CNN 2012-06-14

 We begin tonight with breaking news. We have just learnt that attorney general Eric Holder 1 has assigned two US attorneys to lead investigations 3 of the possible leaking of classified information. The pressures have been building over the US leaks for a couple of days. Senator John McCain has claimed White House officials leak information about US counter terrorism efforts overseas to try to boost the president Obama's national security credentials 4. The leak resulted in a wave of news report recently. Today, Obama once again deny the White House deliberately 5 leaked the state secretes 6. She, White House correspondent, Justine Yale is joining us now with the breaking news. The administration has been felling clearly, feeling by # and pressure for several days, now just account its leaks. What do we know?

 
Hi, Anderson. Well, look at the time-test Washington strategy, leak unpleasant news on Friday night and hope the Medias all drinking and too busy to pay attention over the president also. I am joking a little bit. The president also was under a lot of pressure after his answers at press conference today. When he didn't definitively 7 say whether or not the administration was investigating its leaks. Here is the president.
 
What I am saying is that we consistently whenever there is classified information that is put out into the public. We try to find out where that came from. Ok, thank you very much everybody, thank you.
 
Well Anderson, the president someone in the Hill have as you say accused White House deliberately leaking this information to make president look like a strong commander achieve in the election year and the White House has emphatically denied that charge. And the question is, was anybody in the administration involved in sharing any of this information and that's this investigation 2 is helping 8 to get to the bottom of. 
 
And clearly if you read some of these reports such as this article in New York Times about the program of computer virus use against Iran. I mean it does quote administration officials whether or not they were leaking classified information. I guess that what investigators 9 will look into. Now someone in the Capitol Hill, senator McCain among them had called for officially independent investigation and a special council to be appointed. Clearly the White House is not going down that road. Do you think it is going to satisfy the critical sound of the Hill. We say that the White House, you know, the justice department should not have been investigating the White House.
 
Although some who are probably not going to be satisfied, but this is according to attorney general Holder's standard procedure and from this point of view, you have the state, two very senior prosecutors 11 were investigating them. Each is the US attorney. There is Ronald Machen who was nominated by president Obama a democrat 12, who is leading one of the investigations. But the other investigation is being led by a man named Rod J. Rosenstein and he was appointed by Gorge 13 W Bush regionally. And he actually at one point served with Kantar, you remember him because he helped to investigate white water Monica Lewinsky affair. So hardly, you know, hardly a democrat, hardly a neutral, not to be you could say it is going to be president back pocket. And both are graduates of Harvard Law School, interestingly because the president was as well. And attorney general Holder has said that he has notified members of congress about this investigation but will continue to update them both members of the Intelligence Committee and # committee. So that should satisfy the members of congress who do insist on being captured # this sort of things, Anderson.
 
I mean you have been covering the White House for a while. How seriously the White House is taking this? How bad I mean, how much did they worry about this heavy blow back in president?
 
Well, look, this administration points out that it is true. They take leaks seriously and they have actually investigated it and prosecutors more leakers than other administrations which is someone ...
 
You take that all administrations combined they have another six ongoing 14 cases.
 
Right, and they take a lot hit from the left forward because it is not something that is used to back democratic administrations. So they say they take it seriously and the president pointed 10 that out today. He has yet tolerance 15 for this. You know, let us think about this sort of investigations. Once they start, you never know where they lead and how long they last. So the political implication could be potentially damaging for this administration in the election year and I'd also finally add this is not going to be a good week for the president, not just leak story but here disappointing job's number is also a political damage with the campaign this week. So it has just been a tough one for the president I think he won't be glad for the weekend to come.
 
Yeah, and a difficult day, just stay around because I want to talk you more about that in just a moment another keep # report that president Obama really gave Republican today what some are calling it a gift when they said this at Friday press briefing.