Saying, oh, no, never mind that, youre fired. To be clear to the viewers, we dont have the reporting confirmed that youre sharing with us. But thats obviously something were trying to get information, answers to the white house, the Justice Department not commenting specifically on this firing. But lets talk a little bit more about bharara, his role here in new york, and really when it comes to litigation on such a large scale that impacts the country. He was not necessarily in just a routine post. So he gets called in the Southern District of new york, called the sovereign district of new york. Because its a huge orbit. Rudy giuliani was there. Comey from the fbi. Bhrara is looking at the mayor of new york city, has this ongoing corruption probe. Hes about to try two of Andrew Cuomos closest confidantes. And looking at Things International in scope. Really big and interesting. In addition to the fox thing i mentioned, significantly. He has an investigation excuse me, he arrested a turkish man, whos a friend of the president there. And is charging him with evading the iran sanctions. Effectively. Which in a complicated scheme thats really big and interesting, and plays into some of the other probes around this president. The big outstanding question everyone is asking is, what is the fbi looking into, involving this administration, potentially, and additionally, there are questions about whether or not theyre also looking at Rudy Giuliani who, again, is at the same firm as the rumored replacement is the frontrunner for that, because of giuliani talking on
television prior to the election about what his fbi friends were telling him about investigations involving the clintons and others. Which is information theyre not conveying. There are so many layers to this. Oh, man. But to play devils advocate, could you just look at this and say that he was simply a victim of a broad brush stroke, that donald trump decided to clean house so that he could just appoint all his own people . Almost. So the two people whose resignations they didnt accept is the temporary Deputy Attorney general, and his nominee to be the permanent Deputy Attorney general. And with the Attorney General having now recused those people not so incidentally would be leading in i russian probe in the Justice Department. You could say this is part of a sweep if they hadnt told bharara that he was staying. What changed and why. They did this with the
ambassador, trump did, back in january. He said no finishing your kids school year, no finding your replacements, none of that stuff. They seem to like chaos and surprise and corruption maybe in a reality tv style. Maybe in a Silicon Valley disruption style. There are concerns about the deep state and enemies within and all that stuff. I think tactically, they think this sort of chaos works to their benefit. Im very skeptical, again, they have no replacements for any of these u. S. Attorneys. The people they just told to get out today, that their deputies and right hands are going to be running the Justice Department. And Picking Up The Pieces where the investigations left off. Thank you for the information and reporting. Were continuing to learn more about this situation. Its a developing breaking news story. Lets turn to now a person who is very familiar with bharara who is also familiar with the Justice Departments inner workings, someone who has led this department. Roberto gonzalez is joining me by phone. We really appreciate your time, mr. Gonzalez. I know you were appointed by and served under president george w. Bush. And while working for then senator Charles Schumer when you were in the Justice Department. Bharara also was in the probe in eight u. S. Attorneys, part of a controversy that is said to have ultimately played a key role in the resignation of the then Attorney General roberto gonzalez, yourself. Given that history, whats your response to these developments today . Well, [ inaudible ]. Obviously those were all investigated. I was cleared of any wrongdoing, because in reality, you know, the president of the United States has the power with
respect to hiring and firing of the u. S. Attorneys. They serve at his pleasure. If donald trump no longer has any pleasure of continued service, then meet it out. It really is arrogant for an employee to leave, when told by the president that their services are no longer required. Everyone understands that you serve at the pleasure of the president , no matter how wonderful, how valuable your work has been. If the president wants to make a change, he has the right to do so. Obviously change is at the beginning of an administration. Theyre very consistent with past practice. And every president , every u. S. Attorney general wants to have his field generals and the u. S. Attorneys onboard. Some of your viewers may be concerned that these removals might in any way jeopardize ongoing investigations. That is really just not the way
that the department is set up. Youve got Career Prosecutors that are very much involved in all of these very complex investigations, and prosecutions. Those will continue. Even though you may not have an appointed head at the particular field offices. There are Career Individuals who been there many, many years. They have experience, good judgment. Those investigations will continue, irrespective of the removal of the confirmed u. S. Attorney head. Gotcha. Now, i understand it is fairly common for a president to come in and appoint his own people. However, the fact that this was done with virtually zero notice has caught some experts in the field offguard. Does that piece surprise you, for one . And two, the fact that bharara had been told by the president that he should keep his job and asked to stay on and go before the cameras and even talk about the discussion in which he was asked to stay on, now hes been fired . What do you think is the reason
for that . Well, i cant speak to what President Trump and preet, what conversations they had in the past. The president can change his mind for whatever reason. He has virtually Unlimited Authority to make a change if he wants to. It could be that perhaps Jeff Sessions wanted to have a change. If they want to make a change, that will have an important factor in making the change. They ultimately do work for the Attorney General of the United States. So listen, i cant speak to whether or not there were any promises or assurances made. But even if there were, nothing would prevent a president from changing his mind if he felt that was in the best interests of the administration of justice. Would there be any reason that this change of mind has to do with actual investigations that bharara was involved with . Im certainly not aware that
that might be the reason. But as i indicated, i believe if that was the motivation for the removal, i think that would be one of concern. And that perhaps should be looked at. I want to, again, reassure your viewers that even if that were the case, that would not submarine or in any way jeopardize an ongoing investigation. A Career Individual is there, in that office, they would continue the investigation. And they would make sure that if there was wrongdoing that had occurred, that there would be a prosecution. So its even without a confirmed head leading a particular office, youre still going to have investigations. Youre still going to have prosecutions that move forward. Thats not jeopardized by the removal of the confirmed u. S. Attorney. Let me ask you in response to this statement put out by senator patrick leahy, where he writes that the removal of Something Like bharara has now called into question the
independence of the Justice Department. According to this statement. Do you see it that way . I do not. Senator leahy has been as much involved in the Plit Tiization of the removal of u. S. Attorneys as schumer has. There is no basis to make that statement. Again, without even knowing whos going to be the next u. S. Attorney in that position. And how that office is going to function going forward. I tha thats a premature statement. Alberto gonzales, thank you for joining us tonight. I appreciate it. Former adviser to four u. S. President s, david, youve worked in the white house. Completely normal as weve been discussing for a new president to come in and want a new team of u. S. Attorneys. But the way this was handled has given a lot of people pause. It should. It should. Theres no question. There are a couple of things that are different. One is, when in the past when theres been sort of mass firings, as in the case of president clinton, individuals Attorneys General in various parts of the country were given extra time to stay on to complete investigations to make sure there was no disruption in the work of the offices. And they sort of had leftover time, instead of the hatchet coming down, the guillotine goes down on all of you overnight. The other thing thats different is the context in which this is taking place. We have a president , a white house and a team with a lot of conservatives, who believe that the obama holdover throughout the government had become saboteurs. That they are undermining his presidency. The anger level has built. Theres been a lot of pressure on the white house to clean out those obama holdovers. This is, i think, going to be
part of a broader sweep that were going to see. With all due respect to Attorney General gonzales, hes right that the president absolutely has the authority and is often exercising it to remove people. But there is a you know, if its just i dont think its right to say youre going to get the same outcome in the investigations as you would if a new person comes in. Its not going to make any difference in the outcomes. If it doesnt make any difference in the outcomes, the president wouldnt be firing these people. The white house believes if you put in new people, youll have an Attorney General that will be more favorably inclined toward them. Thats human nature. And i think we all the context is how we ought to see this. Were just getting this into our newsroom here, some new information, a source apparently close to President Trump telling my colleague, jake tapper, that then President Elect trump told bharara wanted to keep him on as
a gesture to democratic leader schumer. But now obviously it swung the other way. What do you make of that . Well, that sounds like a lot about politics, doesnt it. Because the relationship between Senator Schumer and the president has deteriorated. Theyve been calling each other names over the last few weeks. I dont think i think both of them are now really have a very disdain for the other. But why does that mean that bharara ought to be the victim of that disagreement . Having asked him to stay on, is it a political gesture to schumer or did he think he was doing productive work. It does lead to questions, your previous guest raised some interesting questions. Well just have to see. Like so many things in the Trump Administration, when you do things quickly, and this looks like theyre flipping a finger at the obama people once again. You know, it raises questions but when you talk about that, when you bring that up, one thought that crossed my mind is, it almost seemed like bharara at one point kind of egged him on to say, im not going to resign. If you want me to leave, fire me. Yep. Well, i think bharar wanted to bring it to the surface. Hes clearly pretty ticked off. The result is the same. But i think he feels, im walking out with my head up. Im not resigning. You have to fire me. And shame on you. I think thats his attitude. How would you advise the president to handle this moving forward . Well, i think the advice you would give would have been given earlier. And that is, as was the ambassadors, i think he has every right to replace people like this. And as we feared the u. S. Attorney general in new york, you live by the sword, you die
by the sword. Thats the name of the game. So he has every right. But i think i would have advised him, mr. President , i think you would have been better off if you hadnt brought the swift sword down on people. It has a harshness about it that is going to, i think stir up the press. The siegel Type Questions that we had, it raises questions among their you know, out in the political community, whats underneath all of this. Is there something phony about this . Theres just so much every time one of these stories comes up, you have to ask, why is this happening, Why Couldnt This be done in a smoother, more professional way . That question of why is what weve been asking all afternoon, since he was fired. Right. But were Hearing Crickets from the white house and Justice Department. Would it be in their best interests to come forward with at least a statement to say, this is why he specifically was now asked to or was fired, i
guess, lets just put it bluntly, even after he had been asked to stay on . I think the statement really ought to come from the Attorney General. Mr. Sessions, or Attorney General sessions did sign off and asked him to stay. He called him during the transition. Hes the one who asked people to leave their offices. I think this is something, if youre at the white house now, put it on the Justice Department to explain whats going on. David gergen, thank you, as always. Anna, thank you. Up next, a shocking White House Security breach, and the bizarre new details on the intruder who made it all the way to the entrance to the president s residence. Youre live in the cnn newsroom. How to win at business. Step one point decisively with the arm of your glasses. Abracadabra. The stage is yours. Step two choose la quinta. The only hotel where you can redeem Loyalty Points for a free nightinstantly and win at business. My belly pain i could build a small city with all the overthecounter products ive used. Enough ive tried enough laxatives to cover the eastern seaboard. Ive climbed a Mount Everest of fiber. Probiotics . Enough avo if youve had enough, tell your doctor what youve tried and how long youve been at it. Linzess works differently from laxatives. Linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. It can help relieve your belly pain, and lets you have more frequent and complete Bowel Movements that are easier to pass. Do not give linzess to children under six, and it should not be given to children six to less than eighteen. It may harm them. Dont take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. Get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. The most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. If its severe stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. Other side effects include gas, stomacharea pain and swelling. Talk to your doctor about managing your symptoms proactively with linzess. To buy a decent suit. I got this jaime. You could throw shade all day but itll never land cause we got the name your price tool in the palm of our haaand mic drop. Mime ouch. What . It was a sweet burn. Progressives name your price tool. Word to your wallet. Aand a Makeup Remover at night . This does it all Micellar Cleansing water from garnier skinactive. The garnier micelles act like a magnet, to cleanse, remove makeup and refresh. All in one Micellar Cleansing water from garnier skinactive. The president was inside the white house at the time. Secret service did a fantastic job last night. I appreciate it. The Secret Service did a fantastic job. It was a troubled person. The Secret Service was fantastic. Cnns athena jones is at the white house. Athena, who is this man . What happened when he appeared before the judge today . Reporter his name is jonathan tran. Hes 26 years old. Hes from california. He did make a Court Appearance today. Were told he will be arraigned in federal court on monday. But at todays Court Appearance, were getting a lot of information from the criminal complaint and sworn statement. Hes been charged with entering or remaining in restricted grounds while using or carrying a dangerous weapon. This complaint, the sworn statement from the arresting officer that said in the backpack that tran was carrying, he had two cans of mace. Thats interesting, because earlier in the day we were told that backpack had been examined and no Hazardous Materials were found. In the end were learning he was caring mace. There are more details from the sworn statement. We know this happened at 11 38 p. M. Last night. Tran was seen by this arresting officer walking from the east side of the south grounds of the white house complex. He was walking close to an exterior wall of the white house mansion. So he was very, very close to the residence. He was approaching