Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

House Committee Considers Contempt Measure Against Eric Holder: Obama Asserts Executive Privilege in Fast & Furious; Florida Sued Over Voter Registration Purge; Sandusky Did Not Take Stand, Defense Rests

Aired June 20, 2012 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West.

It is now or never for Jerry Sandusky. If he plans to take the stand in his own defense today is the day and this could be the hour. We are live at the Pennsylvania courthouse.

And we knew Florida was a battleground state but months before the election, lawsuits are piling up against a purge of non-citizen voters. Polls tell a different story.

We are also watching France for you where a gunman who says he's al Qaeda is holding people hostage at a bank. So far, he's let two people go. We will take you live to Paris.

But we are going to start now on Capitol Hill where the man in charge of enforcing America's laws may himself be facing prosecution. We are talking about Eric Holder, the U.S. attorney general.

He's being threatened with contempt of Congress for withholding documents from a government sting operation that went horribly wrong. But within the past hour, Holder's boss weighed in on the stand-off and may have big-footed Congress.

CNN's Kate Bolduan is on the case. Kate, we just heard it moments ago, the White House asserting executive privilege. Let's explain exactly what that means now for Eric Holder.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is really the latest twist in this ongoing battle that has really all been leading up to this showdown vote, this contempt vote, that the Republican chairman of the House oversight committee, Congressman Darrell Issa, has been threatening.

He says that he's had a subpoena for internal documents from the Department of Justice relating to this botched gun-running operation known as "Fast and Furious." He wants these documents and the Department of Justice -- there has been a lot of back and forth, how they will get the documents, if they could give over the documents.

Put all those details aside in the background. Today, what we are watching right here, you are see video of the live hearing going on right now. The chairman is moving forward with this vote to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress. This would be a very big deal that this is happening. And just before they came out is when the chairman of the committee received this letter from the Department of Justice saying that the president is asserting executive privilege over these documents that the chairman of the committee is seeking.

Listen here to Darrell Issa. I think we have a sound bite of him, explaining that they've just received this letter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE DARRELL ISSA (R), HOUSE OVERSIGHT & GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I write now to inform you that the president has asserted executive privilege over relevant, post- February 4, 2011 documents.

It goes on for several pages. As we speak, as I speak, the committee is evaluating this. We have verified that no communication from the president has arrived before the House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Now, Kyra, they are still evaluating that behind the scenes of the committee, but as we know right now, the chairman is moving forward with this contempt vote at some point this morning.

Members of the committee are having their say and speaking about what they've thought of this process, a lot of criticism coming from Democrats on the committee, one Democrat calling it a witch-hunt. We have heard that, again and again, Kyra.

But what this means right now is we are expecting this vote to happen. Where things go from here, that's a big question mark right now. It could go to a full House vote.

If it goes from there, if that would happen, it would then -- we understand and this could change -- it would go to the -- basically to the Department of Justice, but it would be unlikely any prosecution would come from that.

But a very big day here as there has been a lot of back and forth and, clearly, they are at standstill, in terms of the negotiations. Really, it comes down to documents, Kyra, that this committee wants and the Department of Justice has been negotiating over it. They say they've provided enough and clearly both sides are not seeing eye-to- eye on this.

PHILLIPS: And you mentioned it is getting quite -- OK. All right. Stop the talking in my ear. OK. Kate, Stay with me. We have a lot going on, obviously.

You mentioned how contentious it is getting among members of the committee. You mentioned Darrell Issa. Also, Elijah Cummings, as you know, the ranking member of the oversight and government reform committee, has been very direct this morning on how he feels this has been an absolute failure and that Eric holder is the one to be held responsible. He is now speaking. Let's go ahead and dip in and listen to what Cummings is saying.

REPRESENTATIVE ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND: ... if the gentle lady would yield.

ISSA: I trust the Justice Department is hearing my interpretation. If they want to deliver documents, they are welcome to. But again ...

REPRESENTATIVE ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D), DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: But, of course, if a contempt is voted already then, of course, we have ended that possibility.

And, since the Justice Department is now hearing a difference between two people who were at the same meeting, it does seem to me that it calls for some opportunity for the Justice Department to come forward and resolve that dispute between the two major figures who were in the deliberations.

And I would ask that that be considered.

ISSA: I appreciate the gentle lady, if she -

CUMMINGS: The gentle lady will yield? Thank you for yielding.

NORTON: I would be glad to yield.

CUMMINGS: I just want to go back to something you said. In the document which was sent from the attorney general's office this morning and is now part of the record and I just want to read the last few words.

It says -- "In closing, while we are deeply disappointed that the committee intends to move forward with consideration of a contempt citation, I stress the department remains willing to work towards a mutually satisfactory resolution to this matter. Please do not hesitate to call or contact us."

Thank you very much for yielding.

ISSA: I thank the gentleman and I think the gentle lady. The gentle lady's time has expired.

REPRESENTATIVE JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: Mr. Chairman?

ISSA: For what purpose does the gentleman from Utah seek recognition?

CHAFFETZ: I move to strike the last word.

ISSA: The gentleman is recognized.

CHAFFETZ: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The beauty and miracle that is the United States of America is that there is no one person in this country that's above the law.

I believe that this committee has a duty, obligation and a right to investigate this matter to its fullest effect.

PHILLIPS: And it is being investigated. That's for sure. And that's why we are talking about it right now as it is happening live on the little.

Let's bring in Joe Johns. Not only does he cover Washington for us, he's also an attorney, so I'm going to ask you a number of questions about what is taking place, Joe.

It is very much inside baseball, the way we have been talking about it at this point, so let's put this in perspective for our viewers. The fact that, you know just going back to the ATF and how it lost -- what was it -- a thousand-plus guns. There was also the death of a U.S. border patrol agent and a lot of questions as to why this operation was taking place the way it was.

Now, let's fast forward and the man that's being held responsible here is our attorney general. Kind of explain to our viewers what's happening right now on the Hill, what that means for our attorney general, and why we need to pay close attention to this at this point.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first let me say that I have a law degree and I worked in Washington for years with lawyers and the judiciary. I don't hold myself out as an attorney.

But I think that you have to talk about two things going on here right now, Kyra. First, there is the issue of what's happening to the United States attorney general right now, the question of whether he will be cited for contempt and then there's the issue of executive privilege.

And number one, just because the White House has asserted executive privilege, it creates potential for this thing to be thrown into the courts. It could be a battle that potentially goes on for years, if there is not a negotiated solution between the parties.

So, look for, at some date down in the future, even if there is a citation for contempt from the full House, for there to be a negotiated solution. Otherwise, it would just take too long.

I talked to a conservative legal scholar today whose familiarity with executive privilege goes all the way back to the Nixon days and he says that executive privilege, when asserted against Congress as opposed to something that was already in the legal system, has a very mixed standing because, number one, as we can see, this is a highly politically-charged situation.

But as a pure matter of law and I think any person who has been to law school can tell you this, the judiciary, generally, just does not uphold a claim of privilege over a congressional demand.

Now, when has this happened before? House judiciary committee got into a confrontation over Karl Rove, Harriet Myers, and the firing of nine United States attorneys back around 2006, 2007 or so.

It all went to court. The U.S. district court upheld the power of Congress, even when White House personnel are involved and there is not a crime alleged, they upheld the power of the Congress to go ahead and investigate all of this and said that there was no grounds for an assertion of executive privilege.

So this could go on for years.

PHILLIPS: And, to put this in perspective, we are talking about documents. We are talking about an investigation into a botched mission with the ATF, the loss of life with the border patrol agent, the investigation involves documents.

They are saying they want to see the documents and want to the see details, but Eric Holder has said, look, I have given you unprecedented access. You have been able to see the DOJ, Department of Justice, documents, so what's the problem here?

JOHNS: Right. The problem is that Congress has a very broad authority to investigate virtually anything that Congress wants to investigate and it doesn't just have to be about wrongdoing. All Congress has to say is. look, we want to find out if we need to pass a new law.

So the Supreme Court has, again and again and again, upheld the time right of Congress to investigate whatever it wants, but that doesn't mean there can't be a very long court battle, so they will probably at the end of the day get together at some point and figure out as they did in the Karl Rove and Harriet Myers case.

Well, we want your people to come and testify, but we won't put them under oath, or we will have very narrow questioning, or we will demand certain documents that have to be heavily redacted.

And that's the kind of thing they end up, you know, coming down to. It could take a while.

PHILLIPS: Now ...

JOHNS: Yes?

PHILLIPS: Go ahead. I was just thinking Janet Reno. It was the documents related to the campaign finance investigation, same situation. I believe this was the late-'90s, right?

JOHNS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And House Speaker Gingrich then opted against a floor vote when the oversight panel held her in contempt for withholding documents related to the campaign finance investigation.

JOHNS: Right. Yes. And I covered that one, too, and that was a lot of "sturm" and "drang" and a lot of fire on Capitol Hill, people trying to understand what contempt really means.

But remember and I think Kate pointed this out at the end of her live shot, at the end of the day, they hold a contempt vote in the House of Representatives and then where do they send it to? They send it to the Justice Department which is controlled by the Democrats, the president and Eric Holder, so that doesn't really go anywhere right now, you know.

On the other hand, you know, there you go. House oversight committee takes a majority vote. The full house takes a majority vote. The U.S. attorney convenes grand jury. Penalty could include up to $1,000 fine and one year in prison, but come on. Where is this thing going to go if you are going to send it back to the guy that you just held in contempt?

PHILLIPS: And just final point to button it up here, we are in a campaign year. You mentioned, you know, Republicans wanting to score some political points here. This is becoming a bit of a hotter issue, considering the timing right now of an election year.

JOHNS: Very. A very politically charged situation. And I have been talking on Capitol Hill. To Democrats, it is very clearly defined. The Democrats all over the Hill don't think this thing is worth a hill of beans. They say that Republicans have just been trying to score points on this from the very beginning.

Republicans feel wholeheartedly that they have to get to the bottom of this, that it's affecting our relationship with our allies to the south. The question of just letting guns go walking is, you know, wholly inappropriate.

And they think that somewhere at the bottom of this, maybe not relating specifically to the Justice Department, but somewhere at the bottom of this they think there has to be some serious accountability.

So the two sides are very far apart, election year and that's what is written all over this case now.

PHILLIPS: Joe Johns putting it all in perspective. And I'm sorry I said you were a lawyer. A law degree, big difference.

You could be a lawyer. OK? That's how smart you are, always helping us weed through everything. Joe Johns, thank you so much. Sure appreciate it.

You can, of course, watch the hearing as well. It's streaming on CNN.com right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And live pictures, once again, to the Hill. You are watching live coverage now. You can also go to CNN.com where we are streaming live.

The latest is President Barack Obama asserting executive privilege over the documents that are being sought by the House committee, as you are seeing here, investigating that botched "Fast and Furious" gunrunning sting that we have been talking about throughout the morning.

What does this mean? How far will this go? What's this mean for Eric holder? And the fact that he's being threatened now with contempt of Congress for withholding these documents, which he says he has given unprecedented access to.

Our Kate Bolduan on the Hill, also listening to the conversation among lawmakers here. Kate, you know, we sort of delved into what's happening just about five minutes ago, where we stand at this point, and now we are getting the back and forth from various members. Some getting a little more heated than others.

Where do we stand? What's your sense of where this is going?

BOLDUAN: The sense that we have and we have not gotten a real indication -- well, this gets into the procedural process of Capitol Hill which we don't need to get into -- but the assumption we have right now is that this committee is still moving towards this vote to hold this vote on this citation to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress, as the chairman of that committee has threatened all along if he did not receiving the documents that he says is needed to continue their investigation into the botched operation, "Fast and Furious."

Now, you have very well noted kind of the latest twist and a very important twist is that now we hear that the president is asserting executive privilege over those very documents that the chairman of the committee wants.

I want to bring to you one of the very interesting and very toughly worded statement I received from the spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner. Now, Republican leaders have been very much not involved with this. They did sign onto the letter pushing for documents and threatening, if they don't get it, the contempt citation, but they have not been involved in this investigation. They have been hands-off, leaving this for Congressman Issa to handle.

But take a listen to this statement I've received in part from the spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner. He says, "Until now, everyone believed that the decisions regarding 'Fast and Furious' were confined to the Department of Justice. The White House decision to invoke executive privileges implies," he says, "that White House officials were either involved in the 'Fast and Furious' operation or the cover-up that followed. The administration has always insisted that was not the case. Were they lying or are they now bending the law to hide the truth?"

Obviously a lot of strong accusations here from House Speaker John Boehner's office, but that's just an example of how this has really kicked it up a notch in terms of the rhetoric and what it is all at play here.

This is a very serious process that's going forward in this committee in the middle of an election season and, obviously, there are a lot of political implications here, Kyra, going on now, outside of the fact that the attorney general -- it could be pretty historic to the attorney general if this would be agreed to by the full House that he would be held in contempt.

But very clearly a lot of rhetoric now surrounding this contempt citation.

One thing that I think has been lost for our viewers, Kyra, that we should probably just give the people a little bit of background. These documents that we are talking about, what the chairman of the committee wants is specifically documents between a time period of February and December of 2011.

Those dates are important, Kyra, because the Department of Justice in that February time frame of last year sent information to Congress saying that there was nothing improper that was done in terms of the operation.

Well, ten months later, they were forced to retract that denial because it became very clear that there were these tactics used in the gunrunning operation and, clearly, that operation was fatally, fundamentally flawed. The Department of Justice, even itself, acknowledged.

So the chairman of the committee wants documents within that time frame because, he says, he wants to know who knew what when and who approved the operation and who knew it went awry. Why did you give inaccurate information to Congress? So he's trying to drill down on that.

But now we know that the Department of Justice through the president, they are asserting executive privilege over this information and, in the letter that was sent from the attorney general to the president, he says that these documents were not generated in the course of their investigation into "Fast and Furious."

He says that they were created after the investigative tactics at issue in that operation had terminated and this was in the course of the department's deliberative process concerning how to respond to congressional and related media inquiries into this.

So he says that this is basically -- they are asking for documents about how we do our job and how we advise you and he says that should be under the purview of executive privilege.

A lot of "inside baseball," but very important what's going on here on Capitol Hill, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I think you hit it. Bottom line, was there a cover-up or not? Were these incorrect tactics? Was it just a bad decision? We can talk with about all the different scenarios.

Kate Bolduan, we will keep following, obviously, what's happening on the Hill and keep checking in with you.

You can also watch the hearing. It is streaming right now on CNN.com. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures from Capitol Hill, continuing to follow the hearing with regard to the man in charge of enforcing America's laws. He himself, we have told you throughout the morning, may be facing prosecution.

We are talking about Eric Holder, our attorney general. He is being threatened, as you know, with contempt of Congress for withholding documents from that government sting operation that went horribly wrong.

We are talking about "Fast and Furious," where a U.S. border patrol agent killed, the president now invoking executive privilege on the documents. We are following the back-and-forth among committee members. We will let you know what exactly is taking place, moment by moment.

You can also go to CNN.com where we are streaming live. You can follow that hearing as well.

Another story we are talking a lot about today is the gunman who says he is a member of al Qaeda. He actually took four people hostage today after a botched bank robbery in France.

We are now learning that all those hostages have been released, five hours after it began. That hostage situation ended just a few minutes ago in Toulouse, about 360 miles south of Paris.

Police now say that gunman was wounded and the last remaining hostages have been released. This occurred just several hundred yards away from where a deadly stand-off with another gunman who claimed to have ties with al Qaeda took place in March. It is the same neighborhood and you will remember the man, Mohammed Merah, was the one suspected of killing seven people, including Jewish school children and a rabbi.

Clinically dead. Not dead, but in a coma. Off life support, but in critical condition. All of those are just some of the conflicting reports now on the condition of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Right now, we are closely monitoring all the developments. Several sources are telling us that the 84-year-old Mubarak came pretty close to death after suffering a heart attack and a stroke.

Ivan Watson is in Cairo for us. Ivan, what's the word you are getting at this point on Mubarak's condition? Making the point, as you heard, that we are continuing to get conflicting information on what really the situation is.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Kyra, it was within the last two hours we spoke to his attorney who has acted like a family spokesman in the wake of any other information coming from Egyptian officials or doctors.

And he says that Mubarak is off of life support after he was moved from the prison where he is supposed to be serving a life sentence for being found guilty of being an accomplice to the deaths of hundreds of protesters a year-and-a-half ago.

Since being moved to a military hospital, his condition has improved somewhat. The attorney took a potshot at the media saying that they thrown the country into disarray with false reporting about Mubarak's death.

I have to point out that this was Egyptian state media, the MENA news agency, that first reported that Mubarak was clinically dead, a report that the ruling military council later denied.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: So what's the sense from Egyptians? I mean, you are there and you have been covering this story, obviously, for months and months. Are they concerned about him? Does it not matter to them? Are they looking forward to, obviously, a different way of life? Is he even on their minds at this point?

WATSON: I think there's a lot of ambivalence to the point -- ranging from ambivalence all the way down to downright suspicion and skepticism. A lot of Egyptians that we talked to are saying, I don't believe anything they say about Hosni Mubarak's health or any kind of emergencies because they feel that this issue has been used almost like crying wolf repeatedly since he was toppled from power a year and a half ago.

PHILLIPS: Ivan Watson out of Cairo for us. Ivan, thanks so much.

And in the next hour, former President Jimmy Carter will weigh in and give us perspective on the turmoil that's unfolding there in Egypt. That's at noon Eastern, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Once again, take you live to Capitol Hill. It is about half past the hour. And we are watching a pretty extraordinary house committee hearing right now. It began just a couple of hours ago. It has become contentious. Why? Because we are talking about contempt measure against Attorney General Eric Holder. Even though President Obama, about 45 minutes ago we reported, asserted executive privilege over documents being sought by this panel that's investigates the botched Fast and Furious raid. You may remember when the ATF lost track of a thousand guns it was supposed to be following, one of which were used to kill a U.S. patrol agent.

We are listening to all of the members of the committee go back and forth on basically they -- they want to know if anything was covered up here. What exactly went wrong? Did Eric Holder, our attorney general, know what went wrong? What's in these documents? Could these documents reveal anything that was covered up surrounding this botched raid? That's what's at issue here. Obviously it is a highly political issue. We are in the middle of a campaign year. So Democrats and Republicans both jumping on this as we monitor the hearing going on this hour.

Something else we are talking about, much lighter note, summer. Officially starting tonight. I don't think any of us need to be told that. Right? All you have is humidity. Especially for those I would -- in the northeast, it seems the high temperatures are pretty much here with a vengeance, Chad Myers. But we -- you know, I think you expected that. You have been monitoring the weather conditions now and, knowing that, we shouldn't be surprised, I guess.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I love when you can see the air because at least you know it is there. Right?

PHILLIPS: Have you the pictures?

MYERS: From the top of our Time Warner Center, looking towards the north, should be able to see all the buildings up there in the Bronx. I was talking to our producer. How is it going in New York? It has been very cold. I said watch what you ask for. Watch what you ask for. Because it is going to come so fast you are not going know it. Temperatures today will make a run at 97, even today could see central park maybe even to 100. That's not a problem when it is dry but it is not dry. When you can see the air, like I just showed you, it is muggy out will. Feeling already like 100 degrees in midtown. Take your time out there today. First big day of heat. It comes in after such a cool period. People just weren't red write for that one- day switch. Yesterday, 77. Today, 97. That is a big difference we are seeing in the city and Philadelphia, Boston and into Baltimore as well.

PHILLIPS: Chad, thanks so much.

Not getting much relief any time soon. Of course, best thing to do is stay cool. Here's a few tips to beat the heat. Our fabulous medical unit put that together. Stay out of the sun, of course. Wear light clothing. Drink plenty of water. Turn on the fans or air conditioner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live to Capitol Hill where we are following the live committee hearing over Attorney General Eric Holder. What's at stake here? Well, U.S. Attorney general is being threatened with contempt of Congress for withholding the documents that surround that botched Fast and Furious raid where a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed with weapons that were being moved back and forth, a mission held under the ATF, and lost track of those guns. If you listen to what Representative Darrell Issa said, chairman of the Oversight Government Reform Committee, it seems to not really jive with what analysts are saying are taking place here.

Let's listen to Issa first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DARRELL ISSA, (R-CA), CHAIRMAN, OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE: I write now to inform you, the president has asserted executive privilege over relevant post-February 4, 2011 documents. It goes on for several pages. As we speak, as I speak, the committee is evaluating this. We have verified that no communication from the president has arrived before the House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. That's actually the wrong piece of sound.

Kate Bolduan, I'm going to go straight to you on the Hill. We are going to stay away from parts of the hearing until we get that all organized.

Let's backtrack here and put into perspective what exactly is happening on the Hill right now. This goes back to a story you and I both, all of us there, had been covering for months about this ATF raid that went horribly wrong and there was a loss of life within the U.S. Border Patrol. Now the question is -- what exactly happened? Was it bad tactics? Was it just a bad idea? And was there a cover up? That's what this committee wants to know, why they want to get their hands on these documents that now the White House saying no, executive privilege, sorry.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely right. You laid out exactly the questions the committee said it wants to answer. They say that this is the power of -- this is the job, one of the jobs, of Congress. Specifically this committee, house oversight and government reform committee to keep kind of about -- be the check and balance to watch and figure out what went wrong if things go wrong like -- both sides of the aisle, both branches of government acknowledge that this operation went horribly wrong. This was a high- profile political showdown between the Republican chairman of the committee, Darrell Issa, and the president's top law enforcement law enforcement official, Attorney General Eric Holder. Really with this latest twist of this executive privilege assertion from coming from the White House, this really kicks it up a notch. Threatening, if it isn't already, to become a full-scale battle, not just between these two men, really between two branches of government, the legislative and executive branches of government.

If you listen to a statement I received from House Speaker John Boehner, they are making joint statements here now that executive privilege has been asserted from the White House. The -- in part, the statement says, "The White House decision to invoke executive privilege implies the White House officials were involved in the Fast and Furious Operation or the cover up that followed." Cover up is a very strong word. Also going on to say, "The administration has always insisted that wasn't the case. Were they lying? Are they now bending the law to hide the truth"? Very strong words coming from the spokesman for John Boehner.

What this comes down to has to do with documents. This botched operation, -- both sides agree this was a botched operation. It was allowing for purchases of illegal -- of weapons illegally to track them to Mexican drug cartels. The ATF lost track of hundreds of those weapons. One of those weapons was found at the scene of the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent Bryan Terry. This investigation was kicked off -- has kicked off a lot of questions from a whistle blower with Republican Senator -- Republican Senator Charles Grassley. Chairman Issa took this up. They have been going back and forth for months trying to figure out who knew what when and it is coming to a head here as the showdown with the contempt vote. Talking about documents and want to know how high up this went and who knew what, within the Department of Justice. We know the White House is saying honestly, these documents you are looking for, off limits and off the table. What this means in --

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you this, Kate. If the committee votes to hold in him in contempt what then?

BOLDUAN: There are a lot of questions, how this will proceed. My best understanding as of now if this committee votes and majority of members -- it is very likely to be a party line vote.

I'm going to send it back to you. They are telling me to send it back to you.

PHILLIPS: OK. Sorry about that. We are trying to get our bearings here together. We will keep checking in with you as we are following this live hearing.

CNN.com where we are streaming this hearing live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We are still monitoring the House committee, what's happening on Capitol Hill. As each member of the committee has their say. What are we talking about? Eric Holder, our U.S. attorney general. What exactly could happen to him? What did he know and not know about that botched gun raid called Fast and Furious. You will remember that there were a number of questions surrounding that raid with regard to what happened and were, whose decision was it, who knew what, why did the U.S. Border Patrol have to die in the hands of a government raid.

Right now, they are discussing the issue of Eric Holder being threatened with contempt of Congress for withholding documents from the sting. They want to know exactly the details of that raid that they believe the only way they get to the answer of this investigation is in those documents. If indeed there was a cover up. Very strong words. That's what they are coming out and claiming they want to know.

Our Kate Bolduan is on the Hill, of course, following this committee and what each member is saying. She will keep us up to date as we follow this. You can go to CNN.com where we are streaming live and follow exactly what's happening.

Now President Obama stepped in and exerting executive privilege, saying you can't have those documents, these members on the committee saying they still want to see them. And Eric Holder is the man now being threatened with contempt of Congress for withholding them.

Florida's not only a battleground state but center of an explosive controversy right now that could impact November's elections. About 100,000 registered voters whose citizenships are in question could be purged from the state's voting polls. The Justice Department, the American Civil Liberties Union, among others, have already filed lawsuits to stop the purge. But now a number of advocacy groups are also slapping Florida with what could be one of the most extensive lawsuits yet.

CNN Espanol's Adriana Hauser has been following the story for us and joining us live from Miami.

Adriana, in a nutshell, supporters say this purge will prevent election fraud. Critics say it violates voting rights.

ADRIANA HAUSER, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning. This lawsuit comes from a coalition of voter rights and specifically names as the defendant the secretary of state. Some of the groups involved with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights. The attorney for the last group, advancement project, told us that in their claim, they highlight that although Hispanics represent 14 percent of registered voters in the state, 67 percent of those identified as potential non-citizens are Latinos and 87 percent people of color. The lawsuit comes in addition to the ones filed earlier in the month by the Department of Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union. But how is this lawsuit different? The groups suing say this lawsuit is more expansive than others because it claims the violation of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act as well as the violation after federal law that prohibits removal of names less than 90 days before an election and as you know, Florida has primaries on august 14. They say that the previous lawsuits are a discrimination but only as it relates to five counties. Instead, this one is statewide.

PHILLIPS: How are Florida officials responding to the lawsuit?

HAUSER: Well, we reached out to the secretary of state and the division of elections. The spokesman told us we have a year-round obligation to ensure the roles are current and accurate. So identifying ineligible voters not only the right thing to do but it is our statutory responsibility. Making sure an ineligible voter can't neutralize the vote of an eligible voter is a key part of upholding the integrity of Florida elections. Furthermore, we continue to quote we are not aware of anyone aware of anyone who has been erroneously removed from the voters as a result of the initiative and race and party don't play any roles in the process whatsoever.

Kyra, Florida also filed a lawsuit asking the Department of Homeland Security access to more accurate databases, and so far, they have been using records from Department of Motor Vehicles, which is not necessarily the most up to date -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Adriana Hauser, thank you so much.

And one of the attorneys whose group is involved in the latest lawsuit actually spoke with CNN earlier the day, and she says that the biggest concern is that minorities are being discriminated against.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENDA HAIR, CO-LITIGATOR: Florida is saying -- it's made a list of voters who are citizens, and it is saying that they are not noncitizens using bogus evidence. And 82 percent of the people on this list are people of color, and over 60 percent are Latino.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Florida's governor, Rick Scott, says that the purge is a legal necessity and says that claims of racial discrimination are bogus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it is another big moment in the child rape trial of Jerry Sandusky, and we are told that the defense has rested without calling Sandusky to the stand.

Susan Candiotti is standing by at the courthouse.

What do you know, Susan? Did we lose?

Are we able to connect with her, or no? No.

OK. We are going to try and get back in touch with Susan Candiotti. And we apologize for that. And by the way, no cameras are allowed in the courtroom, but we will continue to follow this with Susan, and once we get the mike connected. She is going back and forth and she will bring us all of the information as you will hear it first on CNN.

We will take a quick break and come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: This is CNN breaking news. And the breaking news is that the defense has rested and Jerry Sandusky did not take the stand.

Candiotti, I believe we are connected to you now, and we can hear you loud and clear. Tell us what just happened.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this is the moment that everyone had been waiting for and will he or won't he, and the answer is he won't. Jerry Sandusky is not taking the stand. The defense has rested. And furthermore, we are done for the day. Also a stunning announcement, there is going to be no rebuttal case, and closing arguments instead begin tomorrow, so this is moving ahead rapid-fire fashion.

Here is the drama that led up to this. After a few defense witnesses took the stand this morning, there was a recess. After when everyone came back, nothing happened and the courtroom was empty for waiting for the parties to come back in for 45 minutes. During this time, we saw Jerry Sandusky's defense attorneys leaving the courtroom going into the conference room with Jerry Sandusky, and then they came out. Then they went back into the judge's area, and then they came back out, and after 45 minutes had passed finally the announcement made in court taking some people by surprise and others not. But, this clearly appears that it will be in the hands of the jury by Friday.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Susan, everybody was paying attention and wanting to see if indeed he was going to take the stand, because as you remember that interview he did with Bob Costas, and what he said was absolutely riveting, so he had the choice of over whether he wanted to do this or not. Is your sense that his attorneys said no way, do not speak.

CANDIOTTI: Well, the decision is clearly always up to the defendant. And there were a lot of risks if he took the stand and other people said he had nothing to lose because of the strength of the prosecution's case, and at the end, we will find out why the decision was made as the day goes on.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, Susan Candiotti.

NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL starts right now.