>> mark zuckerberg, never a dull moment. hearings for pompeo to be the secretary of state. that does it for us tonight on "kasie dc." we will be back from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. eastern next week. from now, good night from washington. i'm nicolle wallace. robert mueller and president donald trump, both men raised in privilege, both reaching the pinnacle of power. their journeys were different. one turned towards service. the other chased fortune. will lived in the spotlight. the other avoided it in. in 2017 these two worlds would collide in an investigation that could forever impact american politics. robert mueller is at the center of one of the biggest investigations in political

history. >> mr. mueller had a conversation with president trump's attorneys on the russia probe. he walked through the president's status at this time. >> special counsel bob mueller is dialing up the pressure. >> cannot have a more formidable adversary if you are a bad guy that bob mueller. >> the u.s. intelligence community says the russians tried to come in and influence our election. who did it? how did they do it? was anyone here helping. >> the russia investigation is intensifying. >> they didn't just simply ask the trump organization for cooperation. he went straight to the subpoena. >> the stakes are high and battle lines are ground. >> the entire thing has been a witch hunt. >> the president unleashing his attack on the special counsel. >> he can't be intimidated. >> how far will this go? >> if president trump decided to fire robert mueller, it would be a very, very dangerous proposition. >> where will it end?

>> there could be a domino affect that leads to the end of this presidency. robert mueller's findings could be that first piece to fall. >> who is the man behind the investigation? >> bob mueller seems to be everywhere. >> now it's up to mueller to say when it's done. >> mueller may be the most talked about man in d.c. right now, with the exception of donald trump. >> this is big stuff. bob mueller is the guy to do it. ♪ >> we have breaking news tonight in the mueller investigation. literally a few minutes ago "the washington post" reporting special counsel told the president's attorney last month that trump is still under investigation but is not currently a criminal target. >> keep in mind, while the paper points out the president may not be a target of the investigation now, that could change depending

on what is said, if the president were to sit down with mueller face to face. >> will president donald trump testify fore mueller? an event washington insiders say would be the political showdown of the century. >> would you like to testify to special counsel robert mueller? >> thank you. i would like to. >> since the probe began, the president has vented his frustration with the investigation using his favorite form of communication, twitter. >> president trump spent the weekend criticizing the investigation and for the first time went after the special counsel by name. the mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime. >> what do we know about robert mueller who shuns the spotlight for himself and his elite team? >> as i reflect upon my career, i can say that i never could have anticipated where i have ended up. >> the justice department has

just announced a special counsel to lead a new investigation into russian influence in the election. >> named special counsel in the spring of 2017, robert mueller is in charge of one of the most consequential investigations in political history. looking into russian interference in the 2016 election. the appointment has elevated mueller into a bold face name in washington, d.c. mueller looms over an expansive investigation that could detonate a presidency. >> we have never seen a criminal investigation result in indictments of senior officials tied to a president this fast in the first year in office ever full stop. >> he knows what his mandate is. he will focus on what he was asked to do. no different than he has done in other investigations throughout his life and deliver results on that. >> this is big stuff. this is looking at whether a foreign country tried to influence the u.s. election. it's looking at whether the person who is in the white house should continue to be president.

it's about the toughest thing that there is in law enforcement. bob mueller is the guy to do it. he is not going to shy away from it. he knows what the stakes are. >> he is a guy who does what he thinks is right regardless of the cost to himself. would never lie. would never manipulate facts. is true to himself and his mission. >> it's a mission born out of political firings, meetings and shifting stories from the highest echelons of power. >> mueller may be the most talked about man in d.c. right now with the exception of donald trump. but he is rarely seen. he is someone who is reclusive. he doesn't want to be in the lime line whi limelight while he is doing this work. >> we don't see him. that's how he is. it's not about that for him. it's about the task at hand. >> the task at hand is looking into possible collusion with the russians during the 2016 election. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein takes over the russia

investigation in may 2017 after attorney general jeff session's recu recusal. it's met with almost universal praise. >> i'm very pleased to see former director mueller, who is very well regarded by all of us. >> mr. mueller has broad and wide ranging authority to follow the facts wherever they go. >> just the instant suggestion of his name led immediately to an embracing of him as the person to play the role. >> details of mueller's probe are a closely guarded secret. the then fbi describer describes his hard line on leaks. >> i will tell you that i do not countenance leaking, do not think it's appropriate. there are steps that can be taken to raise matters that should be raised to the appropriate level. you do not leak. >> don't leak? >> one does not leak.

>> he is probably established security procedures that include polygraph exams for his staff. not because he doesn't trust his staff but rather to be able to say if this leaks, it wasn't my team. >> how much is above the surface antd h and how much is below remains to be seen. i can tell you from experience that typically there's a lot that we don't see. and may never see. >> with so little information circulating, each new development in the investigation is front page news. former trump campaign chairman paul manafort and his business partner richard gates become the first people indicted in the probe in october 2017. the same day, it's also revealed that former trump foreign policy adviser george papadopoulos had previously pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. just more than a month later, former national security adviser michael flynn is caught up in mueller's web.

manafort and gates pleaded not guilty. papadopoulos and flynn both plead guilty to like to the fbi and are cooperating with the investigation. >> the indictments of manafort and gates show that robert mueller is being a very meticulous prosecutor. we barely heard a peep from him and then all of a sudden those indictments are made public. >> i'm sure everybody who spoke to mr. papadopoulos either in person or on the phone after the day that we now know he was arrested is very worried and thinking back hard on what was said. >> as the net tightens in the investigation, criticism directed at the special counsel intensifies. donald trump has made no secret of his disdain for special counsel robert mueller and his investigation. >> the president on twitter again today sounding off about a

witch hunt. >> they're trying to cheat you out of the leadership you want with a fake story. >> some who initially praised the pick have changed their tune. former house speaker newt gingrich went from superb choice to -- >> i think the people mueller is bringing in are dangerous people. any republican who thinks this counsel will be neutral is crazy. >> republican members of congress have introduced legislation calling for mueller's removal. >> i join my colleague the gentleman from arizona in calling for mr. mueller's resignation or his firing. >> anybody who is criticizing in advance bob mueller or the special counsel's office doesn't know him and they're wrong. >> i'm sure for supporters of the president, they see this investigation as the one that's going to bring redemption. i'm sure the people who oppose the president see that this investigation will bring

deliverance. everybody has a lot invested in this investigation. for mueller, it's basically finding the truth. >> coming up -- >> bob mueller can't be bullied, he can't be intimidated. i don't think bob mueller will ever bow to any political pressure from anybody. -very nic. now i'm turning into my dad. i text in full sentences. i refer to every child as chief. this hat was free. what am i supposed to do, not wear it? next thing you know, i'm telling strangers defense wins championships. -well, it does. -right? why is the door open? are we trying to air condition the whole neighborhood? at least i bundled home and auto on an internet website, progressive.com. progressive can't save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto. i mean, why would i replace this? it's not broken. where are we taking him? i have no clue. we're just tv doctors.

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i will be there waiting. get ready to binge with xfinity on demand or the xfinity stream app. xfinity watchathon week starts april 16th. i can say that i did not really choose public service, rather i more or less fell into it early on. perhaps not fully appreciating the challenges from such service. >> robert mueller who finds himself thrust into the political spotlight began his path of service decades earlier. robert mueller, iii is born in new york city. raised in philadelphia, mueller spends his formative years at the prestigious all boys prep school st. paul's. >> a fun guy. it was not somebody that would dominate conversations among

students, among the guys. but he was attentive, engaged, fun to be around. >> he was an exceptionally accomplished as a student and as an athlete. but he was completely unpretentious and very authentic as a person. >> an emphasis is placed on athletics. mueller joins the lacrosse, soccer and hockey teams. >> he was a great leader. you could tell from playing with him that winning, but winning the right way was important to him. >> at a school full of the bright and ambitious, mueller stands out. but he is not the only future d.c. fixture in his class. >> one of bob mueller's classmates was john kerry, who obviously had a distinguished career in his own right. >> john was more of an openly ambitious young man. >> john kerry was in some ways

more forceful or more visible character in the school. but bob mueller got sort of outsized level of respect for how quiet and unpretentious he was. >> after graduation, mueller enrolled at his father's alma mater, princeton. as he had at st. paul's, he's on the lacrosse team and becomes friends with an upper classman named david hackett. it will shape the rest his life. >> he was not necessarily the best on the team, but he was a determined and a natural leader. >> david graduated that spring and was far from our thoughts and we went to our senior year. >> in 1965, he graduates and volunteers to fight in the burgeoning conflict there vietnam. after volunteering for a second tour, he is killed in the spring of 1967 by a sniper's bullet.

>> one would have naturally thought that the life of a marine and david's death in vietnam would argue strongly against following in his footsteps. many of us saw him, the person we wanted to be, even before his untimely death. a number of his friends and teammates joined the marine corps because of him as did i. >> while many of his peers avoid serving, bob mueller decides to enlist. >> it is well-known that it was in some ways a poor person's war. the idea of a st. paul's and princeton person being in that mix, they were pretty rare. >> i remember hearing that bob had volunteered to go to vietnam. i didn't know why. but i thought it seemed very much in keeping with his character. >> mueller ships out to vietnam and assumes command of an infantry platoon.

on december 11, 1968, just weeks after his deployment, his men come under heavy fire. he is awarded a bronze star for combat valor. >> the bronze star citation read, second lieutenant mueller moved fearlessly with complete disregard for his own safety. >> four months later, in april of 1969, mueller's platoon is attacked by the vietcong. during the ferocious fire fight he is shot through the thigh by an enemy ak-47. despite his injury, mueller refuses to withdraw until his men are out of harm's way. the incident earns him a purple heart. >> i consider myself for the tu

to live through the war in vietnam. there were many men who did not. in many sense you feel you have been given a second lease on life and you want to make the most of it to contribute in some way. >> coming up -- >> we were having enormous spikes in the murder rate in the district of columbia. it was very, very serious. >> here is this is guy who is making so much money. he wanted to be a low level homicide prosecutor. fast food d. but what a powerful life lesson. and don't worry i have everything handled. i already spoke to our allstate agent, and i know that we have accident forgiveness. which is so smart on your guy's part. like fact that they'll just... forgive you... four weeks without the car. okay, yup. good night. with accident forgiveness your rates won't go up just because of an accident. switching to allstate is worth it.

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from undergraduate prince ton to under fire in vietnam, robert mueller returns to the u.s. determined to continue in service to his country. >> the way in which you choose to serve does not matter, only that you work to better the country and your community. >> the former marine enrolls at the university of virginia law school. intent on becoming an fbi agent. but is soon working as a prosecutor at the u.s. attorney's office in san francisco. >> he is very serious, very professional, very dedicated.

but he had -- a good sense of humor. he was one of the best. he was one of the top ranked two or three prosecutors in our office. >> the old guard knew bob as a highly competent courtroom lawyer and somebody who should be feared in trial. he was quietly effective. was a fierce opponent. >> a few years later, mueller leaves san francisco for a job in the u.s. attorney's office in boston. >> eight years later, i'm in private practice here in delaware and one of my clients gets indicted in springfield, massachusetts. all of a sudden i learn that bob was going to be the prosecutor. i was walking into court early, maybe 8:00 in the morning. there is bob in his shirt sleeves with piles of papers that he had just xeroxed. the guy is the acting united states attorney in boston. he is the head of the office. he could have had anybody doing that. and he did that.

>> in 1989, mueller joins the justice department, eventually becoming head of the criminal division. there he oversees a number of high profile cases, including the investigation of the bombing of pan am flight 103, and the prosecutions of manuel noriega. >> it can seem daunting. but mueller is very disciplined. i think for him, you don't look at the thing as a whole and say, that's just too big. you start to say, all right, how do we attack this? >> in 1993, to the surprise of many, mueller leaves the public sector and takes a job as a white collar litigator at a law firm. >> i was having din we are bob mu mueller. he was talking about how unhappy he was in private practice. he was representing corporations in civil cases. it wasn't his thing.

>> bob mueller did something quite remarkable. he called up the u.s. attorney in washington and said, i want to prosecute murder cases. >> the u.s. attorney in washington, d.c. at the time, future attorney general eric holder, remembers taking the call. >> i remind him that he had a great job, there was no way i would be able to match his current salary and having served as assistant attorney general for the criminal division, he might be a little overqualified for a job as a line prosecutor. before he could change his mind, i just said, when can you start. >> that is who he is. i think at his core, that's the work that he loves the most. >> this was when we were having enormous spikes in the murder rate in the district of columbia. it was a very, very serious problem. people were trying to find a way out of what was a very dangerous and desperate situation. there was a need for people who had the skills and ability and the dedication to the rule of law like bob mueller to come in and take that role.

>> you can almost picture mueller as being in sort of a '90s cop show. he would answer the show and say mueller, homicide. sounds like he had never been happier. >> in 1997, he is offered a job at the u.s. attorney of northern california. he brings with him a more disciplined style of management. >> he beat everybody to the office every morning. before he left, he would walk the halls and see who was in their offices. he took note of who was still there working at 6:00 and who had gone home. >> people might complain about bob is working us hard. but they were proud of themselves because they were working hard. he brings that out in people. >> mueller beeves up tf ves up division and starts a unit to tackle cyber crime. >> he is a computer geek. he loves computers. he loved them when they first came out. he loved to see what they could do. he plays with them.

he goes upstairs and he does it with great seriousness. >> he created the first chip unit. now every u.s. attorney's office has it. >> people like me who were opponents the entire time bob was here ended up seeing a renewed life in the office that was refreshing. it's like playing tennis. your game is always better when the person on the other side of the net is at the top of their game. >> credited with turning around the northern california office, mueller's profile is on the rise. he is about to be tapped for his biggest assignment yet. coming up -- >> i was in my office and an individual came in and said there's a plane that crashed into the world trade center in new york. >> can you imagine seven days into the job he is hit with 9/11? suddenly, he faces the biggest domestic act of terrorism in american history. ight, so he got home safe.

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president trump is warning of a big price to pay for an alleged syrian government weapons attack on civilians. the president took aim at assad as well as his main international backer, vladimir putin. the trump administration is confirming that kim jong-un is prepared to discuss denuclearizing the korean peninsula when he holds talks with president trump. now back to "headliners, robert mueller." our next fbi director has given nearly all his career to public service. going back to his days in the marine corps. >> president george w. bush nominates robert mueller, a republican, to be the sixth director of the fbi, on july 5, 2001. >> protect and defend the -- >> after a bruising election victory over al gore, partisan

rancor is at an all time high. bush's pick to run the fbi needs democratic backing to ensure confirmation. >> i think he was seen as somebody serious, well-regarded, disciplined, highly focused and very much a team player. >> willie brown, san francisco's mayor during mueller's tenure as u.s. attorney, lobbies california's democratic senators on his behalf. >> he came in to see me because he needed to get democratic senate approval of a job which he was being offered as head of the fbi. i was pleased that he did, because i loved speaking to senator feinstein and senator boxer about my experience with him, my knowledge of him and the reputation that i knew that he had. >> thank you very much, mr. president. >> the camera-shy mueller speaks

for 47 seconds at hiown nomion ceremony. >> again, thank you, mr. president, for the confidence you have shown in me. thank you, sir. >> congratulations. >> three weeks later at his confirmation hearing before the senate judiciary committee, mueller is more forthcoming. >> waco, ruby ridge, fbi lab, robert hanson and the mcveigh documents, these familiar names and events remind us that the fbi is far from perfect and the next director faces significant management and administrative challenges. >> there were a number of high profile incidents that raised concern during last director's term. when bob mueller came on board, part of it was to instill confidence back in the fbi. >> all of these were sort of piling up as mueller faced the prospect of taking over the fbi. >> we must and will confront these challenges. >> we understand that the fbi is now requiring polygraphs for

managers handling national security matters. are you willing to continue that approach? >> yes. >> would you be willing to take a polygraph yourself if that were the case? >> yes. indeed, it's my belief you don't -- this may be my training from the marine corps. but you don't ask people to do that what you are unwilling to do yourself. i have take than polygraph. >> i ask that question because i knew you had. how did you do? >> i'm sitting here. >> an increasingly partisan congress, mueller is confirmed with 98 yes and zero no in the u.s. senate. his first day of work is set for september 4th, 2001. >> i had been director for one

week. as i recall, i was in my office and an individual came in and said there's a plane that's crashed into the world trade center in new york. i look outside this beautiful day. you wonder how a pilot could be so off flight path to fly into the world trade center. i think we were all wondering about that. and then word came of the second plane. >> a third jetliner flies into the pentagon. a fourth destined for washington, d.c. crashes in a field in pennsylvania. >> can you imagine seven days into the job he is hit with 9/11? he is just beginning to learn his way around fbi headquarters when suddenly he faces the biggest domestic act of terrorism in american history. he has to figure out how to respond to that. >> frank served as assistant director for counterintelligence in mueller's fbi. >> we felt sorry for the guy. he is just starting to learn how

the bureaucracy works. instead, a crisis interevenes that is baptism by fire. he has to learn who to trust around him quickly. >> on september 12, 2001, he showed up in a strategic operation center to take command of probably the worst time ever to become a director in the history of the fbi. >> our first effort is to identify any associates in the united states who might be related to the hijackers. >> i remember being incredibly comfortable for the country because he was in that position. i think anybody that knew him felt that way and felt like if there's anybody that's capable of dealing with this situation, it's bob. he will be able to do it. >> george w. bush at the time is demanding briefings two or three times a day on the phone, in person. this is someone who because of his rigor and discipline was

able to rise to the occasion. >> three days after the attacks unfold, mueller is summoned for a meeting at the white house with president bush. >> he was very focused given his background as prosecutor and investigator on here is what we have done to figur out who is responsible for these devastating attacks on september 11th. >> two or three minutes into it and i recall president bush saying that's well and good. we expect the bureau to identify and bring to justice those responsible. my question to you today is, what is the fbi doing to prevent the next terrorist attack? >> that changed bob mueller's life, the transformation of the fbi from that minute forward. >> coming up -- >> the fbi wasn't just behind the rest of the government in technology, it was behind the country in technology. >> it was a nightmare. he couldn't believe it. r the fi. trying something new can be exciting. empowering. downright exhilarating.

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in the wake of the attacks of september 11th, robert mueller's mission is clear, he must shift the focus to the new global war on terrorism. >> the fbi's mission really changed after 9/11. international affairs were left to the cia. they were seen as the leaders of the that international intelligence community. that wasn't what we pictured the fbi doing. mueller was steering the ship that slowly changed in that direction. >> we had to prioritize, make counterterrorism our number one priority. make certain we spend whatever resources were necessary to prevent the next terrorist attack, not just determine who was responsible. >> he led that charge. it was like turning the titanic. in order to do that, he imposed

very rigorous discipline on all of us. he would ce in extremely early, functioned on very little sleep and expected us to do the same. >> good evening. the fbi makes more arrests today. >> as the u.s. becomes embroiled in the war on terror, mueller, a supporter of the constitution, is uncomfortable with the possible erosion of civil rights. >> i knew and understand we would be judged not only on how successful we were in preventing attacks but how successful we were in doing that within the confines and constraints of the constitution. >> i brought the right for people at guantanamo. i got a lot of flak for it. we had a dinner party after the case. the middle of it bob mueller stood up.

he wanted to get the bad guys. but he recognized the importance of sticking to our principals in doing it. so that we don't bring shame on our nation. >> in a rare interview, mueller explains. >> it's important the american public trust the fbi. i get the sense that means a great deal to you. >> most important thing for the bureau is its integrity. >> in revamping the bureau's mission after 9/11, mueller discovers that his agency is woefully ill-equipped technologically to deal with the threat of terrorism. >> the fbi wasn't just behind the rest of the government in technology. it was behind the country in technology. >> when first came into the fbi, there was no e-mail. there was a machine where you actually would take a photograph and you would watch it like an amazed kid, one line at a time. it would go through. you would see the boss in the office picking that up. it would take four hours. >> the computers were not connected to the internet.

most communications were done by fax. when 9/11 occurred, there were dozens of fax machines lined up in the command center and all these faxes were coming in. nobody could keep track of them. it was just just a nightmare. he couldn't believe it. >> as he had done in california, building the cyber crime unit, mueller makes modernizing the br r bureau a top priority. >> he brought it into the 21st century and into a time where the national security landscape had changed. >> mueller's buttoned up management style contrasted that with louie freeh. >> mueller didn't try to suck up to the agents. mueller was the boss. he wanted the straight answers. >> i think a misconception is that he was very hard on people and they walked away hurt because he was so probative.

he knew when someone wasn't being 100% accurate. that left a lot of people frustrated. but it also made everybody around the table -- when you came in to brief bob mueller, you better be prepared. >> you would not get by with mere vagueness or we're all over it or we've got it handled, mr. director. if you didn't have a command of those facts, he would make it known to an aide or assistant that he simply didn't need to be briefed by you again. indeed, you would never see the inside of the director's conference room again. >> mueller, a husband and father of two, famously puts in long hours at the office. >> he led by example. if he got to the office at 5:30 in the morning, you wanted to get to the office at 5:30 in the morning. if he stayed until late at night, you wanted to stay until late at night. >> he has an ability to not just rule with an iron firsst becaus that's not effective leadership. he has the ability to raise everybody's game. and make them do better. >> i can't remember a written

product, no matter how carefully we would edit it, where he didn't find a change. that makes you raise up your game. >> i think the word enjoy would not be the first one that comes to mind for people who work for bob mueller. respect, admire, yes. but he could be very tough and very demanding. mueller, in fact, admits this about himself, that he could be quite impatient. >> i think what most people don't realize is him -- because he has this tough exterior, is that he really had a spot in his heart for fbi employees. >> day in and day out, agents put their lives on the line. if you lose an agent, you can lose it to cancer, to -- in the line of duty. we respond as a family. we have lost a piece of our body, so to speak. >> i think what most pple don't know is that even the agents that died in the line of duty, he had pictures of them if his office. you didn't frequently go into his office. to the side of his was every

single agent that died during his tenure in the fbi. he looked at those pictures every single day. i think that's lost on a lot of individuals. they see bob mueller as this tough guy. right? but he really felt every single one of those fallen agents in the fbi. >> coming up -- >> bob mueller can certainly be the person who would bring down this presidency. >> he will take ahold of you like a dog with a bone and he will not give up. if you did it and he has decent evidence, you are going to get convicted. olay ultra moisture body wash

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a decade after the 9/11 attacks, the fbi hardly resembles the institution that robert mueller had taken over. after ten years on the job, now serving under his second president, mueller's term as director is about to expire.

>> you cannot stay longer than ten years. it's not something at the discretion of the president. it's a ten-year term and that's it. >> the fbi director's term limit was put in place in the 1970s after the death of original director hoover who led the department for nearly 50 years.r who led the department for. >> no more people who could acquire so much power. because they had been in the fbi so long. that they were basically uncontrollable. and feared. >> reporter: finding a replacement proves to be difficult. >> we were having trouble finding anybody who came up to his standard. we really were. we started thinking about what do we do? he came into the morning meeting with his ten most senior executive ins the organization. and said very kind of casually that the president of the united states asked me to stay for two more years and i have accepted.

>> reporter: none of the preefs directors had finished their ten year terms let alone exceed them. extending mueller requires congress to pass a new law which clears the senate unanimously. >> the decision to extend bob mueller term is the only time it happened. it was remarkable testament to him that congress approved this. >> reporter: muellers two year extension ends in 2013. he hands a completely over hailed fbi to a new director james comey. a man who four years later play a major role in the initial faze of the russia investigation. >> a full fledge member of the u.s. intelligence community and not just premier law enforcement agency in the united states. he earned the respect of the american people. with the concept that america is at peace because the fbi is at war. >> reporter: after leaving the fbi. mueller hired as a partner at the law mirm will hail.

his former life is never far from his mind. >> i was sitting with him after he left the fbi. and asking him how life was. i definitely got the impression his life of service the not finished. >> reporter: working for nfl and sony. donald trump is elected president. >> i just received a call from secretary clinton. consider casting a shadow over the new administration are concerns about russian hacking into the campaign. just weeks after his confirmation. jeff sessions recuses himself from any investigation into russian meddling. when his contact with the russian ambassador during the kal pain comes to light. >> i have decided to to recuse myself from existing or future investigations. >> reporter: three months later in a stunning turn.

>> president trump fired james comey. as director of the fbi. >> fbi directors aren't really supposed to be fired and hired like cabinet initials. the fbi director is appointed a ten year term. which is supposed to over lap at least two administrations. this is supposed to insulate the director from politics to ensure they're not loyal to one party or another. >> the reasons they gave for firing james comey is because they lost trust if him. because of the clinton e-mail investigation. and needed to be replaced. president trump on nbc. >> regardless of recommendation i was going to fire comey. this russia thing with trump is a made up story. an excuse. >> the firing of comey and yeses about russias involvement lead

to an uproar in congress. rod rosenstein was step in since his boss recused himself. >> part pli for the sake of the image of the justice department. independence as the information and a way to so the pressure he was getting from congress and stay as deputy attorney general. rosenstein decided a special counsel needed to be brought in. >> i think rob was looking for somebody unimpeachable in integrity. and a deep and abiding respected for the law whose judgment really can't be questioned. when you make the list, bob mueller has to be at the top. >> rod rosenstein today took himself out of over seeing the russia investigation. turning it over to robert mueller. >> if you were looking for someone who was going to move into a difficult and politically charged situation, and give people a sense that what he said was real. and true. it was an inspired pick.

>> the investigation begins in spring 2017. mueller assembles a team of the some of the highest profile and seasoned investigators. >> one thing he's always been able to surround himself with people that are very good. and that's probably one of the skills he has that allowed him to succeed. >> the way to best understand mueller's investigation is look at it as buckets. there' russia bucket an obstruction bucket and the finance bucket. the bucket we know the most about is obstruction. questions about what the president has done since he came into office. why did he fire james comey. why did he ask for him to end want flynn investigation. and demanded so much loyalty of the folks running the investigation. >> within indictments handed up and guilty pleas from multiple trump soeshlts the probe shows no sign of winding down. >> has there ever been a new presidency where four members of the presidential campaign ended up charged with felonies before

the ends of the new president's first year in office? has there ever been a presidency when the national security adviser or somebody at that level flipped to become a cooperating witness? >> the possibility of a russia connection has followed this president since his election. which he repeatedly denies. >> there has been no collusion. >> no collusion. >> the whole russia thing was an excuse for the democrats losing the election. >> bob mueller is the top of the game when it comes to a prosecutor. in terms of judgment and ability. and maybe most importantly, the prosecutors you fear most. are the ones who aren't full of bluster, who aren't puffing their chest out. but going to quietly and single mindedly pick your case apart. and that's the kind of focus that bob brings to this job. >> special counsel. bob mueller is dialing up the pressure on two former trump

aids. clearly squeezing paul manafort tighter and tighter. >> in february 2018. mueller levels 32 new charges against paul manafort and his deputy rick gates. detailing an alleged scheme of money laundering and tax evasion. manafort pleads not guilty. but gates in a cooperation agreement with mueller pleads guilty to felony charges of conspiracy. and making false statements. becoming the third trump aid to strike such a deal. also under focus. the release by wikileakss of democrats e-mails during the 2016 presintial election. who knew what and en? >> did e-mails were about to come out that russians had these? >> mueller subpoenas the trump organization to hands over all documents related to russia in march of 2018. >> we have this going beyond the campaign. beyond the time in the white house and to the heart of the

trump organization. >> reporter: according to to the "washington post." that same month when talking to the president's lawyers, special counsel mueller describes president trump as a subject of the information. and not a criminal target. >> subject is the middle status. subject is more than a witness. subject is someone who is conduct is being investigated but at this time is not apparently guilty of a crime. >> for the time being, mueller continues his work. >> he will take this where ever it leads. i wish that we could let him do his job. i keep hearing dualing memos and so forth from the intelligence committee. my hope is what the intelligence committee will do is spend its time trying to figure out the russians did what they did and keep them from doing it again. >> reporter: throughout the probe there has been a growing drum beat to end the investigation and fire mueller. >> i have concerns with mr. mueller as it relates to bias.

>> we do not know the magnitude of this insider bias. on mr. mueller's team. >> it's time to get it under control. mueller is not the answer he's the problem. >> reporter: the president has been sharing his own views on twitter. for months. mueller probe should never have been started and there was no collusion and no crime. and later, a total witch hunt with massive conflicts of interest. will anyone stand in his way? >> he can't be bullied. he can't be intimidated. bob mueller will never bow to any political pressure from anybody. >> the entire thing has been a witch hunt. there's no collusion. between certainly myself and my campaign. i can always speak for myself and the russians. zero. >> he understands the responsibility he knows the country is watching. he wants to get it done right. >> mueller indicated the white house obstruction is in his criminal investigation. >> today, mueller charged 13 russian nationals with illegally

interfering in the american political process. >> if there's illegality in the way of his investigation, he'll find it and pursue it. bob mueller can be the person who would bring down this presidency. good evening from new york. >> good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. tonight something different. you may have already seen some of the news-making sound bites from our interview with tim cook of apple who sat down with kara swisher and i at a town hall in chicago last week. tonight we bring you a full hour with the apple ceo. it was an illuminate tag discussion covering everything from and al's responsibility to workers to their approach to customer privacy to exactly what tim cook would do if he were in mark zuckerberg's shoes right now. revolution, apple changing the world starts right now. >> tim cook, the leader of one of the most innovative and influential companies of our time.