becomes the end of our broadcast. that is our broadcast for this wednesday night, thank you so much for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. >> good night from new york. former special counsel robert mueller. he said his investigation didn't exonerate the president and stated it wasn't a hoax or a witch hunt. wealthy sex offender jeffery epstein has been found injured with marks on his neck. >> amid public out cry, the governor of puerto rico announced he will be stepping down. protesters calling for his resignation celebrated overnight.

>> good morning. it is thursday, july 25. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. answering lawmakers questions on capitol hill insisting russia will continue to disrupt our u.s. elections and acknowledged a lack of cooperation from president trump disputing the near daily assault on the probe. as mueller delivered information it didn't contain any surprises and him declining or deflecting questions 108 times claiming he did not want to spec u late. >> the new york times quoted from the report, soon after

special counsel's office opened in 2017 some aids noticed that mueller kept notably shorter hours than he did at the fbi director. mueller seemed to ceed substantial authority and as negotiations with president trump's lawyers about p interviewing him dragged on and on, he took part less and less and reported the calendars of one of the top team's top prosecutored suggest he met infrequently with mueller apart from a daily 5:00 p.m. staff meeting. and claimed zebley's 111 times suggesting he had led them. the times report may have

ignited a new question whether he was too old for the job and whether he delegated too much and whether he was up to it. >> one of president trump's key concessions that the report exonerates him. >> director mueller, the president has repeatedly claimed your report found there was no obstruction and it completely and totally exonerated him. that is not what your report said, is it? >> correct. that is not what the report said. >> the report did not conclude he did not commit obstruction of justice. is that correct? >> that is correct. >> what about total exoneration. did you totally exonerate the president? is. >> no. >> your report in fact says it does not exonerate the

president. >> it does. >> stating the investigation into russia probing did not come to an end in 2016. >> did you think this was a single attempt by the russians to get involve in the elections or did you find evidence to suggest they are doing it again. >> they are doing it as we sit here and they are expected to do it during the next campaign. >> my concern is, have we established a new normal from this past campaign that is going to apply to future campaigns so that if one of us ran for the u.s. house or senate, aware that if hostile foreign powers has no duty to report that. >> i hope this is not the new normal but i fare it is. >> so mueller also issued a

critique of president trump's past praise of wikileak. >> this just came out. i love wikileak, october 10. this wikileak stuff is unbelievable. you got to read it donald trump october 12, 2016. this is like a treasure troef, donald trump october 31, 2016. i love reading those wikileak, october 4, 2016. would any of those quotes disturb you, mr. director? >> i'm not sure i would say -- >> how do you react to that? >> problematic is an understatement in terms of giving some hope or boost to what is and should be illegal activity. >> are you concerned you could

be indicted out of office with so much of what robert mueller called problematic. >> wikileak is a hoax just like everything else. all of those problems having to do with crime is a hoax. total witch hunt. >> president trump tweeted sharp commentary throughout the day. the president told reporters it was, quote, a great day for me and bushed off questions of mueller. >> we had a very good day today, the republican party, our country. there was no defense of what robert mueller was trying to defend. there was no defense to this ridiculous hoax, this witch hunt. this whole thing has been three years of embarrassment and waste of time for our country. >> following the testimony, the next steps on whether or not to

impeach president trump lie in the hands of democrats. nadler pushed on impeachment efforts. at the meeting. nadler suggested they could start drafting plans and top democrats publicly shared their varying views after the meetings wrapped up. >> today was a watershed day in telling the facts to the american people. with those facts, we can proceed. we face a time of great danger. this cannot go on. it is up to congress to safe guard the constitution and we will do it. >> if we have a case for impeachment, that's the place we will have to go. the fact why i'd like it to be a

strong case is because it is based on the facts. the facts and the law. that's what matters, not politics, not partisanship, just patriotism. the stronger our case is. >> there is two juries in an impeachment. the senate and the jury that is the american people. i am most concerned about the jury that is the american people. before we embark on a course as significant to the country as the impeachment to the president, i want to make sure we can make that case to the jury of the american people. >> joining us here msnbc legal analyst. great to have you with us. first did robert mueller's testimony help democrats hoping

to make a big push in the investigation and possibly even impeachment. did you see the needle move very much? >> i don't think so but robert mueller told the country weeks ago, his testimony would be his report. as the day went on, he got even more comfortable saying he would decline to answer questions not within the four corners of his report. democrats knew this was a possibility. many set their goals accordingly by simply having robert mueller read into the record or be an audio book for the american public of his own report. maybe that is all they could hope for. most americans have not read the mueller report. this was the first introduction to its conclusions. >> some would say it was the second half of the day where bob

mueller really talked about his concerns involving russian interference that really made an impact and his concerns about not only what took place in 2016, the impact russians made but what is still going on and what will happen going forward. he didn't express confidence he felt like things are being done despite various reports that there on top of this. >> you nailed it there with that question. talking about i told you so. we said yesterday, during the end of our conversation that the democrats should be worried. the issue for me with all of the political noise and the who won and republicans treating mueller like a hostile witness. that key point is that the russians are still involved and another aspect is that he warned

that other governments watched and may want to do the same. that's what we should be worried about. i feel like we view this as a version of the cold war. you have an old fashioned guy like bob mueller there talking about this changed and insecure world in which people with their phones can just dial in from anywhere in the world into our election process. think about the countries that would like to intervene. iranians, love to. north koreans. they have something they'd like to shift. the russians look like they think it has been effective. >> it is quite interesting that other countries in the middle east that are supposedly allies have been involved in elections. >> why not?

if you have someone you think you'd like to see elected and you don't think you'll be caught. this is not something that happened and will never happen again. this is the way things are now. in the senate, the question is will they bring in some kind of legislation that can actually address this or is america going to battle with it. >> danny, let me ask you your thoughts in terms of where we go from here as what the democrats can and will do as to whether or not they will seek impeachment proceedings. >> they could have impeachment hearings and investigations, which is a lesser commitment. democrats face a huge risk, if they file the residence, file articles and he's acquitted. he will not only declare vict y

victory, he'll declare himself the emperor. probably the least risk is impeachment investigations. then they can dredge up bad things as we roll into an election season. maybe that is all they can hope for coming out of the mueller report which again yesterday, gave us zero new surprises. >> thank you very much. still ahead, a celebration in the streets after the puerto rico governor announced his resignation. the new secretary of defense is putting new measures in place to keep u.s. ships safe with escalating tensions with iran and a check on your weather when we come back. you wouldn't do only half

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>> welcome back. as iran continues its series of aggressive acts. newly confirmed defense secretary says the united states will begin escorting american flagged ships. escorts will be used, quote, to the degree in which demands it. he adds that such protension may not necessarily involve warships all those could be used and could involve a quote, overhead capability. the u.s. began escorting one of its ships. puerto rico's embattled governor announced his easy ig nation after the release of a profanity on laced on line chat. his resignation came from a

facebook video. the house of representatives unanimously found five offenses that called for impeachment. the secretary of state would replace him. at the moment, secretary of justice is next in line to become the island's governor. >> several countries in europe brace for the hottest day in history. belgium reported temperatures of 101 degrees. heat in germany reached 105 degrees. temperatures are expected to reach a record 107 degrees in paris and 101 in britain. that is pretty uncomfortable. >> dangerous numbers. let's get a perspective with how

things are shaping up here in the u.s. >> we are going to continue to see the heat wave in europe. there is a dip in the jet stream. this big h will make you happy in the northeast. we've been talking sunshine and it finally starts to move in here. a few clouds lingering this morning will push out of the area. it is not a beach day for florida. unfortunately, we are seeing that stalled out front that continues to make its way across northern florida here as well. from tampa to miami, we'll see rain potential up to two to three inches that continues to friday afternoon and through the start of the weekend. these downpours will continue to be from jacksonville to west palm. some spots will be dealing with that flooding rain. behind this front, there is some

southern comfort. look at this. morning lows are as cool as spring time. from little rock to new orleans, we'll see highs in the 80s with humidity not really in place. starting off across the northeast, you might want to have that light coat handy here. look at the highs. go ahead and open the window. by tomorrow, we are going to see hot, humid air start to make its way back in. >> thank you. sources telling nbc news accused sex trafficker was found injured in his manhattan jail cell. we'll have that story coming up next. but this year, there's a more thrilling path to follow. (father) kids...

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are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. >> quewelcome back. jeffery epstein was found injured and in a fetal position in his cell. the 66-year-old was found semiconscious with marks on his neck in his cell sometime in the last two days. he is now on suicide watch. sources say he may have tried hang himself and a third source caution it wasn't serious and another source says he may have staged an attack or suicide

attempt to get moved to another facility. as expected, president trump vetoed a set of bills that would have blocked arms sail to saudi arabia. evoked a rarely used national emergency provision to authorize 22 separate arms sales worth more than $800 million to the uae. infuriating a large group of lawmakers including lindsay graham and rand paul. north korea conducted the launch of two short-range missiles. the missiles crashed into the sea. a senior official said they

believe at least one missile is of a new design. this is the first test since the trump meeting back? june. the last test was back in may. at the time, trump said the test didn't bother him and falsely claimed the test didn't violate international sanctions. john bolton is in seoul for meetings with officials. for more of bob mueller's testimony including his explanation for why his team did not subpoena the president as part of the russia probe. >> and bernie madoff reaches out to the justice department in an effort to have president trump reduce his prison sentence. those stories and more coming up. and we'll make your first month's payment.

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>> welcome back. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. during his testimony yesterday, robert mueller was pressed on why he didn't subpoena the president after president trump declined to meet with his team voluntarily. here is how he explained it. >> why didn't you subpoena the president? >> we were almost toward the end of the investigation. we had little success pushing to get the interview of the president. we decided that we did not want to exercise the subpoena powers because of the necessity of

expediting the end of the investigation. >> the president didn't ever claim the fifth amendment, did he? >> i'm not going to talk to that. >> did you have evidence of the president's intent to obstruct evidence and that's why you didn't do the interview? is. >> there is a balance of evidence and how much time you are going to spend in court mitigating the president. the reason we didn't do the interview is because of the length of time it would take to resolve the issues intended to that. >> one of the most revealing segments came on the question of if president trump could be charged after leaving office. >> could you charge the president with a crime after he left office? >> yes. >> you believe you could charge the president of united states with obstruction of justice

after he left office? >> yes. >> i believe a reasonable person looking at these facts could conclude all these elements of the crime of obstruction of justice have been met. i'd like to ask you the reason again you did not indict donald trump is because of opinion you cannot indict a sitting president, is that correct? >> that is correct. i want to add one correction to my testimony this morning. i want to go back to one thing that was said this morning by mr. lu who said, and i quote, you didn't charge the president because of the olc opinion. that is not the correct way to say it. as we say in the report and as i said in the opening. we did not reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime. >> so president trump was asked about whether he's concerned about potentially being indicted once he leaves office in the wake of the answer on the matter. watch this. >> are you concerned you could

be indicted out of office? >> when you saw robert mueller's statement and then he did a recap, a correction later on in the afternoon. you know what that correction was and you still ask the question. you know why, you are fake news. you are one of the most. let me tell you, the fact that you even asked that question. you are fake news. >> mueller struggled through this questions at times the questions crystallized the greed inside the campaign. >> several individuals involved with the campaign were also trying to make money during the transition is that true. >> that's true. >> michael flynn was trying to make money from turkey? >> true.

>> trump was trying to make millions from a deal in moscow? >> you are talking about the hotel in moscow? >> yes. >> yes. >> you looked into these matters, numerous trump association personnel lied about the matters. >> a number of persons in the investigation did lie. >> mike flynn lied. george papadopoulos? >> true. >> paul manafort went so far as to encourage other people to lie? >> accurate. >> rick gates lied? >> that is accurate. >> michael cohan lied? >> true. >> when president trump called your investigation a witch hunt, that was also a lie? >> i'd like to think so, yes.

>> your investigation is not a witch hunt? >> it is not a witch hunt. >> joining us, a reporter for the "washington post." i'll start with you on this one. we just watched the exchange with chairman schiff. some would argue that was some of the most effective exchanges for the democrats. give me your take on it. >> i think what congressman schiff was trying to communicate that donald trump and his association cannot be trusted. they've created lies and miss truths before the american people. that is their approach to governing that they will take into 2020 and continue if supported by voters in this next election. this was definitely about russia

and 2016. for these democrats, this was also very much about 2020. >> there seems to be a lot of back and forth about this exchange that happened where robert mueller was asked if the president would be or could be indicted after leaving office. there has been some back and forth. break it down for us. can president trump be indicted after leaving office for the crimes he allegedly committed while in office or even when running for office in 2016? >> depending on how you look at it. this is either a bombshell or something we've always known. on one sense, of course a president can be indicted after he leaves office because the olc opinion doesn't corn him. what makes this a potential bombshell is this. did mueller say that president trump could be indicted for these specific acts or alleged acts of obstruction after he

leaves office. he appeared to say, yes this is the case. if that is true, the next big question is, is there a looming obstruction against the president waiting for him after he leaves office. that could be explosive. >> who would bring a case like that in a situation on a day the president leaves in four years, six years. who would be the person responsible of making that decision? >> it would not be the special counsel's office. that is no longer around. it would either be the ag or district attorney's office depending on the acts which would most likely be washington, d.c. or new york, the southern district of new york. the real question is whether or not, the president, who is immune while in office suddenly

can be charged after he leaves office. the only reason the olc opinion exists is the idea of arresting the president would arrest the whole executive branch and bring our government to a halt. >> i want to ask you about the fact that robert mueller and his team did not interview the president and he says it was really because of time. that was sort of head scratching for me. we've talked about this throughout the last two years. a lot of these investigations go on for many, many years. are you hearing anything as to why it was they wanted to wrap so quickly? >> from people i've talked to, there was real concern that the president would attempt to end this investigation. that he would fire mueller and

make efforts to just wrap this whole thing up. pressure from republican lawmakers and supporters and his advisors on fox flus news becau there was fear that mueller's conclusion would be more damaging than it was. and it was. we saw mueller reinforce some conclusions like that the president is unfit for office. he was able to get out what he thought was the information that congress should handle and take control of and move forward with. if he tried to interview the president knowing that the legal pressure that president's lawyers put on him to delay and extend this, there is fear everything could be wrapped up without the information he reached going as public as he has. >> what do you make of that argument that time is of

concern. what do you make about his decision not to subpoena the president? >> it makes no sense to me. even mueller when he was asked that question late in the day didn't give a satisfactory answer. this is the government. the aus attorneys have never been dealt with the extension of time. >> you think they should have let this go on for years? >> yes. let me bring you back several months to sam numb berg who said, screw that, i'm not complying with a subpoena. the next day, he came out and said, i'm very sorry, i am complying with all subpoenas. i've had a phone call or two. it turns out, i love complying with subpoenas. why didn't they do that with

president trump. >> danny is paraphrasing. >> thank you so much. still ahead, the head of u.s. border patrol speaks out. the reason she gave lawmakers for being a member. and the policy proposals the former vice president is sparing with them over. your first look at "morning joe" is back in a moment. ♪ sport drumming starts

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depend® fit-flex underwear for all day fun... features maximum absorbency, ultra soft fabric and new beautiful designs for your best comfort and protection guaranteed. life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. welcome back, the head of the u.s. border patrol admits she was part of a facebook group that mocks migrants. she said she rarely used facebook and didn't know much of the group. she called the posts highly offensive and unacceptable. >> as soon as i saw them, i made sure to put an announcement out

condemning the actions of those individuals. it is completely unacceptable and not representative of the border patrol as a whole. i also self-reported to the office of professional responsibility once i realized this was a group i was a member of. not only did i self-report, i turned my entire facebook account over. >> 62 current and former border patrol employees are under investigation why members question the authenticity of a picture of a dead father and son in a river. and firing back from joe biden about new criminal justice plan. >> what do you make of booker calling you the architect of mass incarceration.

>> cory knows that's not true. number two, if you look at the mayor's record in newark, one of the provisions i've written is patterned after behavior. his police department was stopping and frisking people, mostly african-american men. we took action, held the police department accountable, objected to federal interference. if he wants to go back and talk about records, i'm happy to do that but i'd rather talk about the future. >> biden took on his fellow 2020 democrats about health care taking a failed swipe at kamala harris. >> what plans do we have. totally legitimate debate to disagree on health care. okay, you have this medicare for

all. there is a section in medicare for all that says if medicare cover something, no private insurance is allowed to exist. some saying, no, i'm not going to do away with obama care. can't do it. no. no employer-based insurance, period. that's a legitimate position. bernie has been honest about it. i've heard people say medicare for all but they are not going to tax the middle class. come on, is this a fantasy world here. >> meanwhile, bernie's team slamd the comment. the real questions to be asked are about joe biden's proindustry plan where does he

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>> welcome back. swedish prosecutors have

announced they have charged rapper asap rocky with assault. rocky min contains he was acting in self-defense. under swedish law, the trial must take place in two weeks and he will remain in custody. he could actually face a fine based on earnings and up to two years in prison. a spokesperson for swedish authority told the new york times. >> meek mill in a case says the information undermines a police officer made it likely meek would be acquitted. convicted in 2008 and under super vision most of his adult life. . >> bernie madoff is asking

president trump to reduce his 150-year sentence for the infamous $65 billion ponzi scheme in 2009. he pled guilty to 11 crimes after scamming you thousand of investors. he has filed clemency. his request is listed as pending on the website last updated on july 1, the white house has referred any comment and the doj has declined to comment. it has in the past called him, quote, a sleez bag and scoundral without par. coming up on morning joeb, ta

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>> welcome back. joining us now from washington, d.c., director and chief from axios. what is the one big thing? >> about that post historic day. the big thing is mueller faulters.

-- falters. his final moment in public eye won't be his best. we've seen him tf a number of times. they say what they saw yesterday wasn't what they thought they knew he was. he wasn't as sharp a as direct as he has been in the past. it wasn't what they expected to see. probably one of the hottest takes was. the book was better than the movie. something we should have been aware of, this is something he had resisted. all of his public statements leading up to this have been very controlled statements. he said he was not taking a lot of questions. he wasn't his old self when faced with hours and hours of grilling. >> was there any benefit here to having him testify? >> certainly many said they

didn't get what they wanted, like a big block buster moment. something that would galvanize the nation. they didn't get that home run. they did get hours and hours of robert mueller saying what the report said, what kind of lies were being told. that president trump could be indicted afterwards. that the present wasn't exonerated. that resonates more with the public. many saying no one is going to read this report. it is too long. maybe people tuning in to this will get a sense of how much russia is trying to influence the election and something they are still doing today and how the trump administration lied about that investigation. >> what is axios saying about how trump and his team feel

about that? >> the country point was that republicans were ex sta tick. saying the president has been exonerated, no conspiracy. rudy giuliani even used emojis calling this a horrible b-grade movie. rudy giuliani better at text emojis than i am. >> what is axios reporting on what emojis were used. >> a movie camera and popcorn box. >> where do democratic lawmakers go from here? some say nancy pelosi is warming up to the idea of looking into impeachment. we don't know if that's true.

what are you hearing? >> the tension has not gone away. there were a lot of democrats in favor of impeachment yesterday and today. there wasn't a ground swell. that number did go up one or two. there are still investigations ongoing and lawsuits to compel testimony and try to compel release of the tax returns. our friends at politico overnight had calls for impeachment just yesterday. those calls are not going away. >> thank you. to viewers out there. you can sign up for that news letter. go to signup.axios.com. >> "morning joe" starts right now. >> i have president putin. he just said it is not russia.

>> they are doing it as we sit here. >> it is not an interference. they have information. i thid i'd take it. >> i hope thiss not the new normal but i fear it is. >> this just came out. wikileak. i love wikileak. this is a whole big fat hoax. >> it is not a hoax. >> it is a total witch hunt. >> it is not a witch hunt. >> there was no obstruction. if you read the report, you'll see that. >> the report did not conclude he did not commit obstruction of justice, is that correct? >> that is correct. >> it is a complete and total exoneration. >> did you exonerate the president? >> no. >> good morning, mika, i was hearing about how republicans