question is what did the president say and that is what tonight's new reporting could shed light on. i say could because it is in question. cnn justice correspondent lara jarrett starts us off. so what exactly did whitaker say today and again, according to chairman nadler's accounting of events? >> well anderson, nadler said that whitaker didn't deny that the president called him to discuss the case of his former lawyer michael cohen and other personnel decisions in the southern district of new york. a little bit vague there about what exactly was discussed. and nadler said that whitaker was involved in conversations about the recusal of jeffy berman in the southern district of new york and whether prosecutors went too far to pursue the campaign finance case against cohen. why does this matter, now that whitaker is gone? as you said, it goes to the question of whether the president was trying to put his thumb on the scale in some way or influence the investigations into cohen where he was directly implicated and in some cases whitaker was on the receiving