Federal Judges' Association Calls Emergency Meeting After DOJ Intervenes in Roger Stone's Case; Judge to Hear from Roger Stone's Defense Team and DOJ Amid Sentencing Chaos Today; One Hundred and Fifty-Plus Quarantined Americans to Be Released Today
POPPY HARLOW, ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: All right, welcome back. So, in the wake of Attorney General Bill Barr's intervening in specific federal cases, "USA Today" is now reporting that a group of more than a thousand federal judges is calling an emergency meeting because they find what they call a crisis at the Justice Department so alarming they say they couldn't wait until their regularly scheduled conference this Spring to discuss it. Let's talk about what this means. CNN Crime and Justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz is here. How significant that this is being called -- by the way, the lead judge, leading this group is a Bush appointee.</s>SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's very significant. And you can tell the concern that the judiciary branch now has over what the president and what the Attorney General have done here. Just in the last week. So it is very significant. They were supposed to have this meeting in Spring. The woman, the judge as you said, she decided that they wanted to do this meeting now. They needed to have this emergency meeting to discuss what's going on. So they're having this meeting today. It's going to be a telephone conference. And we'll see, they're calling it -- according to "USA Today", she's calling it a deepening crisis over what -- how politicized the Department of Justice has become. And that is one of the reasons why they have decided to have this emergency meeting, this phone call today with this group of judges.</s>HARLOW: Also today, another phone call.</s>PROKUPECZ: Yes --</s>HARLOW: This is between the judge who essentially -- finally going to decide on whatever sentence Roger Stone gets and sign off on it. Judge Amy Berman Jackson is having a call today at 11:00 a.m. with the defense team and the prosecutors.</s>PROKUPECZ: Right, and the new prosecutors --</s>HARLOW: New prosecutors --</s>PROKUPECZ: That were just assigned to the case, because as we know, the four prosecutors who were initially prosecuted, Roger Stone withdrew from the case --</s>HARLOW: Right --</s>PROKUPECZ: Over the fact that Bill Barr intervened in the case. We don't know exactly what's going to happen today. It's billed as a scheduling conference. It's going to be a phone call. It could very well be that they postpone the sentencing --</s>HARLOW: Right --</s>PROKUPECZ: Because of all the drama surrounding the case. We'll know at around 11:00 a.m. But what's significant today, this is going to be the first time we hear from this judge.</s>HARLOW: Yes --</s>PROKUPECZ: Of course, she, too, has come under fire from the president. He's tweeted about her. So it's going to be interesting to see if she says anything in response to the four attorneys who withdrew from the case, and also --</s>HARLOW: Yes --</s>PROKUPECZ: Is she going to question the department --</s>HARLOW: Or ask questions about why they left?</s>PROKUPECZ: Exactly, what happened? Why all of a sudden, there's this change in the Department of Justice concerning Roger Stone's sentencing?</s>HARLOW: And quickly, when was Stone supposed to be sentenced?</s>PROKUPECZ: Thursday --</s>HARLOW: Thursday --</s>PROKUPECZ: This is supposed to happen Thursday.</s>HARLOW:  OK -- PROKUPECZ: It still could happen --</s>HARLOW:  OK -- PROKUPECZ: But we'll know better today after 11:00.</s>HARLOW: And there's that motion for a new trial.</s>PROKUPECZ: Well, that too --</s>HARLOW: So --</s>PROKUPECZ: That's right --</s>HARLOW: Thank you, Shimon, I appreciate it. Let's talk about all of what's developed on that front. CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti joins us, and CNN political analyst Margaret Talev. Good morning, guys. Renato, let me just begin with you --</s>MARGARET TALEV, POLITICS & WHITE HOUSE EDITOR, AXIOS: Good morning --</s>HARLOW: And for example what Preet Bharara; the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York tweeted about this, quote, "I hope and expect that this means the judge will probe why the four prosecutors felt the need to withdraw from the Stone case." I mean, what do -- what do you expect to play out on this phone call?</s>RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: You know, it's a great question. And I think if the judge does get into this, it could be a can of worms. I think a lot of judges would want to hear from the Justice Department exactly what happened. But I -- you know, I think more likely her focus is going to be on going forward, how is this going to impact the Justice Department's ability to proceed on time? Because this sentencing was scheduled for the 20th. It's right around the corner. I think what she wants to know is, is the Justice Department prepared to go forward? Has anything been raised by the defense that changes the circumstances here? She may ask some pointed questions about why the Justice Department changed its position on sentencing one day after it told her that the sentencing guidelines were appropriate. Such an unusual thing. I'm sure she's going to ask questions about that.</s>HARLOW: So in terms of what this means for Bill Barr and the president and his ability to do his job independently as he complained about, Margaret, in that "ABC" interview, saying the president's tweets make it harder for him to do his job. The tweets haven't stopped. I mean, this morning, you see more tweets from the president specifically going after the Stone prosecutors, even repeating the words of a "Fox" commentator saying that, you know, not only does Stone need a lighter sentence, but needs an entirely new trial questioning, you know, the lead juror in this case. What does this mean for that continuing saga between the two?</s>TALEV: I mean, look, there's no other way to see this other than this is an inflection point and a real moment of crisis for the independence of the judiciary, the Justice Department, the prosecutorial system. We have talked often over the last three years about how President Trump stress tests different institutions. And the stress test now is there. It's on judges and it's on the prosecutors inside his own government. And I think it is impossible to see the emergency call of these judges today separately from this letter that now has 2,000 signatories of former Justice Department officials from Republican as well as Democratic administrations calling on Barr to resign. There is a real effort now in this community to rally around judges to say we have to support judges who are following the guidelines of the law and to signal very strongly to the president and to his team and to the Attorney General to take politics and political considerations out of the administration of justice.</s>HARLOW: And you know, Renato, to Margaret's point, I mean, you now have more than 2,000 former Justice Department officials, veterans of both Democratic and Republican administrations calling on Barr to resign. And on top of that, you now have a judge, a U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, appointed by former President Bush, calling together this emergency meeting of a thousand judges to say there's a crisis at DOJ. Where should the American people expect this to go in terms of actually changing anything or should they not?</s>MARIOTTI: Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I was one of the people who signed that letter, and we were pretty clear in the letter itself that we didn't expect Attorney General Barr to resign. I don't think anyone expects him to do that, even though that's what the letter called on him to do. But I think that what the concern is, and I think the message has been heard by Attorney General Barr, is that we have to have confidence and the public has to have confidence in our system going forward. And we can't -- you know, the public can't believe that if you're a friend of the president, you're going to get special treatment. And so, I think that judges -- I can't presume to know exactly what they're going to talk about, but what I would expect is how they can restore confidence in the judiciary and in our system at a time in which the president on the one hand is attacking the judiciary for being biased. And in another -- on the other hand trying to do what he can to weight the system in favor of his friends and associates.</s>HARLOW: Let me just turn the corner here before we have to go, because Margaret, John Bolton spoke last night, he actually not -- he didn't just speak at Duke. He did an interview. When generally in interviews, you attempt to get answers, substantive answers, especially from someone like John Bolton at such a pressing time, who has said that he would testify if subpoenaed. But he didn't give a lot of answers last night. I mean, he called that the president has been wrong on North Korea and wrong on Iran. But when asked about the Ukraine phone call or anything substantive like that, he just, you know, teased his book. He's often identified himself as being a patriot, will declining to testify then dodging questions and teasing chapters of his book damages reputation or I guess just helps sell more books.</s>TALEV: Well, look, I think the book is eventually going to come out. It's not clear what parts of the book are going to be blacked out or not make the final cut. And it seems that that's certainly what he's negotiating for right now. It's either to get the White House and the NSC not to block sections or at least to juice book sales before the publication date next month. But look, the house Democrats so far have decided not to subpoena him because they think politically, it's time to move on. I'm not sure that's going to change. I'm not sure that President Trump is going to be, you know, goaded into engaging by this. And so, there are real questions about what can come from this Peter Favor(ph) who did the interview yesterday, has worked for Republican and Democratic administrations on national security --</s>HARLOW: Yes --</s>TALEV: If anyone could get it out of John Bolton, he could, but he was not able to. So, Bolden has promised major new revelations on the Ukraine. A lot of people were saying, if they're so important, why don't you just tell us what they are.</s>HARLOW: Yes, and he has said because he can't. His hands are tied by the White House. Well, we'll see. He speaks again, I think on -- later this week at another university. So we'll see what happens --</s>TALEV: Yes --</s>HARLOW: Margaret, thanks, Renato --</s>TALEV: Thanks --</s>HARLOW: Appreciate it. This morning, more than 100 Americans quarantined at a military base in California. They will be free as several hundred more are just beginning their isolation. Of course, this is all tied to the coronavirus. We're also moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Stocks trending lower to start the shortened holiday week of trading. The coronavirus still has investors uneasy. Apple stock taking a hit this morning after the tech giant warned the outbreak will affect its bottom line. Apple says it will likely miss earnings targets for the quarter because the virus has shut down all of its stores in China and halted manufacturing there for some time.