john heilemann?> well, chris, i think you know the only way to beat mitch mcconnell is with actual raw political power, and that power is going to come from the ballot box. so a situation in which donald trump suffered a devastating large landslide loss in 2020 and democrats either retook control of the united states senate or came close, i would say actually probably they would need to take control of the united states senate. that scenario that takes mcconnell out of the majority leader's job and that makes the republican party recognize that they are paying a giant political price for having gone into bed and fully into bed with donald trump might change the dynamics on the senate side. but i don't think there is some clever procedural way around this. i don't think there is a clever -- there is a consume buy yay -- consume by yaw. you have to beat the senate republicans to give you power and leverage to be able to change the game. >> well, tonight's debate comes against the backdrop of president

phil rucker, john heilemann, always a pleasure. back with more, including some breaking news tonight, right after this. >>> welcome back. and with two minutes before we get off the air, turns out we have two breaking news stories right quick tonight. first of all, jeffrey epstein, the gentleman involved in the sex abuse story that has so far encompassed a lot of bold-faced names in this country, has been found tonight in his new york prison cell injured. we don't know if it's at the hands of other people, we don't know if it is at his own hands or if it was a, perhaps, failed suicide attempt. all we know is he has been found injured in jail. story number two, the governor of puerto rico, roberto rossello has announced tonight. he is stepping down. here is video of his announcement. we translated in real time from spanish, he, indeed, is going to stay on the job until august 2nd for reasons known but to him. the reasons behind his departure, these are live pictures right now, in old san juan, puerto rico, the reasons behind his depa

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joining our discussion now, john heilemann, national affairs analyst for nbc news and msnbc co-host andcutive producer of showtime's the circus. john, when you listen to matt gates' approach, that's a very different thing than what we heard from the two democratic members of congress. >> well, it certainly has the virtue of honesty, lawrence. >> yes. >> at least it's straightforward. something we rarely see from republicans, straightforward honesty. that's what this is for them, a political exercise and they're going to do everything they can to try to discredit bob mueller, to try to bludgeon bob mueller. they're not interested in trying to find out the facts of what happened or even to have a real engagement with the facts that are in the mueller report. so i think we know what they're going to do and it's not really of much consequence, i think. i do think that it's also the case that although in no way discrediting in the comments that you heard in your -- that you got in your "a" block from congressmen, it's also clear this is a huge political moment for democrats on the committee.

national only lift for nbc news and msnbc, john heilemann. former u.s. claire mccaskill. and host of "the beat" on msnbc ari melber. and former acting fbi director and author of the book "the threat: how the fbi protects america in the age of terror and trauma" andrew mccabe. >> great to have you everybody with us. let's go to ari melber first. ari is live in the shot. let's go to ari's shot right there, to set it up. he is, of course, where everybody would expect him to be in stockholm, sweden, to tell us about asap rocky. >> asap rocky. >> not really. >> yeah, my god, ari, we need to talk about that at another time. >> another time. >> absolutely outrageous what's happening there. but let's talk about today. set it up for us, what can you report? >> i'll set it up for you, first what i'm seeing then what we expect to happen inside. just behind me as our viewers saw a few moments ago, we saw bob mueller walk through here obviously not taking questions and proceed. i just spoke to some members of congress. you mentioned the democrats are huddling now. th

national affairs analyst for nbc news and co-host and executive producer of "the circ circus" john heilemann, jonathan lemire, white house correspondent for pbs news hour yamiche alcindor. hard news to cover for sure. at a campaign rally in greenville, north carolina, last night president trump launched into a five-minute broadside against congresswoman ilhan omar of minnesota who as a child refugee fled war torn somalia and became an american citizen and is one of the four house democrats of color who the president said should go back to their countries even though the other three were born in the united states. as the president went on about omar the crowd's fury increased leading to a new and alarming rally chant. >> representative ilhan omar. omar laughed that americans speak of al qaeda in a menacing tone and remarked that you don't say america with this intensity. you say al qaeda, it makes you proud. al qaeda makes you proud. you don't speak that way about america. she looks down with contempt on the hard-working americans saying that ignorance is pervasive in many parts of this count

rachel, i have been staring, as i said to john heilemann, at the trees all day. tell me what the forest looks like. >> i don't know, some of the trees are pretty interesting. this was -- this was a remarkable day. even though mueller had negotiated for shorter testimony than we might have expected, i kept thinking today about hillary clinton and her whatever was 11 hours or 13 hours, whatever it was on benghazi. this was technically a trunk kated hearing but it was thorough and long and exhaustin exhausting. but i have to tell you, i was struck at the end when everybody's energy was at its lowest edge and mueller seemed like he missed a step and seemed older and not on top of everything during the whole hearling. at the very top of chairman schiff's question at the close of the hearing, schiff said i want to close out my questioning and turn to the exchange we had earlier, from your testimony today i gather you believe knowingly accepting foreign assistance during a campaign is an unethical thing to do. and mueller interjects -- and a crime. he brings up the fact

starting the project should have been on its way to completion by now but as our correspondent john heilemann has been finding out construction workers and nowhere to be seen. it was meant to be the culmination of a century of nicaraguan dreams the country's very great canal linking the pacific and atlantic oceans when doing it by chinese billionaire handed a generous concession by the government in 2013 everyone is talking about it we found not a stones bin laden abyss point there was a big ceremony in all great the building of the can now but as you can see 6 years later there's nothing here but a dusty road. why has the canal failed to materialize the short story the billionaire lost most of his billions before work could get started but the ripples still being felt particularly in the form of a law passed especially for the project says any properties needed can be exploited predated that law is still on the books. there are still other risks that thousands of campus senos could have their land expropriated and occupied by private interests that's why the citizens demand that the law be s

groups linked to corruption that was structurally embedded in the federal police correspondent john heilemann has the latest from tapachula in mexico. federal police or at least a good number of them are on strike and they're on strike because they're not happy that they've been ordered to join the country's new security force which is called the national guard now this new force is controversial to many people but is because it includes the country's navy and the country's army along with the federal police patrolling the streets of some of the most dangerous areas of mexico and also songs like the one we're in now where there's a lot of migrants people coming from central america and looking to get through the country some people are worried that that might mean human rights abuses in the in the future a more militarization of the country the federal police are more worried about what they think might be their benefits and their salary being brought all being taken away against them so for them this is more of a labor dispute they're not happy about it but it's causing all sorts of headache

going to bring more questions about the government's great hope to tame miscues security problems john heilemann al-jazeera tapachula. a former kong allee's warlord nicknamed the terminator has been found guilty of atrocities including murder rape and can stripping child soldiers boss was convicted by the international criminal court on 18 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity they relate to the ethnic conflict in the democratic republic of congo nearly 17 years ago welcome what reports we move. into gun has been in armed groups since 1998 when he was 17 years old. prosecutors the international criminal court accused him of committing atrocities during conflict in the democratic republic of congo in 20022003 he's been found guilty of all 18 counts who was crimes and crimes against humanity with which he was charged escorts and scum. guilty of murder a scrying against humanity as. to guilty of murder as a war crime and finally a sconce count 18 guilty of destroying the. as a war crime is that a gun you may sit down the charges included murder rape conscripting child soldiers and sexua

militarized nature the government has promised it will get special training and human rights but as john heilemann reports from top actually and that doesn't appear to be happening. because new police force the national guard that looks militarized that's because it is made up mainly of soldiers and marines and commanded by general the government hopes it will because recall boylan's many are worried that in doing that it could trump lova civilians rights look toward. those worries were at least calm down a pool 9 when the government made a deal with the united nations that the u.n. would help give human rights training to the new pools would be seen as a big moment is this room. more important than this is a really important x. i could say historical in acquited look you feed mammal him with the agreement shows our shared interest in a paradigm shift which puts human rights at the center of public security forces actions. the united nations sources have told out here at that 3 month some from that deal not one member of the national guard has got that training despite they say u.n. efforts to get

i am not afraid, and for democrats to win, you can't be afraid either. >> so john heilemann, a fascinatingogressives and the center of the stage i thought performed admirally, ably and t moderates, john hickenlooper, steve bullock and tim ryan making sure the same mistakes that occurred in the first debate didn't occur in the second debate. i wonder if rahm emanuel's memo, david axelrod saying hold on, let's remain elected. their warnings, i wonder if they didn't override maybe some of the pmoderate candidates concers about twitter, and other social media platforms that are far left of where most democrats are. >> let's hope so, joe, because anything that overrides twitter as a force in politics is probably for the best. i think that you're right in the sense, a couple of things helped in that regard: one thing was the candidates who insisted that they not be forced into these kind of arbitrary and dumb questioning scenarios where it's about a show of hands or a yes or no. that got ruled out of this debate, and i think those were some of the things that got people in trouble in the last de

my good friend, always the host on this show, my main man john heilemann, obviously star executive producer of "the circus." most important political analyst at msnbc, msnbc news. you're probably my last great friend to be here. nicole has been here and finally you've been here. willy has been here. >> you've begged, you've pleaded. and i'm happy to be here, highlight of my week. >> i agree with that. former white house director, former state department senior advisor. and also a good friend jeremy peters, one of the same voices on morning joe. okay, let's get right to the wall. mueller's over. message to democrats, i'm sorry to break the news, it's time to move on. okay. joy, i want to start with you and you can punch holes in this and there's maybe two parts to this story. we can't keep just scaring ourselves. that doesn't mean we don't fight. i think we have to fight harder than ever. and my good friend joe scarborough was so right yesterday two days ago, it's war. we've got to stop fighting the nice guy stuff. number one, do you agree with the thesis it's time to take from the mueller r

i'm john heilemann, here for nicolle wallace again.trump is a racist president has been overwhelming for some time but what happened this weekend and continued today advances the story to a new place. the racist president is openly telling us he's drawing a racist campaign. he all but announced that with an attack on elijah cummings, a african-american congressman around baltimore. we want to avoid amplifying trump's racist messages by repeating them here, we're also

at the table msnbc and nbc national affairs analyst john heilemann's here, jason johnson, politics editor for "the root" and former managing editor of "time" magazine and rick stengel. i will show you one more thing mostly because i need to see it. this is president obama singing "amazing grace." ♪ amazing grace ♪ how sweet the sound ♪ that saved a wretch like me >> jason johnson, i played that, i showed those other presidents because i think trump benefits when we cover the news in front of us. i think he benefits when we cover the news of the day. but i think what we're watching is the destruction of the office of the american presidency. >> i agree, nicolle. i was there because that was my friend clem's funeral, who was murdered by dylann roof. so on a personal level, and i have always said this about the president and his behavior, this leads to violence because that's where all of this eventually goes. he's turned the presidency not into an office to defend the american people, not into an office to sort of spread american ideals, but into an office to abuse and oppress and elicit vi

i'm john heilemann, here for nicolle wallace again. the assertion donald trump is a racist president has been overwhelming for some time but what happened this weekend and continued today advances the story to a new place. the racist president is openly telling us he's drawing a racist campaign. he all but announced that with an attack on elijah cummings, a african-american congressman around baltimore. we want to avoid amplifying trump's racist messages by repeating them here, we're also facing the reality we will be dealing with presidential racism the next 15 months and we've seen few signs trump will be held accountable by members of his own party so it's our job to co-author racism when we see it. -- call out racism when we see it. like this tweet of appalling decency -- baltimore is a rat-infested mess. that is a racist link filled with filth and crime, especially when it is a pattern, as with trump it is. calling john lewis african-american, and calling his district crime i fested. he said trump did pour is into and infest our c

i'm john heilemann. it's 4:00 in new york and i'm here for miss nicolle, who has the day off today. a democrat going where no house democrat has gone before. jerry nadler suggesting his committee is already in effect conducting impeachment inquiries against donald trump. >> just saying there's no difference between what you're doing now and impeachment debate, right? >> a new development in the impeachment debate, demanding more of robert mueller's underlying evidence from the court filing, quote, articles of impeachment are under consideration as part of this committee's investigation, although no final determination has been made, unquote. reporting today for "the new york times" and "the washington post," nadler, who whose committee is responsible for recommending articles of impeachment, has gone even further behind closed doors. the debate over how to proceed in the wake of robert mueller's testimony this past week intensifies among democrats. this is from "the new york times." quote, nadler has gradually become convinced his panel should proceed with impeachment hearings and d

most violent areas the government has promised it will get special training and human rights as john heilemann imports from. doesn't appear to be happening. because new police force the national guard that looks militarized that's because it is made up mainly of soldiers and marines and commanded by general the government hopes it will tackle mits because recall boylan's many are worried that in doing that it could trample over civilians rights look toward. those worries were at least calm down april 9th when the government made a deal with the united nations that the u.n. would help give human rights training to the new force would be seen as a big moment. more important than this is a really important x. i could say historical in acquited look you feed ma'am him with the agreement shows our shared interest in a paradigm shift which puts human rights at the center of public security forces actions. the united nations sources have told out here at the 3 months on from that deal not one member of the national guard has got that training despite they say un efforts to get the program kick starte

i'm john heilemann. it's 4:00 in new york and i'm here for miss nicolle, who has the day off today.ouse democrat has gone before. jerry nadler suggesting his committee is already in effect conducting impeachment inquiries against donald trump. >> just saying there's no difference between what you're doing now and impeachment debate, right? >> a new development in the impeachment debate, demanding more of

party and president danielle ortega have betrayed the ideals of the revolution they fought for john heilemann has more. at the moment when they could i was sunda meets the rebels finally triumphed in training the capital of the toppling a dictator. and the same day 40 years later they're back to celebrate it in troubled times now the sandinistas seen by many is the repressive ruling power president and former rebel daniel ortega called for a divided nation to come together when eric i mean what's the road to be able to work study have health care have highways to get people out of extreme poverty what's the fundamental condition peace people need peace to work and live. for those not with him it brings hollow mullin child with the sundanese does it she feels or take a betrayed the revolutionary cause long ago. under a day that they keep mentioning peace but this concept of peace they talk about doesn't correspond to reality because today there kidnappings of people have gone up and murders of innocent people it's shameful a state of impunity and criminality under this government the president

national affairs analyst for msnbc john heilemann, and joining the conversation, jonathan lamere.mer u.s. attorney and aide to robert mueller now an nbc news law enforcement analyst, chuck rosenbe rosenberg, kasie hunt working way too many hours, and political reporter for the washington post and msnbc political analyst, robert costa. >> let's go first to kasie hunt. you had a busy day yesterday. zl she needs to put her feet up. good lord. >> i find that to be sexist. >> on her feet all day. >> it's not sexist. she's pregnant. >> tell me, i'm just going to keep going. casey, tell me this. >> nine months. >> you talked to the republicans. you also had questions of nancy pelosi. give us a feel for how things are on the hill. are we moving away from impeachment? is nadler still going to be pushing impeachment? is that effectively finished? was that effectively finished yesterday by robert mueller's testimony? >> joe, i think that it's stalled, i would say. there are some signs inside the caucus that there is optimism that nancy pelosi will change her mind. pelosi herself, i talked to

yesterday, john heilemann said that there had been talk for quite some time that -- long whispered in new york circles he had photos and videos that may have -- and may have made some of his money by blackmailing powerful people with what was inside that safe of his. really interesting. even when he knew he could be pursued by the feds he didn't destroy the tapes, didn't destroy those videos. maybe there's a reason. >> dave aronberg, matt miller, thank you both. >>> still ahead, two of the stories we teased at the top of the show. president trump asks americans who are you going to believe, me or your own lying eyes? we fact check his demonstrably false claims straight ahead. >>> plus, congresswoman ilhan omar goes home. also known as the american midwest. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. johnson & johnson is a baby company. but we're also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. from the day you're born i've done all sorts of research, read earnings reports, l