Well, good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters in new york. This was day 908 of the trump administration, and while there is no joy in it, one way of summing up today is this. Our governments broken, our politics are broken, washington is no longer functional, and the cracks in our society are deepening. Ks much of this day was taken up by the discussion of racist statements by the president. Si then tonight came the news that had so many people thinking back to when we were different, the death just tonight of retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul stevens at the age of 99. Well have more on his t extraordinary life and legacy later on in this broadcast. But first, to the news of this day. And tonight that includes a rebuke of the president of the United States, a vote of th congress to condemn him for telling four members of congress, all u. S. Citizens, to go back to their home countries. The Washington Post described the scene on the house floor earlier this evening.
it s flying too near the sun, or more accurately, too near the media sun. and it is also in every case the kind of genius ability to use the media for their own ends. i ve been trying to find ways to impart to people how unbelievably intimate the transcripts are of conversations between bannon and jeffrey epstein with a cameo by epstein s lawyer and friend, reed weingarten. i have never been so happy to have never known jeffrey epstein, though i feel now i have a true sense of him in this book. tell folks how it came to be that you have literal conversations and the inner workings of the now deceased jeffrey epstein in this book.
this president because he s just too slimy and he s just too dirty. and you know what? i wouldn t put it past him to throw up another distraction p next week because he knows that robert mueller is going to be on capitol hill. and that, i think, is going to be a turning point in terms of the way that democrats, and ng perhaps some republicans, maybe a handful of them, are going to be willing to deal with this president of the united states. tim o brien, i say this guardedly, but this is a related topic, and that is of jeffrey epstein the best known sexual predator in the united states. and what they ve recovered from his new york mansion. the passport was for personal protection in the event of rt travel to dangerous areas, only to be presented to potential kidnappers, hijackers or da terrorists should violent episodes occur, his lawyer, reed
kidnappers, hijackers or terrorists should violent episodes occur, his lawyer, reed weingarten wrote. in addition to the passport, federal agents found piles of cash and dozens of diamonds inside a safe in his townhouse. in court papers filed tuesday, the prosecutors detailed the discovery. $70,000 in cash, as people do, and 48 loose diamonds ranging from 1 to 2.38 carats. i don t mean to laugh. none of this is funny. question to you, having reported on guys like epstein in this circle, how far does this go? well, the court obviously has reason to worry about jeffrey epstein being a flight risk. two jets. two jets. a couple of diamonds. if you want to get across
wasn t his choice either. everyone is trying to pass the buck. exactly. we re hearing, ken, that there are for the president is considering ted olson, reed weingarten, mark kes wits. why does why is the president looking for outside counsel at this point? well, greta is seems like a prudent step. this story has been dominating donald trump s presidency and responding to inquiries about it must be taking incredible amounts of staff time. you know, it would be prudent as howard said to have somebody managing the situation. because it threatens to consume the presidency. i mean, you have multiple investigations now bearing down into this one issue. and it s causing a giant distraction. it only makes sense. if you take the bait, ken, i mean, i agree if you take the bait. but so far, the president, if you look at step back and look at sort of the picture, right now the president is not the one under the spotlight.