>> the only person who thinks it's bill barr's decision is bill barr. is that robert mueller presented both sides and the evidence on both sides. he had the humility not to want to make a determination on that, given the stakes for the country. and my sense is he intended for congress to debate that and congress to make that judgment. it's our constitutional responsibility. so the person who i think is in the wrong here is bill barr who gave himself the authority to make a determination when it seems that when mueller wants us to do is have that debate in congress. >> okay. let me ask you now, let's set aside the law for a moment and talk pragmatism and politics here. one thing we've noted at this network is that democratic candidates on the campaign trail for 2020, they're not getting asked a lot about -- or at all at times about the russia investigation. and cnn's most recent polling on voters' priorities, we'll put these numbers up on the screen but i'll read them to you since you can't see them, is the russia investigation ranks at the bottom, well

that's an bill barr decides he's going to quote directly from the mueller report. what he goes on to say in this letter, wolf, is they're going to pore over the rest of the mueller report and then decide how much of this they can provide access to for members of congress, who obviously are clamoring for more, for the public that wants to see more of what exactly was found here. so one of the things that bill barr describes in his letter is they're going to work with the special counsel, they're going to try to look to see whether there's grand jury material that can be removed to be protected to make sure that whatever they can turn over to members of congress, that can answer their questions and sort of address some of their suspicions that they already have. but it's very important that this one phrase is quoted directly from the report, which again, this says the investigation did not establish that members of the trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the russian government in the election interference activities. that's a huge line and a very -- probably

again, the president is putting a lot of faith and trust in bill barr. but i would assume that because of his stellar reputation barr is going to go through this thing with a fine tooth comb to make sure nothing is released publicly that shouldn't be out there. you're talking about intimate conversations between the president and his top aids, stuff that you want to not get out in the public. >> excellent reporting from the chief white house chris wallace, fox news sunday host. we were talking a moment ago we had an ink ling this might be coming out. i appreciate you tap dancing with me a little bit, two-page letter, it's pretty brief. and what stands out for you, chris? >> well, it strikes me as imminently reasonable offer, not really an offer, a declaration by the attorney general, the fact is that the report was only given to, at what, 5:00 a week ago, so seven days ago, to bill barr. he then summarized that on sunday the idea that he was going to be able to make the whole report public, having dealt with the issues as you pointed out, grand jury testi

that's not as clear in the letter from bill barr. they're saying this is a total vindication from the president, and they want to use this as a way to restart a conversation with moderate voters about what president trump has been up to as president and perhaps push those moderate voters away from democrats. they're suggesting that democrats have been blind sided by their inability to deal with the 2016 election and have been pushing conspiracy theories. so a really interesting window into how they're already, as of this very moment, pivoting to 2020 and feeling very hopeful about what it means for president trump to move over this hump of the mueller probe that he's been kind of waiting for all these months and these last two years, wolf. >> significant development, indeed. james clapper is joining us right now, former director of national intelligence. in additi anxiety anxious to get your reaction. what do you think? >> well, it's actually more forthcoming than i thought it would be, but it certainly leaves a lot of unanswered que

at least as far as this letter goes from the attorney general bill barr tonight, barr says he never exercised that power. he's notifying congress formally. there's never anything the special counsel sought to do that bill barr stopped mueller from doing. and that's fascinating. of course everybody would like to hear that from robert mueller as well as from bill barr but at this point it's only bill barr who is speaking on mueller's behalf. robert mueller is still at this point publicly silent as he has been from the very beginning. although we'll have more on that in a moment. here's more from the letter, though, quote the special counsel has submitted to me today a quote, confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions he has reached as required by the regulations. quote, i am reviewing the report and anticipate that i may be in a position to advise you of the special counsel's principal conclusions as soon as this weekend. so this is the attorney general telling us that he has mueller's report and he is not handing the report over to congress, right? this letter from

at least as far as this letter goes from the attorney general bill barr tonight, barr says he never exercised that power. he's notifying congress formally. there's never anything the special counsel sought to do that bill barr stopped mueller from doing. and that's fascinating. of course everybody would like to hear that from robert mueller as well as from bill barr but at this point it's only bill barr who is speaking on mueller's behalf. robert mueller is still at this point publicly silent as he has been from the very beginning. although we'll have more on that in a moment. here's more from the letter, though, quote the special counsel has submitted to me today a quote, confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions he has reached as required by the regulations. quote, i am reviewing the report and anticipate that i may be in a position to advise you of the special counsel's principal conclusions as soon as this weekend. so this is the attorney general telling us that he has mueller's report and he is not handing the report over to congress, right? this letter from

again, this is bill barr's letter. "separately i intend to consult with deputy attorney general rod rosenstein and special counsel robert mueller to determine what other information from the report can be released to congress and the public consistent with the law including the special counsel regulations and the department's long-standing practices and policies." quote, "i remain committed to as much transparency as possible and will keep you informed to the status of my review. sincerely, william p. barr, attorney general." so a couple of important things here. number one, obviously, barr is saying explicitly i did not block robert mueller from doing anything that he wanted to do. there wasn't anything he was trying to pursue where i said no as attorney general i'm stepping in and blocking you from doing that. interesting. i would like to know more about that but that's the blunt assertion tonight from attorney general william barr. also, barr is going to maybe as soon as this weekend brief mueller's principal conclu

bill barr is not jeff sessions.his is a clear statement of trust in bill barr to make decisions that will keep the president, keep the white house from getting into an executive privilege fight that really the takeaway from that would be what are you hiding? or what are you trying to hide? instead, deferring or at least intends to defer to bill barr suggests that the president, you know, has nothing to worry about here. the justice department can take care of it. redactions can be easily done. he's fine because he has come away from this with exoneration being the central message that he wants out. he doesn't want it to be a fight about executive privilege. he wants exoneration. >> of course, the big question is how the president and bill barr are communicating but one way they're communicating is how the president communicates. he lays praise on bill barr. you're amazing. you're amazing. here he is. >> i have great confidence in the attorney general. i will say this. our new attorney general, bill barr, is a great

he appointed bill barr after barr wrote letters and articles consistent whey the president want to see. i think is a prima facie case to be suspicious of any conclusions he draws that exonerates the president when bob mueller did not exonerate the president. specifically did not exonerate him. for barr to do it, there's reasons to find the data, go to the best material, best evidence which is the entire report for the judiciary committee to look into to see what, or whether or not there was obstruction of justice. >> will you be calling bob mueller to testify? should he? >> i won't be doing it. jerry nadler will do it and i'll be supporting him and the entire democratic team and judiciary committee will. >> will you ask mr. nadler. >>> i can ask but i don't have to ask. like asking the phillies do you want bryce harper. they got him, who do you want to see in front 6 i don't are committee? >> barr and mueller both. >> congressman cohen. thank you very much. appreciate it. >> you're welcome. >>> the table, haven't been to any of you yet. all of our legal lines. first to you, tom winter.

here, you believe that his intention, mueller's intention was to leave the determination not to bill barr the president's appointed attorney general but to congress. why do you believe that? and is that power now u surped? >> i thought it was an interesting part of the letter that we saw from barr to congress. we have heard about mueller punting, did he punt on the question? i don't know that he really punted more than a handoff to congress. he said i don't know. i'm not going to exonerate him. here is what i have. remember, he was governed and guided by the rules of the department of justice and in consultation with the department throughout. there are regulations that talk about who has the authority. i think the trick is going to be if the democrats decide to look at it they don't need to play it as if they are trying to run a hail mary but take it as a handoff and make a decision. i thought that the wording was unique and just the way that barr put that question in his short memo to congress seems to me to justify the calls for the request for the full report be made public and turned

bill barr is deciding what to share with congress and the american people. we are standing by for details that could come at any time. pins and needles. president trump is at his resort in florida surrounded by lawyers as they wait with the rest of us to learn what mueller found. are claims of vindication premature? house democrats are start sweeping investigations to president trump. and silent bob. he has kept silent throughout relentless commentary and criticism of work. i am wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." >>> we are following breaking news. the attorney general william barr and deputy rod rosenstein are hold up at the justice department in washington now. combing through one of the most anticipated reports in recent memory. special counsel robert mueller's findings in the investigation of russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in the united states. barr has promised to share what he calls principal conclusions of mueller's report with congress, possibly as soon as today, with the announcement there will be no more indictmen

the mueller report in the hands of the attorney general bill barr who we understand is reading it at s hour. barr has come out with a letter to congress saying he could be ready to notify them on the, quote, principle conclusions as soon as this weekend. the reaction from capitol hill has been swift and manu is there. what are you hearing, manu? >> democrats are demanding, erin, the full report as well as the underlying evidence that underpins the decisions that bob mueller made to prosecute and not to prosecute. and that could be one area of a fight going forward between democrats and the justice department depending on how much bill barr multilat edecides to provide to congress and to public. adam shif, the chairman of the intelligence committee said the justice department set a precedent in the last congress they were investigating the fbi decisions not to prosecute hillary clinton in 2016 elections. he's saying because of that decision congress should at least see the underlying decisions for the mueller investigation. now, on top of that democrats in the house saying this is the

bill barr has just submitted a four-page, single-spaced letter to congress with a lot of details. his conclusions on what robert mueller and his special counsel team came up with. bottom line, he concludes there was no collusion. the president keeps saying no collusion. the special counsel concludes there was no conspiracy, no solution, certainly not enough to prosecute anyone involving the trump administration. terms of coordination with russia during the u.s. presidential election. there's not enough evidence to go ahead and find that anyone obstructed justice, that the president did not obstruct justice, that the bottom line, they quote the special counsel in this letter, as saying while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. that's a direct quote from robert mueller's findings after nearly two years. evan perez is getting more information for us. what else are you learning? >> well, wolf, again, the top line is really the most important part of this investigation, the 22 months, very exhaustive investigation that robert m

as we look at bill barr's treatment of the mueller report. in moments, as promised, and as we indicated on our screen, i will be joined by senator cory booker. he is a presidential candidate. he is a member of the judiciary committee who could be in a position to face off with trump's attorney general bill barr again or even bob mueller himself. but first, i want to turn to a very special guest, donald trump's personal attorney jay sekulow, who joins me on a newsworthy night on "the beat." good evening. thanks for coming on the show. >> thanks for having me, ari, appreciate it. >> your view of what bob mueller found regarding no chargeable collusion. >> well, i'm going toe say before we get to the no chargeable collusion, i watched former attorney general holder and mr. rossi, your last guest, and you've conflated the independent counsel statute, which is what leon jaworski and ken starr were operating on it. hold it. >> here's what i'm going to do. i'm going to let us get into on instruction. i want to begin with something i thought you woul

and you have to believe that he looks at this principle conclusions letter that bill barr wrote and bill barr, that's the other thing he made clear in the letter to nadler, this was not a summary. because he's being blasted for summarizing the report. nancy pelosi said it was con descending the way that he summarized the report for them. she said show it to us, we need to look at it ourselves. >> neil: and bob mueller, anyone on the legal team, would have found it con descending or worse wrong, i think they would have gotten that out there. >> martha: i89 doesn't strike me -- it doesn't strike me that this attorney general would put the summarizing, excuse me, principle conclusions letter out there if he didn't feel that it accurately represented the underlying finding of the document. >> neil: you have to wonder, too, with the 400-plus pages or whatever, this ultimately is, that some things are going to be redacted. the next issue will become when it is released, what was redacted and why. everything becomes like -- >> martha: there will be enough flesh left on the bones to continue to

let's read a piece of what bill barr wrote. he said after reviewing the special counsel's report on the issues, consulting with the department officials and applying the principles of federal prosecution that guide our charging decisions, deputy attorney general rod rosenstein and i have concluded that the evidence developed during the special counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the president committed obstruction of justice offense. that is the key part of this is that mueller was not able to reach a real conclusion. he makes clear that he does not exonerate the president on this question. so the question is why. we know that mueller investigators had asked repeatedly to sit down with the president, for the president to ask questions in person. in the end all they got was a take home test so to speak and the president answered written questions only on the collusion part of this investigation. on the obstruction part they never got to answer any of those questions so that will be the big question that l

some coining for bill barr and robert mueller to testify. in his letter barr suggested there's more information coming but said he'll work with the justice department to see what can and cannot be released. barr says, quote, as soon as that process is complete, i will be in a position to move forward expeditiously in determining what can be released in terms of applicable law and policies. so much to talk about i want to bring in julia ainsley, hans nichols is at the white house. julia, i have many questions about how that process will work when we find out how much of the report we see and when. but two people made a decision on obstruction, one was bill barr and you just ran into the second person, didn't you? >> that's right, i did just saw deputy attorney rod rosenstein on his way in to work this morning. he was look at his phone. i asked how he was feeling, he looked up, gave me a big smile and said no comment but the mood is different here today after this summary came out yesterday. we used to see a lot of tense stoic faces around here

bill barr is that man of integrity. say that same thing about the special counsel and the people around him. anybody can go any direction they want to, but you have to remember that people do have character and do have pride and integrity. they tend to do the right thing in circumstances like this. emily: well, even the white house saying the next steps are up to william barr. i want to check in with mark crumpton who is standing by and following the latest headlines. mark, anything new? mark: not that i have seen, but i believe mr. gavin hit it on the head. that not everyone is going to be happy about what comes out of this report. i'm not sure if that is necessarily a win-win because some parts of the president can't will not be happy and some of the democrats on the hill will not be happy. they have been smelling blood for the last couple of years, just waiting for mr. mueller to released this report. mr. mueller has been the president's pinata for the past couple of years. the president has question his integrity. t

bill barr decided, no, that question should not go to congress without my opinion.'ll add this. it is even less likely that bob mueller knowing that bill barr applied for the job by sending this unsolicited memo talking about how bob mueller's obstruction theory was bogus, what are the odds that bob mueller would say, yeah, let's let that guy decide about my two years of work product? >> and you've worked in the justice department yourself. you were a former assistant u.s. attorney. you were a former federal prosecutor. my understanding as an observer and a person who reads the news is that it never works in the way where a prosecutor leading an investigation considering potential criminal charges against somebody assembles all the evidence and then punts and then the attorney general decides without any recommendation from the prosecutor whether or not those charges will be brought. i mean, is that -- >> you know, it is i think maybe not that simple because in a normal circumstance where you have let's say a u.s. attorney or assistant u.s. attorney with a high-prof

last friday is when bill barr told us that mueller had completed his work and submitted a written report about what his investigation has uncovered over this past year and ten months, that announcement from the attorney general a week ago tonight, friday, just confirmed that mueller had finished up. it confirmed that mueller's report existed. it confirmed that mueller was closing down the special counsel's office, but that notice from the attorney general last friday night didn't say anything substantive about the content of mueller's findings. for that we had to wait two more days until on sunday we got another letter from attorney general bill barr and this one announced what he called the principal conclusions of mueller's report. mueller's principle conclusions and also one of his own, and i think because it was very exciting to have any official characterization whatsoever of the results of mueller's investigation, i think because of that excitement that there was some content being described, the press for a little while basically uncritically ran with what the attorney general ass

the democrats want to hear from bill barr and also from robert mueller to see bill barr's summary ofbert mueller called to testify. >> good to have you walk us through it. thank you very much. >>> joining me now, democratic congressman jamie raskin who serves on the judiciary and oversight committees. thank you for your time. >> good morning. thank you for having me. >> first question, you now see bill barr will not meet jerry nadler's deadline. do you trust that barr will make the report as transparent as possible? >> the first thing is we need to have the report turned over in its entirety as quickly as possible. certainly by the april 2 deadline. i'm very disappointed to hear the attorney general is somehow wavering on that. they were able to come to a conclusion about the ultimately legal question raised about whether there was obstruction of justice overnight. yet they are not able to turn the report over within a week. that's not acceptable. i don't think there is anything there that will be more damning or rep rehenceable decision than to throw people off health care this week

bill barr willing to come and testify.e offers two dates, the first week of may. >> and one follow for you, that is this first line of the second graph from the ag as we have discussed, i share your desire to ensure that congress and the public will have this opportunity to read the special counsel's report. so congress and the public. so just to make this crystal clear for everyone watching, wondering who's this going to, how much transparency, do you read that as everyone gets to see this? >> reporter: i do. i think that's part of what's been taken so long here. they don't want to have a piecemeal process where members of congress come over here and read it and then pieces of it leak out. they actually want to do this in one tronch and they recognize -- they recognize the public interest in this, but the public paid for this report as many people have pointed out time and time again, $25 million and so i think attorney general is very well aware of the public interest in it, but also well aware of the fact that there are

but that is very different from saying i'm going to now leave this to bill barr. and, in fact, i think that mueller -- all signs point to the idea that he wanted to leave it to congress and not to bill barr. and it is very plausible that barr inserted himself. imagine how this would look if mueller -- if what happened here is mueller said not exonerating, not saying there's enough for a crime, there's things on both sides, here are the facts, and that's it. and we didn't have bill barr's conclusion. this would be a very different conversation. we would be having impeachment hearings i think. there would be much more pressure, momentum for it. if you did not have someone like bill barr coming in and saying no, no, this isn't obstruction in a very questionable way. so i think for the good of the country and the department of justice, we need to take that out of it and proceed as if bill barr did not say that. >> sam stein, the solution to the problem mimi talks about is we'll know, presumably we'll know in a finite period of time. so the question to you is the presi

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that unexpected performance from bill barr, that riff how he thinks he should respond to mueller's report has given us this weird week we have lived through in which the mueller report is in fact finished. it's being kept under wraps at the department of justice. it hasn't been given to congress. none of it has been shown to the public but the attorney general took it upon himself to describe what he said was in it and what he thinks the president should not be charged about based on something mueller found that we're not allowed to know that he's not even describing in detail. it's been a weird week. that's the assertion that we got from attorney general william barr and based on that the white house and conservative media and good chunk have been celebrating all week long that everything is done now and it sure is a relief after that long investigation to know what robert mueller found, and what robert mueller found was absolutely nothing everything is fine and the reason we know that mueller found that is because that's what william barr told us. he summarized mueller's report so that

that is bill barr. in terms of the mueller report being released to congress, the public, remember, barr took charge at 4:35 eastern. tie he -- time. he contacted the white house and said it was coming. he informed the judicial committees and said the special counsel submitted today a confidential report explaining the prosecution or the declanation, declining to prosecute. he says i may be in a position to advise of the special conclusions this weekend. this is in barr's hands and he could say this weekend there is no collusion or obstruction of justice. >> harris: there are two type of final report. mueller report to the attorney general and then the attorney general's report to congress which is basically his summation of what the report says. we won't know what is being left out of it. but there are some suggestions. the time of the information that could be left out as i am reading tonight of a report to congress or the republic. could it be grand jury information? executive privilege? classified m

we'll see what bill barr releases for summary of key findings. itself, the full report. then the fight over we want everything robert mueller saw as he built his report. if the justice department resists we could end up in court. this could go on for a very long time. >> and i think there's the fight among democrats about what is too far and how far is too far for them? i think there's going to be some disagreement. you heard eric swalwell say you've already seen obstruction of justice. it's apparent on your tv screens. the question is, is that enough to pursue an effort in the congress to sort of make that the number one issue for the next two years? this is going to be really difficult. and it's going to be a needle to thread for democrats because they have to strike the right balance between what they don't like about president trump and his behavior and what is enough to really occupy the time of the congress and potentially even push toward impeachment even though nancy pelosi has -- >> the speaker has done a good job pufti ingof putting tha

the report is, quote, comprehensive, and tonight it is in the hands of the attorney general bill barr who is still at the justice department right now reading the report. barr released this letter to the judiciary committee chairs and ranking members of the house and senate. i want to just read some of the crucial parts for you here. the letter says the special counsel robert

it's very clear bill barr says it didn't meet that level. the chairman of your committee, congressman adam schiff tells the "washington post," quote, undoubtedly there is collusion. we will continue to investigate the counterintelligence issues. of course, the barr memo did not establish that members of the trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the russian government. this is your committee. do you guys have evidence of collusion? >> i think that we are still -- no, i don't think we can say that we have evidence of collusion. i think what we can say is, we have evidence that there was an effort to coordinate. you know, we still have roger stone sitting out there, who has been charged. we don't know what kind of evidence has been secured about roger stone and wikileaks. we do know that the chairman of the trump campaign, who is now a convicted felon, met with a russian operative, who was associated with the russian spy agency, and was willing to give him polling information. at some point, you just add all of these puzzle pieces togethe

i don't see how anyone can have faith in what bill barr has done he. because -- not just because he's a political appointee but because of that memo that he wrote and it was questionable that he ever -- shouldn't have rekuds himself in the first place. i will say one thing, though. we're talking about mueller why did he do this, why did he leave it to barr. we don't know that he left it to barr. we just don't know. what we know is he didn't make the decision himself. he may very well have intended for this to go to congress. and you can debate if that was right or wrong. but that is very different from saying i'm going to now leave this to bill barr. and in fact i think that mueller -- all signs point to the idea that he wanted to leave it to congress and not to bill barr. and it is very plausible that barr inserted himself. imagine how this would look if mueller -- if what happened here is mueller said not exonerating, not saying there's enough for a crime, there's things on both sides here, are the facts, and that's it. and we didn't have bill barr's

i think bill barr should go first. and i don't wish bob all or those ten or twelve hours or however long it would take in the hot seat because i think the real question right now is bill barr. you reach his decision with respect to obstruction of justice and so forth this is someone who worked for you obviously you were there all the time so i think it's appropriate for bill bard testify i have every confidence in him he'll do a great job you'll be honest he'll tell the truth people going agree or disagree with a particular decision but we've got honest government here and that's when they when you compare our system they are great systems and so many other countries to let us give thanks for the fact that we've got these methods of accountability and we've got a really honest guy in the attorney general's office simply put can you maybe it is stupid why can't we just know we have idea or here we just know yeah. yeah well. yeah life gets complicated as and but you know you journalists are known to protect your sources

. >> it's been a week since bill barr released his memo.hey are complaining the four pages is not adequate especially when it comes to obstruction of justice. >> that was the flimsiest part of that. >> six weeks after president trump declared a national emergency on the southern border, a new tack from the president. >> mexico is going to have to do something, otherwise, i'm closing the border. >> it is saturday, march 30th. president trump continues to claim he has been vindicated. >> totally exonerated when the report specifically said it does not exonerate him. yes, the pregnancy test came back negative, it doesn't mean you are a virgin. >> that would be this morning on my left and your right, christine quinn. she was the speaker of the new york city counsel. joe payne a democratic strategist, katie is here, an msnbc legal contributor and tim o'brien of bloomberg opinion and author of "trump nation." let's begin with the latest letter from the attorney general, two pages in length, the third one about robert mueller's report. bill barr t

justice, instead kicking it to the top two appointees to make that decision, rod rosenstein and bill barr. i asked whether nadler pressed barr about this very question, why mueller didn't charge the president with objestruction. a source says he did not answer that question. one of the major unanswered questions still remaining about this four-page summary and why the special counsel did not move forward on that obstruction question. >> important information, manu. meanwhile, republicans on the house intelligence committee are echoing the president's call for chairman adam schiff to resign. he is standing firm, making for a dramatic, almost unprecedented exchange today. we heard during a hearing of the intelligence committee. tell us about that. >> a lot of fire works at the house intelligence committee hearing and a committee that's been ripe with partisan conflict, stemming from the last congress. today after republicans demanded schiff resign from his chairmanship and after the president called schiff a disgrace because of his claims of collusion between the trump campaign and russia,

decision tonight by the new attorney general bill barr.e will not recuse himself from oversight of bob mueller's investigation. shimon, juliette, john are all back. shimon, obviously this is a beg decision. and you know, there had been an ethics recommendation which we all know for whitaker went one way, for barr went another. they said go ahead, we don't recommend recusal. but obviously this could be significant for mueller's report. this now means bill barr is the one who will make the decision as to whether or how much of it is public. >> right. and it's official now. we can say that bill barr is now overseeing the mueller investigation and that any decision that's going to be made is going to come from him. you know, we have been expecting it obviously to wrap up, things to come to an end, where the report would be submitted to bill barr any day now, and this could have been holding it up. bill barr could have come into the department of justice and wanted to do everything on the up and up and said i want an ethics review before i make

attorney general bill barr

>>> attorney bill barr has now received the report from special counsel robert mueller. the investigation, 675 days old is now over. >> it should be clear to everyone that russia brazenly interfered in the 2015 crisis. >> those who were found to have violated the law, the president remained defiant. >> i did wrong wrong. >> i was fired because of the investigation. >> i never said there was collusion. i said the president of the united states. >> i hope he will reveal the entire report so the public has a chance to see what's in it. because donald trump has done whatever he can to almost create a game of political back amole. >> for two years, it's been through this. there's no obstruction. >>> good morning to you, i'm victor blackwell. >> and i'm christi paul coming to you from d.c. this morning. >> the report is done. and now attorney general william barr is he could have conclusions. >> what that means charges against 37 people, seven guilty pleas and one trial conviction there will be no more indictments. no sit-down interviews with the president. president trump is

let's wait and see what bill barr does.very transparent to the extent that the law allows him to do. and then we can talk about it from there. >> all right. so -- >> thank you both. >>> and next, what do swing state voters want now that the mueller investigation is over? >> democrats really just need to work -- roll up their sleeves and get to work on the issues that are important to the issues that are important to the state. >> michael avenatti about to be released on bond, charged with extorting tens of millions of dollars. could be speaking at any moment. we are live outside that courthouse. you should be mad at tech that's unnecessarily complicated. make ice. but you're not, because you have e*trade, which isn't complicated. their tools make trading quicker and simpler so you can take on the markets with confidence. don't get mad. get e*trade. they're america's bpursuing life-changing cures. in a country that fosters innovation here, they find breakthroughs... like a way to fight cancer by arming a patient's own t-cell

this is attorney general bill barr's report. and as he explains here, he's working with the special counsel as well as the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, and another select group of advisers trying to figure out what else can be produced here. the main issue on that is the fact that there is grand jury material potentially exposed by simply turning over the report. i'm told by a senior justice department official that this team of advisers is already working. that process has begun to try to figure out how to scrub the report and figure out what is left to be turned over to congress and by extension, the public. the other interesting part about this four-page memo from barr that sort of lays out the obstruction of justice case ais to note how mueller punted on that issue even though he was the special counsel appointed to try to figure out what gets to the bottom -- what the president's intent on that issue is. it makes it pretty clear mueller says there's evidence on both sides. he punted to the attorney general to get

sarah, all eyes are on the attorney general, bill barr, saw him leave his home awhile ago. we are told he just arrived at the justice department where sources say he is reviewing the report. sarah, he is preparing to prepare robert mueller's key findings, principal conclusions as he calls them, and that presumably could happen very soon. >> that's right, wolf. a busy weekend for the attorney general. it all began yesterday when we saw prosecutors in mueller's office leaving unusually early, just hours after that the attorney general announced mueller had completed his nearly two years of work. now we wait to hear what the main conclusions are that mueller reached. attorney general william barr announcing the end of special counsel robert mueller's 22-month russian investigation in a one page statement friday evening. he wrote to leaders of the house and senate judiciary committees he is reviewing mueller's report and i may be in a position to advise you of the special counsel's principal conclusions as soon as this weekend. a justice department official tells cnn those conc

>> i mean, i don't think that bill barr is starting from scratch.w, we've seen bob mueller be very kprens si -- comprehensive in the work he's done so far, and he's sitting with rod rosenstein that was involved in this probe from the beginning, and i think they're trying to reveal something that really does show the scope of the investigation, that they can hand something over to lawmakers that makes congress at least feel like they are being forthcoming in the decisions they made, whether they decided to prosecute, whether it's a decision not to pursue an interview with president trump, and they'll move on from there. members of congress expected some kind of written summary of these top line findings. but maybe they will get a written summary as well as some kind of word from bill barr that says, and i'm happy to brief you guys in person again in the future. these people are not operating in a vacuum. they know that lawmakers are going to have more questions, and i have to imagine they're beginning to figure out how they're going to deal with thos

but something that bill barr didn't go that far.e didn't say there was exoneration on collusion and i would expect he would have used that language in his letter if mueller had, in fact, used it. >> that makes sense. joyce vance, thank you so much for your very long day here on msnbc. i'm sure your week ahead will be equally as intense. we appreciate your insights. ashley parker, brendan bach, jeremy bash, katherine lucy, thank you to all as well. >>> in his four-page summary the attorney general says mueller didn't identify any actions that were, in his view, done with corrupt intent. back in 1974 president richard nixon argued that he wasn't guilty of obstruction because he lacked corrupt motive. nbc's presidential historian michael beschloss reminded us of that fact today on twitter and michael joins me now here on set. sir, it's great to have you and your perspective. >> thanks. >> thanks for being here. let's pull back a second. we've been talking a lot about the details, which i know are very, very, very important. but it's st

they're not satisfied with the four-page summary from bill barr. they question his motivations. ey have been critical of him for some time. barr himself critical of the mueller investigation. democrats say what did he mean when he said the obstruction did not exonerate the president? the president himself said he was completely exonerated, but just moments ago, jerry nadler said that's just not true. >> president trump is wrong. this report does not amount to a so-called total exoneration. special counsel mueller was clear that his report, quote, does not exonerate, close quote, the president. the special counsel spent 22 months on covering evidence of obstruction and other misconduct. attorney general barr, who auditioned for his role with an open memorandum, suggesting that the obstruction investigation was unconscionable, and that a president -- and that it was almost impossible for any president to commit obstruction of justice since he is the head of the executive branch, made a decision about that evidence in under 48 hours. his conclusions raise more questions than answer,

what did bill barr do? bill barr said bob mueller, then let me go ahead and clear him. and joy he tried to clear him, without any supporting evidence. without any legal analysis. without any evidentiary basis. >> bill barr poisoned the well of public opinion. just as if he were the water plant manager in flint, michigan, he poisoned the well of public opinion. but congress is going to get the report, the american people are going to get the report and bill barr's summary will mean nothing at the end of the day, because the evidence will speak for itself. >> our understanding would be, glen that the gang of eight, meaning four democrats and four republicans who bill barr cannot keep from this information, he can't keep it from them, then it's a question of what gets redacted. >> this letter specifies two things that he said mueller was looking at. one direct assistance by or participation from the trump campaign in the internet research agency's hacking of the dnc. which i've never heard any reports of anyone saying, anybody even alleging that they did. but he said that

they actually report to bill barr and have to take orders from him. i'm very confident that barr will not do anything to improperly interfere with them but he will make it clear that he wants to be kept abreast of the investigation and i have great confidence in him. >> as the department is required to be informed, anyone -- andto this is where the media have to be vigilant. anybody who thinks that the southern district of new york should be used as a stalking horse for the continuation of the mueller investigation, i think they should have their head examined. and it's going to require super vision and to be monitored by the department in washington. >> laura: up bill barr made an excellent choice, and it calls it all into question, and that's all you need to know. >> that's wearing thin already. >> ana laura: it's just not wor. what a phenomenal panel. thank you for staying up with us tonight. we really appreciate it. the country appreciates it. and the delivery of the mueller report today got me thinking. how did we get here? because from more than

joining me now a member of the house judiciary committee, so getting bill barr in front of your committeeyou find out that we didn't learn today in this new letter? >> let's see, the attorney general barr writes letters kind of like agatha christie novels, he says the president has the opportunity to exercise executive privilege, but the president has give n him privilege instead. but bottom line -- >> is there anything that the ag can do that will make you trust him? >> yeah, he is turn over the mueller report. what did you think that would make the whole country trust him? >> what about any redakotass it might need? congress is capable of making the redactions ourselves. in the past if you look at waterdprwate watergate, or the ken knit star investigation, they just turn the complete report over, and they sent over boxes of supporting evidence. >> is using the ken star report the best example? everyone argued at the time that it was too much information to release to congress. it got out to the public, there is sensitive material, they could argue there are sources and methods here, is

do you want to hear from bill barr? do you want to hear from robert mueller? what questions do you need answered? >> number one, we would like to see the entire report. that's where we would have to start, and the evidence that underlies it. number two, we absolutely should take the chance and the time to talk with attorney general barr. as you know, he wrote about a 19-page memo prior to being considered for attorney general, and you see echoes in this four-page letter. i've compared the two. we would like to talk to barr. i'm hoping our chairman jerry nadler will call him. >> when you say the entire report, just to be clear, what you hear in this letter, bill barr talking about pulling out of the report any information as it pertains to that which should not be released, maybe negative information about folks who were not charged, some information that may have been before the grand jury but would not go before congress. are you okay with that? do you agree with that? >> one of the things i think you're thinking about and i'm concerned about and i'm mindful

bill barr did. >> jeremy? >> well, i think matt's exactly right and the sentence from the audition memo that bill barr authored before he was nominated that jumps off the page is the following. the constitution, he wrote, places no limit on the president's authority to act on matters which concern him or his own conduct. that's a statement from bill barr's audition letter. the constitution places no limits. now think about that. we live in a democracy. we live in a republic in which the president has limitless power. that's bill barr's view of the office of the president. and the context of presidential authority over his own conduct. so it should have surprised nobody that when he got the file from bob mueller, he said any criminal intent impugn to the president is actually just presidential intent and under our constitution, presidential intent is limitless. so, therefore, no crime was committed. that is a massive power to the presidency and expensive doctrine in terms of presidential power and i think it ne

justice, so bill barr steps in and does it himself. i think that contradicts what lindsey graham just laid out as the reason we have special counsel investigations in the first place. you know, yes, i was shaking my head. some of what he said i agreed with, but i do think that was kind of a sour note from lindsey graham. >> what did you agree with? what'd you hear that you approved of? >> well, here's what i agree with. bob mueller has concluded, if we can credit everything in bill barr's letter, that there was insufficient evidence to bring a charge of conspiracy between the russians and anybody in the trump campaign. i take bob mueller's conclusion as gospel, quite frankly. do i want to see the information that supports that conclusion? absolutely. i don't want bill barr as a shield between what bob mueller did, what bob mueller concluded, and what the american people get to hear about that, craig. you know, when we look at bill barr's letter, he quoted on pages 2 and 3 just 42 words of the bob mueller report. we need the whole repor