Judge Orders Release for Man Accused of Plotting Terror Attack
BLITZER: Breaking news. House Democrats have opened a new probe into President Trump's firing of top officials over the Department of Homeland Security. Let's go to our congressional correspondent Sunlen Serfaty. She's tracking all the news from Capitol Hill. Sunlen, tell us more about this late-breaking investigation.</s>SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this is just another chapter in the escalating, the quickly escalating tug of war between the White House and Democrats up here on Capitol Hill. Today Democrats are essentially trying to ratchet up their pressure on the White House. The chairman of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Homeland Security Committees are demanding new documents from the Department of Homeland Security. They want to know what role President Trump and specifically also White House senior adviser Stephen Miller had in the firings and resignations of some recent DHS top officials, including former Secretary Nielsen who resigned earlier this month. The letter sent to DHS today says in part, quote, "We are deeply concerned that the firing and forced resignation of these officials puts the security of the American people at risk. We are also concerned that the president may have removed DHS officials because they refused his demands to violate federal immigration law and judicial orders. Moreover, we are concerned by reports that, even as he has removed the department's leadership, the president has sought to empower a White House aide Stephen Miller, to 'be in charge of handling all immigration and border affairs.'" And this, of course, comes after last night. The White House defied the Democrats on Capitol Hill and turned down their request to have Stephen Miller testify in front of the House Oversight Committee on immigration. That's one of several subpoenas the White House is defying as Democrats, Wolf, try to figure out a way to push forward.</s>BLITZER: All right. Sunlen thanks very much. Sunlen Serfaty up on Capitol Hill. And yet there's more breaking news. A federal judge has just ruled that a U.S. Coast Guard officer accused of plotting a domestic terror attack must -- must be released from detention. Christopher Hasson now faces weapons and drug charges but has not been charged with terrorism. Our justice correspondent Jessica Schneider has been gathering more information. It's pretty surprising. Why has he been released?</s>JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's going to be released, Wolf. And the judge said that really his alleged crimes don't fit the standard for continued detention. So this is Coast Guard Lieutenant Christopher Hasson. He's been in jail since mid-February. He's accused of plotting a domestic terror attack. But a grand jury has actually only indicted him on weapons and drug charges. So, Hasson's public defender saying in court today that the case against Hasson has really been overblown, and the attorney even went so far to say that Hasson's views aren't that different from those of President Trump. Hasson allegedly kept a hit list of Democrats he wanted to kill, and he kept more than a dozen firearms in his apartment which you can see there. But his attorney said the names that Hasson allegedly assembled weren't actually part of a hit list but instead, quote, "...looks like the sort of list that our commander in chief might have compiled while watching Fox News in the morning." The defender actually adding to that, that the racial slurs that Hasson wrote are now part of the, quote, "...national vocabulary saying Donald Trump uses similar epithets in his everyday language and tweets." So some strong words there from the public defender. But prosecutors disagreeing. The assistant U.S. attorney in Maryland said Hasson was ready and willing to carry out a massive attack. Putting it this way, saying, "This is combat gear. There is no reason to have this. The defendant intended to take his weapons and go." But the judge here siding with Christopher Hasson saying that he will soon be released and the terms of his release will be decided at a later hearing. But still the judge saying he has grave concerns about Hasson, especially because he stockpiled those weapons and even conducted online searches for the home addresses of multiple Supreme Court justices. So because Hasson is likely still a threat, the judge put it this way when talking about his eventual release saying, "He's got to have a whole lot of supervision. Somebody who's got eyes and ears on him like nobody's business." So, Wolf, the judge warning that Hasson is still a threat here but now Hasson's attorney is drawing up some multiple options for his release when he is eventually released. That will be decided at another hearing to come.</s>BLITZER: It will be surprising development. We'll watch it closely. Thank you very much. Just ahead, CNN has learned that North Korea demanded $2 million in exchange for American student Otto Warmbier who died shortly after his return home. The United States still hasn't paid the ransom. Could the audacious demand complicate negotiations between President Trump and Kim Jong-un?