Are now calling for the opening of impeachment proceedings. Welcome to thursday. Its meet the press daily. Im chuck todd right here in rainy washington. Bob mueller handed the baton to congress, and now the president and his attorney general are hitting mueller. The president not only attacked muellers credibility, he soed disinformation about muellers Public Statement. In a way you could say he was attempting to obstruct muellers analysis of the case. He said essentially youre innocent. Im innocent of all charges. If we had had confidence that the president clearly did commit a crime, we would have said so. There was no charge because he had no information. Under Longstanding Department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. Charging the president with a crime was, therefore, not an option we could consider. Russia didnt help me at all. Russia, if anything, i think, helped the other side. They used sophisticated cyber techniques to hack into computers and networks used by the clinton campaign. This was all about russia, russia, russia. They dont talk about russia anymore because it turned out to be a hoax. It was all a hoax. There were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election. And that allegation deserves the attention of every american. Then hours after the president s comments, we finally heard from the attorney general, bill barr, and he went after a mueller a bit in an interview taped for cbs, specifically criticizing muellers decision to punt on obstruction, which mueller explained was because he was following Justice Department policy. I personally felt he could have reached a decision. The opinion says you cannot indict a president while hes in office, but he could have reached a decision as to whether it was criminal activity. But he had his reasons for not doing it, which he explained. Im not going to, you know, argue about those reasons. It is fascinating, bill barr right there in that quote, basically says, well, mueller could have said he wanted to charge the president but couldnt do it because of Justice Department policy. Would bill barr have been as supportive of mueller if he had gone about and done what barr said . Ill let you guys answer that question. The big question right now, though, is whether or not muellers statement yesterday is moving the impeachment needle. The president s reaction to it combined with barrs comments suggest perhaps they are worried about mueller moving the needle. And since muellers statement, nine more House Democrats have publicly come out in support of impeachment proceedings. That brings the total to 49 democrats and one republican. If you want an anecdotal piece of evidence, weve also started to hear some constituents, actual voters start to ask questions about impeachment at congressional town halls and on the campaign trail. How do you feel about starting impeachment proceedings based on yesterdays testimony . As a democrat, its very frustrating to think weve just got to wait until you or one of your colleagues wins in 2020. I believe that the Judiciary Committee should begin impeachment inquiries, inquiries, all right . By the way, thats what the shorthand of do you begin impeachment . Thats what that means. So did mueller move the needle . If he did, the first places you would start to see it are with constituents, which will tighten the screws on house leadership, probably have the Judiciary Committee have to take action. In just a moment ill be joined by a member of the house Judiciary Committee who has broken with house leadership and last night she heard from constituents. But well kick things off with my colleague, nbc news capitol Hill Reporter leigh ann caldwell. Shes been on town hall duty this week. Today she is with katie porter. This is a district that could be an interesting indicator for democrats on the impeachment inner you. So leigh ann, i know youll have congresswoman porter with you in a second. Set the scene. You were in grand rapids for the big justin amash town hall. Tell me whats similar, tell me whats different. Reporter so, chuck, we chose this town hall because were in orange county. This is the first time that this district has gone democrat since this district was created in the 1950s, so this is more of a swingy district, more moderate. So we wanted to see what voters here had to say and actually have the congresswoman here with me. Shes willing to take a few questions. Thank you so much, congresswoman porter. You are a freshman congresswoman. Youve come to congress and now youre faced with this question of impeachment. So you have not come out in support of impeachment yet. Is that position still hold for you . So congress is a dlib afternoon body. So one of the things were doing is appropriately deliberating. So this morning at 7 15, my phone rang and it was one of my colleagues on the east coast calling. He wanted to talk through what to make of mr. Muellers statements yesterday. I thought to myself, wow, its pretty bold that hes calling me at 7 15. He pointed out that i had texted him first to talk about impeachment. So its Important Congress try to get this right, its important that we communicate in the American Public about what in fact the constitutional obligations are and what in fact the appropriate steps are. The constitution is pretty vague on this, which means this is part of a public deliberative process in figuring out what to do next. So based on muellers Public Statement yesterday, has anything changed for you . No. I think his statement was entirely consistent with whats in the written report. So i had read those statements in the written report and had already thought through and focused on what he had said and what he had not said. So i think the encouraging thing for everybody is that what he had said is 100 consistent with the report and the job of the Congress People is to read that report, to talk with their constituents and decide what to do next to uphold our duty to safeguard our democracy. So youre not yet there on impeachment . I havent made a public decision yet but im continuing to get briefings every day as things continue to evolve. Thank you very much, congresswoman. Thank you. Chuck, this town hall hasnt started yet, but its going to be interesting to hear what questions these voters have and come up in this swing district where theres a lot of moderate democrats and republicans here, chuck. Leigh ann, its great. I have to say it caught my ear. She said i havent made a public decision yet on impeachment. Very interesting use of the word public and the fact that theyre talking behind the scenes with each other, is i think a very significant thing that we learned there too. Great job. Now go watch the town hall. Let me turn now to another elected member of the house. Joining me now is Pennsylvania Democratic congresswoman madeline dean. She is a member of the house Judiciary Committee and she does support opening an impeachment inquiry. Now congresswoman, good to see you. So let me start with thank you. Let me start with i dont know if you got a chance to hear your colleague, katie porter, talking about i did. What shes deliberating there a little bit. I foundi it interesting that sh had a colleague reaching out to her. How active are the conversations among congress . They have picked up pace. Im a big fan of katie porter. I serve with her on Financial Services. Shes pretty doggone sharp. The conversations have picked up. And maybe particularly with those of us on judiciary. Ive had colleagues either call me on the telephone or stop me on the floor, as were involved in voting, and say whats going on . Why is it that you made the shift a couple of weeks ago now to say that we should call for an impeachment inquiry . And the thing that i say is that i feel on judiciary that we are foot soldiers and then when we issue lawful subpoenas for the constitutional oversight we ought to be doing and they are ignored, blocked, thwarted by this administration, by this president , by this attorney general, enough is enough and i believe we should start an impeachment inquiry. Do you think that one of the issues here and why this is so feels like such a leap for so many members of congress is that theres a perception that saying youre for impeachment means saying youre for kicking him out of office, when really when you say this, it means what you just describe. Youre essentially officially creating a grand jury in congress to decide whether this president deserves to be indicted, pure and simple. And whether we should file articles of impeachment. Right, right. Its opening a grand jury and deciding whether to indict, which in this case would be articles of impeachment. Right. If the public understood it to be that way, do you think there would be more public support for it . I do. And i think thats part of our job. As katie said, were deliberative but we also have to educate the public as to what we know, where we are in the process and what the process looks like. Nobody should take lightly the issue of impeachment. When i made that statement, i said i take no joy in it. I do say it with an american sense of optimism that the constitution is Strong Enough to stand up against the most indecent president we have seen. You know, i thought yesterday, chuck, was a pivotal day. The fact that as he left office, special counsel mueller chose to speak publicly was remarkable. Im sure it was not lost on you as a student of all of this. He is somebody who said he doesnt need to speak publicly, that the report speaks for itself. Well, guess what, my speaking yesterday, he spoke volumes to the American People, saying the American People need to read that report. If each of them cant read that report, counting on congress, call on congress to make sure that we pull out that which happened. There was sweeping interference of our elections, we know that. The Campaign TrumpCampaign Welcomed it and wallowed in it and then tried to and theres ample evidence, as mueller said, ample evidence of obstruction by this president of the investigation of that. Do you think that its interesting that you were talking about yesterday is a pivotal moment. But katie porter also brought up an important aspect of what mueller said. Mueller didnt say anything that hadnt already been written in the report. Yeah, it was striking. But because you could see it, because more americans heard it, it looks like its having a little bit more of an impact. Look, we can have this conversation, a lot of americans arent going to read the whole report. But is it your job to figure out how to get americans to hear this report better . Does that mean you do need mueller to almost verbalize it . Sure. It was striking to me when first i heard him make his statement, then i read the transcript of his statement and the language was so familiar because its language pulled directly from the report. Thats the consistency with which he is speaking, a single voice, a clear, single voice. But what i think he was signaling is look what has happened here. We have an attorney general who disguised the truth of this report and continues to do that in very bizarre ways, and we have a president going around claiming hes been exonerated, which just simply isnt the case. So it really was a loud voice when mueller came forward and said, please, read the report. Thats why we need mueller to come before our committee. And never go outside the scope of the report, i honor and respect that, but it will help us bring the narrative to the American People. I believe thats our job in our oversight capacity, its our job in congress. I too had a town hall last night so im looking forward to katie doing a great job what did you learn from it . You were about to answer the question i was about to ask. What did you learn from it, and how many people did you feel like voluntarily talked about this and how many of them are like, you know what, please can you focus on preexisting conditions . Guess what, they want us to do both and that was my great takeaway. And theres been a shift in the conversation in my community, in my district. So last night what came up were gun violence, health care, Prescription Drug pricing, climate change, social security, cost of student loan debt, all of those important things. They want to talk about that. I bet it wasnt two or three questions in from the audience and then the question of holding this president accountable. The man asked for impeachment. Thats why i took the time to explain why i went for an impeachment inquiry. The room mostly, i would say 99 of the room applauded in terms of impeachment inquiry. They absolutely did. That is a shift from four or five or six weeks ago. Do you think that there is a little bit of a problem where as much as i think that every committee should be independent, judiciary, you guys look, youre the big todkahuna here, intel is doing some stuff, Financial Services is doing some stuff on trump and personal finances. Is it in some ways, should it all be concentrated into one single effort . Should it be a special select committee . All go through judiciary and then worry about the other stuff . I think that may also be contributing to the public confusion about what the goals of congress are. I think theres room enough for all of us to do our job. Certainly judiciary is, as somebody said to me in the eye of the storm, and if youve ever been in the eye of the storm you know the clarity that comes, the daylight that comes, so im glad im there in judiciary. But i believe the other five committees have important oversight roles as well. This is a heavy lift what were doing here. Sadly, theres too much to look at. Theres damning evidence of the indecency, the corruption, the cruelty of this administration. And so its all hands on deck. I honor the work of the other committees and the chairs and how thought fully theyre moving forward as well. Do you worry that delaying this decision on impeachment congresswide, that that actually the longer you wait may start to look more political . Theyre making a political calculation about when or if to begin the inquiry . Not if we do our jobs right. If we do our job and prove to the American People that we are doing this lawfully and by way of process and not leaping to impeachment, then i believe we will have done it right. If we make the decision by way of a political calculation, that will be a grave mistake on our part. Thats why i feel that im very much a part of the process. And lets remember whats at stake here. Whats at stake is two things mueller told us. We have had a systematic sweeping interference of our election by russia, and this administration is doing nothing about it. Its covering it up. It welcomed it to its own benefit. And then we have the tearing down of the fabric of our constitution, of our rule of law, by a president where theres ample evidence of his obstruction of justice. Mueller did the right thing and he said yesterday very clearly, if he could have exonerated the president , he would have said so, and he cannot say so. All right, congresswoman madeline dean, democrat from pennsylvania, thank you for coming on and sharing your views, much appreciate it. Coming up, mueller did put the ball in Congress Court and the number of lawmakers calling for opening a grand jury investigation is now up to 50. So what does happen next . Do you think theyre going to impeach you . I dont see how. They can because theyre possibly allowed, although i cant imagine the courts allowing it. Ive never got into it. I never thought that would even be possible to be using that word. To me its a dirty word, the word impeach. Its a dirty, filthy, disgusting word and it had nothing to do with me. Word and it had nothing to do with me. Lolittle scoundrels. Dont stoop to their level. Draw the line with the roundup sure shot wand. It extends with a protective shield and targets weeds more precisely. It lets you kill whats bad right down to the root while guarding the good. Roundup sure shot wand. Got bugs too . Roundup for lawns bug destroyer kills and prevents them, even grubs. Roundup brand. Trusted for over 40 years. When you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea try new pepto liquicaps for fast relief and ultracoating. Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea get powerful relief with new pepto bismol liquicaps. What sore muscles . What with advpounding head . Advil is. Relief thats fast. Strength that lasts. Youll ask. What pain . With advil. Has four levels of defenseremium gasoagainst gunk, wear, corrosion and friction. That helps keep your Engine Running like new. Its fuel for thought. Be go[ laughing ] gone. Woo hoo. Welcome to my house mmm, mmm, mmmmm. Ball. Ball. Ball. Awww, whos a good boy . Its me. Me, me, me. Yuck, thats gross. You got to get that under control. [ dogs howling ] seriously . Embrace the mischief. Say get pets tickets into your x1 voice remote to see it in theaters. Welcome back. President trump says impeach is a dirty, filthy, disgusting word. But it is a word thats on the lips of dozens of House Democrats and that number is on the rise. Joining be is dan balz, donna edwards, alfonso aguilar. I was just joking and sharing with everybody, and i will put it on here. Lets put up the full screen of a guy named dan balz who wrote about congressional politics and what house leadership was worried about in 1998 in the impeachment. Im read it for you again here. House republicans talked about the problems during a Leadership Meeting yesterday afternoon one gop source said there is now greater recognition that Party Leaders must play not only to their most loyal supporters but to swing voters who are tired of the scandal, partisan back biting in washington. That sounds a bit familiar. Vaguely familiar. Where we are today. But this does feel like a slower roll and a slower build than what we saw back in 98. Well, i think it is and probably will be for some time. The starr investigation landed like a bomb on capitol hill. And it was salacious and it just