you so much for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. ♪ this morning, we're counting down to bob mueller's highly anticipated congressional testimony. his day on capitol hill is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. and he won't be alone. the former special counsel made a last-minute request to have one of his longtime aides beside him. plus, it's theresa may's last day on the job as britain's prime minister. she'll have one final round in parliament before meeting with the queen to officially resign. and the senate votes to pass the 9/11 victims compensation fund virtually assuring members won't have to return to congress to plead for more money in the future.

good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, july 24th. i'm yasmin vossoughian. ayman is not feeling well today so he had to take a sick day. we're going to start after two years of investigation. dozens of indictments and hundreds of attacks on the president of the united states. special counsel bob mueller will publicly testify on his report into russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. and the episodes of potential obstruction he examined by president trump and the white house. the justice department has directed mueller, now a private citizen, to only discuss what is within the, devote, boundaries of his report which contains nearly 1,000 redactions but no one knows for sure how far mueller will go in explaining the decisions he made throughout his two-year investigation. however, we have learned that one of mueller's longtime aides will accompany the former fbi director, aaron zebley, who oversaw day-to-day operations of

the probe, listed alongside mueller not as a witness for the first hearing. but a house aide says zebley will be sworn in before the second round. on twitter, president trump blasted the move just got back only to hear of a last minute change allowing a never trumper attorney to help robert mueller with his testimony tomorrow. what a disgray to our system. never heard of this before. very unfair, should not be allowed. a rigged witch hunt. president trump cited article 2 of the constitution as granting him the ability to do, quote, whatever i want. >> how about this whole witch hunt that's going on. shall i talk about it for a second? goes on for years and years. no collusion, no obstruction. oh, that's not good enough. let's go more. $40 million. interviewed 500 people.

they got nothing. they did everything. no collusion. no collusion. they have no collusion. then i have an article 2 where i have the right to do whatever i want as president, but i don't even talk about that. because they did a report, and there was no obstruction, after looking at it, our great attorney general read it. he's a total professional. he said, there's nothing here. there's no obstruction. >> so, let's be clear on some things, in the past, trump has referred to article ii to justify the firing of bob mueller which he claims he did not order. saying on two roccasions the president directed him to remove mueller. bob mueller will testify on congress today but yesterday it was the fbi director chris wray on the hot seat. wray appeared before the senate judiciary committee, and at one

point he admit head had not read every single word of the mueller report. watch this. >> you have read the mueller report? >> i've reviewed it. i wouldn't say i read every single word. >> joining me now msnbc legal analysis danny cevallos. actually make a comment on that first, with regards to acting fbi director chris wray saying he's reviewed it but hasn't read every single word. that's pretty surprising to me. >> it's not that surprising. he may mean there are preamble areas he may feel he didn't need to read. he has a job, i have a confession. i skipped a couple pages myself. >> okay. >> that's right. i think a lot of people -- especially when you get on an area, all right, all right, this part, i'm familiar with. i'll skip ahead. i know enough about that. i think also in testimony during congress, you're constantly thinking am i going to get myself in trouble by not being

honest. did i read it cover to cover? no. >> let's talk about the presence of aaron zebley, this sort of turn of events as of yesterday. he's not necessarily going to be a witness but he's going to be the council to bob mueller. how significant is this? >> on the one hand, robert mueller is going to be aided by having someone that he trusts nearby, maybe even to help him or remind him or point to areas -- remember, robert mueller didn't personally author the entire mueller report. he had a team. so, with a team like that, it's always good to have your r right-hand person there. you know, i've been thinking about that, too, this whole time, how will robert mueller navigate his own report so quickly? it's a lot of pages, he doesn't have it committed to memory. he might need the help. >> it's interesting it's a last-minute change. they've been preparing for this

for a couple weeks. we've known that bob mueller was going to testify for a couple weeks. actually, it was last week and the date got switched to this week. moved a week later. it's interesting that this change happened so quickly, just 24 hours before he's set to appear. >> the way i perceive is this, robert mueller is a private citizen. he doesn't want to be there. he told the world he doesn't want to be there. he told the world he's going to read from his own report. and he told the world, if you want to hear my testimony, read my report. he's daring congress with a problem as wanting to have an aide nearby to assist him. and robert mueller has made it clear he's going to do this testimony on his own terms, and if that means having an aide nearby, so be it. i dare you to have a problem with it. >> what are you going to listening for today, what questions? >> oh, my gosh, the number one question is going to be why did you not interview the president. the answer is going to be, well, we were running out of time we

may have extended it. in my experience, since when does the doj really care about time. if they believe there's something to be gotten to, they don't care if it takes months, years, they will do it. it seems strange that he would just say, well, we didn't have enough time. we figured we had everything that we needed. that sets off a whole other set of questioning, if you thought you had everything you needed what was that everything that you needed in your investigation such that you didn't need to talk to the president. >> who's to say he's going to answer that differently from what we know in the mueller report? he reminded us in the nine-minute speech, or testimony that he gave a couple months ago that if he were to testify, he would literally be reading from the report. he would not elaborate anything beyond that report. >> yes. and the theory democrats have is that if he is under oath, he has to answer honestly.

and if there's anything beyond the report. anything that maybe wasn't credible to make its way into the report but might help democrats find some new avenue of investigation, maybe that's what they get to. but it's a long shot. but as you said, mueller came out and told us, i'm essentially going to be doing an audio book of my own report. and if you have any questions about my report, go read it. don't ask me to come testify. >> danny cevallos. thank you, we'll be watching. >> we will. leaders on capitol hill appear confident they're going to be able to get the massive budget approved before lawmakers gator for august recess. according to politico, citing multiple aides when it comes to the floor this week, politico adds some progressive democrats have grumbled about the deal. but none have threatened to oppose it outright. and leaders of the congressional caucus are still discussing it internally.

president trump is also on board tweeting last night that, quote, it gives great victories to our military and vets. adding republicans and democrats in congress need to act asap to support this deal. but the caucus which includes the president's top allies on capitol hill citing the fact that it raises the debt ceiling and boosts federal spending without being fully paid for. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell it making no apologies for the agreement calling it, quote, the best we could have done in a time of divided government. adding that the alternatives were much, much worse. after intense lobbying from ailing 9/11 first responders, the senate passed a bill yesterday that will ensure that the september 11th victims compensation fund never runs out of money. the bill which was passed by a vote of 97 to 2 will authorize funding through 2092. before the final vote, the chamber defeated two proposed amendments bun from mike lee

that would have restricted to ten years. and another from senator rand paul that would have required offsets for the money spent. the bill which had 74 senate co-sponsors is expected to be quickly signed into law by president trump. hours before the vote, one victim's advocate said he got a call from the white house inviting him and other first responders to a bill signing on friday. former "the daily show" host jon stewart celebrated the passage of the bill yesterday. watch this. >> we can never repay all that the 9/11 community has done for our country. but we can stop penalizing. and today is that day. >> all right. today is also theresa may's last day as prime minister of the uk. her temperature p-- i said that in office. it was up and down, to say the

least, revolved almost sole around brexit. yesterday may's former secretary boris johnson who was also the former mayor of london was chosen to be leader of the conservative party. joining me now nbc news correspondent keir simmons. it was quite the day yesterday. i don't think it was surprising with boris johnson. i think people were predicting that. what does this mean for boris johnson as head of the conservative party, what does this mean for the future of uk? and also, let's talk about the similarities between boris johnson and the president of the united states, both populists, both using immigration very much as a tool? >> uh-huh. >> to get elected. >> yes, temperature ptuous, you

right. what it will continue to be with theresa may and boris jawohnson. in decades, we've had a british politician who once said all political careers end in failure. to be british to be so cynical about politician, inevitably, in the end, boris will be thrown out of office. the real question is will he succeed in some of these challenges he faces or will it happen quickly? on the edge is a majority in the british parliament. the other date that's coming down the line is this brex deit date. >> yeah. >> and that's where the uk is struggling to persuade europe to shift even a little bit on what they have proposed so far. and boris has promised his party that he will get them to shift. that's kind of between a rock

and a hard place. and you asked about donald trump. he looks a bit like donald trump, doesn't he with hair? >> they do, if you squint your eyes. you can get the two confused. >> right. at the same time, he isn't donald trump. he went to oxford. he went to eaton, the same school as prince william and prince harry. he's a classical scholar who if you were sitting here -- >> he's a populist. >> he is a populist. he can chat to you in classical greek in latin. he can pick up the phone and speak to macron in french, not having to switch to english. but he's a populist. you are right. he's made some promises to the british people. and the question is whether or not he can really deliver those. he tries to be all things to all people. that's hard in politics, ultimately, when you have to make decisions. >> we're obviously watching the mueller probe -- the mueller

testimony today, that's a big day throughout the country. i think a lot of people are going to be tuned into this. obviously, a lot of the questions revolve around this idea of obstruction of justice. and ten instances in which bob mueller laid out in his 480-page report that may have been obstruction of justice by the president of the united states. you have also done some fantastic reporting on the russian angle. >> right. >> the mueller report. what can we expect to hear, do you think, with regards to russian interference in our elections today, with regards to mueller's testimony? >> the thing -- the part of the mueller report that fascinated me, of course, because of what i do is the first part of the mueller report which is about that russian interference. >> yeah. >> i mean, one of the things i was left with and i say this again and again is how much was missing. i mean, he did have a fat nat e fascinating insight from a russian oligarch, with regards

to putin calling in 50 russian oligarch to give them their instructions and hear from them. so, we did see in that report, the way that president putin seems to use the very russians around him to try to get his political agenda in place. at the same, i think there were so many holes. and i'd like to hear whether bob mueller agrees with that. i wonder whether the democrats will be disappointed, to be honest, with what they hear today. and whether the political game they hope to make may not turn -- >> right. and obviously, whether the right questions are going to be asked. it's really about the questions to be asked that lead to the conclusions in which both parties want. >>y, maybe a lot of people will watch. but a lot of people have already made up their minds. and a lot of people watching already think they know what's in the report. as a piece of political theater. it's going to be fascinating. will it shed new light and change people's minds?

i think that's the question. i think the democrats ought to be kind of nervous this morning. >> keir simmons, thank you. good seeing you. >> you bet. still ahead, the latest on the unrest in puerto rico. the government has been ordered to turn over their cell phones but leaders want an explanation after president trump claims he could wipe the country off the face of the earth. those stories and a check of the weather when we come back. back.

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welcome back. afghanistan's leader has called for clarification after president trump's remarks that he could win the afghan war in just ten days by wiping out the country but did not want to, quote, kill 10 million people. >> we're like police men. if we wanted to fight a war in afghanistan and win it, i could win that war in a week.

i just don't want to kill 10 million people. does that make sense to you? i don't want to kill 10 million people. i have plans on afghanistan, if i wanted to win that war, afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth. it would be over literally in ten days. and i don't want to do -- i don't want do go that route. >> so trump's remarks came as america's top diplomat and peace talks aimed at the latest war arrived in kabul. in a statement from his office, the afghanistan president called for a, quote, clarification of trump's statement adding this, foreign heads of state cannot determine afghan's state. meeting with the peace negotiator yesterday and they discussed trump's comments. after nearly two week of protesters flooding the streets isn

in san want, executed search warrants again ricardo rossello and his aides. the warrants come after a week of a profanity-laced chat between rossello and some of his close associates. on monday, hundreds of thousands of puerto ricans, they shut down a main highway and paralyzed san juan while calling for rossello's resignation. rossello, however, released a statement yesterday reaffirming his intention to remain as the island's governor. shortly after the governor's chief of staff who was among those who participated in the chat resigned. still ahead, the numbers show the immigration raids that were expected to target more than 2,000 undocumented immigrants across the u.s. resulted in far fewer arrests. that new report is coming up, next. but some give their clients cookie cutter portfolios. fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. some only call when they have something to sell. fisher calls regularly so you stay informed.

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designed for impossible stains. welcome back, officials say the recent immigration rate touted by president trump resulted in just 35 arrests. trump billed the operation as part of an effort to deport millions of people from the u.s. as the number of families crossing the southern border had skyrocketed. the operation targeted 2100 of the roughly lly 1 million peop the u.s. with final deportation orders. i.c.e. agents are under the magnifying glass once again after a violent arrest of an undocumented kansas city, while

he sat in his car with his family. nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer has the details on the story. >> reporter: for 25 minutes, i.c.e. agents in kansas city tried to make the arrest. >> i still have rights. >> reporter: but when vasquez refused to get out of his car, agents smashed his window and dragged him out while his small children cried in the backseat and his partner recorded the incident. she spoke out. >> i just want people to know that this is happening in our community. that this is real. and it can happen to nip. >> reporter: calling vasquez a fugitive with a prior history that includes misdemeanor offenses, i.c.e. stands by the arrest. neighbors here in nashville

formed a human chain preventing the arrest of a migrant outside of his home. after a raid aimed at 2,000 people, i.c.e. says only 35 have been arrested so far. in a separate operation, nearly 900 immigrants, many with criminal records, were arrested. their work remains under scrutiny. >> pretty shocking stuff there. our thanks to nbc's miguel almaguer for that report. still ahead, the very latest for what we can expect from bob mueller's testimony this morning. as the former special counsel prepared sit in the house seat. democrats are looking at their next target, former white house council don mcgahn. we'll explain. plus president trump blocking the house ways and means committee from getting years of his tax returns. those stories, and more, coming up, next. that helps her heart so she can keep on doing what she loves.

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♪ welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian. ayman is out sick today. it's the bottom of the hour. start with the morning's top story, isn't just three hours from now the countdown begins. special counsel bob mueller due to appear from the house committee. 19 lawyers and 40 fbi agents, executed 2800 subpoenas and the public report he delivered in march existed of 448 pages split into two volumes. one on russian interference in

the 2016 election. the other on only obstruction of justice. it contains nearly 1,000 redactions and lists ten incidents of possible obstruction by president trump. and less than a day before mueller's appearance, his investigation won another victory in court. yesterday, a federal jury convicted a former trump official, a business partner acting as a foreign agent and conspiracy to the justice department. flynn had agreed to testify against him in the undisclosed at the same times to turkey. but prosecutors claim flynn abruptly changed his story which could affect his upcoming sentencing. keyon is the second sentencing in court and the nine cases referred to prosecutors. and even as house investigators prepare for today's testimony from robert mueller, judiciary chairman

jerry nadler is already thinking about his next steps. according to nbc news, nadler is seeking to compel testimony from former white house counsel don mcgahn, mcgahn name appears 500 times in the report. considered a linchpin in the obstruction of justice case against the president. multiple officials tell nbc news the committee could move within days to request a court order to enforce its subpoena for documents and in-person testimony from don mcgahn. staffers from the hearing say you can expect to hear about him today. as democrats seek to bolster their agent for piercing the white house's claim that mcgahn is barred from testifying because of executive privilege concerns. and judiciary chairman

lindsey graham said the committee would call on former aide george papadopoulos. he also said the committee is awaiting a report from fbi inspector general michael horowitz about a fisa used to surveil carter page. watch this. >> the committee will be looking at the counterintelligence of the campaign. we'll call papadopoulos and find out what happened. we'll wait on the fisa report. but beale take day deep dive into the surveillance of the fbi and organizations of campaigns, make sure that we know what we're doing and protocols in place going forward. to ensure that we don't play politics with the law. >> and george papadopoulos pled guilty to lying to the fbi in connection with bob mueller's probe in 2017. and spent two weeks in prison last year.

he has been a vocal critic of the fbi. and in a recently published book titled "deep state target," he claims that american and international intelligence agencies tried to sabotage trump's presidential campaign. in a new hurdle in the fight over tax returns, the president is suing the house ways and means committee as well as new york officials as a way to prevent his tax records being turned over to congress. the law seeks to block the application of a new york state law that enabled the ways and means committee chair to obtain trump's tax record from the state commissioner. it also asks the court to block the returns from the state. and asks the court to block the state from complying with any congressional requests. trump filed the lawsuit yesterday in his personal capacity, using his own private lawyers. let's talk more about this, joining me now from washington,

reporter for "the washington post," eugene caught. eugene, good morning. thank you for joining me on this. >> good morning. >> let's talk about the lawsuit that i just mentioned brought by the president on his finances. does this throw a wrench, shall we say, in the plans that the democrats have? >> it certainly will likely delay the plans that the democrats have to get the president's tax returns and make them available, if needed, to the american people. but the arguments that the president has made, specifically as a private citizen, according to democrats and even legal experts don't hold much water. the president's arguing that the only reason democrats want the tax returns is for political motivations. and the reality is, we know throughout history that there have been both democrats and republicans in congress. and they've yearned to see the tax returns of the president, regardless of the president's political party. because they want to see whether or not conflicts of interest

exist. and this is the argument that you can expect democrats and republicans seeking these tax returns to make, as they probably launch a countersuit. >> let's talk about don mcdcgah as you know, eugene, the democrats have been circling don mcgahn for quite a while. he's played a pivotal role in the mueller investigation but also in the 400 pages. and they've wanted to hear from him for quite some time. and the question is if they would hear from him and when. so what could democrats look to hear from don mcgahn, to advance some of these investigations? >> well, democrats want to hear whether or not they believe, or that don mcgahn believes the president attempted to obstruct justice, specifically when it comes to whether or not he was directed to fire mueller. whether or not he was directed to interfere in any capacity and

then the investigation to stop it. or to make it conclude with a more favorable response to the president and his involvement with russia's interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. and so, whether or not mcgann will reveal more information will be more clear, according to the democrats. it's not clear as of now. but certainly, that's what they're going to look for and want to hear from him if he comes forward. >> big day ahead, eugene. i know you're going to be watching. can't wait to hear your thoughts after that. eugene scott, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. for the first time in months the defense department has a permanent leader. yesterday, the senate overwhelmingly voted to confirm mark esper, 90-8. it ends the longest period of time that the pentagon has gone without a congressionalal agreed

vote. the supreme court justice samuel alito swore in esper during a ceremony last night in the oval office. esper who was president trump's second acting defense secretary takes over for jim mattis who resigned. and domestic terrorism motivated by white supremacist views has sharply increased from last year. that's according to fbi director wray. when pressed on specifics, here how wray responded. >> through the third quarter of this fiscal year, had about, give or take, 100 arrests in the international terrorist side which includes the homegrown violent extremism. >> this year? >> this year. but we've also had just about the same number, again, don't quote meehan out exact difficult on the domestic terrorism side.

and i will say that a majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we've investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call white supremacists, but it includes other things as well. >> so, wray went on to name a few recent high-profile domestic terrorism cases spurred by white supremacist views. still ahead, presidential hopeful joe biden unveils his plans on the justice system. details on that. and a check on your forecast. your first look at "morning joe" is just moments away. my experience with usaa

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comprehensive criminal justice plan that is aimed at combatting mass incarceration and reducing racial, gender and income-based disparities in the justice system. biden's criminal rights and civil justice record during his three decades in the senate includes the bill which many associate with mass incarceration in the u.s. however, the former vice president's plan now calls for eliminating discrepancies in sentencing between powder an crack cocaine. and for the elimination of mandatory nsentencing for nonviolent crimes at the federal level and state level which is a sharp departure from the position he vocally embraced throughout the '90s. cory booker slammed biden's plan. saying joe biden had more than

40 years to get this right. the proud architect of a failed system is not the right person to fix it. and july is on track to be the hottest month ever recorded in history, according to climate scientists after the recent heat wave hit cities nationwide. the arctic saw much warmer temperatures than usual. experts say it is just the latest sign really that the clie planet is warming. experts are anticipating the current report from july 2017 will fall. with that, let's get a check on your web with meteorologist janessa webb. hi. good morning, we're off to a hot and steamy start here. that's where we're going to continue here as warmer weather makes its way in. also off to a rough start for the severe weather hurricane season. and yesterday, we saw this rare tornado in cape cod. i really want to show you on

radar how this started as thunderstorm activity here, as it rolled through barnesable county, this is a classic hook here. you can see it touching down around the 12:00 hour. but it caused an ef-1 tornado. it started on land and as it made its way offshore it really turns into a water spout. we saw sustained wind gusts of 110 miles per hour. it took off the roofs along with you can see downed trees. we still have 30,000 people in that area without power this morning. so, that storm system is making its way offshore. everybody from new york, boston as well, areas in the northeast, you're going to see high pressure that's going to make its way into the afternoon. that will make everybody happy. we'll start to dry out. but the cold front conditions pretty rough across northern florida. we're track 1 to 3 inches.

pretty rare event for florida. also that tornado in cape cod, rare event. facebook and the federal government are reportedly set to announce a settlement over the social media giant's privacy practices. plus, some of this country's biggest tech companies face a new threat out of washington as the justice department opens a major antitrust probe. details on the stories driving your business day, next. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. dto experiencer gthrilling performance. now, at the lexus golden opportunity sales event. get 0.9% apr for 60 months on all 2019 models. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. so you don't have to stash antacids here....tc and take control of heartburn. here...

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welcome back.

"the wall street journal" reports that the justice department is opening a broad antitrust review into whether big tech companies are unlawfully stifling competition. although the doj did not disclose specific companies, it is reportedly reviewing a new washington threat from companies such as facebook, amazon google and apple. in a statement just yesterday, the doj noted that the review is focusing on the practices of online platforms that dominate social research and retail media. and the survey under attorney general bill barr with scrutiny only both sides of the isle and could intensify. cnbc's joumanna bercetche joins us live from london. good morning. we got shares of facebook, amazon, they all fell

immediately after the announcement. what can we expect from this, though? >> that's exactly it. the big news from the tech sector that far story emerged in "the wall street journal." the key is in the of online pl that dominate internet search, social media, and retail services. they didn't think about which companies in particular but i think it's pretty obvious which ones they're referring to, google, social media, facebook and retail is amazon. they said they will be monitoring ways these platforms have achieved their market supremacy either by reducing competition or by stifling information, so big developments when it comes to anti trust legislation and oversight in the u.s. here, and they're really trying to emphasize the point that it is not a political position. i also want to just remind viewers as well, the ftc did investigate google in 2017 on anti-competitive claims but didn't find a basis for

anti-competitive behavior then. >> the fcc is expected to announce a settlement with facebook, involving risks involving its privacy practices, a story we have reported on for quite some time. what more can you tell us about this? >> today is the big day, according to the "wall street journal" as well. the s.e.c. are set to announce they will be making the settlement with facebook. here's the amount, $100 million. facebook makes more than $50 billion a year in revenue. this is a drop in the ocean for them, a hundred million dollar settlement with the s.e.c. in relation to facebook's handling of user base. and set to unveil a $5 billion settlement with facebook. that is expected to be announced today but put in the context of their earnings, last quarter it was $50 billion for the quarter, so they are well beyond provisions for those settlement amounts. i thought you would find those

numbers interesting. >> those seem modest to me considering the profits that facebook makes. coming up, everybody, axios's jonathan swan has a look at this morning's one big thing. and bob mueller prepares to face lawmakers. we are two hours away from the former special counsel being sworn in to testify on the findings of his russia report. "morning joe" will have extensive coverage leading to today's hearings, including house judiciary member joe neguse on what he wants to hear from mueller, and andrew mccabe and neil katia will join the conversation. the conversation when i was diagnosed with breast cancer,

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axios a.m., national political reporter for axios, jonathan swan. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> a big day ahead. talk to us about axios' one big thing today. >> today is very simple. it is jerry nadler's last best opportunity to open an impeachment inquiry into donald trump to force nancy pelosi to do this. and you can see this from the preparation that the democrats have put in. they did a mock hearing yesterday. they want to create -- we have spoken to a number of democrats on the committee, jackie spear, telling my colleague that she fantasizes, i think she uses that word about robert mueller reading out sections of this report. they are obviously based on what we have been reporting and also just plain common sense going to try to get robert mueller to at least creep up to the point where he says he probably won't do this, but -- the word but for

the fact that he was president he would have prosecuted donald trump. >> so you talk about a little bit of the preparation in that they had a mock hearing yesterday but what else is going into democratic lawmakers ways in which they are preparing for this hearing, especially when it comes to the questions in which they will be asking. >> there's both offensive and defensive. there's preparation for all the questions they're going to ask and how they're going to create tv moments. democrats know, they're not foolish, they know he's going to do his best not to go outside the four corners of his report. what they're doing to do is educate the public through the television. they're aware republicans have spent a lot of time preparing for this. people like jim jordan, watch for him. matt gate, i spoke to him yesterday, he said i can't talk, i'm in jim jordan's office preparing our questions. there has been a lot of preparation from the republicans for weeks on this, john rat

cli -- radcliffe, and sceean hannity suggests questions, and there's a number of people he wouldn't need to suggest questions to because they're close anyway. >> and jim jordan and bob mueller have gone head-to-head in testimony. we'll have to wait and see if they yet again go head-to-head today. president trump has said he's not going to pay much attention to today's hearings. of course you cackle at that. what are you hearing from the white house with regards to the president's mindset today? >> the stupidest stories ever written are the ones that say the white house is preparing to watch it, and the president is prepared to tweet. they're not preparing anything. he does what he does. he's going to wake up this morning. he's probably awake now. he's going to spend probably four or five hours until the

residence. usually comes down around 11:00 with his television and if he's not live tweeting i'll be pretty surprised, watching him making phone calls, polling people he knows, what do they think. mark meadows is not in the hearings but he'll be close to the three people. i'll be stunned if the president isn't on the phone with mark meadows. >> and he doesn't have much on his schedule, it seems, and he has a large allotment as we know for exec tiutive time which we e known the president has oftentimes spent his executive time watching the news. >> it is a key feature of executive time as we have exhaustively chronicled. >> talk to us about what you're going to be watching for in today's hearing and what you're looking to hear in today's hearing. >> i'll be watching for one thing which is democrats are desperate to impeach. they're running out of time. they need a moment from robert

mueller. they need something from him to get that number from 90, which i think is roughly the current count to double that to get some real accelerant in there. i'll be looking to see if he says something that ostentatiously gives congress the impetus to impeach or that he found things troubling in that report, giving them the impetus to move forward on impeachment. >> jonathan swan, thank you very much. we're going to be reading axios in a bit. sign up for the news letter at sign up @axios.com. i'm yasmin vossoughian, "morning joe" starts right now. m yasmin g joe" starts right now. two months ago when congress was negotiating over whether mueller will testify on capitol hill, the ap's jonathan lemire reported that the president