential risk for the attorney general. but either way, once yesterday they voted to allow this to happen, william barr and his people at the department said no way, we're simply not showing up. so considering how partisan the senate hearing was yesterday, today would have been

subpoena'd. if necessary, go for it after that. we'll also start a process to get attorney general barr there. >> what is your response to the rarnging member who says you're torpedoing this hearing? >> we're not torpedoing it. the committee has the right. they have the nerve to try to dictate it. it is part of administration's complete stone walling of congress, period. and with the ranking members, what they're saying is that by determining how we'll proceed, we are stone walling as if it is our choice that he should not come. he is trying blackmail the committee into not following what we think is the most effective means of eliciting the information we need. we cannot dictate how we operate. i think he will have to answer for apparently testifying untruthfully in both the senate and the house and that is one option. >> i'm sorry. >> will you start proceedings for not getting the unredact mueller report? >> that's what in. >> what about -- >> that's down the road. that's down the road we haven't issued a subpoena to appear. >> you're not planning to? >> i did not say that. we may iss

william barr? if mueller meant to send a message to the american people on obstruction did he fail because he was outmaneuvered? when will we hear from mueller himself? his testimony really seems guaranteed and vital because there are serious questions about whether the attorney general lied in testimony he has already given on the report. how will barr explain his selective quotes from the mueller report that seemed to twist the special counsel's intent. some democrats are already calling for impeachment of william barr. so we have a potentially explosive day ahead and our coverage begins with lauren fox live in capitol hill. she is in the hearing room, the room where it will all happen. lauren? >> reporter: that's right, john. in just a couple of hours bill barr will come before the senate judiciary committee and have to answer questions about how he handled the mueller report, specifically that reporting from the "washington post" as a new explosive element to all of this where democrats are going to be grilling him about why he did not disclose sooner that mueller wrote to him

. attorney general william barr is refusing to testify tomorrow before the house judiciary committee after what was a heated senate hearing today on his handling of the mueller report. it lasted nearly four hours, contentious at times, highlights of that in a moment. but first i want to go to cnn's pamela brown at the white house with breaking news about tomorrow's sudden reversal. so what happened, pamela? >> reporter: well, anderson, attorney general barr is taking this unusual step of declining an invitation to testify before the house judiciary committee tomorrow morning, raising tensions even more with house democrats. and this move follows a dispute over the proposed format for this hearing with democrats demanding that barr face questions from committees' lawyers, this was a decision formalized by a vote today. now, a justice department spokeswoman released a statement saying the committees' demands are, quote, unprecedented and unnecessary. and on the other hand, the committee's chairman, jerry nadler, says the administration is trying to dictate the terms of the hearing on the com

>>> good morning and welcome to cnn special live coverage of william barr, the attorney general of the united states under oath before the senate judiciary committee. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. it's barr's first congressional appearance since he released most of the mueller report and overnight the tensions, the suspici suspicions, the resentments that already surrounded barr's handling of the special counsel probe and conclusions, they exploded. cnn has confirmed that mueller himself was displeased by the attorney general's initial four-page letter to congress on march 24th. in a letter to barr dated march 27th and first revealed by the "washington post," mueller said that barr's summary and i'm quoting now, did not fully capture the context, nature and substance of this office's work and conclusions. he went on and i'm quoting again, there is now public conclusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. as you may know, barr has steadfastly highlighted mueller's findings that the president's campaign did not conspire or coordinate with russians who meddle

dissatisfaction that four-page letter didn't capture the nuance in the report. >> barr needs to resign. he took an oath to the constitution not to trump >> barr is supposed to testify before the senate judiciary committee. >> the attorney general has to accept our terms well. will control the hearing >> if these guys want to keep diggi digging, fine. mueller is the last word for me >> guaido escalated the tension calling for a full military uprising. >> he was ready to leave. the russians indicated he should stay >> they are trying to come to grips with what the aftermath might be. >> announcer: this is "new day" with alisyn camerota and john berman. >> good morning. welcome to your "new day." so has the entire prism with which we view the mueller report changed? we now know special counsel robert mueller doesn't like the spin that the attorney general put on this. overnight, we learned the special counsel sent a letter to william barr in late march telling him his four-page summary of the report, quote, didn't fully capture the context, nature and substance of this office's wor

, i'm stephanie ruhle. wow, what a morning. within this hour attorney general bill barr will arrive on capitol hill to appear before the senate judiciary committee. the already-high stakes now ramped up to 11 after last night's stunning revelation of a confidential letter robert mueller wrote to barr complaining the attorney general mischaracterized mueller's report. >>> plus, chaos continues in caracas. we will go live to venezuela as the push to get maduro out grows even stronger. >>> as we're keeping our eyes on 2020. poll after poll shows joe biden with a clear lead. steve kornacki is here to dig in to what the numbers mean now. >>> we must begin this morning with the stunning new revelation first reported by "the washington post" and confirmed by nbc news. special counsel robert mueller expressing frustration. in a letter and phone call to attorney general william barr shortly after barr released his initial four-page summary of the mueller report march 24th. this was the same memo which barr cleared president trump of obstruction, mueller expressing frustration, specifically o

continues right now. thanks for watching. >>> happening now, breaking news. barr sinks in a contentious hearing. the attorney general william barr strongly defends his handling of the mueller report and his controversial summary of the findings. democrats accuse him of misleading and lying. and tonight, a growing number of them are calling for bar to resign. >>> under the bus. throughout the hearing, barr appears to disparage his longtime friend robert mueller, even insinuating that the special counsel didn't do his job and calling mueller's letter critical of barr, and i'm quoting now, a bit snitty. will mueller will called to testify to lawmakers as well? >>> eats your soul. fired fbi director james comey publishes a scathing rebuke of barr, even as the attorney general was testifying. comey saying that accomplished people lacking inner strength compromised as the president devours their integrity, and i'm quoting now, in small bites. >>> and tweet insanity. president trump spirals out of control on twitter, spending the morning tweeting and re-tweeting, including trolls a

, d.c. and welcome to "prime time." attorney general bill barr did not back down an inch before the senate committee today and that made strengths and weaknesses of his case and cause very clear. democrat on the senate panel who did get to cross examine the attorney general today, he's going to tell us what comes next now. and what comes next in the house now that mr. barr says he won't show tomorrow. >>> also, big question from today. how can the attorney general rationalize clearing the president on crimes that are driven by intent without knowing what the president's intent was? that's the big question for cuomo's court. we'll take it on. let's get after it. >>> so the latest is that chairman nadler in the house says that the a.g. is trying to blackmail his committee by not showing tomorrow and he's threatening to hold mr. barr in contempt unless the full, unredacted mueller report is handed over. now the question is, should they subpoena mr. barr? why did they not? they had that available to them. mr. barr has no interest in changing perceptions about him, given what he said tod

extraordinary explanation that secretary clinton just gave about okay, so according to william barr, perfectly okay for a democratic candidate to publicly ask china for help in this election and to try to hack e mails and so forth. >> hey, china, if you're listening could you please get donald trump's tax returns and then china responds by hacking the irs and getting material and distributing it and the candidate says thank you, i love china for doing that. it is -- it's a very disconcerting thing she's laying out. >> it was the most perfect illustration of where we are and what william barr is willing to accept in the new standards. >> honestly, what the congress and particularly republicans in congress are willing to accept as behavior that wasn't charged for whatever reason and is therefore okay. i mean, if the result of the mueller report is that all of the criminal and wrong and distressing behavior described in it is all validated and in some cases celebrated because it wasn't criminally charged, then what secretary clinton just described in terms of that public overture to ch

. that was the message of barr. so the connecting of the dots between mitch mcconnell, the republican agenda, and congress such as it is, the special interests agenda fueled by dark special interest money, that's what that hearing was about. it wasn't about technicalities. it wasn't about who wrote the letter and how he characterized the letter. that's interesting. but what is deadly serious about it is the attorney general of the united states of america was not telling the truth to the congress of the united states. that's a crime. yes, nancy? [ inaudible question ] >> i have great confidence in our committees. we have six committees that have -- five of them have subpoenas. so far we don't have one for the foreign affairs committee. but five of the six committees of jurisdiction have the potential for subpoenas. they haven't all issued subpoenas, but that's where we see some of that activity. as you probably know in the articles of impeachment for president nixon, article iii was that he ignored the subpoenas of congress. he did not honor the subpoenas of congress. this is very, ve

happen. i wrote the executive summaries and you should have that. notice what barr did today was in demoting robert mueller, elevated the press as a problem by saying there could be no corrupt intept. he was trying to correct the record of the "new york times." and as a matter of law or executive authority he wasn't going to be able to violate that statute. he called mueller's decision prudential about the opinion meaning it was always the elephant in the room. it wasn't the idea of i never considered it. i was dismissive of it t. was the elephant in the room here is that i can't do anything about this. >> let me get your thoughts on how the first couple of hours has been going. >> well, barr sure did establish that he told the truth when he answered the question about whether mueller objected to anything he said. i have to say, i found his answers total gobbledy gook about that. mueller wrote a letter of protest. he wrote a letter saying this was not an accurate rendition of the facts when barr announced his summary or his summary of conclusions. and barr was asked about that. he w

with how his report was characterized by the attorney general. bill barr facing tough questions this morning on capitol hill. >>> both sides claim the upper hand in venezuela. the opposition trying to wrestle power from maduro. the u.s. says he was close to leaving, but the russians stopped him. >>> two people are dead and four hurt after shooting on the campus of university of north carolina at charlotte. good morning, everyone. welcome to all right. i'm dave briggs. >> good morning. i'm christine romans. it is wednesday, the first day of may it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. attorney general bill barr released his summary of the report. >> will bob mueller support your conclusion? >> i don't know whether bob mueller supported my conclusion. >> now we know. special counsel mueller expressed concern the four-page letter did not fully capture the findings of the 448-page report. critically, when barr said he didn't know whether mueller supported his conclusion, that was two weeks after the special counsel expressed his concerns to barr. >> those concerns echo the sentiments of mueller's te

democrats.ig attorney general bill barr has had about enough. he is refusing rightly to go in front of the house judiciary committee tomorrow. and the hearing today was nothing but a 2020 democratic preview and a lot of trainingan and grandstanding. president trump wait in a short time ago. >> well, i guess they want to treat him differently than anybody else. and for many, many years they've never done it this way the way they are bringing in outside counsel or something. that is not the wait -- you know, that is not the way they elected the people should do s their own talking. >> laura: we will get to that issue in just a moment with phenomenal legal panel. we will rebuild the democrats and the media are really attempting with this barr hearing.it but first, i want you to understand the most crucial part of barr senate testimony and tells us where we are going to the next several months and beyond all that fake outrageng over bob mueller. disagreeing with barr's summary or without the summary and slanderous attacks on the attorney general today. this is the most important thing ten no.

bill barr. former insider neal katyal is here to explain some of what he views as unprecedented in that story that is obviously hitting a fever pitch. and later, a republican challenging donald trump for the republican nomination for president is here live for the first time. so a lot to get to. >>> but we begin with the legal and political hurricane that has been heading towards trump attorney general bill barr. they say elections have consequences. i'm sure you've heard that. tonight democrats are saying deadlines also have consequences. critics arguing that mr. barr has used his short but very controversial tenure to already become one of the most questionable appointees of this entire trump presidency. and today mr. barr gave them more ammunition, blowing past congress' long known deadline to provide the full unredacted mueller report. house democrats are not having it. they are moving towards a vote this week to hold him in contempt. now if that happens, mr. barr would become only the second attorney general ever held in contempt in u.s. history and the first to be held in con

attorney general william barr's summary of the mueller report was made by none other than the special counsel himself, robert mueller. "the washington post" reporting the special counsel complained to the attorney general in a letter on march 27th regarding barr's four-page summary that had been released just three days prior. according to mueller's letter from a copy received by "the washington post," the summary letter the department sent to congress and released to the public late in the afternoon on march 24th did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office's work and conclusions, mueller wrote. there is no public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. this threatens to undermine essential purpose for which the department appointed the special counsel to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations. mueller did not leave it at that. the special counsel requested that barr release the introductions and executive summaries that they prepared from his 448-page report and even suggested some redaction

. >> reporter: attorney general bill barr, defiant while under fire for his handling of robert mueller's report. hours after new revelations that the special counsel expressed concerns about how barr summarized the findings of the sweeping probe. >> i asked him, you know, specifically, what his concern was. and he said that his concern focused on his explanation of why he did not reach a conclusion on obstruction. and he wanted more put out on that issue. >> reporter: barr said he spoke to the special counsel about the concerns. >> i asked him, you know, specifically, what his concern was. and he said that his concern focused on his explanation of why he did not reach a conclusion on obstruction. and he wanted more put out on that issue. >> reporter: barr contended that mueller was concerned about media portrayal of the findings. >> i asked him if he was suggesting that the march 24th letter was inaccurate. and he said, no, but that the press reporting had been inaccurate. >> reporter: but mueller expressed graver concerns in a letter to barr, writing, the attorney general's le

himself. it's the breaking news hitting the night before william barr is set to testify before the senate judiciary committee. for weeks all we had was the four-page summary from barr which looked to clear the president entirely. tonight we're learning the special counsel had serious concerns about that, serious enough to write his old friend the attorney general. cnn's pamela brown has the details. explain what we've learned about the letter. >> reporter: we are learning tonight, anderson, that special counsel robert mueller sent a secret letter to the attorney general in late march, in the wake of that four-page letter that the attorney general had sent to congress about the special counsel's investigation. as you pointed out, bill barr, the attorney general, provided the principal conclusion saying that the special counsel did not find collusion and that it couldn't reach a conclusion on obstruction of justice and then went on to say there wasn't sufficient evidence to show obstruction of justice. that conclusion reached by barr. now we're learning mueller sent this letter to th

. starting today >> it will be good luck for the show. bill barr has some explaining to do. in hours the attorney general will face the senate judiciary committee and the country to defend his handling of the mueller report. overnight we learned the special counsel robert mueller sent a letter to bill barr in late march expressing concern about the attorney general's four-page summary of his report. mueller told barr those four pages failed to fully capture his findings. the two old friends spoke by phone with mueller raising concerns about how barr's conclusions made the public more confused >> did robert mueller get played by william barr? if he meant to send a message on obstruction, did he fail because he was outmaneuvered by barr? when will we hear from robert mueller himself? his testimony seems guaranteed and crucial. did the attorney general lie in testimony he's already given on the report? how will he explain his selective quotes from the mueller report that seem to twist mueller's intent? some democrats are calling for impeachment of the attorney general. this makes for wh

from mueller himself? we'll not here from the attorney general, at least not this morning >> barr is refusing to testify today before the house judiciary committee because the democrats wanted staff attorneys to ask questions. also defying a subpoena to turn over the full mueller report. the attorney general could face contempt proceedings. barr defended his handling of the mueller report though the special counsel sent him the letter in late march objecting to barr's characterization of the report's findings. democrats are accusing barr of lying to congress, many calling for his resignation. jessica schneider has the latest. >> reporter: good morning. the battle over barr's testimony slides into a second day now. this time with a war of words over barr's intended no-show before the house judiciary committee. barr was called weeks ago but the two sides have been haggling over the set-up of questioning. now the justice department saying barr will not appear since the format is unnecessary. the doj is refusing to provide the full mueller report without redactions prompting nadler to th

william barr's testimony on the mueller report findings before the senate judiciary committee. senators react to the attorney general's testimony following the hearing. we hear from house judiciary committee members who previewed their questions for the attorney general at thursday's hearing. the attorney general has announced he will not appear before the democratic led committee following disagreements over the procedures for questions. attorney general william barr testified on the report released by special counsel robert mueller on his investigation into russia's interference in the 2016 election. this was to be the first of two hill appearances this week. mr. barr has pulled out of his testimony before the house judiciary committee on thursday. he answered questions from the senate judiciary committee on how his office handled the release of the mueller report and other investigations that resulted from the special counsel's investigation. this portion of the hearing includes opening statements from the committee's leaders and the attorney general. >> the hearing will co

. and tonight barr has released his written statement for the record for a hearing that is said to begin in a matter of hours. and barr's statement reads in part "when i appeared before the committee just a few months ago for my conformation hearings e senators asked for two commitments. first that i would allow the special counsel to finish his investigation without interference and second that i would release his report to congress and the american public. i believe the record speaks for itself. the special counsel completed his investigation as he saw fit. as i informed congress at no point did i or anyone over rule the special counsel on any proposed actions. immediately upon receiving his report, we began working with with the special counsel to prepare it for release and on april 18th, 2019 e yeb released a public version necessary to protect government interest. that's from the attorney general's written statement for the record ahead of tomorrow's hearing where he will be forced to answer questions about mueller's letter. let's bring in folks to help us all along this hour.

>> everybody squinting properly? although we have worked around the clock, attorney general barr informed us he will not attend tomorrow's hearing. given his lack of candor in describing the work of the special doucounsel, our members were right that we be permitted to question the attorney general. when push comes to shove the d administration cannot dictate the terms of our hearing in our hearing room. they will not comply with our subpoena for the full unredacted report, a subpoena that was returnable today. i will continue to work with the attorney general to reach access to the full report and underlying evidence but not for much longer. compliance with congressional subpoenas is not optional and if good faith negotiations don't result in a pledge of compliance in the next day or two, the next step is seeking a contempt citation against the attorney general. there are many questions that must be answered. it will convene at 9:00 tomorrow morning. my colleagues will be present. i hope and expect the attorney general will think overnigh and will be there as well. any questions

country's attorney. in his first public testimony since the release of the mueller report, barr repeatedly backed up the president's talking points about the russia investigation and backed up the president's mischaracterizations of mueller's findings. let's go through some of the big ones. number one, mueller laid out evidence the president and his campaign basically tried to collude with the russians, were open to it. mueller noted he was using the framework of conspiracy law, not making a judgment about collusion. but the president claims mueller made the determination there was no collusion and now so is barr. >> do you think the president's campaign in 2016 was thoroughly looked at in terms of whether or not they colluded with the russians? >> yes. >> and the answer is no, according to bob mueller? >> that's right. >> that is just not what the mueller report says. number two, mueller laid out evidence that the president directed his white house counsel to have mueller fired. that's the word mueller uses. the president claims he did no such thing, and now this is what barr i

last night, based on "the new york times" and "washington post" reporting. when barr was questioned about that, he said that mueller was not questioning the accuracy of the letter but the media reporting around it. and urged barr to put, perhaps, the summary of conclusions on behalf of his team and make them public prayer that was a decision barr said he would not make and would wait for the whole release of the report. that was one thing we were waiting to hear for clarification so far today. >> sandra: senator lee he went on to challenge him on that, because he said in testimony had not heard of concerns coming from either steam. he was asked about that. he explained himself. there were some heated moments in that room, and it's been a few hours now. there's going to be more to come after a quick break. >> bill: they have broken for an hour and we will go back to the hearing when it begins on the house side. there's a lot of action, we will get you caught up on everything here. first, let's start a brand-new hour with catherine herridge outside the hearing room for headline now. c

day's dramatic events for anyone joining the coverage. attorney general william barr was on capitol hill all day testifying before the republican led senate judiciary committee on the mueller report. that testimony commenced this morning. just hours after explosive reporting broke in "the washington post" and the "new york times" about a rift between special counsel robert mueller and attorney general barr over mueller's concerns that the attorney general had mischaracterized the special counsel's findings. that rift revealed in two never before reported letters written by bob mueller to william barr. the second of those letters sent by mueller reads in part, quote, the summary letter the department sent to congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of march 24th did not fully capture the context, nature and substance of this office's work and conclusions. we communicated that concern to the department on the morning of march 25th. there is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. this threatens to undermine a central purpose fo

william barr's testimony. >> has anybody ever heard of paul combetta? no. >> stephen: excuse me, excuse me, mr. chairman. can i ask a question? i was just looking for the salad bar, and i wandered in here. okay, thank you. okay. all right, first up, has anyone in this room deceived the american people? ( laughter ) good to know. okay. here we go. now, much of the report has been redacted, sir. when do you plan on unredacting all of it? >> well, i (bleep). >> stephen: did you just redact yourself? >> yes. >> stephen: are there any reasons we should trust you at all? >> none that i'm aware of. ( laughter ) >> stephen: okay. now, you're supposed to be the impartial attorney general for the united states. how much of your summary, the letter you sent to congress, was just a partisan support for the president? >> 2%. >> stephen: really? >> 10%. >> stephen: bill? >> 98%. >> stephen: that sounds about right. ( laughter ) can i tell you a joke? >> yes. >> stephen: what has two thumbs and obstructed justice? >> uh... >> stephen: this guy! ( laughter ) i really want to get to that salad b

. will robert mueller come to capitol hill to answer questions? >> barr is refusing to testify today before the house judiciary committee when it convenes in two hours because he doesn't want to be questioned by the committee's staff attorneys. barr offered no apologies for his handling of the report yesterday. he admitted he didn't review mueller's underlying evidence before his summary of the report. we'll speak to senator kamala harris about that exchange in just minutes. lauren fox is live inside the hearing room. she's there. william barr, not going. what is going to happen today? >> this is the room where bill barr was supposed to be. in the chair behind me, that's where bill barr was going into sitting to be grilled by house democrats with concerns about how he handled the mueller report and its rollout. he's not attending because of a dispute with chairman jerry nadler over the format of the hearing. what nadler wanted was to allow staff lawyers on the republican and democratic side to question barr for 30 minutes each. that's not going to happen. the justice department said

inside our program today. first back here at home the a.g. bill barr will face off with senate judiciary committee members on the mueller report an hour from now. it will be a long day, an interesting day. we'll see what we learn together as we say good morning live in new york city. i'm bill hemmer. happy anniversary to you and your husband. >> sandra: thank you very much, bill. i'm sandra smith. we're awaiting bill barr's arrival for an action-packed few hours inside the hearing room. both sides digging in their heels as the politics on the mueller report will be on display today. >> bill: a lot of drama kicked off late last night when a report was leaked to two different newspapers claiming mueller wrote to the a.g. in march saying his summary didn't -- >> no doubt he will take heat for it. democrats are signaling that what they intend to do. the fact is there was nothing inaccurate or misleading about it. so what do they have left to complain about? well, perhaps they didn't like the way it was characterized by the media. but they own the media for the most part and they should take

all before we started today's news with this. march 27th, 2019. dear attorney general barr, quote. i previously sent you a letter march 25 that enclosed the introduction and executive summary of each volume of the special counsel's report parked with redactions. we also marked two sentences for review and we now confirmed that these sentences can be released publicly. accordingly, the enclosed documents are in a form that can be released to the public. i am requesting that you provide these materials to congress and authorize their public release at this time. as we stated in our meeting of march 5 and reiterated to the department early in the afternoon of march 24th, the introductions and executive summaries of our two-volume report accurately summarize this office's work and conclusions. the summary letter -- excuse me, the summary letter the department sent to congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of march 24th did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office's work and conclusions. we communicated that concern to the department on the mo

killed when heericane weeks ago that robert mueller was not pleased with what barr had done. tonight, the letter robert mueller sent to barr now revealed. and what robert mueller wanted barr to do. he chose not to. and breaking tonight, william barr now refusing to testify tonight. we're live on the hill. >>> our team inside venezuela tonight, and the major new headline. the u.s. acknowledging they have not taken military action off the table. so, what next? ian pannell standing by. >>> also developing now, trapped on a cruise ship. the measles emergency we're learning about tonight about 300 passengers and crew reportedly told they cannot get off the ship. >>> the evacuations tonight. the major plant up in flames. reports of pro pain tanks exploding. >>> "jeopardy!" host alex trebek and our robin roberts. his first interview on his health, what he reveals about sudden waves of sadness. and in true form, what he says about that current, "jeopardy!" james. >>> good evening. and it's great to have you with us here on a wednesday night. and we have breaking news fromto testify tomorrow after

the recommendation. >> thank you. >> senator whitehouse. >> mr. barr, a couple of timing questions. you said that on march 5th, mr. mueller came to you and said that he was going to not make a decision on obstruction and leave that to you. >> he didn't say he was leaving it to me. >> he was not going to make an obstruct on march 24th, you sen the letter describing your decision. somewhere between march 5th and 24th, you made that decision. when was that? >> we started talking about it on march 5th and there had already been a lot of discussions prior to march 5th involving the deputy, the principal associate deputy and the office of legal counsel that had dealings with the special counsel's office. they had knowledge of a number of the episodes and some of the thinking of the special counsel's office. right after march 5th, we started discussing what the implications of this were and how we would view. >> you made the decision when? >> probably on sunday, the 24th. >> that was the day the letter came out. >> yes. >> you didn't make the decision until the letter came out. you must h

front" next, breaking news. attorney general bill barr refusing to testify before the house judiciary committee. the announcement coming after five hours of grilling today and they're threatening to subpoena him and hold him in contempt. barr goes to war with mueller. he calls the letter snitty. and the president won't let it go. why is he so obsessed already with joe biden? let's go "out front." >>> good evening. i'm erin burnett. "out front," a breaking news. no show. bill barr refusing to testify before the house judiciary committee tomorrow morning. it comes after a five hour grilling session and barr ripping into a damning letter from robert mueller himself, a letter in which mueller criticized barr for his summary of the mueller report's findings. >> yeah, the letter's a bit snitty and i think it was probably written by one of his staff people. >> a bit snitty. it was a two-page letter and obviously it was a really important letter so mueller signed it himself. whoever may have written parts of it or not clearly was okay with every word. staffer didn't sign it. special

committee, william barr defended his decision to clear president trump of obstructing justice.st his ony followed the disclosure of a letter from the special counsel robert mueller expressing concerns about the way mr. rr characterized his report. so many questions and far, not many answers. least none that are acceptable to democrats. they say the attorney general's summary of the mueller investigation was misleading and they want to know why he decided to clear theresident of obstruction of justice. ral of thettorney ge united states is a sacred trust. you have betrayed that trust. america deserves better. you should resign. jane: but william barr insistede tuck to the reports basic conclusions. >> we were not trying to summarize the 410 page report. jane: however, it has now emerged the special counsel robert mueller himself was not happy with the way his investigation was portrayed. l inter he said mr. barr's summary did not fully capturet, the contature, and substance of this office's work and concsions. he continued, there is no public -- now public confusion about the critical asp

much. thanks to all of you for joining us. as this story develops tonight ahead of barr's testimony tomorrow. obviously going to change that, perhaps completely, "ac 360" begins right now. >>> good evening. it is one thing to object to how the attorney general of the united states characterized the mueller report, which president trump seized on to declare himself exonerated in the russian investigation, it's another thing entirely when the person doing the objecting is robert mueller himself. it's the breaking news hitting the night before william barr is set to testify before the senate judiciary committee. for weeks all we had was the four-page summary which looked to clear the president entirely. tonight we're learning the special counsel had serious concerns about that, serious enough to write his own friend the attorney general. cnn's pamela brown has the details. explain what we've learned about the letter. >> reporter: we are learning tonight, anderson, that special counsel robert mueller sent a secret letter to the attorney general in late march, in the wake of that four-pa