good to be with you, i'm katy tur. it is shaping up to be a hugely consequential week here in new york city. d.a. alvin bragg could be on the verge of doing something no one has done before, indicting a former president for his involvement in a hush money scheme ahead of the 2016 election. right now, a grand jury in manhattan is hearing from a witness who is arguing against an indictment for donald trump. robert costello, a trump ally

and former legal adviser to michael cohen is expected to testify that cohen is not the guy you want to rely on. a source familiar with jonathan dienst says costello is prepared to say that cohen is a liar, a convicted perjure, an embellisher who's out for revenge, that he's furious with donald trump and blames him for all of his troubles, that the hush money payments were made because cohen felt it was important to keep the stormy daniels matter a secret from melania trump in order to protect their marriage. we are keeping an eye on that courtroom in case costello comes out to speak with reporters, he could. we're also watching for michael cohen who says he's been asked to rebut costello to the grand jury if need be. here's some of what cohen would likely say from his own attorney who just spoke with wnbc.

>> donald trump must be treated like any other citizen, and there aren't two systems of justice. no person is above the law. that's what we're facing now. we have indisputable evidence from the southern district of new york after an investigation that donald trump instructed michael cohen to commit a crime. cohen went to jail for it. now it's time for accountability. >> the charge does come, it could come as early as this week. it's monday, so maybe soon. donald trump says he's preparing for it. he's asking for his supporters to protest it. and now the gop is finding itself in the same position it did after the 2020 election. defend donald trump after another violent incident or don't defend him and face getting voted out of office. senior legal correspondent, laura jarrett, and nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard in west palm beach near former

president donald trump's mar-a-lago home. how is robert costello, i was going to say corcoran, so many c names. robert costello, relevant? >> the idea is we expect him to attack cohen's credibility. you might wonder why is that necessary given that cohen pled guilty. the credibility issues there are basically well known at this point. >> they have been talking about it in court papers repeatedly. >> exactly. and you would think that the prosecution has laid that out for the grand jury, and cohen has probably already sort of previewed the issues of why his story has changed. it doesn't stop costello from providing that context for the jury, but the grand jury can decide what weight to give that if any at all, and so it's interesting to see why do it this late in the game. train may have left the station. >> is that at the request of donald trump's team?

>> that's our basic understanding. instead of donald trump testifying himself, you can send in this witness. query whether the grand jury gives it any weight. bragg is in the driver's seat. the approximation is going to be the one that questions costello, and could cross examine, and bring cohen back in to rehabilitate himself. >> there's a book called "the fixer" by a couple of "wall street journal" reporters, and they document a number of meetings that costello had with michael cohen. you might ask, is that attorney/client privilege. michael cohen never signed a retainer, so i guess it's not. they document how it appears cohen is very upset about what happened to him, blames donald trump, and the evolution from going from donald trump's loyal warrior to a guy who feels like he has nothing left to lose, when costello lays that out for the grand jury, i mean, we're talking about that michael cohen's credibility is already

out there. does it give more to motivation, that could affect what a grand jury might consider. >> the idea being that he has a grudge, a vendetta, he has an ax to grind because he feels betrayed. and that's sort of to answer the question, what would be his incentive to lie at this point? he's served jail time for this. you might wonder, why would cohen be telling the truth. the grand jury may not find any of that particularly helpful, and may not ask him any questions, may not do anything with it at all. especially if bragg's office can bring cohen back in to explain what if any questions the grand jury might have about the credibility. reporting was costello was told cohen didn't have much on trump for the trump's family. bragg's team gets to ask, what did you mean by that? if he can rehabilitate him, again.

>> let's make a point that costello is a trump guy, he's a trump ally, sent by trump's team. he was a legal adviser to michael cohen, but there are motivations the team may see in costello's team. >> why didn't bragg try to block it testimony. if anything, perhaps allowing this to go forward, making the grand jury look like there's no reason to hide anything, you want to hear from a defense witness new york city problem. again, they're getting this driven by the prosecutor's team. the defense team is not even in the room for this. >> really interesting. so you are in west palm beach. i know the former president over the weekend was saying he expects to be arrested on tuesday. spokesperson came out and said they don't have any actual indication of that. but what is the team saying now that costello is sitting in front of that grand jury as we speak? >> right, the team is focused heavily on the other republicans who have not taken aim at alvin bragg.

nikki haley, the presidential candidate being one of them. instead, i think it's important to let donald trump do his own talking. over the course of the last 72 hours, he has posted a flurry of social media posts in which he has targeted, alvin bragg suggesting this is a politically motivated effort on his part, a prosecutorial effort, targeting michael cohen. this is, to give you an idea from a few hours ago, in one particular post, donald trump said alvin bragg should be held accountable for interference in a presidential election, suggesting this is an effort to undermine his effort to take back the republican nomination here. for donald trump, this is all about framing here at this point, and when he suggested he was going to get arrested on tuesday, charges hadn't been filed against him yet. he's trying to jump out in front to try to take advantage to where he could. >> what about his supporters, talk on social media sites of creating a maga mote around mar-a-lago. getting enough supporters out

there to block law enforcement from being able to go in. are you seeing anything like that? >> i have not seen a mote begun to be built here yet, but we know that trump supporters do like their votes, and so the question is what ultimately comes tomorrow here? there's been sporadic individuals coming here to show their support so far. the protests that donald trump called for on saturday, never manifested into anything notable here. there is tomorrow. we are aware, at least on some right wing elements of the internet, protests around the country in new york, and just outside of mar-a-lago, we'll wait to see the extent to which his base of support actually comes to galvanize and show their solidarity around their former president and their hope for the next president. >> the other indoor player, ron desantis, if donald trump doesn't want to decide to turn himself in. there's questions about how desantis would react. we are final hearing from him,

what did he say? >> reporter: the fellow floridian was notably quiet, and trump allies from don jr. to advisers called out ron desantis's quietness on this. and i want to let you hear, though. finally ron desantis did acknowledge it in remarks earlier today. take a listen. >> the manhattan district attorney is a soros funded prosecutor. he like other soros funded prosecutors, they weapon ize their offices to impose a political agenda on society at the expense of the rule of law and public safety. i don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence silence over alleged affair. i can't speak to that. >> reporter: ron desantis found a way to throw in the word porn star and alleged affair and hush

money payments. this is where the pressure is going to mount ahead of the indictment, and as windy as it is here, the winds may be coming down from new york because here around mar-a-lago right now the question is just a matter of when the phone call comes in to donald trump and what that impact and ultimately their game plan in the hours after that phone call ultimately are? >> we feel for you with that wind. thank you very much. and laura jarrett, thank you as well. joining me is former chief assistant district attorney at the manhattan d.a.'s office, karyn friedman, and former u.s. attorney and legal analyst, barbara mcquade. what is the d.a. discussing right now or after, i guess, this grand jury testimony? >> really what they're doing now is they're going to make preparations to charge the grand jury and then ask them to vote. that will be after all the witnesses are done testifying, after mr. costello testifies,

after mr. cohen testifies if they choose to call him in, and then they have to charge him on the law, ask them to vote, and then they sign an indictment, they file that with the court under seal because he's not arrested yet. and then typically they make arrangements with the trump team to surrender, so that he can show up voluntarily, and he'll be processed the way every other defendant is handled in new york, whether you're a democrat or a republican, the manhattan d.a.'s office has a long history of prosecuting people without fear or favor. they don't look at things like what party you're with, and he will be processed and finger printed and photographed and arrest processed, and he'll be arraigned, told what charges he is facing, and i'm 100% certain he will enter a plea of not guilty. and that's that. he'll go home after that. this is not a bail eligible offense in new york because it's

a nonviolent felony. >> as far as we understand it, the grand jury meets on mondays and wednesdays. so if they were to vote on an indictment, decide an indictment, it would happen today or wednesday, or maybe monday or wednesday of next week. you talked about how it would be that the president was notified next, and we wouldn't necessarily be notified of it immediately. is the expectation that we would find out from donald trump himself or from the d.a.'s office in a few more days? >> we won't hear from the d.a.'s office. a grand jury indictment where there's no arrest, which is what we have here, remains sealed until we go to court. so you will not find out anything from the d.a.'s office. you might hear from donald trump himself. he typically likes to share information and misinformation like what he was saying last week about there's going to be an arrest on tuesday. we know that's not true.

yet he said it anyway. and he likes to get his story out, true or not. so he will at some point likely say something and use this as a media opportunity, i think, to further get his base riled up and calling for protests and frankly these protests he's calling for in new york city, the nypd has a long history of knowing how to handle mass protests, whether they are peaceful or not peaceful. i have no doubt that they will handle this and handle this expertly and keep people safe, but donald trump thinks that he, you know, can mess with the criminal justice system in some way, and that's what he's going to try to do. he's going to make it so that things happen differently for him. >> what would the charges be? >> well, we don't know, but we think it will be falsifying business record in the first degree, which is a class e felony, the lowest level felony.

i suspect there will be at least eleven counts of that because if you recall, these payments were structured this a way to hide them so they didn't look like payments. they were hidden and entered as legal fees, and i think it was once a month for eleven months, so i expect a separate charge for each of those. and there could be more, and we just don't know what other evidence, the manhattan d.a.'s office has developed over the course of the year. >> we don't know. that's a good point. we have an idea of who the manhattan grand jury has smart phone to. it seems they're relying heavily on michael cohen. we talked about the limitations that michael cohen provides. barb, if you are going to go after the former president of the united states from the outward appearance, does this look like a strong case, a winnable case, when it's this

high stakes? >> well, of course we can't know the answer to that question until we see the charges themselves, but i would have to think that if you are alvin bragg, you are not going to bring a case unless you think the evidence is very strong. you know, there's the old adage if you come at the king, you best not miss. certainly no one is above the law. donald trump should not be held to a standard that's different from anyone else, but i think the stakes are higher, and i imagine that in a case like this, you take extra care to make sure that every t is crossed and every i is dotted. as you said, michael cohen appears to be a key witness in this case, because he is a convicted perjurer, i think a prudent prosecutor would do what alvin bragg appears to have done here, which is meet with him 20 times, and make sure you have cross examined his story, and found corroboration for it in the form of other witnesses and documents so that not only can you be confident that what he is saying is the truth, but that you can feel comfortable presenting that story to a jury

it and you're confident that a jury would return a guilty verdict. >> we don't know how much else the d.a. currently has in his arsenal. how much more he's relying on beyond michael cohen. i guess what you're saying to me, barb is that potentially there's going to be other stuff, it's not just going to be michael cohen says, and donald trump says no. >> yeah, i think that's right. we have heard reporting that some of the high level officials at the "national enquirer" have been into the grand jury, that the prosecutors have met with stormy daniels, that they have talked to hope hicks. they have talked to other people who are close in the trump orbit, and documents in a case like this can be the most devastating evidence, and that's because documents don't lie. they don't have failures of memory or failures to observe. there they are in black and white to show you what they are. i imagine in a case like this, they have got cancelled checks if not other documents that can help shore up the story that michael cohen and other

witnesses are telling you. >> what happened in georgia as another investigation about what donald trump did in the effort to overturn the 2020 election down there, potentially did. the trump team is now trying to quash the special grand jury report, which we haven't seen in its entirety yet. he's also trying to -- they're also trying to ban the d.a. from investigating further. what is the argument trying to stop this from going forward? >> i think it's unlikely to prevail. i think they have argued that there are irregularities, disclosures publicly about what the special grand jury has found. because of the structure of the grand jury system is merely recommendations, a new grand jury must sit and make charging decisions. even if it were true that there were any taint in that first grand jury, it can be cured by the conduct of this second grand jury, so i don't think that that argument is going to go very far. >> barbara mcquade, thank you

very much. president xi is in moscow. could he be trying to broker a peace deal. and john kirby will join me? just a second, don't go anywhere for that. what happens if donald trump is actually indicted? we're going to show you what new york law enforcement is doing right now to prepare and to guard against another january 6th. first up, though, house republicans want answers. what they want the manhattan d.a. to do if he does indict donald trump. we are back in 60 seconds. we are back in 60 seconds. (vo) businesses nationwide are switching to verizon business internet. (woman) it's a perfect fit for my small business. (vo) verizon has business internet solutions nationwide. (man) for our not-so-small business too. (vo) get internet that keeps your business ready for anything. from verizon.

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here's house speaker kevin mccarthy who is in florida at the annual house gop retreat. >> it doesn't matter what side of the issue you're on. it doesn't matter if this was president trump or if this was a democrat. it should be equal justice in america. and stop going after people because you have political differences. >> joining me now from orlando is nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali. i imagine that the conversation about donald trump getting indicted is looming over this entire retreat. what's the messaging? >> reporter: yeah, look, this conference retreat was always on a collision course with trump and his 2024 aspirations. just the fact that, again, they are coming down to florida. this is really the epicenter of republican politics right now, not just because of trump but because the other person who's regularly polling at the top of the 2024 field is not officially in but it's florida governor ron

desantis. so no matter what, this was going to be the belly of the beast, the conversation that republicans were going to be having amongst themselves. then you introduce the possibility that trump could be indicted by the manhattan d.a., and that really has been the dominating force here. i think yesterday you play that clip of kevin mccarthy talking about the politicalization he's talking about in the justice system. that has been the talking point for most republicans, everyone on stage with mccarthy yesterday, certainly what we have heard from jim jordan as i have been standing out here talking to you, jordan is taking questions from reporters. he's saying shazam, in his words, the manhattan d.a. comes back and moves forward on something potentially against trump just after trump announces his reelection. they are doing a lot of work her to not focus on the substance of what bragg could be focusing on with trump, and instead to make it seem political. that's what we're also seeing

the move on as they launched this counter offensive in the halls of congress, leveraging their house republican majority to bring bragg before them. this is just an ask at this point. it's not a subpoena. but when you see three of the most powerful committee chairmen going at this request, it gives a sense of how republicans could be trying to counter this even in the early phases before any kind of indictment has happened. >> so you have all of that messaging, and this idea that they've got to get out ahead of this and get the d.a. in there to answer questions. is there any consternation, concern about going out and defending donald trump, and then potentially being indirectly, directly involved in another version of what we saw on january 6th, helping to inspire another violent incident ahead of donald trump facing consequences? >> yeah, i think january 6th looms over all of this, and that's the question i asked the speaker last night about trump's rhetoric around telling people not just protest, but take our

country back. i mean, this is a mirror image of the kinds of words he used in the lead up to january 6th after he lost the 2020 election. mccarthy, though, tried to interpret trump in a different way saying that trump didn't mean anything harmful by that, and that he was urging calm. mccarthy himself is urging calm in the after math of that saying he doesn't condone these calls to protest. so that is the way that he's trying to interpret that. but look, looming over all of this is the way that we know, wait that trump's rhetoric has previously inspired violent action, and that's why you're seeing the kind of preparation that we're seeing out of new york in anticipation of this potential indictment. all of that is central. cannot be unlinked. there is some consternation as i talked to other republican lawmakers here. this is not a conference about trump. this house republican retreat has other things they want to talk about. they want to talk about banking regulation, the looming debt ceiling crisis, and the ways

republicans are going to extract wins from the white house. instead, they are talking about trump. it might be quiet. i have heard from some members who say they don't want to just talk about trump. they would at some point like to turn the page. that's hard to do in this current moment. >> ali vitali, thank you very much. and donald trump is calling on supporters to protest. what new york officials are doing right now in front of criminal court to make sure the city is prepared. also what they're doing behind the scenes. >> chinese president xi jinping goes to the kremlin, could he be trying to broker another peace deal? what the u.s. says it's watching for. deal what the u.s. says is t'watching for. if you think thinkorswim® isn't for you, think again. it's a dynamic suite of trading platforms designed for every kind of trader. so no matter how you like to trade, there's a thinkorswim® platform for you. (vo) businesses nationwide are switching to verizon business internet. you like to trade, (woman) it's a perfect fit for my small business. (vo) verizon has business internet solutions nationwide.

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chinese president xi jinping is in moscow for a three-day state visit with vladimir putin. it is the first time xi has been to russia since the start of the war in ukraine, and it's sending a message to the west that

despite their efforts to isolate, russia is not alone. in a statement, xi calls russia a friendly neighbor and that the two nations are working to quote uphold the global system. joining me now is national security council coordinator for strategic communications, john kirby. good to have you as always. a couple of weeks ago, the u.s. was publicly warning president xi not to arm russia, not to send lethal aid to russia. does the nfc still believe that that's on the table? >> we still do think that they have not taken it off the table but we haven't seen them move in that direction. we haven't seen any firm indication or confirmation that they have made a decision to provide lethal weapons or, in fact, have provided lethal weapons. there's been some duel use items certain chinese companies have provided, nothing that indicates they're moving in that direction right now. we have been very clear

privately too with the chinese, we don't believe this is in their best interests, a country like china that wants to be well perceived by the international community, hard to believe that giving putin more things to kill more ukrainians with is a good thing for their reputation. it doesn't seem consistent with what president xi has said he wants to see in ukraine. he wrote an op-ed piece today that talked about peace and sovereignty and security, providing putin with weapons seems to run counter to that. >> what does the u.s. think xi is doing in moscow right now? >> clearly, this is a relationship that both leaders have tried to grow and deepen. it is very much without question a statement of where china comes down on this war. he hasn't talked to president zelenskyy, let alone visited kyiv and ukraine. so clearly he's making with his presence a very demonstrable message, sending a very

demonstrable message of his support for what putin is doing, and continuing to support the russian narrative about the war. >> iran and saudi arabia, pretty surprising there, any indication that china's trying to do the same with ukraine and russia. i know that volodymyr zelenskyy wants to talk to xi as well. >> he does and he should. we want xi to get the ukrainian perspective here and not just the russian one. so we have been arguing for a call between president xi, and president zelenskyy for quite some time, as has president zelenskyy. we hope that it happens. to your first question, we don't know. we're going to have to watch and see how the meetings go and what the leaders say about it when it's all over. one of the things we have been concerned about is the potential for china to come out after the meetings and call for a cease fire in keeping with the 12-point proposal they put out there. a cease fire sounds good. we would like to see it by mr.

putin leaving ukraine. a cease fire put in place right now without the ukrainian perspective even being consulted basically ratifies what russia has done on the ground. it basically freezes their conquest today and legitimatizes that, let alone a cease fire would give russia a chance to rearm, reequip, retrain, and restart operations at a time and place of their choosing. we do not believe that's an acceptable conclusion. >> let me ask you about iran. i'm curious, the peace deal between saudi arabia and iran, is the u.s. concerned that it night lead to it being easier for iran to make a nuclear weapon and make more than one nuclear weapon. do you believe that china is going to be using its leverage with iran to stop it from pursuing its nuclear program? >> we haven't seen anything coming out of the chinese side that they are endorsing a nuclear armed iran. it would be difficult to imagine that that's actually what they

want, what that i mean claim to want is stability and security, and it's hard to get, you know, from there to there, when you talk about a nuclear armed iran, which is not going to be good for anybody in the region, let alone, you know, the iranian people or allies and partners there. i think we need to take a step back. number one, the brokered agreement puts them back at where they were in 2016 where they opened up diplomatic relations. now, they did say as part of this agreement that they were going to work to deescalate tensions and reduce the tax from yemen to saudi arabia. if all that happens, that's a good thing. no sour grapes on our part. we want to see the tension reduce, the war in yemen end, the 70,000 americans that live in saudi arabia be able to do so including troops, by the way, do so freely, and safely and securely. if it works to that degree, that's a good thing. we got to watch this. the iranians don't have a good track record of meeting their commitments and promises. >> i want to ask you quickly

about israel. the u.s. has been forthcoming with benjamin netanyahu about our desire not to see him overpower the supreme court there. there have been a lot of protests. any indication that netanyahu is listening to us? >> we hope so. the president was very candid with the prime minister yesterday about our concerns over these judicial reforms and the moves that his administration are making there in israel. we very much encourage the kinds of efforts we're seeing, define some sort of compromise solution here. we think that's the right way to go. and president biden felt comfortable delivering that message, and the meeting between israeli, and a two-state solution, which we believe is viable. it requires leadership on both sides as well as making it clear to the prime minister that the

united states' commitment to israel's security with all the threats, including the one from iran which you just mentioned, that that's ironclad. >> a lot more questions i can ask you. we have run out of time. john kirby, thank you very much for joining us as always. >> you bet. and how do you prevent january 6th, another january 6th style riot? new york law enforcement is getting its first test of what to do when donald trump calls on his supporters to act. what's happening behind closed doors as the city prepares for a possible indictment? plus, 20 years after the first wave of american bombs fell in the iraq war, congress wants its war powers back. what a repeal of the aumf would mean. repeal of the aumf would mean w katie needs braces. maybe try switching your car insurance to progressive. you could save hundreds. i don't know, dad. ♪♪ maybe try switching your car insurance to progressive. you could save hundreds. that's a great idea, tv dad. but i said the exact same thing.

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donald trump marked tomorrow as the day that he will be arrested there's no confirmation that will happen, that he will be arrested tomorrow. donald trump is asking his supporters to show up and quote take our nation back, an echo of what he was calling for ahead of the january 6th insurrection. while donald trump does not have the same platform or social media following he once did, officials in new york are not taking any chances. joining me now from outside the manhattan district attorney's office that is nbc news senior correspondent garrett haake, so we saw those barriers going up in some video. that's the physical presence of

how they're going to prepare for this. there's a lot of behind closed doors meetings, gaming out what could happen and also looking at the intelligence. what can you tell us, garrett? >> it's always the case. what's going on behind closed doors is a little bit more interesting when it comes to security planning. we know in this case, even secret service is involved and has been for some time, trying to figure out how they could get the former president in and out with the minimal risk to him, figuring out how they could keep him largely out of sight, and get through crowded, narrow, lower manhattan streets if and when it becomes time to do that. as for the broader security situation, the question of protest is an open one. you mentioned the original post, calling for protests, he had another broad call for protests later in the day. there seems to be a live debate in trump world about whether that's something they want or not. kevin mccarthy last night urged folks to stay home. even marjorie taylor greene suggested protests may not be

the way to go here. the trump campaign may feel like calling people out in the streets steps on the political backlash that they would otherwise like to be the lead story here. our colleague ben collins, other folks who kind of follow the web sites and message boards, where some of the folks like those who attended the rally on the ellipse or came to the capitol on january 6th tend to congregate. there apparently a lot of discussion is about the idea that these protests might be false flags, traps for the fed. it just doesn't seem like there's the same kind of push to get people out on the streets from the maga universe as you might, you know, kind of need to get lots of people out. all of that being said, the nypd does not screw around. we know there are meetings going on as we speak, to figure out the necessary police presence to keep everybody safe down here in lower manhattan for the rest of the week, probably. >> have you seen any protesters so far, anyone showing up early? >> there is a solitary gentleman with a sign who's been walking

calmly behind our live shots in the last hour or two. so far, that's it. >> garrett haake, thank you very much. and director of redland strategies, michael balboni. it's been a little while. talk about the meetings being held behind closed doors, what's the discussion sound like? >> so the discussion is if forewarned, forearmed, the oldest adage for security. let me begin with this is a very different situation than january 6th. january 6th, the capitol, u.s. capitol, open structure by design, not so with the courthouse on center street, and downtown manhattan. this is a fortified, protected building. who gets in and out is always monitored. determining magnetometers. what police do is basically lock down the traffic, people, not

putting away, obviously, lock down their movements, barriers. also, as you pointed out, intelligence is important, and sharing it, coordinating with multiple agencies. new york state court officers, secret service, fbi, nypd, you know, and any other agencies. in case this were not to be confined to downtown at the courthouse, the mta that runs the transit systems, the port authority, for those assets. just to make sure that in case there is something that goes on, and there's a disruption, then they can respond very quickly, rapidly, and in a coordinated fashion. >> because he's such a high profile person, former president of the united states has secret service around him. any reason to believe that maybe they would make an exception and do the booking at trump tower or somewhere else, another location and not downtown manhattan?

>> i mean, i don't have any information on that. obviously this is unprecedented to have a former city -- at this point in time, i think they're going to try to take a look at threading that need l, reducing the exposure. >> they stopped doing a lot of perp walks in new york city. they tamped down own that. the manhattan d.a. said his office will not be intimidated. that's as far as he's gone. how hard is it to protect individuals within the d.a.'s office? >> they all have security. the new york city police department provides security for the district attorney's offices in new york city. they will obviously have special protection as a result of this, given the high profile, and frankly, all the other things swirling around, not only this

prosecution, frankly what's going on in new york lately, in fact, there was a very controversial scene in the district attorney's office early on, where he kind of tries to reform. and that's not what they wanted to do and so this is caused a little bit of a problem, what's his perspective on this. anyway, all leading to polarizing figures, millions of people support him, millions of people don't like him, so, you know, the question is what is going to be the response in new york city. >> we will watch, if this happens. very much an if. thank you for joining us. 20 years after shock and awe, richard engel is back in baghdad showing us what has changed, including american tourists, yes, tourists, shopping in markets. tourists, yes, triousts, shopping in markets. for the future. and since anyone can create a free plan at fidelity, nina has a plan based on what matters most to her.

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(man) for our not-so-small business too. (vo) get internet that keeps your business ready for anything. from verizon. ever notice how stiff clothes can feel rough on your skin? for softer clothes that are gentle on your skin, try downy free & gentle downy will soften your clothes without dyes or perfumes. the towel washed with downy is softer, and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle. it's been just about 20 years since shock and awe when the u.s. allies began the invasion of iraq and 20 years since congress passed its last authorization for use of military force. that aumf was never revoked which means every president up until now has been operating under that same authority. but now the senate wants its war powers back voting to repeal the aumf this week. joining me now is nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan

nobles. what would it mean if they do and the house has to go along with it and repeal it, what does that mean? >> reporter: essentially what it would mean as you point out, katy, congress would take back its authority under the constitution to declare war and make it more difficult for an executive branch or president to unilaterally decide to get involved in a military conflict without the support of members of congress and this is what some of the sponsors of the legislation both republican and democrat say about this aumf which has been in place for two decades now. senator tim kaine of virginia saying there's no reason, none, to have a war authorization against a strategic partner, meaning iraq which is a partner in the global geopolitical situation and then his co-sponsor on the legislation, todd young of indiana who said repealing outdated aumfs will demonstrate america's commitment to iraqi sovereignty. many republicans like john

cornyn of texas talk about the flexibility that it takes away from the pentagon to make important moves in a quick amount of time. at a time when people are wondering whether they can depend on the united states, i think that this sends a wrong message. now, the house had already passed a version of an aumf a couple of years ago when democrats were in control. it has to pass through procedural steps before it ultimately passes but does look like it's heading in the direction of being repealed. katy. >> thank you very much. joining me from bagley on this 20th anniversary of shock and awe is richard engel. what is it like there today? >> reporter: well, it's bringing back a lot of memories speaking to friends, colleagues, family members about what this day was like 20 years ago, and for those of you who have a good visual memory, you might remember this exact shot, this was the live

shot that i and other journalists used for those initial days of the war with this iconic mosque behind us and saddam hussein's statue which was pulled down was right in that square behind me and over the years so much has changed in this country, changed in ways that many americans might find surprising. the united states invaded iraq 20 years ago today, launching what would become an eight-year war. now, iraq is finally springing back to life. [ speaking non-english ] the old bazaars are bustling again and american troops have been replaced by american tourists. >> lovely people. they are so kind. >> reporter: this group is traveling all across the country without security. it's no longer needed. >> okay, let's go. >> reporter: the cradle of civilization is inviting the world back.

photos are no problem. iraqis are delighted tourists are returning. what do you think so far? how is the experience. >> people are so friendly. they really are very, very kind and they'll ask if you're american and they say, i love you. >> reporter: this would have been unthinkable not long ago. in 2007, at the peak of the civil war, unleashed by the american invasion, this bazaar was obliterated by a suicide bomber. dozens were killed. iraq still has deep scars from the war. tens of thousands lost their lives. the country remains deeply corrupt and the government is dominated by iraq's neighbor, iran, but there are signs of hope, saddam hussein's former lakefront palace is now the american university in bogey. all classes are coed, all taught in english. the plan is for 35,000 students and it's expanding quickly.

where will the dormitories go? >> probably in here and maybe we'll fill in a little of the lake and put them around here. we're still debating it. this land here will probably be college of engineering, architecture, agriculture. >> this is a hugely ambitious projects. >> yeah, it really is. >> reporter: the president works out of saddam's old office. >> one of the worst dictators in the history of mankind and it's becoming an educational institution for the young people of iraq so there's a certain, i don't know, i call it poetic justice, a certain symmetry. >> reporter: many of the students are too young to remember saddam. instead their childhoods were defined by the american occupation. how is life in iraq these day joost. >> we need to change the world idea about iraq. you can see we are living in peace. >> freedom to speak, freedom to live. freedom to do anything. >> we are the future of iraq. iraqis need us.

>> reporter: and for the first time in years, iraqis who fled the violence are returning to build a better future. there are still enormous challenges here. you hear iraqis complain about corruption, about their government, about too much iranian influence, about the dominance of militia groups on the streets but for the first time in many years in this country i'm also hearing a great deal of optimism. katy. >> richard, it is amazing, truly amazing to see what it is like there today. thank you so much for bringing us that story, of course, we all remember you standing in exactly that same spot and so many other spots around that country 20 years ago, richard, thank you very much. and that is going to do it for me today on a hopeful note, a special supersized edition of "the beat" with ari melber is next.

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