House Democrats have summoned former FBI director and former special counsel Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill, where he’s expected to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.
In May 2017, former FBI director Mueller was appointed to lead the federal investigation into potential Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential campaign and whether President Trump or his campaign team was involved with any presidential election meddling. Mueller was appointed to lead the investigation by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, a move which took place eight days after Trump fired then-FBI director James Comey, who had been leading the Russia investigation.
As one might expect, the television news networks–broadcast and cable–are devoting a significant amount of resources to covering Wednesday’s testimony. But, if the average American who doesn’t consume news 24/7 decides to watch, will he or she actually learn anything new? The Democrats seem to think so. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace over the weekend that the infamous Mueller report presented “substantial evidence the president is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Chairman Nadler tells Chris Wallace the Mueller Report presents substantial evidence the President is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors #FNS pic.twitter.com/6lq57yTV1N
— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) July 22, 2019
We’ll see what happens on Wednesday.
In the meantime, here are the networks’ coverage plans:
ABC News
- Chief anchor George Stephanopoulos will anchor live coverage of the hearings from New York on Wednesday, beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET with World News Tonight anchor David Muir reporting from the Capitol along with ABC News’ political team chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas, senior congressional correspondent Mary Bruce, and chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl from Washington, D.C., and senior White House correspondent Cecilia Vega.
- The special report will also feature chief legal analyst Dan Abrams and contributors Chris Christie and Kate Shaw. Muir will anchor World News Tonight from Washington, D.C.
- ABC News will provide comprehensive coverage and analysis throughout the Mueller testimony on ABCNews.com, and FiveThirtyEight will liveblog the proceedings.
- ABC News Live – the network’s 24/7 breaking news and live events streaming channel – will broadcast the testimony in its entirety on the ABC News site and mobile phone apps, as well as Hulu Live, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon FireTV, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
- Senior Washington Reporter Devin Dwyer will lead the streaming coverage featuring ABC News’ political team.
- Daily newscast “On Location” will have a recap and post-testimony analysis on July 25 – exclusively for Facebook Watch.
- ABC News Radio will provide live coverage of Mueller’s testimony anchored by correspondent Aaron Katersky in Washington, with reporting by multi-platform correspondent Trevor Ault on Capitol Hill.
- ABC News Radio will provide four one-minute status reports each hour beginning at 6 a.m. ET. A one-hour instant special will air at 7:06 p.m. with recap analysis of the day.
- The next morning, the Start Here podcast will post a special edition, featuring highlights from Mueller’s testimony, reporting from ABC News’ political team, reaction and analysis.
- ABC NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, will provide full coverage with Correspondents Mona Kosar Abdi and Ault reporting from Capitol Hill. Thomas and ABC News Political Director Rick Klein will provide analysis for ABC affiliates.
CBS News
- The new anchor of the CBS Evening News Norah O’Donnell will lead CBS’ live coverage of the hearings beginning at 8:15 a.m. ET.
- Joining O’Donnell for the CBS News Special Report: High Stakes and History, will be CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett; CBS News chief Congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes; CBS News White House correspondent Paula Reid; and CBS News Justice and Homeland Security correspondent Jeff Pegues.
- CBS News contributors Jonathan Turley and Kim Wehle will also provide analysis, and CBS News Intelligence and National Security reporter Olivia Andrzejczak Gazis contribute reporting from the hearing rooms.
- CBS will deliver comprehensive coverage surrounding the hearing, beginning on CBS This Morning with Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil and Vladimir Duthiers (Anthony Mason is off) from Studio 57 in New York.
- CBSN, CBS News’ free 24/7 cable news streaming service, will stream coverage surrounding Mueller’s testimony beginning at 7 a.m. ET, anchored by CBS News correspondents Vladimir Duthiers and Anne Marie Green.
- The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell will originate from Washington on Wednesday with full coverage of Mueller’s testimony.
- Coverage will also be featured across all CBS News platforms including CBSNews.com, CBS News Radio and CBS Newspath.
CNN
- The duo of Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper will anchor CNN’s live coverage of the hearings from Washington.
C-SPAN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24: Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testifies before Congress.
House Judiciary Committee – LIVE at 8:30am ET on C-SPAN3 https://t.co/u0agAhjRg1
House Intelligence Committee – LIVE at noon ET on C-SPAN3 https://t.co/h9zmlwJn6I https://t.co/fICQy9i3To
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 19, 2019
Fox News Channel
Contrary to the belief of some MSNBC contributors, Fox News actually IS televising the Mueller testimony. Below are their plans.
- FNC’s coverage will begin at 8:15 a.m. ET preempting Fox & Friends.
- Special Report’s Bret Baier and The Story’s Martha MacCallum will co-anchor coverage live from Washington throughout both testimonies.
- Contributing to the network’s special programming will be Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace, co-host of The Five Juan Williams along with Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich and former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Andrew McCarthy.
- Former Independent Counsel Ken Starr will also offer legal commentary throughout the network’s special coverage.
- Fox News will also provide coverage of the hearings to Fox broadcasting stations across the country.
- Leading up to the hearing, FNC will present a special edition of Outnumbered, featuring co-anchor Harris Faulkner, America’s Newsroom co-anchor Sandra Smith, Fox Business Network’s Dagen McDowell, FNC contributor and legal analyst Emily Compagno. Baier and MacCallum will continue to helm special coverage for the afternoon testimony with additional special guests and experts.
- Fox News Radio will present special programming throughout the day, available nationally on terrestrial affiliates and via podcast.
- Contributions will be made throughout the day by FNR’s Tonya Powers, White House correspondent Jon Decker and national correspondent Jared Halpern to break down the latest surrounding Mueller’s testimony.
- Fox News Headlines 24/7 will provide updates every 15 minutes on SiriusXM Channel 115. Additionally, special editions of the Fox News Rundown and DC-based podcast From Washington will be available for download.
- FOXNews.com will also feature wall-to-wall coverage of the testimonies. The homepage will feature a live blog that will be continuously updated throughout the day, including multiple breakout stories, photos and real-time reaction from experts and opinion writers. Both testimonies will be steamed live on FOXNews.com as well as coverage from Fox News Channel, which viewers can access via: http://www.foxnews.com.
NBC News/MSNBC
- Coverage on NBC News will begin at 8:15 a.m. ET and continue into the afternoon through both sessions.
- The special coverage will be led by NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, NBC News chief legal correspondent and Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, and moderator of Meet the Press and NBC News political director Chuck Todd.
- On MSNBC, live coverage will start at 6 a.m. ET with Morning Joe.
- Brian Williams, host of The 11th Hour, and Nicolle Wallace, host of Deadline: White House, will anchor MSNBC’s coverage beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET in New York and will be joined by Ari Melber, host of The Beat, from Washington, D.C. in the lead up to and following both hearings.
- Andrea Mitchell will join from NBC News HQ in New York
- Pete Williams will provide analysis from the network’s Washington Bureau
- NBC News legal analysts Neal Katyal, Chuck Rosenberg, Joyce Vance and NBC News Political Analyst former Sen. Claire McCaskill will offer analysis from New York
- Cynthia McFadden and Richard Engel will also join from New York and London respectively to provide analysis on Russian election interference
- Geoff Bennett and Kasie Hunt will be live from Capitol Hill
- Hallie Jackson and Kristen Welker and will report on the latest from the White House
- The testimony will also stream live on NBC News Now, NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, YouTube, and other OTT platforms beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET.
- NBC News NOW will host additional special coverage in the afternoon, hosted by Danny Cevallos, covering reactions to the testimony and more.
- NBC News Digital’s Jane Timm and Adam Edelman will provide real-time fact checks, and Ken Dilanian, Cevallos, Jon Allen will publish reporting and analysis of the testimony.
- Plus, a live blog from additional contributors across NBC News will include highlights of notable moments and reactions from the president, committee members and 2020 candidates. NBCNews.com will also publish a full transcript of the testimony that is filterable by the party of the representative questioning Mueller, a live ‘deflections tracker’ counting the number of times Mueller avoids answering a question directly, and more.
Stay Tuned will cover the testimony as an explainer in that day’s show on Snapchat and Instagram.
A special edition of the Chuck ToddCast, a podcast from Meet the Press and Todd, will be available following the testimonies featuring an interview with former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.