i am hallie jackson in washington. the russia investigation may be over, but the story line is not with lots of moving pieces today. and a full court press from the president and his team publicly and privately jubilant. you can practically hear the bottles popping in the west wick after -- wing after the two year all caps claim of no collusion is validated. >> it's hard to complain when you have this letter from the department of justice. >> it's a complete and total exoneration. >> there was no obstruction of justice. there was no collusion. >> reality check. there is still a gray area on the obstruction question. that's a fact. and that's what democrats are seizing on today. because while the white house may be trying to move bas the mueller report, democrats are not with more investigations on the way. we've got those, the reaction, the fallout, the plan for what's next, and in hour we're talking with gerry connolly, a member of the oversight committee. here onset we'll be joined by white house spokesperson hogan g

hallie jackson, heidi przybyla, jonathan capehart, thank you for your insights today. >>> democratic presidential candidate julian castro is former secretary of housing and urban development in the obama administration. great to have you on the program. >> good to be with you. >> let's pick up with this discussion we were just having about the president and his attacks on the deceased senator john mccain as well as george conway, the husband of kellyanne conway. what do you think these attacks say about the president? >> well, kasie, i mean, your viewers have seen this now for three years. and i guess almost four years if you include his campaign. it's just another distraction. and this president is a walking billboard of weakness and insecurity. and this is just another distraction. you know, when i travel around the country these days, what i hear from folks when i visit places like iowa, i hear from farmers how worried they are are about his erratic trade war with china. i hear from business owners in my own state, texas, about all the insecurity he's created. i hear from folks wh

bill shine, the current one, he's a former fox news ed >> hallie jackson at the white house. thank you. >>> now to that sentence for paul manafort. just u feral guidelines suggest. it's a sentence that stunned many attorneys and advocates who say it shows a major disparity in the criminal justice system in america. kristen welker explains. >> reporter: tonight paul manafort's sentence still shocking many. less than four years for bank fraud and cheating on his taxes, when guidelines called for anywhere from 19 to 24 years. >> it's very unusual for a defendant in paul manafort's sentencing guideline range to get a sentence this low. but it's ndefense attorneys argue it highlights sentencing inequalities between those who are wealthy and those who are not. >> the american system of mass incarceration is deeply racist, it is deeply unjust. >> reporter: scott heckinger is a public defender in new york. he says many of his clients are low-income people of color. one of them now facing serious time for stealing $100 worth of quarters from a laundromat. >> he's facing if he goes to

our hallie jackson explains. >> reporter: ton rtisan backla >> don't think that the top leadership knew about it. >> reporter: president trump accepting kim jong-un's claim he was unaware of the torture of otto warmbier, the american student who was returned to the u.s. in a coma and died after 17 months in a north korean prison. >> he tells me that he didn't know about it. and i will take him at his word. >> reporter: hardly anyone else takes kim at his word. >> the blood of otto warmbier is on the hands of kim jong-un. >> we shouldn't be naive about this regime. >> the love affair, love letters, of kim jong-un, our national reputation is being tarnished. >> reporter: it's not the first time the president has seemed willing to take the word of strongmen, like after the death of journalist jamal khashoggi, and on the issue of russian election interference. >> i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. >> reporter: to the warmbier family, it's obvious, as they wrote announcing t north korean government, kim and his regime have portrayed th

hallie jackson standing by with late details. >> reporter: tonight wearing a green prison jump suit, paul manafort learned his sentence. 47 months behind bars. far less than the sentencing guidelines prosecutors had pointed to of 19 to 24 years. guidelines the judge in virginia called excessive. the sentence seen as a slap in the face to robert mueller and his team. judge t.s. ellis said other than the crimes manafort has been convicted of, tax and bank fraud, he has lived an otherwise blameless life. manafort did not react when the judge made his announcement. manafort was the brought on byeran in the spring of 2016, hired to help prevent a rebellion at the republican convention and eventually promoted to lead the convention. even then his ties to russia haunted him. he stepped down that summer because of growing questions about his business dealings overseas. since then, the president has tried to distance himself -- >> now paul manafort is a nice guy. but he worked for me for a very short period of time. literally, like, what, a couple of months? >> reporter: more recently he's pr

>> hallie jackson, thank you. >>> breaking news from the united nations where experts say kim jong-un is evading u.s. sanction it is cut off money he uses for his nuclear and missile programs in new ways that shocked even u.n. investigators. andrea mitchell has an exclusive interview tonight with the u.n.'s top expert. >> reporter: tonight, kim jong-un has found new ways to get around un sanctions, raking in millions by shipping coal and smuggling in oil. >> the techniques being used, some of which i've never seen before, and i've been investigating maritime trafficking and smuggling for more anth5 1years. >> reporter: the u.n. says blacklisted north korean ships are masquerading as legitimate by stealing electronic tracking signals from other ships thousands of miles away. >> this ship has assumed then new >> reporter: the new u.n. report also says kim's nuclear and missile programs afteinnew images show kim rebuilding a missile site he had promised last year to e administration has sanctionresse kim to disarm saying he is desperate for money. but according to the u.n. global oil tra

. >> reporter: i'm hallie jackson at the white house, where, basking in one of his biggest political wins, the president's elated, but irritated. >> what they did, it was a false narrative. it was a terrible thing. we can never let this happen to another president again. >> reporter: joined in the oval office today by his outside attorneys, rudy giuliani and jay sekulow, the president expressed vindication and vindictiveness against those who investigated him. >> there are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things. i would say treasonous things against our country. i'm saying why haven't they been looked at? >> reporter: on robert mueller himself, a shift. after two years of this -- >> sadly, mr. mueller's conflicted. >> reporter: a different tone today. asked if he thinks mueller acted honorably, the president said yes. >> yes, he did. yes, he did. >> reporter: fallout from the mueller report is far from over. nbc news has learned top democrats are now demanding the attorney general release the special counsel's full report to congress no

that was taken away from him by kim and his regime. >> and that was hallie jackson reporting. >>> the florida highway patrol is searching for a driver involved in a serious hit-and-run crash. video shows a silver kia sedona turn left at an intersection to enter a parking lot and then hits the back corner of an audi, sending it flipping through the air. the driver of the kia then pulls back outan then crashing into a concrete wall. the 19-year-old driver of that car, jackson maxwell kelly, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. authorities are asking the iormation a kia sedona which l has front end damage. >>> in florida new england patriots owner robert kraft has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor charges of soliciting prostitution. they are linked to two alleged visits by kraft to a massage parlor last month including one just before the super bowl. kraft's lawyer requested a non-jury trial. >>> concerns are pouring in for actor luke perry. the "90210" and "riverdale" star hospitalize after suffering a reported possible stroke at the age of just 52. we get details from

frances, >> all right, hallie jackson for us. thank you. >> the charges may be dropped, but the jussie smollett saga is not over. chicago's mayor wants the "empire" actor to pay some of the bill f overtime hours that were used in his tvestigation. and now presidemp is calling for the fbi to look into the case. here's nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: after prosecutors dropped charges against jussie smollett, the is reviewing the case and the president is weighing in. >> i think that case is an absolute embarrassment to our country. >> reporter: kim foxx, cook county's top proshcutor, said recused herself after communicating with smollett's family who expressed concerns about the investigation while he was still considered a victim. >> this appears to have been a case of special treatme for celebrities. and any special treatment in the justic system fundamentally is not just. >> reporter: foxx says the deal to drop the 16 felonies for two ouys community service and $10,000 in c fees was fair. but chicago's mayor is sending smoll

hallie jackson, nbc news, the white house. >>> let's update that urgent fix being unveiled this evening by boeing, trying to reassure the world's rl passengers about its grounded 737 max fleet and get those planes back in the air. our tom costello has details on the fix. >> reporter: today, as more 737 maxes rolled off the assembly line, boeing was giving hundreds of airline pilots and execs a look at the urgent upgrade to fix the software suspected in two fatal crashes. >> we're working with customers and regulators around the >> reporter: here's th see, a simple indicators warning the outside sensors disagree on the plane's angle of attack. if the mcas system pushes the nose down, like the indonesian plane, it will stop if the pilots override it. boeing says max pilots can learn the new system engine 30 minutes. meanwhile, the acting faa chief today defended the certification process, which allows bowing to certify much of its own work. >> our certification processes are extensive, well established, and have consistently produced safe aircraft designs for decades. >> reporter: the faa

hallie jackson standing by with late details >> reporter: paul manafort in a wheelchair wearing a green jumpsuit appeared before a virginia judge, a dramatic conclusion to his year and a half long court battle. he's been convicted of financial crimes including tax and bank fraud, crimes for whiche did not apologize today, though he asked for compassion. manafort told the judge, the last two years have been the , st difficult years for him and his family, addi his first public comments since november 2017, to say i have be humiliated and shamed would be a gross understatement. manafort was the political veteran brought on by the upstart ump campaign in the spring of 2016, hired to help prevent a rebellion at the republican convention and eventually promoted to lead the campaign. but even then his ties to russia haunted him. he stepped down that summer of becausrowing questions about his business dealings overseas. since then the president has tried to distance mself -- >> now paul manafort's a nice guy, but you know, he worked for me for a very short period of time, literally for what, a

our hallie jackson has late details. >> reporter: that controversial proposal called off tonight. >> why cut money for the special olympics? why would you cut funding for that? >> the special olympics will be funded. i've been to the special olympics. i think it's incredible. and i just authorized a funding. i heard about it this morning. i have overridden my people. >> reporter: the president announcing an about-face after secretary betsy devos came under fire yet again today for proposed across-the-board cuts to the education department, including more than $17 million from the special olympics. >> whoever came up with that idea ought to get a special olympic gold medal for insensitivity. >> let's not use disabled children in a twisted way for your political narrative. that is just disgusting and it's shameful. >> reporter: devos, after days of publicly defending the proposed cuts, now says she's pleased and grateful adding, this is funding i have fought for behind the scenes over the last several years. keep in mind the private organization never really seemed at risk of losing it

now i hand you off to my dear friend hallie jackson with more. >> i'm hallie jackson in washington where the focus is on all the president's men, including his former campaign manager. in a matter of hours, paul manafort will learn whether he could spend the rest of his life in prison. more on his first round of sentencing today, including what we will and will not learn about the mueller investigation. and the chances of a pardon with plenty of questions about pardons and michael cohen. and whether he misled congress about what he wanted from his former boss, president trump. we break down those kind of confusing statements from team cohen n tell you what the president's current lawyer is telling us. >>> plus, with no solution on immigration, no deal with north korea and the largest trade deficit in u.s. history, what happened to all that winning the president promised? we ask a republican senator and a bombshell from the first female air force fighter pilot to fly in combat. senator martha mcsally revealing she was raped by one of her superiors. out with a new powerful interview this m

i'm hallie jackson.ssignment today. this morning, 2020 playbook. president trump renews his fight for his border wall again, asking congress for more than $8 billion to pay for it. more on what seems to be the first look at the president's road map to reelection. >>> plane crash. some countries around the world ground certain boeing planes after an ethiopian airline jet crashes, killing everyone on board, including eight americans. it's the second accident that type of plane in less than six months. so does it have a safety flaw? >>> and early attack. republicans already going after texas congressman beto o'rourke before he announced he's running. what could have them so worried? >>> lots to get to. we start with president trump and that border wall budget battle yet again. with the white house briefing reporters about all of this as we speak. look on the right side of your screen, the documents themselves delivered to capitol hill earlier this morning. as anybody will tell you, the annual requests are w

coming up, more news with hallie jackson. >> chris, thank you.president previews his next 20 months and how he plans to use the mueller report to his advantage. going after the man he fired as fbi director. we're sharing a new piece of our exclusive interview with james comey and where he thinks this goes next. >> is this a case of question asked, question answered on the issue of collusion? is this over? >> our lester holt joins us live with more of that sit-down. plus, another investigation on capitol hill. not involving putin but paychecks and the elusive tax returns the president has never shared. the oversight chairman now wants a decade of financial records with one member of that committee here in just a minute. >>> plus, that news breaking on jussie smollett. the feds reviewing the dropped case. but our pete williams has a context check on how big a deal this is or is not in a story that has captivated the country. we've got our team here covering all of it this morning. and on top of all of that, there's a ton happening on the

i'm hallie jackson in for willie geist who is enjoying the morning off.

back to you. >>> hallie jackson with that report from the white house. >>> as the senate prepares to resolution that would block president trump's emergency declaration for a border wall the white house is privately ramping up pressure on undecided republicans. two senate republicans tell "the washington post" the white house has increased its efforts to count votes and persuade fence sitting gop senators even though the administration hasn't made clear which military projects could be tapped to pay for the wall. one republican lawmaker told the paper that undecided senators have received calls from the white house and the message has been clear. trump is taking names and noticing who opposes him particularly if you're running for re-election next year. four republican senators have publicly said they will vote for the resolution overturning the president's emergency declaration. that vote is expected to take place next week. >>> the department of homeland security and congress launched investigations in a u.s. border agent allegedly targeting select reporters, lawyers and activists

hallie jackson and chuck todd are with us this morning. a lot to talk about today. good morning to both of you. we could be headed to another government shutdown with the budget fight. this week, president's former campaign chairman was sentenced to 47 months in prison and president trump fighting with cohen after he testified again. we don't know when the mueller report will come out. how is the white house feeling about this when you put it all in total? >> how they say they are feeling or how are they twaeactually feeling? >> both. >> they will about how they believe the economy is strong and the president this morning is up in mar-a-lago and tweeting about the economy and railing against what he believes is a hostile news media. posture of the president in the west wing. a tough week for donald trump. you look at the people he brought into his inner circle and dancing himself from manafort and cohen now. you look the possibility of a presidential pardon and why he got into a fight with michael cohen on twitter. he said he never asked for a pardon and the preside

right now i hand the anchor desk off to hallie jackson in washington d.c. >> thanks much.kson in washington where president trump is spoiling for a fight with congressional democrats. making a big ask in his new budget for more border wall money. if you're feeling deja vu, you're not the only ones. with fears now of another shutdown later. >>> plus deadline day for roger stone. time to prove he is obeying a judge's orders to keep quiet about his case. look beyond the book release and instagram post and other instagram post. the court filing we're watching for. plus what else is on robert mueller's radar this morning. and on our 2020 radar, the potential for

thank you for helping us in our coverage. >> thanks for coming. >> senator said to hallie jackson that he wants to maintain preexisting condition coverage and no cap on coverage and lower rates. that is something that 50 plus countries and every other eocd or developed country in the world whether they have liberal or conservative governments have ways to do that. whether it's medicare for all or single payer, ours is the way we don't do it. this doesn't do that that. >> we have no effective way to control prices and cost in our system. if you want to pay less, you have to control them. >> that sounds like a lot of people that say let the market control those things. you have people with different needs covered and you can sometimes balance these things out. >> yeah, in a functioning market, but what we have is a highly disfunctioning market. your doctor tells you what you need. we have given the market a try and things are getting worse and worse. that's why i think we are seeing health care finally front and center in politics. >> we still have and i think there are lots of valid cri

back to you. >> our hallie jackson.r that report. >> the house intelligence committee has postponed its planned testimony from felix sadder about his work with michael cohen. he set to testify tomorrow but committee spokesman cites continued questions from the attorney general summary of the mueller report. the delay comes after news that s sater is being sued by kazikstan bank. >>> and lindsey graham said that his late colleague john mccain showed him the document when he received it back in 2016. the senator says he recommended to mccain that he give it to the fbi adding that he told his friend, quote, that's what you do. i don't know what's in the thing. it could be a bunch of garbage from the russians. senator graham says that now he wants to investigate the dossier's origins. >> the fisa warrant application on four different occasions, what role did the dossier play. was it primary, supplemental, outcome determinative? i want to hear from mr. orr why he warned people why you may not rely on mr. steele. i want to kn

hallie jackson joining us now from the north lawn. hallie, what's he saying? >> reporter: the president is really going a step further than he has before, now saying he thinks all americans should be be able to take a look at robert mueller's report and he's again taking a bitter tone toward the special counsel and his process. >> let it come out. let people see it. that's up to the attorney general. we have a very good attorney general, he's a very highly respected man, and we'll see what happens. i got 63 million votes and now somebody just writes a report? i think it's ridiculous but i want to see the report. >> reporter: keep in mind attorney general bill barr is only required to release a notification and brief outline to congress. it's up to him how much more he'd release publicly. lester? >> all right, hallie, thank you. >>> tonight the fbi has joined a growing investigation into how the now-grounded boeing 737 max was certified to fly. this, as new details emerge from the terrifying final moments aboard that lion air flight, the one that crashed last f

nbc's hallie jackson is at the white house. hallie, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. late today president trump issued that veto on what he called a reckless resolution, a bill that would have blocked his national emergency on the border wall. it's an emergency declaration now being challenged in court and at the capitol. that's where a dozen republicans voted against the president on this measure, hoping to put a check on presidential power. still, president trump today dismissed any internal gop drama and seemed confident in his approach. >> i put no pressure on anybody. i actually said i could have gotten some of them to come along. i said i want you to vote your heart, do what i want to do, i'm not putting any pressure. the case is a very strong case, very powerful case. it was -- i think actually national emergency was designed for a specific purpose like this. >> reporter: democrats will try to override that veto later on this month but it's not expected that they'll have enough votes. lester? >> all

now i hand you off to my dear friend hallie jackson with more. >> i'm hallie jackson in washington whereis on all the president's men, including his former campaign manager. in a matter of hours, paul manafort will learn whether he could spend the rest of his life in prison. more on his first round of sentencing today, including what we will and will not learn about the mueller investigation. and the chances of a pardon with plenty of questions about

joining me for inside analysis are hallie jackson, cornell belcher, peggy noonan. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> this is "meet the press" with chuctodd. >>> good sunday morning. it turns out we're still war ing e mueller report. on friday, attorney general bill barr sent a letter to congressi promto release the report with redactions no later than mid-april and said there are no plans to submit the report to the white house. what may be surprising is how little h fourage summary seems to have had on public opinion. our poll shows that 40% of adults don'tlieve it clears mr. trump of wrongdoing. but look at this number. a very significant 31% remain unsure. perhaps those 31% are wisely waing for the actual report to be released or they haven't been paying that close atteto this story. president trump's approval rating sits at 43%, with 53% disapproving. that is down from last month's numbers. but it's well within the president's rate. you can see in the last four months, mr. trump's approval ratings have stabled even though they a weak it is perhaps why

joining me for analysis are hallie jackson, democratic pollster cornell belcher, peggy newnan, and rich lowery. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, this is meet the press with chuck todd. >> good sunday morning. it turns out we're still waiting for the mueller report. on friday attorney general bill barr sent a letter to congress promising to release the report no later than mid-april and says there are no plans to submit the report to the white house in advance. what may be surprising is how little in effect the summary seems to have had on public opinion. our latest wall "wall street journal" poll says 40% of adults don't believe the report clears president trump of wrong doing. just 29% says it does. but a significant 32% remain unsure. perhaps those 31% are wisely waiting for the report to be released or they haven't been paying that close attention to this story. president trump's approval rating is slightly down from last month. let's be honest, it's well within the president's trading range that we've seen all presidency long. as you can see

i'm hallie jackson in washington, in for craig melvin for another hour with you.nsults, bad words, plenty of what's to come? >>> plus, traffic jam. presidential candidates blanketing iowa. more than 200 appearances combined just since january. with ten-plus months to go until the caucus, how are they differentiating themselves in a crudded field? >>> and we're following major breaking news from overseas, where a vote to leave the european union has just failed for the third time for the uk. what this means for prime minister theresa may's future, and we are live with protesters out in force outside the british parliament. >>> we have a lot to get to this friday morning, but we start with president trump setting the table for his re-election fight. and yes, at that rally, of course he talked about the mueller investigation. took him about just 70 seconds to start on that in michigan. but this was also about his record. to hear the president tell it, his agenda is batting a thousand, the economy can only go up, and winning is going to be even easier this time around

right now, more news with hallie jackson. >> stephanie, thank you. i'm hallie jackson.nts just into our news room from the raid on michael cohen. what we're learning and how it fits into the larger russia investigation. that is not the only thing popping this morning. things are popping up. we're talking trump versus conway versus conway. why the president is pushing a personal matter on to his very public twitter page, going after the spouse of one of his most loyal advisers. and in 2020 news, five democrats, six states, a whole lot of headlines. the ambitious new policies two of those candidates are pitching. plus, why the one with the fewest

. >> i'm hallie jackson in washington. it's two weeks until spring but feeling awfully chilly in the west wing because the white house is putting requests from house democrats on ice with michael cohen just arriving back on the hill today. he is putting the president in the spotlight and another trump joins him there. ivanka. more on what we know about how she got her security clearance as we follow all those threats, and that exclusive report we first broke here on nbc news. kim jong-un rebuilding a missile launch site days after the nuclenuke summit collapsed. >> plus tex ploesive cbs interview out this morning. r. kelly speaking for the first time since being charged with sexually abusing girl. he's angry, emotional, and undone. >> i need somebody to help me not have a big heart, because my heart is so big. people betrayed me. and i keep forgiving them. >> you sound like you're playing the victim here. >> he's in court today. our team is set up and ready to cover all of it. in washington and the around. we start in d.c.

right now, more news with hallie jackson. >> stephanie, thank you. i'm hallie jackson. we start with breaking news. documents just into our news room from the raid on michael cohen. what we're learning and how it fits into the larger russia investigation. that is not the only thing popping this morning. things are popping up. we're talking trump versus conway versus conway. why the president is pushing a personal matter on to his very public twitter page, going after the spouse of one of his most loyal advisers. and in 2020 news, five democrats, six states, a whole lot of headlines. the ambitious new policies two of those candidates are pitching. plus, why the one with the fewest specifics seems to be sucking up the most oxygen. is it a gender thing? we've got that deep dive coming up later in the show with our team here, covering all of it on what's turning out to be a busy tuesday. >>> so we start this hour with that news surrounding the investigation into michael cohen. those redacted search warrants, right, related to that fbi raid on his house, his officer, his saf

. >> hallie jackson is also with us. hall hallie, the white house said all along no collusion. the president greeted reporters on friday with no collusion, no collusion. the president's orbit has always said, no collusion. the president's children have always said, no collusion. today robert mueller found no conspiracy which essentially is no collusion. >> there is no gray area on that piece of it, katy. you look at the two buckets. the conspiracy piece you say, sort of collusion, and then the obstruction piece. on the conspiracy piece of it it is black and white. it is very clear that the special counsel did not find that it trump campaign conspired with russia. that is already what we're seeing and forgive me for looking at my phone. we've received reaction from the rnc. unsurprisingly now from the republican national committee falling in line with what chuck read you from those in the republican party, "for years many democrats and many in the media promised collusion between the trump campaign and russia. they were wrong." that is going to be the line from the gop i think f

and hallie jackson, our white house correspondent. first to you as we await mueller's findings, what could this mean for the president and how he comports himself the next few days? >> look, we've gotten a preview of how the president's going to comport himself if you look at the last week. he has clearly been agitated about the coming mueller report all week long. and that frankly is probably the best explanation we can offer when it comes to the mccain rants that he went on all week, because he sort of blames mccain for triggering this investigation. the bottom line is i think you're just going to see a more aggressive president as we go on, because politically this has worked for him. legally he's got plenty of jeopardy. politically, doing what he's done has worked. >> hallie, give me your thoughts. >> to chuck's point it is the political piece of it the president will seize on. i would watch for him to claim victory and vindication over these next days and weeks as he heads out onto the campaign trail already thinking about 2020.

hallie jackson now with late details. >> yeas are 59. >> reporter: a republican rebellion tonight, an embarrassing blow to president trump on his signature issue. 12 senators in his own party joining with democrats to try to block the national emergency he declared to get more money for the border wall he wants. >> the joint resolution is passed. >> reporter: for republicans it's about reining in unfettered presidential power and swinging the pendulum ba t about the banccoreo our constitution. this is not about the president or about border security. >> no president's ever used what's called the national emergencies act in this way. >> i think that we can be very supportive of border security and the president's priorities without ceding our authorities under the constitution. >> reporter: still, for all the talk, there's no teeth since the resolution's set to die on the president's desk with a, as he put it, veto. for the first time ever president trump will be forced to use something congress wants, since there aren't enough votes to override him. prident also t matter previewing a

i am hallie jackson in washington. the russia investigation may be over, but the story line is not with lots of moving pieces today. and a full court press from the president and his team publicly and privately jubilant. you can practically hear the bottles popping in the west wick after -- wing after the two year all caps claim of no collusion is validated. >> it's hard to complain when you have this letter from the department of justice. >> it's a complete and total exoneration. >> there was no obstruction of justice. there was no collusion. >> reality check. there is still a gray area on the obstruction question. that's a fact. and that's what democrats are seizing on today. because while the white house may be trying to move bas the mueller report, democrats are not with more investigations on the way. we've got those, the reaction, the fallout, the plan for what's ne

i'm hallie jackson in washington. are going to want to stay right where you are for the next 60 minutes or you'll miss a ton. a bunch of big stories are going down right now. roger stone just now beginning a key hearing in d.c. federal court. his next stop could be jail, if that ticked off judge decides to send him there. we are inside the courtroom and we're over on capitol hill where two big votes are going down this hour. the house making moves to make sure you see the mueller report while a republican -- semirevolt brews in the senate over the emergency declaration. and beto o'rourke is out on his first day of officially campaigning for president. lucky number 13 in the democratic field after his announcement this morning. but there are plenty of questions about his campaign, and our reporters are with him asking. >> beto, how does it feel to be in? >> it feels wonderful. feels even better to be in. looking forward to meeting the folks who are here and having a cup of coffee. >> we've got our team set up and ready

here's nbc's hallie jackson. >> reporter: the 2020 attention this morning -- on an accidental almost announcement. >> i'm the most progressive record of anybody running for the -- anybody who would run. >> reporter: joe biden in front of a very friendly crowd quickly catching his slip of the tongue since he is not technically in the race yet. >> i didn't mean -- >> reporter: the former vice president expected to decide in days to make it official as senator gillibrand finally did herself after weeks of an exploratory bid. >> we need a leader who makes big, bold, brave choices. >> someone who isn't afraid of progress. >> that's why i'm running for president. >> reporter: the senator hinting at a rally next week outside the trump tower in new york. with 595 days to go, candidates are crisscrossing the campaign trail already. >> i get to be part of something that the country badly needs and coming together as a very divided moment. >> reporter: forced to respond to an attack by did gop tweeted out this picture of a 1998 arrest of drunk driving. >> people want to focus on the big picture

our hallie jackson with details now. >> reporter: democrats divided tonight after speaker nancy pelosi took impeachment off the table for now, aiming to put policy over politics. >> to take our eye off that ball is not worth it, and that's why i say impeachment is not worth it. >> reporter: her move met with resistance today by younger progressives like alexandria ocasio-cortez and rashida tlaib, who plans to introduce a resolution to try to push the impeachment process forward. >> let's have a committee process and investigate these offenses. >> reporter: despite that outspoken minority, many other democrats are praising pelosi's position. >> i think the speaker is doing exactly what she should be doing. >> the only thing worse than putting the country through the trauma of an impeachment is putting the country through the trauma of failed impeachment. >> reporter: from the white house -- >> i'm glad sees what the rest of us see and there is no reason, no cause for impeachment. >> reporter: senator chuck schumer pressed repeatedly on this said he thinks democrats should wait and see t

hallie jackson, chief white house correspondent for nbc news and anchor for msnbc live.iche alcindor, white house correspondent for the pbs newshour. and eliana johnson, white house correspondent for politico. peter, inside the west wing tonight, how are they interpreting this letter from the attorney general? do they fee like they're in the clear legally but still have some exposure politically? >> definite political exposure, because we don't know what's in this 400-page report. all we know are two sentences, or fragments of two sentencesat bill barr quoted previously, which is he did not establish a criminal conspiracy with russia and he did not charge that the president committed a crime of obstruction, even though he's not exonerating him. we don't know anything else. obviousy the rest of t report is going to have things in it the president is not going to like. what he's trying to do before then is cement in the impression that he's completely exonerated. it's almost as if he was on law and order, and he's saying, look, they gothe wrong guy. the d.n.a. tests came b

>> hallie jackson at the white house tonight, thanks. >>> as the president's supporters were celebrating what they see as his vindication, many could bary contain their glee at what came next, the bombshell arrest of stormy daniels' former lawyer michael i avenataccused of trying to extort millions from nike. we get more on that from nbc's cynthia mcfadden. >> reporter: president donald trump was already having a very good day when word came th afternoon that one of his chief antagonists, lawyer michael avenatti, was arrested on serious coast-to-coast federal charges. in new york, extortion. in l.a., bank and wire fraud.en atti, best known as the lawyer representing thporn prar stormy daniels in her legal actions against thident -- >> the message that i would send to the president of the united states is, you better prepare, because you're in a lot of trouble. >> reporter: now charged with le dly trying to extort up to $25 million from the international footwear giant nike. at 12:15 this afteoon, avenatti sent out this tweet saying that tomorrow he uld disclose a major high school/colleg