>> robert mueller? >> i think if you're waiting to be prosecuted, i would be more worried that the prosecutor than the fan base. >> this is all part -- >> by the way, a lot of the republican faithful with watergate said get off his back. until it got later on. >> until the day nixon resigned, he still had 50% approval rating among republicans. the support among set base should not be surprising. but it also shows you that trump is going to have a certain amount of durability going into 2018 and 2020 even. i just don't, their strategy protect the base, keep what you have, and attack your point mercilessly. >> i think you have a point. i think part of that is the loss of newspapers in many parts of the country. i was in the west with my wife. we were driving around in colorado and utah and wyoming. there is no local big serious newspaper. the denver papers, you don't pick it up in the morning when you go down the drive way. there's no newspaper telling you what's going to nationally. the local newspaper i

also tonight, we have new information on who has testified before robert mueller's grand jury. the financial times reports rinat. ahkmetshin, the army officer who met senior trump campaign aides the a controversial meeting last year has given evidence before a grand jury investigation according to two people familiar with the matter. mr. akhmetshin gave testimony under oath for several hours on friday, august 11th, in a sign that special counsel robert mueller is looking at the 2016 meeting as part of his investigation into links between donald trump's election campaign and russia. he's expected of having ties to russian intelligence and is one of several russians who are present at a june 9th, 2016 meeting with donald trump jr., jared kushner, paul manafort at trump tower. and "the new york times" is reporting that president trump's longtime lawyer, michael cohn, sent an e-mail to a spokesman for the russian president, vladimir putin. that spokesman, mr. peskoff, on wednesday confirmed to reporters that the kremlin had received the e-mail, but he said he did not respond to it

. >>> meanwhile, robert mueller's team asked the white house to turn over documents related to ousted mike flynn. the request was not a formal subpoena ask marks the first known instance of such a request. here is what democratic congresswoman maxine waters told my colleague, chris hayes, last night about the russia investigation. >>. >> mueller is going to win, drip by drip. people are finding out that there's more to this than maybe some poout people thought. and, of course, there's a lot of smoke and even now i think people are believing that there's some fire. they are going to put their had team together, the right wingers, and they're going to roll out every day with a new accusation, but it's not going to hold. >> meanwhile, another critic of president trump is weighing in on where the republican party stands in the first six months of his presidency. sheer what congressman charlie denn told my colleague, chuck todd, last night. >> the litmus test has always been, there was a battle between i'll say the purists versus the pragmatists. now that donald trump is the president, i c

it won't work with robert mueller. he's tried everything he can to bill is date robert mueller. he's threatened to fire jeff sessions, or hinted that he should leaf. or that robert mueller shouldn't be there. bob mueller is a highly decorated marine and spent his entire career in law enforcement going after truly bad guys. guess what, mr. president, bob mueller does not intimidate. >> let's watch this. >> do you think the white house should be concerned about the grand jury? >> of course the white house should be concerned. i worry about the government having the kind of power, notice what mueller is doing. he is changing the targets. he was supposedly going to look into russian collusion. the articles say it looks lying russian collusion will be hard to prove, maybe because it didn't happen. >> let me remind everyone what the president has said. it is a witch hunt, it's fake, last night i believe he called it a fabrication and we know these become fishing expeditions. you're just hoping jello against the wall and hoping something will stick. >> problem with the analogy is that

robert mueller was hired to lead the investigation. he talked about what grand jury subpoenas could mean for the case. >> in general, it doesn't tell you anything about the likelihood of indictments, we make a determination that at some point in the course of the investigation about whether charges are appropriate. >> and what's the advantage in terms of investigation, taking the case to a grand jury. >> many of our investigations use the grand jury, sometimes you make witnesses in, to make sure you get their full testimony. it's a tool we use like any other tool in the course of our investigations. >> cnn's boris sanchez is following the story for us, from washington. boris? >> a fascinating interview with the deputy attorney general, he said this was not a fishing expedition, and he faced confidence in robert mueller, saying he knew what the scope of the investigation was, in response to a question about whether or not the president's finances were part of the scope of the investigation, were appropriate for the special council to be

presumably with what robert mueller is up to her. like if they are finding leverage on michael flynn to flip him to tell what he may know about russia. >> then there was as we discussed with the deputy attorney general the barrage of leaks this past week. and in your effort to find leakers. this is the director of national security. >> understand this.if you improperly disclose classified information, we will find you. >> jason, we have been through this before. what is the likelihood that they can find the leakers and really stop and i have to say, there has been a torrent of leaks since this president took office. >> was also distillers between the types of leaks he appeared there is leaking about what's going on in the west wing in terms of personnel and then there is the leak that we had this week with regard to conversations that donald trump has been having with other leaders. which are much more serious. the president of the states not speaking confidence to world leaders. >> there has also been about michael flynn the intel p

if there were not good cause it would not matter what anyone said. >> saying that robert mueller could only be fired for good cause. rosenstein defended him again. rosenstein said mueller could investigate any crimes he uncovered. >> the special counsel is subject to the rules and regulations of the department of justice. we don't engage in fishing expeditions. if he finds wrong doings he can. if it's something outside that scope he needs to come to the acting attorney general at this time, me. for permission to expand his investigation. >> that's the attorney general, the deputy attorney general appearing to draw a line in the sand saying that if robert mueller finds evidence of a crime in the scope of his investigation he should be allowed to investigate it without interference. that was yesterday. this morning, axios reported that the president's outside legal team is adopting a more conciliatory tone toward robert mueller to lower the temperature involving the russia investigation. the article warned despite the tone coming from his lawyers what will matter is what trump says and h

special counsel robert mueller reportedly convenes a grand jury to look into russian campaign leak links as investoo await the latest non-farm payroll number >> good morning, everybody it's jobs friday, we expect a print of 180,000 as usual on these fridays, we're in a wait and see mode ahead of that that very much happened in the asian trading session. the stoxx 600 is off a tad we have in other choice but to focus on earnings. rbs is one of the best performers in the stoxx 600. we'll get to that. also swiss re is the other side of the ledger underperforming, we'll get more details on that in a few minutes when it comes to the european equity markets, here's a picture of the ftse 100. holding on to flat line. xetra dax off by 0.1%. not a lot of movement. we are seeing basic resources, utilities, real estate outperforming. insurance ne insurance, media and financial services outperforming >> shares in rbs quar lsquarely expectations but the bank cautioned it's likely to post a full-year loss as it prepares to settle with the u.s. department of justice gemma spoke to the cfo and joins me

new reporting on robert mueller's investigation. paul manafort, trump attorney michael cohen and the trump jr. meeting. plus, what putin spokesman has to say about that e-mail on trump tower moscow. also, the president hits the road to sell a tax plan. the only problem, there's not much of a plan to sell. instead, he's warning congress not to disappoint him. >>> and the number out tonight

and the white house has got to stop attacking robert mueller. and i'm getting tired of hearing kellyanne conway and the others attacking robert mueller who is our fbi director when i was in the bush white house. i've been a p republican for 30 years, and many of us are very proud of the service that robert mueller has done for his country over many, many years. and these attacks on the special prosecutor are uncalled for. the policy in the bush white house was not to comment on pending criminal investigations. no comment by the president or anybody else. and they would do themselves an enormous favor if they focused on doing their job and focus on policy while robert mueller does his job. >> and, you know, malcolm you also have "the new york times" reporting on friday that mueller is looking into various things about michael flynn's finances, who was paying him, whether turkey is one of the countries that were paying him. so that's not directly related to russia. but how does the financial entangle wants of this team relate back to russia gate?

you cannot know me what robert mueller is discovering. but i know what the president of the united states told me, and that's enough me, because i trust that man. i have no connections to robert mueller, and i trust the president of the united states. understood. and for you to insult me is churlish and unprofessional. you made your absolute trust and donald trump very plain. let's move on to national security, because that is what you are paid to do, advise on the president on issues of national security. north korea. donald trump has issued many tweets telling north korea it must desist from this missile test programme. the north koreans are clearly not listening. donald trump now says it is china's fault, because china is not using the influence it should. so what dos the us do now? well, the first thing we do is we don't give our playbook away. that's the obama administration, where they'd tell you in advance what they were going to do, when they were going to mosul, when they were going to do xyz. we don't tell regimes north korea wh

and if robert mueller thinks that it's in d.c. and that it's material, then at some point, wait until jared kushner or michael flynn are called in to testify before this grand jury. things will only get hotter and donald trump can't deny it. >> mieke, when you saw this news, what was your reaction? did you think uh-oh, we're about to get his taxes? >> so, on this one, they may already have his taxes. we don't know what kind of information there is. the power of the special counsel to get a wide variety of information is quite big, so they are probably sit ong a mountain of paper already. what i thought when i saw this was in washington, i thought, wow, this is about the trump white house. >> why do you say that? >> originally they started with a grand jury in northern virginia and that had been looking at flynn and manafort and some of the foreign registration, foreign agent issues. but when they said they were looking at a grand jury in washington, now we're looking at questions of were the forms incomplete, were there things hap

abc news has confirmed special counsel robert mueller has empaneled a grand jury. as the "wall street journal" first worted, that grand jury has been secretly working for weeks as mueller investigates whether president trump or any of his associates colluded with the kremlin. the president's personal lawyer insists there is still no indication the president himself is a target. >> with respect to the empaneling of the grand jury, we have no reason to believe the president is under investigation here. >> reporter: the news comes amid growing questions about the trump tower meeting organized by donald trump jr. with a russian lawyer who he was told had dirt on hillary clinton from the russian government. this week we learned the president himself dictated don junior's initial response to that story, a misleading statement that said the meeting was primarily about russian adoption. the president has denounced the entire russia investigation as a witch hunt, acknowledging it was on his mind when he fired former fbi director james comey. >> when i decided to just do it,

"wall street journal" just reporting that special counsel robert mueller has impaneled a grand jury in the russia probe. details what this means coming up. blake burman at the white house with more. reporter: hi, there, melissa. person at white house in charge of dealing with everything russia at this point, ty cobb brought into the white house to deal with instances like this. he told my colleague john robert, that the white house was not aware bob mueller he will empanel ad grand jury. we favor anything that brings this investigation into a swift conclusion, end quote. president trump, later tonight, a few hours from now will head to west virginia. for a rally there. that is the next time we see the president on camera. potentially getting a reaction from i am -- him. president will describe what he feels the investigation is. he called it a witch-hunt in the past. no reaction from the president immediately right off the bat. important to note, melissa, just "the wall street journal" reporting that this grand jury has been impaneled. on a day here at the white house which has been so

. >>> this morning we are following the reports special counsel robert mueller has impaneled a grand jury here in d.c. >> they're vesting whether president trump's campaign colluded with russia. the white house is reacting to this include something strong words from president trump. fox5's melanie alnwick live at the white house this morning with the story morning, guys, yeah, the fbi certainly does appear to be ratcheting up its investigation into whether russia helped put president trump into the white house. meanwhile, the president headed west to perhaps a bit friendlier audience. in west virginia yesterday president trump stood next to a new ally, governor jim jennings who just flipped parties from republican to democrat. they cheered good economic news for the region but the shadow of the russia investigation is always nea nearby. >> story is a total fabrication. it's just an excuse for the great of the loss in the history of american politics t that's what it is. [cheers and applause] >>> it just makes them feel better when they have nothing else to talk about. >> reporter: bu

and coming up, the robert mueller investigation showing no signs of slowing down. new reports say the special council is looking to interview current members of the trump administration. what they're reportedly looking for next. hi. when you clock out, i'll clock in... sensing and automatically adjusting to your every move. there. i can even warm these. does your bed do that? i'm the new sleep number 360 smart bed. let's meet at a sleep number store. >>> just hours ago yet another story dropped on the investigation into ties between trump's campaign and russia. the "washington post" reporting that three days after donald trump named his campaign foreign policy team in march of 2016 the youngest of the new advisers sent an e-mail to seven campaign officials with the subject line "meeting with russian leadership including putin." the adviser, george papadopoulos offered to set up a meeting between us and the russian leadership to discuss u.s.-russian ties under president trump. telling them that his russian contacts welcomed the opportunity. according to internal cam

what would happen in your view if the president fired robert mueller? >> if it is without cause and it would be holy hell would break out! i have said that about jeff. i can only imagine how the country would react if robert mueller were fired. just because the president did not like the investigation. if you show me a reason that he should be five this onus will be appointed in his place. so my legislation is simple. if robert mueller is fired, you have a three-judge panel to review the firing and see if it meets the criteria of the department of justice regulations. and no indication that the president will fire robert mueller good his lawyer said today, recently that they want to get this over with as quickly as possible. they're going to cooperate with the investigation. so he has the right attitude about how to deal with robert mueller i think. >> all right now, some people avoid by your legislation and in fact if you get judges interjecting themselves into a presidential decision about what, who is a subordinate? and prosecutorial power in the jus

robert mueller is not a democrat, appointed by somebody who is not a partisan. if anything, it's the partisan in the president's favor because he was appointed by the deputy attorney general who is president trump's deputy attorney general. >> and he was nominated by president trump himself and rosenstein himself said this weekend this is not a phishing expedition, this is a legitimate investigation. >>> everybody stick around. we're getting more information into the situation room. we'll be right back. oscar mayer is making big changes to hot dogs. we went back to the drawing board... and the cutting board. we removed the added nitrates and nitrites, by-products, and artificial preservatives in all of our meat. every. single. one. why? for the love of hot dogs. (vo) unlimited is only as good as the network it's on. and only one network can be the best... verizon. just named number one in the nation by rootmetrics, the largest independent study. in call, data, speed, and reliability. and awarded number one overall network for the eighth time in a row. because on

fire special counsel robert mueller. want to talk about this, the latest on russia investigation a former department of homeland security official and a former u.s. attorney. good evening to both of you. julia, you first. cnn has learned that paul manafort's son in law has met with the department of justice investigators within the past few months. why would they need meet with him? >> well, they are exploring the connections between manafort and his financial dealings and russia. just taking a step back, reminding everyone paul manafort was the campaign manager for the trump campaign. not an insignificant figure and subject to a no notice review of documents in his own house and now the investigation is looking at people around him. the son in law is actually about it to be, if not is a former son in law. there was a divorce, i believe this year, which also suggests there might be people willing to talk against each other who might not others with have been willing to speak. this is like -- let's just say this is not an

this involved special counsel robert mueller. as you've no doubt heard the "wall street journal" reporting he has a grand jury at his disposal in washington quoting from the journal. the grand jury which began the work in recently weeks is a sign that mr. mueller's inquiry is ramping up and that it will likely continue for months. prosecutors had been using a grand jury in nearby virginia prior to this. the "washington post" has since added to tonight's reporting, quote, experts said that washington would be the appropriate place to convene a grand jury to examine actions taken by trump since he became president and took up residence petition white house. many of the potential crimes mueller's team is investigating would have occurred in the district such as allegations that trump aides or advisers made false statements in disclosure records or lied to federal agents. one of the president's lawyers tells nbc news quote we favor anything that skrermts mr. mueller's work and remain to fully cooperating. mr. comey told the president

we have reason to believe that special council robert mueller and his team of investigators they don't appear to have figured out about that meeting on their own. all indications are that robert mueller's team only started look into that meeting after it was reported in the "the new york times." how come they donidn't know abo snit also, former mi 6 agent christopher steele were for everything he figure out, the dossier he made for fusion gps, it's not in the dossier. he seems to have figured out a lot of other stuff. we also now know -- so that's interesting, that it seems to have stayed under the radar for so long, which sun usual given the number of people in that meeting and who they were. but we also now know that by the time that meeting happened on june 9th the dnc, the democratic party and the clinton campaign had already been hacked by russian hackers. and so now if you put the time line back together with what we know how, you can now see that once the democrats had had their servers hacked and all of their documents stolen, that's when the senior leadership of the trump camp

i think it is going to be a problem for somebody, because look, robert mueller has 36 lawyers working for him right now and i think this inevitably means there will be indictments of somebody associated with the trump campaign, probably not mr. trump himself. you don't impanel a grand jury without coming up with indictments eventually. >> rick: i want to talk about the grand jury but i am also curious to your reaction to the attorney general's press conference this morning. >> i don't have a problem with the attorney general threatening to prosecute leakers inside the government. that is a problem and i would not want to be one of the leakers who got caught. i am very troubled by his assertion that they might start to investigate reporters receiving leaks. apparently, there is the first amendment issue there and this to me is another part of the problem with the administration keeping this issue alive. this is only going to incentivize reporters to chase those leaks. if they think the government is attacking the press again like this, the trump presidency has to assume this issue is g

to fire robert mueller. in a way getting rid of reince priebus might have gone along with something like that. having john kelly in there. suddenly i think the ability -- didn't we learn yesterday that kelly had called sessions to reassured -- no sessions, attorney general to reassure him he wasn't going to be fired. getting rid of sessions and a recess was one way to get mueller fired. so i would -- >> kelly as chief of staff gives a certain -- makes it harder for trump, it takes away trump's flexibility, in my view in dealing with mueller. >> i was thinking of the scoop one day before, which was -- >> can't keep track. >> john kelly when comey had been fired, called comey, offered his sympathies and said at some point, something about think, contemplation of resignation, though he wouldn't. phil, you agree with the idea that kelly and the chief of staff role is significant, especially as the investigation he saw. >> talk about a test. look at the first couple of steps he's taken. he's removed the communica

with special counsel robert mueller, the president and his allies are mounting a multi facetted counterattack suggesting it doesn't matter what mueller find because his attempt is an illegitimate attempt to overturn the will of the people. >> they can't beat us at the voting booths so they're trying to cheat you out of the future and the future that you want. they're trying to cheat you out of the leadership you want with a fake story that is demeaning to all of us. >> central to pushback is a claim that the so-called deep state is out to destroy the president in part through selective leaks of the media. >> all of this stuff is the deep state. it's real. it's a massive bureaucracy of people who believe in liberal, big government and they see donald trump as their mortal ene enemy. >> today sessions said that the justice department had tripled the number of criminal investigations involving illegal disclosures. >> we will investigate and seek to bring criminals to justice. we will not allow rogue, anonymous sources with security clearances to sell out our country. >> notably the president is

cnn has learned new details about how special counsel robert mueller are following the money between the president and his associates and russia. we'll have much more on that in a moment. we begin, though, with a new step in the investigation. grand jury subpoenas were issued. pamela brown has the latest on that. what have you learned about this grand jury and the subpoenas? >> anderson, we've learned that the special counsel has issued grand jury subpoenas related to that donald trump jr. meeting in trump tower in june of last year. this is according to a person i spoke with familiar with the matter and they seek both documents and testimony from people involved with the meeting. as we know, there were eight people in that meeting and it's unclear exactly who special counsel wants to testify. but given the wide range of the investigation, it's expected that special counsel subpoenas will be or have been issued pertaining to other parts of the investigation just beyond that meeting. anderson, this development does tell us that mueller takes the trump tower meeting seriously and he's

this involved special counsel robert mueller. as you've no doubt heard the "wall street journal" reporting he has a grand jury at his disposal in washington quoting from the journal. the grand jury which began the in recent weeks is a sign that mr. mueller's inquiry is ramping up and that it will likely continue for months. prosecutors had been using a grand jury in nearby virginia prior to this. the "washington post" has since added to tonight's reporting, quote, experts said that washington would be the appropriate place to convene a grand jury to examine actions taken by trump since he became president and took up residence at the white house. many of the potential crimes mueller's team is investigating would have occurred in the district such as allegations that trump aides or advisers made false statements in disclosure records or lied to federal agents. one of the president's lawyers tells nbc news, quote, we favor anything that accelerates h.r. mcmaster's work and remain committed to fully cooperating. mr. comey told the p

the new report tonight that special counsel robert mueller, has now empanelled a grand jury in the russia investigation. the probe is intensifying. what we have learned tine, and what president trump's perch lawyer said just moments ago. >>> also tonight, the young woman who texted her teenage boyfriend, encouraging him to kill himself. he did. well, today, the judge delivers the sentence. deborah roberts inside the courtroom. >>> record-breaking heat. the wildfires and severe storms hitting in the middle of the country tonight. now moving east. >>> severe turbulence after an american airlines jet takes off from the u.s. the pilot calling for help. >>> the stunning images. what happens when you don't wear a seat bemt in the backseat. >>> and breaking now. images congress in tonight. the high-rise on fire. residents racing down stairwells as the alarms go off. >>> good evening, and it's great to have you with us here on a thursday night, and we begin tonight with new signs the special prosecutor looking into russian meddling and any possible collusion with the trump campaign is now ramping

that's seen a dramatic escalation to the russian investigation by special counsel robert mueller. just hours after a revelation of a grand jury and subpoenas in the case, the president dismissed the russia story as, quote, a total fabrication. cnn is reporting tonight on russia's election interference. they are now telling us the fbi monitored social media on election day last year in an effort to track a suspected russian disinformation campaign spreading false stories and conspiracies, many aimed at hillary clinton. and attorney general jeff sessions has announced a plan to crack down on leaks of classified information. president trump has been pressuring sessions to aggressively pursue leakers and publicly criticized him as being weak on investigations. sessions said he will review lectures from there. let's begin with the latest on the russia investigation. our senior correspondent jim acosta has details. jim, the president is leaving town amid some major new developments in the russia probe. >> reporter: that's right, president trump is on his way to his country club in new j

the new report tonight that special counsel robert mueller, has now empanelled a grand jury in the russia investigation. the probe is intensifying. what we have learned tine, and what president trump's perch lawyer said just moments ago. >>> also tonight, the young woman who texted her teenage boyfriend, encouraging him to kill himself. he did. well, today, the judge delivers the sentence. deborah roberts inside the courtroom. >>> record-breaking heat. the wildfires and severe storms hitting in the middle of the country tonight. now moving east. >>> severe turbulence after an american airlines jet takes off from the u.s. the pilot calling for help. dozens of passengers injured. >>> the stunning images. what happens when you don't wear a seat bemt in the backseat. >>> and breaking now. images congress in tonight. the high-rise on fire. residents racing down stairwells as the alarms go off. >>> good evening, and it's great to have you with us here on a thursday night, and we begin tonight with new signs the special prosecutor looking into russian meddling and any possible collusion with the

. >> good evening from new york i'm with robert mueller now issuing grand jury speebs, tonight the president and his alleys are mountaining a multifaceted counter attack, suggesting it doesn't matter what mueller finds because his investigation is a fundamentally ill legitimate attempt by the points to overturn the will of the people. >> they can't beat us at the voting booths. so they're trying to cheat you out of the future and the future that you want. they're trying to cheat you out of the leadership you want. with a fake story that is demeaning to all of us. >> that they are out to destroy the president in part through leaks in the media. >> all of this is the deep state. the deep state real. it is a massive bureaucracy and they see donald trump as their mortal enemy. >> amid the daily drip of damaging news, the president has been pressing his attorney general, jeff sessions, the same jeff sessions the president has accused of recusing himself to go after the leakers. and today he did just. that saying they had tripled the number of investigations involving illegal disclosures. >> we wi

lourdes: robert mueller, el abogado especial que conduce la investigaciÓn de la interferencia de rusia en el 2016, y si hubo cooperaciÓn de la campaÑa del presidente trump, ha elegido a un gran jurado en washington. un paso significativo en la pesquisa. el gran jurado que opera en secreto ya estÁ en funciones desde hace semanas, segÚn se reporta. ya ha emitido citaciones judiciales para que testifiquen bajo puramente sobre la reuniÓn de donald trump junior, funcionarios de la campaÑa, y rusos incluyendo una abogada en el 2016. establece un gran jurado significa que los investigadores pueden forzar por ley la comparecencia de testigos y tomar testimonios bajo juramento. >> se estÁ desarrollando muy rÁpido, está consiguiendo una intensidad y un enfoque mÁs amplio. lourdes: el gran jurado cosa entre 16 y 26 personas, sumisiones determinar si existe causa probable de que un delito se ha cometido. el presidente trump ha dicho que mueller no debe cruzar la lÍnea roja de investigar sus asuntos financieros, es algo que ya hacen los investigadores. el mandatario ha considerado desped

"the wall street journal" reports special counsel robert mueller has impaneled a grand jury. chief white house correspondent john roberts starts us off. >> good evening. we have talked to people here at the white house that say they've not been informed that the special counsel robert miller has impaneled a grand jury. nor is it likely they would be in form but we are hearing from people about it. ty cobb, the newly appointed member of the white house consul team, dealing struggling with the russian investigation. he told us "grand jury matters are typically kept secret. the white house favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work," robert mueller. "the white house is fully committed to cooperating with mr. mueller." and "we have no reason to believe president trump is under investigation." i am being told by the presidents legal teams at all this is fairly routine, that they would expect robert mueller would impanel a grand jury. clearly he has a lot of evidence he needs to go through, a lot of testimony he needs to hear. his investigation is just getting unde

. >> lou: if counsel robert mueller is continuing to stack his russian investigation with democratic attorneys. 16 lth lawyer is gred andress who served in the obama justice department and his wife was a judge appointed by president trump. and we are organizing a call to action if you will. if you want to demand that speaker ryan and majority leader mcconnell, please call or contact their office. ryan and mcconnell is on the screen and all over website and twitter and social media the world. my next guest is joining me to talk about clinton collusion. gregg jarret. great to have you here. starting with the special counsel for dems only. >> yes tis it, it is embarrassing, really. it is it such a partis an parade and absurd charade really that all fairness and imparty is tossed out of the door and now a mantra, let's get trump. the law agains. and if anyone questioned the impartility of robert mueller. >> congress and the president were slow to react. are you kidding me, this guy can't serve. look at the statute. he can't serve if he has a personal relationship with someone involved in

. >>> breaking news tonight, a new report of a big move by special counsel robert mueller empanelling a grand jury in washington. what it means for the trump campaign russia investigation behind closed doors. >>> suicide texting sentence. judgment day for a young woman convicted after urging her boyfriend to kill himself before he took his own life. a case garnering national attention. >>> a big police department under fire. officers accused of planting evidence. we'll show you what was caught on their body cameras leading to dozens of cases being overturned. >>> backseat hazard. an alarming new look at the dangers of not buckling up in the back of the car. it's not just your own life you're putting at risk. >>> and a great american success story celebrating a hundred years of changing lives. "nightly news" begins right now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening, and thank you for joining us tonight. the slow drumbeat of the russia investigation that has haunted the trump administration all summer long is picking up

the media going haywire over the news that robert mueller convened a grand jury. katrina: i think it's overplayed. but anything involving the president and his administration is overplayed. this has nothing to do with russia, which is what i have been saying for a long time. howie: how do you know that? katrina: there has been no evidence found. collusion is not a crime. so what are we looking for here? howie: why does russia call russia a fabricated story when his own deputy attorney general rob rosenstein decide to investigate this matter. peer report left lost the election. they claim their server was hacked and leaked to wikileaks. we have not seen the server. there is no evidence that this actually happened. but this an investigation based upon an allegation from the losing team. howie: a number of anchors and correspondents raised questions in the last week or so about whether the president tells the truth. we had the flap over the leak story to "the washington post" about that first statement to donald trump, jr. the president said he got calls from the hea

robert mueller is now carrying out a political witch hunt and mueller is close friends with james comey which could be a villes of two laws and there is much more. mueller put together

robert mueller asked for documents regarding michael flynn. gloria, what does it indicate about what mueller might be looking for, and why not use a subpoena to get at these documents? >> well, think about this, if they're looking at something that is given, that michael flynn did involve himself in an issue with turkey, that there is some connection there, when we start looking at the statute, what robert mueller is able to do, he can look at any matters rising out of the trump campaign and any collusion with russia of foreign governments. so when we're looking at this issue, remember, michael flynn came under fire because he advised the trump administration not to follow through with certain military tactics they had in mind because turkey had asked him to do so. so if you're thinking about what turkey was able to do through michael flynn in the trump administration, in syria, maybe there is connection there with russia and syria, you don't know where the web is going to go. but you have a given. michael flynn did have involvement. he did ha

special counsel robert mueller reportedly tapping the services of a federal grand jury. john roberts is live on the north lawn, where he can hear me, thank goodness. hi, john. >> reporter: sandra, you can ask me anything you want. >> sandra: thank you very much. john, what's the reaction from inside the white house to the reports of a grand in your now impaneled? >> reporter: the president hasn't weighed in himself. he's had a couple opportunities to do that, including last night in huntington, west virginia, on the idea that robert mueller is using the authority of a grand jury to issue subpoenas. but he did talk last night in huntington, west virginia, about the overall tone and scope of the russia investigation, insisting to the thousands upon thousands of people who were there that it wasn't russia who put him into the oval office, it was people like the ones who showed up in huntington, west virginia. and the president repeated his mantra that this whole russia investigation is nothing more than a witch hunt. >> they're trying to cheat you out of the leadership you

now under the direction of robert mueller, special counsel, there is a focus on the finances of nome president trump but also his family members. also the trump organization as well. all of that is under scrutiny. we've learned investigators are going back, combing through shell companies. combing through the backgrounds of russian business associates connected to the 2013 miss universe pageant that, of course, president trump brought to moscow. also going through all the tennants in trump tower over the past several years. really, doing a deep dive on the financials and as we heard donald trump say in that interview with the "new york times," he believes anything having to do with his personal finances is crossing a line, but it's clear that that really is the focus of the investigation, wolf. >> and, chris, an important interview on "new day" this morning. former whitewater were special counsel ken starr asked whether or not robert mueller is going beyond what his investigation is supposed to be focusing in on, and listen to this. >> to the extent that you're moving beyond collusio

. >>> trump brushing off the news that robert mueller has a grand jury for the russian investigation, telling supporters prosecutors should look at hillary clinton's e-mails. and his personal lawyer said they do not believe the president is under investigation. they hope the grand jury will help to wrap up the investigation. >> they have to do their job. but i don't expect this to go on for years. >> some democrats suggest donald trump was trying to intimidate robert mueller win the white house said that they have the authority to fire him. >> it shows a lot on what is going on. >> his latest move is seen as ramping up the investigation. authorities say his goal is to get to the bottom of whether or not donald trump junior told his father about his meeting. >> democrats only talk about made up stories. because they have no message. they have no agenda. >> they have introduced separate bills aimed at protecting robert mueller from being fired by the president. >>> still up, a dramatic rescue caught on camera, this man caught in a flash flood in southern california. >> and we've got the

a new report today on special counsel robert mueller, and a request he's making directly to the white house to hand over records. we'll tell you why this is a new wrinkle. >> it really comes down to how loyal are you to the president? and that's how you're being judged. >> the fine line republicans have to walk, as the president tries to energize his base. one congressman describes the dilemma perfectly, and you're going to hear that. >>> a late statement from the office of the president last night. why did he feel the need to come to the defense of one of his closest advisers? >>> plus, new polls suggest eroding support for the president and why the good economic numbers may not help him turn that around, next on "msnbc live." >>> but we begin with this breaking news off the coast of eastern australia, there. the marine corps says several u.s. service members are missing after their aircraft crashed. the aircraft is described as an nv-22. it's an osprey heliplane. it's unclear how many people were onboard at the time of the crash. as we get more information, we'll bring it to you. >>

abc news has confirmed special counsel robert mueller has empaneled a grand jury, as "the wall street journal" first reported that grand jury has been secretly working for weeks as mueller investigates whether president trump or any of his associates colluded with the kremlin. the president's personal lawyer insists there's still no indication the president himself is a target. >> with respect to the empaneling of the grand jury, we have no reason to believe the president's under investigation here. >> reporter: the news comes amid growing questions about the trump tower meeting organize bid donald trump jr. with a russian lawyer who he was told had dirt on hillary clinton from the russian government. this week we learned the president himself dictated don jr.'s initial response to that story. a misleading statement, it said the meeting was primarily about russian entire russia investigation as a witch-hunt, acknowledging it was on his mind when he fired fbi director james comey. >> when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russ

they have warned that the president cannot step in and he has to let robert mueller do his job. they say this is a sign that it is not a witch hunt as the president claims it is. >> she looked at the doctor and said watch me. >> a remarkable recovery. a success after overcoming an infection. >>> roads turn to rivers in southern california, we show you how one driver was rescued. >>> there are some some - - there are some thunderstorms moving across the valley. we saw these pictures one hour ago. >>> illegal dumping in the east bay, a humidity - - and community outrage. >> the president did not do what the people needed done. >>> and east oakland neighborhood at - - in oakland neighborhood is tired of illegal dumping. they find dead animals and debris in front of their homes. and the meeting, heated. >> residents are taking action on their own. in east oakland, they put city officials on the spot, asking if they have any plans to solve this problem. >> the church school basement, thursday night, filled with people coming to talk trash. >> our children need to feel safe. we are no

you cannot tell me what robert mueller is discovering. i know what the president of the united states told me, and that is enough me, because i trust that man. i have no connections to robert mueller, and i trust the president of the united states. and for you to insult me is churlish and unprofessional. you made your absolute trust and donald trump very plain. let's move on to national security, because that is what you are paid to do, advise on national security. north korea. donald trump has issued many tweets telling north korea it must desist from this missile test programme. the north koreans are clearly not listening. donald trump now says it is china's fault because china is not using the influence it should. so what is the us do now? well, the first thing we do is we don't give our playbook away. that is the obama administration. they would tell you in advance what they were going to do, when they were going to mosul or do, when they were going to mosul or do xyz. we don't tell regimes north korea what we are going to do next. be

according to people familiar with the matter, special counsel robert mueller is using a federal grand jury in washington to help with the investigation. he is reportedly looking into russia's meddling in the election and possible collusion by the trump campaign. in australia, authorities say they prevent the one the most sophisticated terrorism plots the country has ever faced. two men are accused of trying to smuggle explosives provided by islamic state the board and airways plane. when they could not get the device through security, police say the suspects took the obama part and try to turn it into a device to disperse chemicals. around 100 activists stage and anti-israel protest near the israeli embassy in jordan today. protesters chanted anti-israel slogans and called on the jordanian government to an old a 1994 peace treaty with israel and to shut down the embassy. increasedt comes amid tensions between israel and jordan over contested jerusalem shrines and over last month deadly shooting at the israeli embassy in hi amman. global news for a four hours a day powered by 2700 jour

and what he cannot do by law is fire special counsel, robert mueller. at least not directly. only mueller's boss at the department of justice can do that. which is why, just as a matter of what-if strategery, if trump did want to get another attorney general in place without having to actually fire jeff sessions, one thing he could theoretically do is move sessions to general kelly's old job at homeland security. after all, sessions is a famously superhard liner on immigration, so deporting people would be a natural fit. he already got confirmed by the senate when he became attorney general, so the law would allow him to run a new agency for at least six months. and with sessions out of the way, trump could shuffle someone else into the role of acting attorney general. and that person could potentially -- wait for it -- fire bob mueller. the white house today got asked about the possibility of sessions changing jobs. the answer made news in two different ways. >> there are no conversations about any cabinet members moving in any capacity and the president has 100% confidence

a new report of a big move by special counsel robert mueller empanelling a grand jury in washington. what it means for the trump campaign russia investigation behind closed doors. >>> suicide texting sentence. judgment day for a young woman convicted after urging her boyfriend to kill himself before he took his own life. a case garnering national attention. >>> a big police department under fire. officers accused of planting evidence. we'll show you what was caught on their body cameras leading to dozens of cases being overturned. >>> backseat hazard. an alarming new look at the dangers of not buckling up in the back of the car. it's not just your own life you're putting at risk. >>> and a great american success story celebrating a hundred years of changing lives. "nightly news" begins right now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening, and thank you for joining us tonight. the slow drumbeat of the russia investigation that has haunted the trump administration all summer long is picking up tempo tonight with repor