WEBVTT 00:02.000 --> 00:04.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Now to the remarkable public fight that has erupted between the White House 00:04.233 --> 00:09.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% and the FBI over the release of a secret House Intelligence Committee memo that, as John 00:10.666 --> 00:13.066 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Yang reports, is part of the Russia investigation. 00:13.066 --> 00:16.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Judy, conservative Republicans have been urging President Trump to release 00:16.800 --> 00:21.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% the four-page classified document, believing it would discredit the FBI and the Russia 00:22.533 --> 00:24.666 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% investigation. 00:24.666 --> 00:27.833 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% Last night, as Mr. Trump left the House chamber after the State of the Union address, he seemed 00:27.833 --> 00:32.366 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% to assure Republican Representative Jeff Duncan of South Carolina that he would make it public. 00:32.366 --> 00:33.800 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% REP. 00:33.800 --> 00:35.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JEFF DUNCAN (R), South Carolina: Let's release the memo. 00:35.600 --> 00:40.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Oh, yes. 00:45.466 --> 00:46.466 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Don't worry, 100 percent. 00:46.466 --> 00:48.600 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Can you imagine it? 00:48.600 --> 00:49.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: This morning, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders suggested on CNN that 00:49.866 --> 00:51.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% the release could take some time. 00:51.966 --> 00:53.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, White House Press Secretary: We have said all along, from day 00:53.400 --> 00:55.266 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% one, that we want full transparency in this process. 00:55.266 --> 00:57.366 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% We haven't hidden that. 00:57.366 --> 01:01.233 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% But at the same time, we're still going to complete the legal and national security review 01:01.233 --> 01:04.966 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that has to take place before putting something out publicly. 01:04.966 --> 01:07.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And that's the place where we are right now. 01:07.000 --> 01:11.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Later, the FBI issued a statement saying, "We have grave concerns about material 01:13.333 --> 01:17.233 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy." 01:17.233 --> 01:21.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% To make sense of all of this, we are joined now by Devlin Barrett, who covers the Justice 01:21.000 --> 01:23.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Department and FBI for The Washington Post. 01:23.133 --> 01:25.233 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Devlin, thanks for joining us. 01:25.233 --> 01:30.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% As you reported, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray 01:30.000 --> 01:35.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% were at the White House on Monday to make their case in person to the chief of staff, 01:36.133 --> 01:38.233 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% John Kelly. 01:38.233 --> 01:41.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% What does it mean that they felt the need to go public this afternoon or today with 01:41.933 --> 01:43.966 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% that statement? 01:43.966 --> 01:45.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% DEVLIN BARRETT, The Washington Post: Well, frankly, in some ways, it means that they 01:45.166 --> 01:47.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% expect they have already lost this battle. 01:47.500 --> 01:52.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% As you saw in the president's statement the congressional floor last night, as you see 01:54.533 --> 01:56.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% in frankly the body language of many public officials in the administration and on the 01:56.533 --> 02:01.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Hill, everyone involved in this really expects this memo will come out very soon. 02:01.100 --> 02:05.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And I think as much as the statement is an attempt to say the reasons why it shouldn't 02:05.166 --> 02:09.766 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% come out, I think it's also frankly a statement to the public to say don't assume what you 02:09.766 --> 02:11.866 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% read here is the absolute truth. 02:11.866 --> 02:16.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% This may not be -- and obviously the FBI is saying it isn't -- this isn't an accurate 02:16.666 --> 02:19.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% accounting of what we do and how we do it. 02:19.200 --> 02:24.000 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% JOHN YANG: And because of the underlying documents or what this is based on, they can't -- or 02:25.933 --> 02:27.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% they are constrained on what they can say after it's released; is that right? 02:27.933 --> 02:29.966 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% DEVLIN BARRETT: Well, right. 02:29.966 --> 02:33.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Part of the rub from the point of view of the intelligence agencies is that the House 02:33.666 --> 02:38.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% is going to release a set of -- a classified document that has a set of assertions in it. 02:40.700 --> 02:43.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% To rebut those assertions, presumably, you will need -- and I am told you would need 02:43.433 --> 02:48.433 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% - - another set of classified information which those agencies aren't allowed or really inclined 02:50.633 --> 02:53.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% to release because it's classified. 02:53.233 --> 02:57.800 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% So for some folks in the intelligence community and the FBI, they feel like they are handcuffed, 02:59.800 --> 03:01.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% they're going to be handcuffed in terms of responding to the allegations in the first 03:01.366 --> 03:02.833 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% place. 03:02.833 --> 03:05.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG: And, Devlin, what is the main concern of the FBI? 03:05.533 --> 03:06.666 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% What are they worried about? 03:06.666 --> 03:08.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% DEVLIN BARRETT: There's two main things. 03:08.566 --> 03:13.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% One, that it would involve the release of sensitive information involving an ongoing 03:13.933 --> 03:16.500 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% investigation. 03:16.500 --> 03:19.933 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% Two, that this could set a precedent in which every time an intelligence investigation intersects 03:21.933 --> 03:25.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% with a political matter, that a political committee may decide to just make it public 03:26.866 --> 03:30.266 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% for reasons that may or may not be valid. 03:30.266 --> 03:34.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And so that's a dangerous precedent in their minds, and what some people would call you 03:34.566 --> 03:36.900 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% know politicizing the intelligence system. 03:36.900 --> 03:41.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Now that the FBI has gone public with their objections to this, and we know 03:41.866 --> 03:46.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% what the President Trump's feel being loyalty is, what do you think this does to the standing 03:49.300 --> 03:51.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Rod Rosenstein and Christopher Wray? 03:51.700 --> 03:56.700 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% DEVLIN BARRETT: I think Rosenstein has been on thin ice for awhile, and the ice is probably 03:58.766 --> 04:00.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% getting thinner, but that is not a unique condition in this administration and it's 04:00.866 --> 04:05.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% certainly not a unique condition in a number of parts of the Justice Department. 04:05.333 --> 04:09.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% So I think there is a level of risk of alienation. 04:09.233 --> 04:13.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% You know, the White House and the FBI are growing further apart by the day. 04:13.033 --> 04:15.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% In some ways, the White House and the Justice Department are growing further apart from 04:15.533 --> 04:16.766 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% the day. 04:16.766 --> 04:18.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Does that reach a breaking point? 04:18.033 --> 04:20.066 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% We really don't know. 04:20.066 --> 04:24.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: In your reporting at the FBI and the Justice Department, do they feel under 04:24.033 --> 04:28.733 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% siege, under attack by the White House, by this drumbeat of criticism? 04:28.733 --> 04:32.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% DEVLIN BARRETT: I think they do feel under siege, and they feel like a lot of that is 04:32.433 --> 04:37.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% coming from the Hill and conservatives on the Hill who are clearly -- seem clearly very 04:39.366 --> 04:43.466 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% antagonized and antagonistic toward the origins of the Russia investigation. 04:44.933 --> 04:46.633 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But, clearly, also a lot of that is coming from the White House. 04:46.633 --> 04:50.000 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% There is a great deal of tension there, and they feel that. 04:50.000 --> 04:55.000 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% JOHN YANG: And you have also got some reporting about the -- what is behind the earlier-than-expected 04:56.600 --> 04:59.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% departure of the deputy FBI director, Andrew McCabe. 04:59.700 --> 05:01.466 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% DEVLIN BARRETT: Right. 05:01.466 --> 05:03.533 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% We know what they have been investigating for a number of months. 05:03.533 --> 05:08.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And they have really been trying to unpack the weeks of October 2016, the month before 05:09.133 --> 05:11.433 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% the election that Trump won. 05:11.433 --> 05:16.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And some of that focus, we're told, a big part of that focus for months has been on, 05:16.200 --> 05:21.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% why does there seem to be some delay in the point between when a laptop is found with 05:23.666 --> 05:26.966 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% some new -- seemingly new Hillary Clinton-related e-mails on it and when there is a full exploration 05:29.466 --> 05:32.333 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% of what those e-mails are and whether or not they are important? 05:32.333 --> 05:36.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% That gap has been very important in terms of internal fights within the FBI. 05:36.700 --> 05:40.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And obviously because it's all become publicly known, that gap has also become important 05:40.666 --> 05:44.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% in terms of the questions that the inspector general has been asking of witnesses. 05:44.200 --> 05:49.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Does the fact that Mr. Wray asked or suggested that McCabe leave earlier than 05:51.166 --> 05:55.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% expected suggest something about what is in that I.G.'s report or what the I.G. is finding? 05:57.633 --> 06:00.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% DEVLIN BARRETT: I think it suggests that the report will not give Andrew McCabe a clean 06:01.700 --> 06:04.400 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% bill of health, I think. 06:04.400 --> 06:09.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But I think a lot of people are going to be subject to some type of criticism in that 06:09.200 --> 06:11.166 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% report ultimately. 06:11.166 --> 06:15.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% You know, Andrew McCabe is sort of a unique figure in some ways because is he still in 06:15.433 --> 06:18.500 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the government, or at least was until this Monday. 06:18.500 --> 06:21.800 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% So that played a large role in obviously it affecting him now. 06:21.800 --> 06:26.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But I think there will be criticism doled out, frankly, in a number of areas related 06:27.666 --> 06:29.766 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% to the Clinton investigation. 06:29.766 --> 06:33.033 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% JOHN YANG: And on the Russia investigation, we have just learned that the Justice Department 06:33.033 --> 06:38.033 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% is asking that Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, that his sentencing be delayed. 06:39.333 --> 06:41.533 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% What does that tell us about the investigation? 06:41.533 --> 06:46.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% DEVLIN BARRETT: Well, it tells us that we are a ways away from special counsel Bob Mueller 06:47.133 --> 06:49.300 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% winding this up. 06:49.300 --> 06:51.666 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% You know, you put off a sentencing like that when the witness still needs to do work for 06:51.666 --> 06:56.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% you, when there are still things that have to happen on the prosecutorial and investigative 06:56.200 --> 06:58.266 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% side. 06:58.266 --> 07:01.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And you don't want to show all your cards in the form of a plea or sentencing hearing. 07:01.000 --> 07:06.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So that is what it shows, that Mueller needs more time to finish his work. 07:08.033 --> 07:10.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And, you know, I wouldn't take that as a huge surprise, but I think it's another indicator 07:10.533 --> 07:13.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that this is likely to go on for many months more. 07:13.400 --> 07:16.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post, unpacking a lot of information for us, 07:16.733 --> 07:17.733 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% thanks a lot. 07:17.733 --> 07:17.866 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% DEVLIN BARRETT: Thanks, John.