. our other legal analysts here in new york. we'll stay on top of it for now, i will hand it over to andrea mitche mitchell. steve scalise remains in critical condition today. >> it has been much more difficult than people thought at the time. it has been -- he is in some trouble, but he is a great fighter and he will be okay, we hope. i visited them at the hospital last night and reassured them that the entire country is pulling for them, praying for them, and we're here for them every single step of the way. >> an injured survivor speaks out about the police officers that saved countless lives on that ball field. >> i'm very blessed to be alive,

and thank goodness for agents bailey and griner. without them there would have been tremendous loss of life. >> tonight both parties you night for the annual congressional baseball game that goes back to 1909. a major development in the russia probe. the inquiry is normally focused on past campaign actions, but on what the president did since he took office. the president calling it the worst witch hunt in political history. >> i think we ought to let him do that. >> no, it's not a witch hunt, i think he has a job to do, we all understand that.

next to discussion all of today's breaking news. >> and coming home, the father of the college student just medivac'd from north korea. >> what did i say to my son, i knelt down and i hugged him and i said i missed him and i was so glad that he made it home. >> good day, we're following breaking news out of the bill cosby trial, they are deadlocked on the charges that he drugged and molested a woman back in 2004. the judge is sending the jury back for further deliberations, what more do we know? >> what we don't know is how much longer the jury will deliberate before they come back and say they made a decision or

they will remain deadlocked. it has been a considerably long time given the length of the trial. they have three counts they have to decide about. three separate decisions to make, and they said they were deadlocked on all three. the judge said if you can be unanimous on one or two, do that and come back. so it is unclear. this is the one criminal case that bill cosby faced sdiep the dozens of women that came forward in recent years. many of the women are here and they have been watching day by day and their reaction has been very disappointing for them. they are here and they want to see him brought to justice. they don't think the jury can reach the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. they drove that home and they

drove home inconsistencies. >> ron allen on top of the story. meanwhile, steve scalise remains in critical condition today after that gunshot wound. a source federal with the situation said that scalise is no undergoing his third surgery. the rival shot to congressman scalise's left hip went across his pelvis fractures bones, injuring internal organs, he crawled from second base to the outfield and laid trapped as the gurn fire went back and forth for ten minutes until cleels could get to him. >> you could see the trail of

blood, and he was laying there. >> the president adding again that the congressman is a real fighter. >> i would like to take a moment to again send our thoughts and prayers to my friend and a friend of most of us in this room, steve scalise, and his great family as he continues his brave fight. >> joining me now is kelly o connell. first to you, what we're hearing from the white house, and from the hospital shows that he is in very serious condition. >> the president eluded to that

today. he was said to be in stable condition, but that was more that he was under care and not in a critical state. they also indicated, saying a third procedure and operation is taking place today. we have no additional comment on his condition. everyone that came to the hospital, including the president and vice president, their spouses, we saw one member here today, being supportive of the family of him and crystal griner, a part of the capitol poli police. but officials said damage to

organs and broken bones, that there is aceps th sense that he tough shape. we don't know if any doctors are coming forward. at this point, it remains quiet. . the capital police are also present here on the grounds. not only for steve being here, but also for their colleague. other patients who have been treated and released, and matt mika, a former hill staffer is at a different hospital and suffered serious injuries with chest wounds. we're waiting for any updates, but as many have extended prayers to him as he recovers. >> what are we learning now

about this suspect? >> why did he come to washington in the first place, and why after living here two months living out of a van, did he suddenly turn violent. and for some reason he came here with those weapons, why did he suddenly attack this game. so we knew they were there. why only yesterday did he say are these the republicans or the democrats and then fire a shot, and the ymca said he was moving and he would cancel his membership. was this an impulse? big questions that the fbi says at this point they can't answer.

>> thank you to pete and to kelly. nancy pelosi is joining us now, tell me this there has been a few remember members taking the fact that this man was online, against donald trump, against the republicans, to make it more of a partisan issue, what is your response to that? >> that is a path that i don't want to go downright now because it is inappropriate. right now we're all praying very hard and using our energy to transmit to steve that he get well, to give our comfort to his family, and again also to the others who were injured. i think it is completely inappropriate for them to make the comments they're making and we can save that conversation

for another day. >> he was the first republican member of congress to endorse donald trump. >> i need to also measure my language and response, i do regreat what i said at 8:05 in the morning. >> that's an apology. >> yeah, that's good. especially now, there is enough out there that riles people to do things. i think the investigation will be interesting. i don't know how he got the guns, eveidently he had challenges, but it is a family thing. every death in our country is a sad one, especially for gun violence. again, close up, our friend,

we're really very sad and i'm glad that he backtracked from what he said. >> what has changed, if anything, since gabrielle giffords suffered that greivous mood. >> we commissioned the uss gabrielle giffords. >> only the second woman to have a ship named after her. >> yes, like 16 women have ships named for them, but they're not alive, and it was a rill tribute to her courage and strength, and the motto of the ship and gabby is "i'm ready." so to have seen the contribute to her for overcoming the challenge she had using the time since then to promote gun safety, and thoen come here and

have this need for a triumph of spirit, hopefully he have be a inspiration to all of us. >> there seems to be a move among democrats that it's too soon to talk about gun safety. we saw the demonstrations last year, the filibuster, but nothing happens. >> don't forget the sit in on the house floor. >> but is there a feeling now that you can't emphasize that issue? >> no, it is just that we can't -- more than 24 to 30 hours since it happened and we're addressing the emergency that we have right now which is to get steve through this. the others through this, and then they'll be a time to have discussions about the appropriate comments that people

made about the need for background checks. >> it was an all house meeting that you were coleading, at this point how concerned are members about their security, and how do you balance those needs against the need of every member to interact with their subsequents? >> it is not just about us internal personally. >> our concern is for the staff, the press, the constituents. i think we're going to have to take inventory as to what exposure we have and what is reasonable to expect and how we mitigate against any thought of danger, any threats in the rest, and the capital police have been wonderful, we all sang their praises, but they take risks every day.

we lost two in 1998, they lost their lives. so they have the best appraisal of danger and security and we're working with them as we go forward. >> are we going to need to have more townhall meetings? >> someone was telling me i'm so stad because protestors showed up to a town meeting, but this is a democracy. if there is a need for local law enforcement to be involved, then a judgment will be made, but we must not misinterpret the outpouring of the voices of the american people as a threat. >> i wanted to ask you about the other big story of the day, reporting now confirmed, mueller's investigation now is into the possibility of obstruction of justice.

it moved from past campaign practices, possible collusion, to current activities since the president was elected. >> i can't speak to that, as you probably know, i can't speak to if we were briefed or the nature of any briefing. >>. >> what are your concerned about, for instance, a former speaker, snoout ding rich today, this is a speaker that back in may treated robert muler has a s superb joyce. he is the tip of the deep -- so -- >> who cares what he said. obviously they have changed their stun. what we really need is an

outside and independent commission. right now we have mooul who are is highly respected. when you respect someone for objectivity, it doesn't change the way this is -- newt is being political -- >> the president is calling it a witch hunt. >> i understand, this should be a message to the american people. a highly respected person accepted that responsibility. i respect him as well, but i said we should have an independent commission. this is one path, a good path, i think, but none the less inside the trump justice department. then we have the investigations from the congress. were the investigations and congress should be doing house

and senate, but it is inside of the congress. we need an outside objective review of the events and have the people know. the russians, it's a fact, hacked, altared, and definitely leaked information to change the outcome in the election in our country. so how can we protect the our country. >> the president said in a memo, written by the former deputy ahead, that he is rejecting the conclusion of the intelligence community that the russians hacked and tried to interfere. >> what can i say about the president, sfll the objectivity of the investigation, hopefully the integrity of the research or the investigation in the congress, all very important. we need an outside -- i don't

know whether the president obstructed justice, but i know that he abused his power. >> but let me ask you if there is not an outside investigation, if the president were to try to pressure the justice department to fire robert mueller, what would be the reaction? do you think the -- >> i think -- >> i don't think he would do that, who knows what he would do, but i don't think he would do that. i think the repercussions would be sol serious -- >> he has been sounding off inside the white house about it. >> i think the president needs a few good nights of sleep. he is flirting with obstruction of justice. he clearly has abused power, but that is a different story from

obstruction of justice. i ask all of the time, what do the russians have on president trump politically, financially, that he would put in question article five of n.a.t.o.? that he would give back opportunities for diplomats to be here that were exacted -- something is wrong with this picture. something is wrong with this picture. is it criminal? that remains to be seen. is it an abuse of power? very clearly. >> what if robert mueller reports to office and as a case to be made outlining obstruction or some other issue, and republicans in congress refuse to take action?

>> he would not necessarily be reported to congress, his investigation would go to the court, and he might have information that is maybe not -- >> but if a president cannot be dieted and only a congress can take action if there are issues that need to be resolved, do you think the republicans in congress who now control congress would ignore that? or do you think we would go down the road of impeachment? >> without stipulating more to the fact that they are investigating the president, that is not necessarily what robert mueller is doing. he is investigating the situation. that can go to the courts. there would be information that might emerge from his investigation that would be useful to the congressional investigation which is a

different at least hothreshold to impeachment. i don't even like to use the word. it's not about opinion or anything else. let's get the facts so we can clear this up one way or another. the fact is that decisions and statements are being made by the president that are dismissive of putin. let's hope they can clear the air and go forward. i think every decision we make should be a decision to unify the country. to unify the country. if the facts speak to a different place, it depends on if the american people accept those facts, it has to be free

of politics but only about the facts and the law. >> there was certainly a suggestion from the father of this young man that emerged from north korea in a coma. there is a suggestion that the previous administration did not do enough to try to get him out. have we failed in our ability? should we be paying ransom or doing more when they're imprisoned? >> the decision by a government to release a prisoner is something about their own timing. i don't claim -- to release a person in their own time. there is not necessarily a reflection of what another's country's timing is. so for some reason the north koreans decided they would not -- they would release him. that is really the question.

what is in their minds. i'm one of the few people that have been to i don't thipyongya. i have been there, it is a very dangerous and strange place. i don't think that the president of korea is reacting to anything outside, i think it has something to do with his own decision making. and we'll see what that -- >> you don't fault the previous administration. >> no, most people don't want us paying ransoms because then that will only increase the number of hostages. you have to calibrate, weigh the equities. it is a outrage that the north koreans took this young boy. a boy, took this young boy in the first place, but again the issue of hostage -- pays ransom for hostages, prisoners, and the

rest, is a deep sdmudiscussion most people come to a place where it will just encourage more kidnappings or arrests. you have to judge every situation on it's own merit, but no i don't faculty the previous administrati administration. it has something to do with the timing in north korea. >> tonight will be play ball. >> we'll all be on team scalise tonight. we'll be on different sides to play the game, but all of the comradery that goes with it, but steam steve scalise is one team we will all be on, rooting for him. >> indeed we will, thank you very much. >> still ahead, more on the bomb shell special council. over our neighbor's fence. and once we do, we see wonder waiting.

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hillary is likely to be under investigation for many years, probably conning in a trillion trial. >> if she were to win, it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis. >> hillary clinton will be under ngs for a long, long time. likely concluding in a criminal

trial. >> now, of course the focus is an mr. trump at robert mueller investigates him. joining us now is ari cooper. what are your big take aways. some people thought it should be the case, but it had not been confirmed until now. rod rosenstein was the witness to that firing, and that behavior, that makes it more li likely necessary. and number three, something that you know from all of your white house reporting, this is difficult for many people in the white house who have done nothing wrong, but may be

involved in the investigation, the management, the d.o.j., now with it on the table as a point of inquiry, they probably need their own rights, too. >> no matter what mule e muelle reports, this will be a question for the republican lead congress. by practice and supreme court ruling, president's are not indictable in office. >> that is true for the peopling surrounding the president. i think that we're out of time, but it can hit the president or his after it. >> thank you very much. speaking to the father of a son that was released recently by north korea. you're watching "andrea mitchell

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bittersweet feelings. they family has. the love for him and happiness that he is home, and the anger for how brutally he was kept. it was a week ago that we were informed that the north korean government claims he informs a coma for almost all of that time. >> his father today speaking out in cincinnati about how his son was treated in north korea. he praised the trump administration for helping bring otto home, stopping just short of criticizing the obama white house. the american college student that was detained is in stable condition but suffered a severe neurological injury. joining me now is ron mott in

cincinnati, this tragedy is unspeakable. this family and their son in a coma for a year. >> what we did not learn this morning at that news conference was just how otto was doing today. we expect to hear details from his medical team here at the university of cincinnati medical center at 3:00 p.m. eastern. they will meet before the media to update his condition, perhaps his prognosis, and what they believe may have lead to his comatose season. they say he fell into this unconscious state after taking a sleeping pill. the family does not buy that, and for the last 17 months or so, he and his family have been told to keep a low profile so as to not offend kim jong un and that regime.

you mentioned he did hint that he thought the obama administration could do more. he says the results of that speak for themselves. the administration was not able to win his release. president trump did call last night, so there is a lot of details that we may not know about for a long time about the release itself and how he was treated there by the north koreans. >> ron mott in cincinnati, thank you. coming up, calling for unity on both sides of the aisle. >> who is going to win today? >> everybody? watch unlimited robots. watch unlimited romance. if you are into that. but we also want more like... unlimited hbo. can i stop dying now mark? no can't do mi amigo. it's unlimited. besides you are really good at it james.

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and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®. we are playing the game tomorrow. we are united as not as republicans and democrats, but as united states representatives. >> when the leadership of this country is civil towards one another, maybe the public will start being civil towards one another, too. >> congressman mike doyle, the manager of the democratic baseball team and the manager of the republican team in a press conference. joe barton was with his two sons in the middle of the cross fire yesterday hiding in the dugout as the gunman was firing for ten minutes into the outfield injuring steve scalise and others. joining me now is mike doyle and

republican docongressman patric mehan. congressman doyle, i heard that you and the democratic members invited the republican ballplayers over for dinner last night. tell me about this unity dinner. >> yeah, just i think both teams were going to get together after which, what was a very stressful day especially for our republican colleagues and we were planning a team meeting too and we just thought it might be nice to get together. rodney davis had a preplanned dinner for the republican team, so many members were committed to doing that, but a lot did stop over, joe barton did come with his sons and stay. we know each other, we played ball, we debate against each

other. we met each other's families. we care about them deeply and we want them to know that we care about them. >> you were stopping and pausing for prayer. you just left the ball field just before the shots began, so where were you when you heard about this terrible incident. >>. >> i had been there the day before, but i did not have to be at the practice that day, but the location that we pitch is the cage that he started his assault. i was at a breakfast and trey came over to me and said look at

the tv, and that started the shock for all of us. >> we heard he was having a shirt surger-- third surgery. >> yeah, we have a surgeon, a couple surgeons in our conference this morning we met for a conference and it was explained to us that this is normal procedure for someone with this kind of wound. people were quite optimistic based on the nature of the shooting wound and everybody is behind steve and his family, and they're asking for privacy for them as they work through a very, very difficult period. >> what does this incident tell you about the need for congress, but for all of us in the political culture to tone down the rhetoric, and think of each other more as people, as

individuals, rather than as partisans? >> yeah, we all need to refrequent on how we treat one another. the lip in the country we could have a vigorous debate, but we could do that in a civil manner, i think our actions for instance actions, and i think the media has a responsibility. it is hard when you have a couple members of congress when you a unifying message or you talk about something that doesn't get as much coverage. so i think all of us have a responsibility in the public, and in the halls of congress, and in the media, to reflect upon how we report things and how we treat one another.

not only in congress, but across the country. >> and we should also say among political candidates. this campaign was one of the most bitter that i have ever covered on twitter and the stump. congressman, where will you be tonight? are you in the lineup? >> absolutely, i get a chance to pitch every year, i usually come out of the bull pen. we have a really nice young guy, a starter, that has a knuckleball, and we usually switch up about two thirds of the way through and i have had a chance to pitch the last few years. >> and congressman doyle? >> if he is coming in as a relief pitcher, hopefully that means we're ahead, but he is right their starting pitcher has caused us trouble the last couple years and we have been practicing by looking at a lot of knuckle ball pitchers as we do for batting practice. we just want to have a competitive game.

i told joe barton that i love him before the game and after the game, but during the game we're going to try to beat him, it should be a good game tonight. >> may the best team win, we'll be there rooting for you all. >> today, president trump firing back at reports that he is being investigated for obstruction of justice. the reporter who broke the news will be joining me with her tame. -- take. a millie dresselhaus doll! happy birthday, sweetie! oh, millies. trick or treat! we're so glad to have you here. ♪ what if we treated great female scientists like they were stars? ♪

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what the president needs is a good night's sleep, or several maybe, he needs a good legal guidance because clearly he's flirting with obstruction of justice. >> nancy pelosi only moments ago. so let's get the inside scoop from sari pulitzer prize winning reporter who broke the story for "the washington post" and columnist and sam stein huffington post editor and msnbc contributor. welcome all. sari, first to you, the president deriding on twitter, you know, leaks from the fbi, calling it the biggest witch

hunt in american history. your response about your story and whether we have really turned a page here? >> i think the investigation has definitely shifted. the president felt vindicated after comey's testimony where he acknowledged he told the president three times he was not under investigation but after comey was fired, the investigation changed and now mueller is definitely looking into obstruction of justice by the president. >> and michael berb losh is among the people joining in on twitter today and saying, not quite convinced that we are witnessing the single greatest witch hunt in american political history from a historian with a great sense of irony. >> well, michael beschloss has read a little bit more history than president trump has because he has famously told us that he didn't really -- hasn't really had time to read presidential biographies or much of anything else as he's been building his

business. i -- sari knows much more about the state of the investigation than i do but i would take issue with one small thing the president said he felt vindicated after comey's testimony. it did not strike me watching it from the outside that a wise lawyer would look at that testimony and think he was vindicated. a wise lawyer would look at that testimony and think, there is a lot of trouble brewing for this man. >> sam stein, it's very clear from sari's story and our own confirmation of it today at nbc news this obstruction of justice inquiry began after the comey firing, and preceded robert mueller's appointment. so the comey firing is really the precipitating action that led to this -- what could be more trouble for the. >> the and brings in all sorts of different actors and sari can talk about this. rod rosenstein now a witness to the firing, becomes not just the acting attorney general, but a potential witness in the mueller investigation if you go down that route.

what i'm struck by is we know that trump almost admitted this. i mean, to lester holt, he said, i fired comey to get out from under the russia investigation. that you can argue is an admission that you were feeling -- that -- of obstruction of justice in a way. you know, the argument that some trump defenders on capitol hill have brought up is that well, he's new to this, he's speaking a little loose because he's not a customary politician. being new to something not being a politician, not being aware of these customs and norms doesn't mean that the customs and norms don't exist. you still have to play by certain rules. what trump is going to find out eventually is that the rules do apply to him and it's going to come by way of bob mueller. >> ruth marcus, what will be the outcome? let's say bob mueller issues a report. that report goes to the justice department, it goes to congress, obviously to the public, but if the republicans in congress decide not to take any action. >> yeah. >> is it a moot point? >> backing up just a little bit -- >> i know i'm leaping way ahead.

>> it's really an interesting and important question. the special counsel regulations are different than the independent counsel regulations we used to have in the good or bad old days. >> these are regulations the justice department wrote during the bill clinton era and they say he should write a report. that report goes to the attorney general in this case, whoever is supervising the probe at the end of the day, i kind of doubt it's going to be rod rosenstein. >> they're all conflicted. >> it is not required to be made public. that's something that's in the discretion of the -- of the person supervising it and there is no particular provision if it were made public, but there's no specific provision for referring it to the congress for potential impeachment proceedings. so, you can imagine this ending

in some kind of weird deadlock. i think if he were to conclude in particular that he had enough information to bring an indictment against the president, whether or not it's constitutionally permissible to indict a sitting president, you could name him, for example, we've heard this term before unindicted co-conspirator, that information would be made public and go to congress and ooeng while we look at it now and we think republicans in congress won't do anything, two things, don't know what congress is going to look like by the time this happens, and when these things happen they tend to change realities and political realities quickly. >> we unfortunately are going to have to leave it there. to be continued. we'll be right back. no an ally? microsoft and its partners are using smart traps to capture mosquitoes and sequence their dna to fight disease. there are over 100 million pieces of dna in every sample. with the microsoft cloud, we can analyze the data faster than ever before.

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as nancy pelosi said on the show, tonight at nats park we are all on team scalise. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports" craig melvin takes over right now. >> indeed we are, good to see you. thank you. thank you for joining us. good afternoon to you. craig melvin live here at the nation's capitol, lots of stories we're following on this thursday afternoon. obstructing justice? nbc news confirming special counsel robert mueller investigating president trump for possibly obstructing justice in the russia probe. is there evidence to prove the president was trying to interfere with the investigation? critical condition, congressman steve scalise undergoing his third surgery