thank you so very much for joining me. i'm martin savidge. cnn's newsroom with ana cabrera starts right now. you're live in the cnn newsroom. i'm ana cabrera in new york. anticipation on capitol hill. robert mueller has a date with two congressional committees this week. what will he say? plus round two of the m deic presidential debates. 2020 candidate marianne williamson will take the stage on night one. she says she wants to heal the soul of america, and she'll join us live to talk about her strategy to stay in the race. but first he's walked back the walk back. now president trump is stripling, no, qua drupeling down on his attacks on four ethnic minority congresswomen insisting without evidence that they're not capable of loving our country. will they take the bait? sarah westwood is traveling with the president in new jersey this weekend. sarah, the president's latest tweets says he doesn't believe

these four congresswomen are, quote, capable of loving our country. he says they should apologize to america and israel and he claims they are destroying the democratic party. today he is getting back up now from other members of his administration, right? >> reporter: that's right, ana. two top members of his administration one of them steven miller, a very influential senior advisor where immigration is the top item in his portfolio. and the other one, vice president mike pence coming out and highlighting the fact that president trump has disavowed that racist chant of send her back that broke out at his rally wednesday night in north carolina. steven miller arguing on fox news sunday as well that the president's attacks at their heart are not racist because he's really just criticizing the ideology of these four democratic house freshman known as the squad. take a listen to the lines of defense from the president's top aides. >> you have a chance to say right now don't do it again.

is that your message? >> major. the president was very clear. >> was he? >> that he wasn't happy about it and if it happened again he might -- he'd make an effort to speak out about it. >> all the people in that audience and millions of patriotic americans across this country are tired of being beat up, condescended to, looked down, talked down to by members of congress on the left. >> reporter: steven miller in that same interview argued that democrats throw around the word rayest too much to try and silence their critics. sources tell cnn that president trump faced pressure from aides and allies and lawmakers to distance himself from those racist chants amid a growing backlash among democrats, and as many republicans also found it difficult to defend the seeming indulgence of those chants. president trump is arriving back at washington after spending the weekend here in new jersey at his bedminster resort. he continued to double down on those attacks.

sources also tell cnn president trump views attacking those four freshman democrats as a successful political strategy to try to make the squad the face of the democratic party and to project their most extreme progressive ideas onto even the most moderate of democratic members. ana, he views that as a successful tactic heading into the 2020 race. >> okay, sarah westwood, thank you. more now on the political calculus of president trump's attack on these four congresswomen of duller. cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein is here and tolin who oz also a reporter for "the washington post." i want to start with some comments from democrats who are calling the president out for his racist remarks comparing him to the late segregationist politician george wallace. listen to this. >> the reality is this is a guy who is worse than a racist. he's actually using racisttropes and racial language for

political gains, trying to use this as a weapon to divide our nation against itself. and this is somebody who is very similar to george wallace, to racists who used -- he's using the exact same language. the racist basic taunts and then when the crowd started yelling send them back, send them back, send them back, when has that ever happened other than you remember george wallace? no, i'm serious. when has anything like that happened with the president of the united states saying anything like that? >> ron, do you think the president is actually wanting response said like this? is he just trying to get under the skin of these four congresswomen and other democrats? >> well, when all you have is a hammer aevlg looks like a nail. we know the president's inclination is to divide the electorate along the lines of race. it's not just race and demographic change but changing

gender roles and even the economy. he wants his coalition of restoration to align against the forces that support what america is becoming. but i am not in the camp of many analysts who see this as some great jedi mind trick that is forcing the democrats into a corner in a couple of different senses. first, think about what that's saying. the idea open racism is that unlike wallace in 50 years is majority proposition in the america of 2019. but i would say that even if you believe that, even if you believe you had a chance at that, the fact is that trump is doing all this while unemployment is under 4% and the dow is under 27,000. and the reason he cannot run on that is because the racist division and other kinds of division that he's employed already has alieniated too many voters already satisfied with the economy. roughly one fifth of the voters who say they approve of his

handling of the economy say they disapprove of him overall and/or are going to vote for joe biden in 2020 in one measure. so i would say while this is something he wants to do to a greater extent the white house or most republicans will acknowledge, it's something he has to do. the road he's already traveled has made it very hard for him to run on what many republicans would like to hear, are you better off than four years ago? >> we know there's a meeting this coming week between house speaker nancy pelosi and congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez. what do you expect from that meeting? >> they're trying to bury the hatchet. they want to at least talk about how if they have disagreements and they are very wide disagreements, but they want to show even though they have disagreements on policy, on strategy, they can do their discussions and their planning behind closed doors. if they're going to fight it out, they want it to happen behind closed doors, not on twitter, not in the public, not in interviews with "the new york

times." that's what they want to get out of this meeting so that at least the democrats are putting forward a positie face to the public was they realize it only benefits the president, it only benefits the republicans if the democrats are seen as fighting. are seen as not being able to put their agenda forward. they want to be able to show they can at least discuss things behind closed doors, at least have an open line of communication. you have to remember they haven't really had a one-on-one discussion since february. they want to be able to show they can at least have discussions and not look messy the way they looked a couple of weeks ago before the president interjected and intervened. >> it was the president effectively uniting the republican party that was a little bit splintered perhaps. ron, you've done some research that it's somewhat puzzling when you first consider the percentage of the population that is black or hispanic is rising across the country, especially in a lot of the states that trump won in 2016. and second trump's approval

among nonwhite americans is extremely low. only 26% say they approve of his performance. 68% of that group say they disapprove. that's in a recent cnn poll. so why would he continue to stoke racial anger? >> it is a very -- it is a very clear strategy. i mean, the trump strategy and one that the republican party has essentially accepted with very little protest is to try to squeeze growing margins, increasing margins out of groups that are themselves shrinking in society. essentially as i said what trump is doing is centering the republican coalition ever more on groups on places in america that are the least touched by immigration, the least touched by demographic change and generally the most hostile to them. among 80% of the seats where there are more minorities in the natural average now held by democrats. almost 90% of the seats in the house where there are more immigrants nan the national average are now held by democrats. what trump is doing is exiling

the republican party, accelerating an exile of the republican party from the diverse metro areas defining the economy and trying to overcome that by amassing even bigger margins among blue collar and nonchristian whites. that can work, but those key states and they're less affected by diversity than the country overall. but there is no question that this is the trade he is imposing on the party. bigger madgens out of shrinking groups and it is one many republicans question whether it was a long-term proposition in a moment where the next year or so the majority of everyone under 18 in the country will be nonwhite. >> could be a short-term strategy and long-term could be trouble. i want to listen to some remarks from congressman elijah cummings this morning. >> what i'm hearing over and over again from my constituents is please save our democracy, please save our country.

and you know something else they say, george? they say i'm scared. and i am not -- i have never in my total of 37 years in public service ever heard a constituent say that they were scared of their leader. >> scared of their leader, scared of the president of the united states? >> the president of the united states that's exactly right. and i've been in pollacitics 37 years. >> do you believe president trump is a racist? >> i believe he is -- yes, no doubt about it. >> why would the gop continue to i guess defend these racist remarks from the president? >> well, republicans have figured out if you go against the president, if you stand up against him then you are going to be in for a twitter war which you will not likely have the weapons to defend yourself against. the president has shown no hesitation to geafter people within his own party, people on his own team when they speak out against him. and a number of those republican members have become members

because they decided to speak out against the president and they had to retire. so there is a sort of loyalty test this president poses towards his members in his party. and if you're not willing to stand that loyalty test and stand up for the president even in situations where you're uncomfortable with what he said or you think what he said might have been racist or overly offensive you might have to defend him even though you're on the outside looking in. in part out of self-preservation because they realized if the president goes against you that means you're going to get a primary and you're not going to be able to survive politically. there's few things in washington that motivates lawmakers more than self-preservation, and i think that's part of it reason why they're able to defend him no matter what. >> thank you. got to leave it there, guys. do democrats have a plan to counter president trump's culture war strategy? ile go one-on-one with a democratic candidate taking the debate stage in less than two weeks. plus, sweden's prime minister is warning president

trump about pushing for the release of american rapper asap rocky. where does this case go from here? you're live in the "cnn newsroom." eals, family reunion attendance is up. we're all related! yeah, i see it. and because priceline offers great deals by comparing thousands of prices in real time, sports fans are seeing more away games. various: yeah-h-h! is that safe? oh, y... ahh! not at all. no, ma'am. nope. and more people than ever are enjoying romantic getaways. (romantic music) that's gross priceline. every trip is a big deal. that's gross we carry flowers that signifyn why we want to end the disease. and we walk so that one day, there will be a white flower for alzheimer's first survivor. join the fight at alz.org/walk. ♪

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their first accident. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ can't see what it is yet.re? what is that? that's a blazer? that's a chevy blazer? aww, this is dope. this thing is beautiful. i love the lights. oh man, it's got a mean face on it. it looks like a piece of candy. look at the interior. this is nice. this is my sexy mom car. i would feel like a cool dad. it's just really chic. i love this thing. it's gorgeous. i would pull up in this in a heartbeat. i want one of these. that is sharp. the all-new chevy blazer. speaks for itself. i don't know who they got to design this but give them a cookie and a star. president trump is urging sweden to eare lease detained american rapper asap rocky even saying he will personally vouch for his bail. but the president's efforts don't appear to be making much of a dent. sweden's prime minister says he won't intervene as the swedish courts of asap rocky and must

remain in custody until july 25 t. he's being held in jail in stockholm accused of serious assault. you asked swedish authorities about the impact of president trump's push to help asap rocky. what did they tell you? >> well, they maintain first of all that no political pressure will be brought to bear. and according to the spokesman for the swedish government that is precisely what the swedish government told donald trump himself in that 20 mipt phone call on saturday. also there is no possibility of bail of course for the rapper who will spend another night inside this prison tonight. and i think that is so part of what has caused so much controversy, the fact he would have spent nearly three weeks in custody even though charges have yet to be brought. free asap rocky, asap. the sign the only indication over the controversy of the american rapper currently being

held inside. the american president weighed in. >> i personally don't know asap rocky, but i can tell you that he has tremendous support from the african-american community. >> reporter: asap's more than 10 million followers haven't heard from the man himself in nearly three weeks ever since he was jailed in sweden on suspicion of assault in connection to a brawl on june 30th. these were the images posted by tmz that appear to show asap rocky caught up in a street fight. other videos posted by the rapper on instagram paint a different picture, one of harassment. >> look, just for the cameras we don't want though problem with these boys. they keep following me. >> reporter: the swedish man involved remains free since the judiciary does not consider him a flight rick. asap rocky learned on the other hand he'll remain in custody whilest the prosecutor continues to investigate claiming he does

provide a flight risk. afterwards the rapper's lawyer told journalists that the prosecutor's decision was unfair but expected and that his client is innocent. adding he believed he was assaulted and acted in self-defense. asap rocky's lawyer and his media representatives have not responded to cnn for comment. on saturday the american president tweeted he had been in touch with the swedish prime minister saying that asap was not a flight risk and offering to personally vouch for his bail. but that is not how things work in sweden. >> if you know swedish legal system you know there's no bail system. actually the swedish constitution forbids any minister even the prime minister to get involved or even say anything about an individual case. >> reporter: indeed the swedish prime minister said he neither could or would try to influence the judicial process. celebrities have also weighed in.

justin bieber thanking donald trump for helping his friend but asking whether he could also let the kids out of cages, referencing the migrant crisis on the u.s.-mexico border. the former swedish prime minister also tweeted that donald trump needs to understand that sweden has an independent judiciary with any political meddling distinctly off-limits. that independent judiciary gives the prosecutor until thursday to rule whether asap rocky and two members of his entourage should be charged, released or held here a little longer. now a short while ago we spoke to the prosecuting authority who said the prosecutor would not be swayed by any of this controversy nor by any of pressure that politicians foreign or otherwise have sought to bear. >> melissa bell reporting. thank you. still ahead all eyes will be on robert mueller's testimony on capitol hill. the top questions you told us you want answered. we'll break them down. you're live in the "cnn newsroom."

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welcome back. the white house insists president trump disavowed the racist send her back chants uttered by supporters at his most recent rally. but as far as the president's tweets that led to those chants the ones in which the president told four sitting u.s. congresswomen to go back and try to help fix the broken and crime infested places which they came,

well, the white house says that wasn't racist and that the term racist is actually overused. here's how white house advisor steven miller often referred to as the architect behind trump's immigration policies responded to a question about this. >> i think the term racist, chris, has become a label that is too often deployed by the left democrats in this country simply to try to silence and punish and suppress people they disagree with, speech they don't want to hear. >> we're joined now by presidential candidate marianne williamson. i know you have said the president's tweets weren't just racist but border of a fascist dictator. >> it's been great to hear steven miller say we're overusing the word racist when he himself is the architect of racist policies at the southern border. it's not just tweets that are a

problem. it's not just his words that are problem. and they are very disturbing. they are very disturbing for the reason i said. this is what fascist dictators do. this is what fascist dictators say. you know, we are living through a time of identity crisis in the yoourns. we're having to ask ourselves and our generation how much do we mean of this declaration of independence stuff. how much are we going to commit? are all are created equal, do we or do we not mean that? god gave inalienable rights to everyone, do we or do we not mean that? we're to be a nation of unity and diversity, all cultures, all religions, all ethnicities unified by common principles. do we or do we not mean that? i think, you know, our second president john adams said he hoped on every july fourth that in this country citizens would use the holiday to revisit our

first principles. because whether you're a nation or an individual, sometimes you have to ask yourself what do i stand for, what are my values, what are my principles? and i think in this generation we need a deeper level of emotional and psychological rebonding with our own principles. otherwise they're on marbles or written on parchment somewhere. principles are dead if they're not -- >> the president has continued to justify his tweets and his ongoing attacks in the name of fighting back against what he considers anti-semitism that he says he hears from these women. listen to him here and i'll let you respond. >> what they've said about israel are just terrible. jow look at t and you look at the kind of statements they've made about israel, it's a disgrace. it's horrible what they say about israel. they say things ability israel

so bad. so anti-celtic and anti-israel. >> i'm a jew. i don't -- so i have definite feelings ability that. first of all there's no they there. it is one congresswoman from what i know, congresswoman omar. she said things about israel i don't agree with. and there are some serious issues there, but she is still a sitting congresswoman of the united states. he doesn't -- you know, she was elected by the people of her district. she gets to have the opinions that she has. and even though i might very much disagree with her about specific policies he doesn't get to pull that out. so i'm a jew, i'm sorry president trump, you don't get to pull that out as your defense. >> you began leaning as far back as 2016, i know you're starting to get attention with this. during that prayer you have white americans apologize to african-americans for slavings, lynchings, denial of civil rights among other things. would you lead white americans in a similar prayer, in an

apology towards african-americans as a presidential candidate? >> no. that was in a completely different context of a spiritual support group, spiritual act of reconciliation. i think as a presidential candidate i'm interested in a program of reppererations. i'm interested in a program of amends. you know, it is a spiritual theme whether it has to do with catholics going to confession or jews on the day of yom kippur, the day of atonement. it's a very important spiritual principle. >> i know you lived in detroi. that's where the next democratic debates here on cnn. you'll be debating on that first night july 30th. having had experience living in detroit, what do you think the people there want to hear? >> you know, detroit is a wonderful city. i raised my daughter there. my daughter says, mommy, i had a

happy childhood there whichicize you know is the most important thing a mother can hear. but i feel in terms of what they want to hear in detroit my experience whether in detroit or iowa or south carolina or california, new york, nevada or anyplace else, i'm having an american conversation. and i don't care whether you're in this group or that group, this religion or that ridgeb, this sexuality or this geographical region, i'm interested in a deeper conversation where america is. in terms of where we have been, what we owe to our unborn great grandchildren, and so to me what i have found in detroit as with any other place in this country people are ready for a deeper conversation in this country that goes way beyond than just our own individual concerns. >> great to have you with us. good luck on the campaign trail and don't miss the two nights of the big democratic presidential debates live from detroit july 30th and 31th only on cnn. we'll be right back. y on a lega?

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guard troops boarding the oil tanker in the strait of hormuz. british officials repeating to iran to either let the ship continue on and set the crew free or face what it calls robust action. listen to this, just into cnn, radio chatter between the royal navy and iranian vessel ordering the tanker to stop. >> if you obey, you will be safe. i reiterate that if you are conducting transit passage under interlalgs l international law your passage must not be impaired. >> if no challenge is intended, if no challenge is intended i want to inspect the ship for security reasons, over. >> our chief national correspondent matthew chance is in the united arab emirates.

when the british foreign secretary threatens robust action is he talking about diplomacy or something beyond words? >> well, the british are saying they want this to be a diplomatic solution to resolve this crisis through diplomatic means. they athey're not even look at military plans at the moment. they're talking to allies they say about a whole range of issues in order to get this british flag oil tanker released from iranian custody and that could involve sanctions, the british government certainly not ruling out. we're waiting to hear what british officialvise to say tomorrow. the british foreign minister will be addressing parliament we're told on the matter tomorrow. and so we're going to get some more clarity in terms of that. when you set this whole crisis against the backdrop of the escalating tensions in the persian gulf region particularly the tensions that have been mounting over recent months between the united states and iran, you can see that an incident like this could very

easily spiral into something much more dangerous and something much more violent. and the british by the way have said they're sending an additional warship to the region to make sure that this kind of iranian action does not happen against other british flagships. >> matthew chance reporting. also overseas a fighter jet from venezuela made what's being called an unsafe approach to a u.s. navy aircraft flying in international airspace. shadowing a u.s. recognizance plane. it happened friday. the navy says the venezuelan pilot was flying at an unsafe distance for a prolonged period of time and put the american crooin potential danger. venezuelan officials accused the u.s. aircraft of violating its airspace and the two airplanes eventually went their separate ways. a pageant queen is stripped of her title over her politics.

the social media posts one contestant is defending despite the post being called racist and offensive. you're live in the "cnn newsroom."

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it's a big week. finally robert mueller testifies and on wednesday the shroud of secrecy that has continued to surround the former special counsel will be broken. mueller will testify in front of both the house judiciary and intelligence committees about his two yearlong investigation into president trump and his campaign, and this morning the chairman of the house judiciary committee reiterated the importance of the blockbuster hearings. >> we think it's very important for the american people to hear directly what the facts are because this is president who has violated the laws six ways from sunday. if anyone else had been accused of what the report finds the president had done they would have been indicted. it's important that we not have a lawless administration and a lawless president. >> and this brings us to a special edition of our weekly segment cross exam with a former federal and state prosecutor and now a cnn legal analyst. and this week you did something

a little different. you asked viewers what would you ask robert mueller as he's testifying. our first viewer question for mueller weren't president? >> we've got so many smart and tough questions from our viewers and this was the most commonly asked one. so in the report robert mueller tells us because of the doj policy of not indicting against a sitting president, he gives us a frustrating mysterious language about i do not exonerate him and what does this mean. ideally he will drop the double speak, drop the riddling and give us a straight answer. the time is now. now, i do think he will try to dodge. i do think he'll try to say something like because of the policy i never really considered that question. but here's the thing, there's a way to use robert mueller's own language in the report. what he does in the report is lays out all these different

obstructive acts. and for at least four of them he finds substantial elements of all the legal elements of obstruction of justice. so congress should isolate those four instances and say with respect to, for example, the president's efforts to fire you, robert mueller, the special counsel, did you find substantial evidence of all the legal elements of obstruction of justice? i think base on his own report robert mueller has to answer that question yes. and if you string together those four yeses i think it will become very clear robert mueller would have indicted if he could have. >> let's move onto our next viewer question for the former special counsel. was your report intend today be an impeachment referral to congress? what's your take on this? >> a little bit of background. he used the "i" word and gave 11 different grounds for impeachment. mueller true to form again was more ambiguous. and he said things like congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president. well, someone needs to ask

robert mueller did you mean impeachment. and mueller also said there's a process other than the criminal justice system to accuse a sitting president. that process you're talking about you're talking about impeachment. it's a little bit symbolling but it's important robert mueller acknowledge what he's talk about. and if the word impeachment crosses mueller's lips i think that's going to be a big moment. >> why didn't you subpoena president trump to testify? >> yeah, so, another source of mystification. so in the report mueller said he hadal legal question but he said i could have if i wanted to. but he said i didn't i two reasons. first of all, it would have caused substantial delay. really that's on robert mueller. mueller should have just cut that off after two months and say, okay, you're not here to play ball, here's your subpoena, we're going to courts. mueller said in the report the other reason i didn't need to follow through with the subpoena is we had sufficient evidence to

make assessments without talking to donald trump specifically. what was that specific evidence and what assessments did you make about trump's conduct and intent? it sounds like what he's trying to say there is we had enough to have the corrupt intent to obstruct, so let's hear it directly from mueller. he left that one wide open in his report. good one more viewer question for mueller. have your finings been publicly mischaracterized by president trump and attorney general william barr? >> so that's a big loaded question, but i think robert mueller's own words compel a yes answer. this could be the big moment of all of his testimony. we know mueller wrote a letter to barr stating barr misstated the context and substance of his findings. congress needs to ask specifically how did he misstate. they repeated this no collusion refrain. he should be asked did you in

fact find no collusion. i think he'll say i didn't find anything about no collusion. no, i did not find no collusion. and then the big one is this no obstruction, total exoneration. so we heard that from donald trump over and over again. ask robert mueller straight up did you in fact find no obstruction, did you in fact find total exoneration? he has to say no. and i think that's a very big moment if you have robert mueller saying directly the president and the attorney general have misstated my findings. >> always a pleasure. i know you are getting ready to head to d.c. for our special coverage of robert mueller's testimony before congress. that happens wednesday. our coverage begins at 8:00 eastern right here on cnn. turmoil within the ranks of the national rifle association. new details on everything from allegation of financial misconduct to a

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the national rifle association is not having a good month. for a good year, frankly. the challenges are stacking up for the group that helped send president trump to the white house. legal troubles, accusations and

a big financial mess and now they are having trouble keeping people in leadership positions. >> reporter: the group that helped propel donald trump to the white house. >> to get the endorsement is on the honor. >> reporter: now in turmoil. the nra sued its add agency. the same that created this iconic second amendment message featuring charlton heston. >> from my cold, dead hands. >> reporter: the bitter split was behind the scenes at the meeting in indianapolis. >> you are great american patriots. chris cox, wayne lapeer, three champions for the second amendment. >> but north vs on his way out. a day earlier nra ceo told the board of directors nourt was trying to extort him. he told him to step down as ceo

or face a smear campaign. north was ousted. >> we defend our flag. our national anthem, and the heroes they represent. >> reporter: it turned out he was one of the face of the nra financed through mckeen. >> stost good to see all you here. >> reporter: the ad agency paid a spokeswoman's salary the em embarrassing allegations emerged online posted anonymously and verified by cnn. they paint miss midget with lapierre at the helm. he makes $1.4 million from the nra. on top of that, alaska men picked up the tab for $275,000 for lapierre's high end clothing, $240,000 for travel to deatstinations including the bahamas and $14,000 for an apartment for a summer ininternship. they were all legitimate business expenses.

a a letter from board members questioned the nra spending habits and the $24 million in legal fees the nra shelled out over 13 months. the nra disputes that. all of this delighting the nca's critics. >> it's like watching a five alarm fire but they themselves lit the match. this is going to play out day by day, week by week, month by month leading up to 2020. it will keep them on the the sidelines. >> reporter: the nra severed ties with ackerman bringing ab end to broadcasts like this one mocking diversity in the thomas and friends children's show by putting k, k hoods on the trains. >> was it because i see it it was the white hoods and the burning train tracks. okay, fine, fair pointed, i get it. >> reporter: then the nra drp tropped another bomb shell accusing chris cox of working

alongside north to overthrow wayne lapierre. cox denied the allegation to the "new york times" but soon resigned. the departure unsettling for gop donors and lawmakers. cox had a warm relationship with trump and was the chief strategist behind the election efforts. heage nated for more spending on digital. while the nra scrambles for stability -- >> i don't oat v to fire you. you already have the fire in your belly. >> i'm the only guy who beat the mra. >> i have a d minus voting record from the nra. >> the nra holds congress hostage. >> reporter: the nra says it's happy to be underestimated. we're very focused on 2020, a an nra spokesperson tells cnn. our members know what's at stake from gun control to registration. they will be out in firorce and the nra will make sure of it.

sara murray, cnn, washington. sglmpbts a new outrage from democrats as president trump ramps up his attacks on the squad. you're live in the cnn newsroom. ♪ ♪ love them, hate their laundry, protection. detergent alone doesn't kill bacteria but adding lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% with 0% bleach. lysol. what it takes to protect. ®

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announced he will not run for reelection next year. now this announcement comes amid-an uproar over leaked private chat messages that were criticized as homophobic and incensivetive to the victims of hurricane maria. let's get to nick paton walsh who is joining us by phone. what happened? >> reporter: it's extraordinary. i have to tell you weapon been in anticipation thinking something was going on inside the governor's mansion here. anticipation he might be about to resign. but he's not going to run again this an election in which everyone thinks he's going to lose any way. essentially saying he's going to step back on the political life. the notion he's not going to step down immediately, which is what they have been seeking and to make that point clear r again