Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Were following two major breaking news stories. Hilarylary clinton breaks her silence on the use of a personal email account while she was secretary ever state saying she went for very long. She says there were no security lapses and shes turning over all documents that could be viewed as connected to her work. But she wont make her private documents public. And republican lawmakers say clinton is creating more questions than answers. They plan on grilling her about the emails. But republicans are also taking heat today over a letter to irans leadership signed by 47 gop senators. Theyre accused of breaking a longstanding if not ignored u. S. Law. Standing by, republican senator jeff blake and james rish along with our correspondents and analysts. Lets begin with the clintden emails and our senior Political CorrespondentBrianna Keilar who has the very latest. Hi wolf. Secretary clinton saying today that her use of only personal email while secretary of state was for an innocuous reason. She said it was simply because she didnt want to carry two devices. But she also revealed that she deleted all of the emails, personal emails, she said that she did not turn over to the state Department Last year which is raising questions about just how transparent shes being. I want it all out there. Hillary clinton addressing a week of controversy over the revelation she used her personal email for all official business while secretary of state. I opted for convenience to use my personal email account, which was allowed by the state department, because i thought it would be easier to carry just one device. Adding that in retrospect using official email would have been smarter. Looking back it would have been better had i simply used a second email account and carried a second phone. Following a longplanned speech to the United Nations on gender equality tuesday, clinton assured reporters the email server she used was safe. The system we used was set up for president clintons office. It had numerous safeguards. It was on property guarded by the secret service, and there were no security breaches. I did not email any classified materials to anyone on my el email. There have no classified material. As the state department announced, clintons emails would be posted on a public web site aft a several month review, clinton said her email system broke no rules. I fully complied with every rule i was governed by. And said there should be no doubt any workrelated emails might have been missed. My direction to conduct the thorough investigation was to err on the side of providing anything that could be possibly viewed as work related. But clinton said that her public server will remain private, wolf. Thats very important to note. She resisted suggestions, including some made by her supporters, some of her supporters, that she open up her server so that an independent third party could verify what she said which is she turned over everything she was supposed to to the state department. She says that server will remain private. Brianna, thank you very much. While a battle is brewing over Hillary Clintons emails another fight is raging over the letter by 47 republican senators to irans leaders warning that congress would have to approve a nuclear deal. Clinton says that letter was meant to either benefit iran or hurt the president and the Obama Administration is also venting on the issue. Lets go to michelle kosinski. Some say its a letter just an open letter. But what this is most of the republicans in the senate writing to iran during sensitive negotiations over its Nuclear Program with the view of stopping that process. So is that criminal . Is it treason, as some have suggested . Analysts say unlikely. But what this has set off is an ugly war of words and the white house isnt staying out of it. The white house today let loose on Senate Republicans open letter to iran as reckless irresponsible misguided, a blatant flagrant partisan attempt to interfere. Vice President Biden penned a lengthy angry statement of his own calling the Senate Letter beneath the dignity of an institution i revere. Just as the senators tried to school iran on their role in Foreign Policy biden schools them on the myriad agreements signed through the centuries that did not require congress vote, like removing chemical weapons from syria, facing troops in afghanistan. He said the letter sent a message that is as false as it is dangerous. The decision to undercut our president and circumvent our constitutional system offends me. Hillary clinton weighed in. Either these senators were trying to be hellpful to the iranians or harmful to the commander in chief. While the white house has refused to say whether they believe the letter hurts negotiations with iran, today the state department did. We believe its harmful to Americas National security for anyone to insert themselves into the middle of a sensitive negotiation. Republicans who signed it stand by it. But some didnt sign including bob corker. I didnt view the letter as helping achieve an outcome that id like to see. He still wants congress to have an input. He just believes giving an up or down vote would be better. Some others feel the same. I did not think it was appropriate for us to write to the ayatollah and try to explain to him our constitutional system of government. But i doubt very much that the ayatollah cares what a group of senators think. Another big question swirling out there, does this letter violate a very old law called the logan act . It prohibits citizens from kmujing with a Foreign Government and trying to influence things during a dispute or controversy with the u. S. . Were or trying to go against the u. S. During that process . Analysts we talked to said it was unlikely to stand up to our modern breadth of the first amendment, free speech right. Also federal Law Enforcement wont pursue anything like that at this point. They say its political, not legal. Another question, though, is it hypocritical of democrats to be so upset over this letter when in the past weve seen lawmakers go overseas and try to talk to Foreign Governments, a democratic lawmakers went to iraq before the war. Remember nancy pelosi famously sat down in syria with Bashar Al Assad when the government of george w. Bush was not speaking to him. Wolf . Michelle kosinski thank you. As michelle noted, 47 republican senators signed that open letter to irans leaders, 7 did not sign, including my next guest, senator jeff flake of arizona. He serves on the foreign release relations committee. Senate, why did you decide not to sign that letter . Well i just didnt think it was productive during this time when there are very tough negotiations going on. Theyre tough enough without introducing this element. You heard the former secretary of state Hillary Clinton say that those republican senators who signed it were either trying to help the iranians or hurt the president. What do you think of what she said . I dont buy that. Help the iranians not a chance. I agree with Susan Collins saying that i dont think the iranians are that concerned about what 47 senators think. But i was more concerned about our allies. Iran is at the table because these sanctions have bitten pretty hard, these multilateral sanctions. Weve got to keep this coalition together. So you dont think they were trying to help the iranians or hurt president obama . Is that what youre Say Something something . Well, i know there are a lot of people who dont think this agreement is going to be a good one. I think we all have our doubts whether this is going to be an agreement worth pursuing. But my own view i can only speak for myself is that we ought to take every opportunity to have a negotiated agreement rather than the alternative. The alternative isnt good. You basically want to see what secretary kerry, president obama can come up with over the next few weeks then make a decision. Is that what im hearing . You bet. Congress will weigh in. When the president has said you know when the president says, hey, im going to veto whatever you do he doesnt foster much cooperation. Of Course Congress is going to be involved. The sanctions were imposed by congress on iran and theyll have to be lifted permanently by congress. So congress will have a say. Its just i think at the appropriate time. I dont think right now is. Take us a little bit behind the scenes if you can, senator. Senator tom cotton, a freshman republican from arkansas circulates this letter, Mitch Mcconnell the republican majority leader signs it. A total of 47 republican senators signed it, 7 do not. Do they squeeze you, pressure you, try to convince you to sign it . Do you go back and say, this is a bad idea lets not do this . Give us a little flavor of what goes on in the process of a letter like this. Well, i dont want to talk about what goes on in private republican meetings, but i can just speak for hiself. I saw the letter. I didnt think that it was productive to the ends were trying to achieve. And i declined to sign it. So i dont know what other pressures came to bear but not on me. Did you urge them not to circulate this letter . No. It was circulated before i saw it. I had already sent my own letter to the president , to president obama saying, you know what are we doing to inform and to make sure that people know that congress will have a role here with regard to the sanctions moving ahead . So i had already done that and i thought that that was a more appropriate way to go about it. I dont know if you saw the front page of the New York Daily News blasting republican senators who signed it. You see it there. The New York Daily News calling them traitors. Some indeed are questioning whether this violates an old law, the logan act, if you will, which prevents private governments. What do you make of that . Do you think anyone broke the law here . I dont make much of it. If they did, then many people over a long period of time have done the same. No i dont believe it rises to that at all. Like i said i didnt think it was appropriate for me to do it but im not going to criticize those who did. The last time somebody was indicted by the way in connection with the logan act was 1803. That person was not convicted. In fact no one has ever been convicted apparently weve done research of violating the logan act. But its possible there could be a first time down the road. Quick question Hillary Clinton, has she put her email controversy to rest . I cant speak to that. I didnt see the News Conference. Been busy with other things. But is this an issue that still worries you . I dont follow it closely, no. Senator flake thanks very much for joining us. Thank you. The breaking news were following, Hillary Clinton slamming that open letter to iran by Senate Republicans saying it was meant to either help iran or harm the commander in chief. We just heard from senator jeff flake, one of only seven republicans who did not sign that open letter. When we come back well get another senators perspective, senator james rish. Hes walking into the situation room. 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You got this. Two weeks later. Look, credit karma are you talking to websites again . This website says free credit scores. Oh, credit karma yeah its actually free. Look, you dont have to put in your credit card information. Whew credit karma. Really. Free. Hillary clinton slams that open letter to irans leaders by Senate Republicans saying it was meant to either help iran or harm the commander in chief. We just heard from one republican senator, jeff flake one of only seven who did not sign that open letter to iran. Joining us now one of the 47 who did sign the letter senator james risch of idaho, a key member of the intelligence and Foreign Relations committees. Why did you decide to sign that letter, knowing it would be controversial, as you obviously did . Sure. I think first of all i want to say i agree with everything jeff flake said. I just reached a different conclusion, and that is it is important to have a record made of what the president was actually doing. He continues to pursue this imperialism using the Second Branch of government as being the branch of government that controls everything. They dont. Constitution is very clear that congress has a duty to prove or disprove any treaties. The president says this is not a treaty. Youve heard me say it before. You can call a cat a dog, but it doesnt make the cat a dog. An agreement with another country is a treaty. The constitution is very clear. But there are a lot of agreements with other 0 countries that are not formal treaties, dont need to be approved by the United States senate. If you read the Vice President s letter, he refers to a lot of them. There are agreements made from one leader to another leader. Those are just that. But the congress of the United States can override those either using its constitutional powers or the power of the purse. And they frequently do. Hillary clinton says you as a signaturory to this letter were either trying to help iran or undermine, hurt the president of the United States. You reply to her . First of all, weve obviously hit a tender nerve for them to be reaching like that. Its nonsense to say that any u. S. Senator is a friend of iran. Iran has no friends in the United States senate. And to allege otherwise she knows better than that. Shes heard all of us criticizing the madmen that run that country overand over and over again. Do you think you could support any deal thats worked out by the Obama Administration and other members of the Security Council in germany together with iran . Could any deal satisfy you . Absolutely. And we have met this im on intelligence and Foreign Relations, weve met with people who are negotiating. Weve urged them over and over again the kinds of things that we need to see in such an agreement in order for it to be in the best interest of the American People. Everybody keeps mixing the politics of this. Look, this is an issue that is not a republican democrat issue. This is an agreement that first of all the very existence of the state of israel, our best ally in the region, their very existence depends on this. Secondly, our children and grandchildren could very easily face a Nuclear Middle east if indeed iran is able to complete a bomb. So whats your reaction when you see the front page of the New York Daily News calling you and your 47 republican colleagues there you see it traitors and others saying maybe you violated federal law, the logan act, by communicating directly with a Foreign Government in the midst of these negotiations . Wolf ive been in this business for a lodge time. Ive been called a lot worse than that. That doesnt bother me. Were doing what we believe is in the best interest of the American People. As far as the logan act, that has never been enforced. No ones ever been convicted under it. Its a violation of the first amendment. Indeed its our duty to engage in these things under the constitution of the United States that gives us the very specific things we have to do in Foreign Policy. But in hindsight, couldnt you have written that letter, you circulate letters all the time, without necessarily addressing it to the leadership of iran but an open letter to the American People to the white house, whatever . To whom it might concern. Would that have been more appropriate . No. We dogo out frequently there isnt a weekend that both house and Senate Republicans and democrats sometimes traveling together, go and visit foreign nations, meet with the head of those foreign nations and talk about the things, these kinds things that are important to Foreign Policy to the American People. You understand why senator flake or senator corker the chairman of the foreign releases committee refused to sign Susan Collins, these other republican senators. You understand why they were reluctant to sign on. Absolutely. And i think one of the arguments theyre making and that is that this has been