CNN has two of the fastest-reading reporters in the world.
Less than 10 minutes after the long-awaited Robert Mueller report on the Russia investigation was released, CNN Justice Department reporters Laura Jarrett and Evan Perez had apparently read through its 448 partially redacted pages and digested its contents.
That's according to CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who led coverage of the release of the investigation. At 11:04 A.M., with a chyron flashing that the report had been released to the public, Tapper read out the URL of how to read the report on the Justice Department's website.
"I want to go to Laura Jarrett for one second, because Laura has read the report," Tapper said at 11:12, eight minutes after it first came out. "She got it before—two minutes ago, or whenever it was released."
At 11:15, Tapper cut in to say, "I want to go to Evan Perez, who has also read the report. Evan, tell us what you think some of the big takeaways are from the report?"
A CNN source said Jarrett and Perez had been reviewing respective sections of the report's contents for roughly 40 minutes before going on-air.
The segment was noted by Columbia Journalism Review's Kyle Pope:
What kind of speed-read training have CNN reporters received? Twice within the first 10 minutes of the release of the 400-page document, host Jake Tapper threw to reporters, implying that they had already gone through the document. First, he turned to Laura Jarrett, saying she "has read the report." Then: "I want to go to Evan Perez, who has also read the report," says Tapper. Neither reporter, of course, had been able to do that, given that the report was released minutes before they went on air. As a point of differentiation, it's impressive: stay with CNN because we have read and can digest the Mueller document. As a point of fact, it's untrue.
The report revealed Mueller had cleared President Donald Trump and his campaign of conspiracy with the Russians to interfere in the 2016 election. It also shed more light on Attorney General William Barr's letter last month stating Mueller had not exonerated him of obstruction of justice. Mueller wrote Trump's efforts to impede the investigation were not successful, primarily because he the people around him would not carry out his requests.
UPDATED: 6:45 P.M.: This story was updated with background on the time CNN reporters had to review the contents of the report.