Rep. Debbie Lesko: Robert Mueller contradicted himself a few times

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Rep. Debbie Lesko: Robert Mueller contradicted himself a few times

Arizona Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko reacts to Robert Mueller's testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," July 24, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JERROLD NADLER, D-N.Y.: Did you actually totally exonerate the president?

ROBERT MUELLER, RUSSIA PROBE SPECIAL COUNSEL: No.

REP. DOUG COLLINS, R-GA: At any time of the investigation, was your investigation curtailed or -- curtailed or stopped or hindered?

MUELLER: No.

REP. VAL DEMINGS, D-FLA.: Did other witnesses lie to you?

MUELLER: I think there are probably a spectrum of witnesses in terms of those who are not telling you the full truth and those who are outright liar.

DEMINGS: Thank you very much, outright liars.

REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OH: You can charge all kinds of people who are around the president with false statements, but the guy who launches everything, the guy who puts this whole story in motion, you can't charge him. I think that's amazing.

MUELLER: I'm not certain I -- I'm not certain I agree with your characterizations.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF, D-CALIF.: And when Donald Trump called your investigation a witch-hunt, that was also false, was it not?

MUELLER: I would like to think so, yes.

SCHIFF: Well, your investigation is not a witch-hunt, is it?

MUELLER: It is not a witch-hunt.

REP. JOHN RATCLIFFE, R-TX: I agree with the chairman this morning when he said Donald Trump is not above the law. He's not, but he damn sure shouldn't be below the law, which is where volume two of this report puts him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL CAVUTO, ANCHOR: It's done. Or is it?

He's the former special counsel, but did Bob Mueller fail to deliver anything special for those hoping to bring President Donald Trump down?

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto. And this is "Your World."

And you are looking live at the White House, where the president is expected to leave shortly for a campaign event in West Virginia, the president already tweeting moments ago: "Truth is a force of nature."

He is likely to make remarks before he hops on Marine One, probably on this Bob Mueller and the series of developments and questions back and forth between two different committees on Capitol Hill.

We are live on the Capitol, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi is going to join both Democratic committee chairs of today's hearings, again, the head of the Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee. So what will their next move be from here?

Keep in mind they're about to begin a six-week August recess that now will go into September.

We have got FOX team coverage with Catherine Herridge on how both sides are playing this, Blake Burman at the White House, clearly celebrating this, former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker on if his former boss just botched this.

We begin with Catherine -- Catherine.

CATHERINE HERRIDGE, CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Neil, good afternoon.

We had five hours of testimony, not a lot of major headlines outside the 448-page Mueller report. But there were certainly something for the president supporters and for his critics.

One of the key pieces of testimony came in an exchange with the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler. He asked the former special counsel about a legal memo from the Justice Department and whether it made him feel handcuffed because it states that you cannot indict a sitting president.

Here's that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUELLER: The statement would be that you wouldn't indict, and you wouldn't indict because, under that OLC opinion, a sitting president, excuse me, cannot be indicted. It would be unconstitutional.

NADLER: So you could not state that, because of the OLC opinion, if that would have been your conclusion?

MUELLER: OLC opinion was some guide, yes.

NADLER: But under DOJ, under Department of Justice policy, the president could be prosecuted for obstruction of justice crimes after he leaves office; is this correct?

MUELLER: True.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HERRIDGE: In another exchange that followed, the former special counsel seemed to strengthen this idea that he had the evidence to indict the president on obstruction of justice charges.

But then, in the afternoon session a short time ago, the former special counsel clarified his earlier testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUELLER: I want to go back to one thing that was said this morning by Mr. Lieu, who said -- and I quote -- "You didn't charge the president because of the OLC opinion."

That is not the correct way to say it. As we say in the report and as I said at the opening, we didn't reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HERRIDGE: The special counsel found that there was no conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

But, as you know, Neil, they didn't reach a decision as to whether there was obstruction of justice by the president.

They said in their report that they could not bring criminal charges, nor could they exonerate the president. And it was that language that really drew the ire of Republicans, who said Mueller had violated longstanding policies. He either had to indict or be silent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RATCLIFFE: Can you give me an example, other than Donald Trump, where the Justice Department determined that an investigative person wasn't exonerated because their innocence wasn't conclusively determined?

HERRIDGE: I cannot, but this is a unique situation.

RATCLIFFE: OK, well, you can't -- time is short. I have got five minutes. Let's just leave it at you can find it, because I will tell you why. It doesn't exist. You managed to violate every principle and the most sacred of traditions about prosecutors not offering extra-prosecutorial analysis about potential crimes that aren't charged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HERRIDGE: The ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee put new information into the record about the genesis of the FBI Russia probe.

Devin Nunes said, it didn't come from an official intelligence product, from something called the Five Eyes. This is a network of intelligence groups, the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the U.K.

The congressman said and the tip came from a foreign politician, so not official intelligence.

Robert Mueller also testified that he decided against issuing a subpoena for the president to do an in-person interview because he felt it would be too time-consuming, and he felt it was important to expeditious -- expeditiously, rather, deal with the allegations.

And, finally, Mueller issued a warning during the afternoon hearing, saying the Russians are still meddling in America's elections -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Catherine Herridge, thank you very, very much.

Well, the president, as you know, has already tweeted on this, among just some of his comments, calling today's hearing an embarrassment. We could be hearing from the president on his route to heading out to West Virginia. He usually stops by, talks to reporters, not all the time, but on a day like this, maybe this time.

Blake Burman at the White House with more on all of it.

Hey, Blake.

BLAKE BURMAN, CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Neil.

You would think that would be the case. We at least hope it might be the case, as we expect to hear from the president here shortly.

As it relates to the Mueller hearings up on Capitol Hill today, the Trump campaign, the RNC have called it a -- quote, unquote -- "disaster" for Democrats. The press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, said it was a -- quote -- "embarrassment."

And then just a little while ago, since both hearings have wrapped up, we got the first take from the president, in which he just took to Twitter and wrote the following, saying -- quote -- "Truth is a force of nature."

After the first hearing earlier today, the president seemed almost gleeful at what he had heard or seen, writing at that point -- quote -- "I would like to thank the Democrats for holding this morning's hearing."

That was a bit of a 180 from earlier in the day, when the president started off this morning by taking to Twitter being once again extremely critical of Robert Mueller, saying that he is highly conflicted and saying of the investigation that it was the biggest witch-hunt in U.S. history.

After that first hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, the president's personal attorney, Jay Sekulow, put forth a statement in which he said, "The case is closed," essentially saying it is time to move on.

Sekulow writing at one point -- quote -- "It is also clear that the special counsel conducted his two-year investigation unimpeded. The American people understand that the issue is over. They also understand that the case is closed."

So, as we stand here, Neil, at 4:05 on the North Lawn, we anticipate President Trump on the South Lawn here any moment. He is heading for -- to West Virginia, rather, for a campaign event later this evening. We will see what the president has to say most likely momentarily -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Yes, I can't imagine he would pass up an opportunity.

BURMAN: Yes.

CAVUTO: We shall see, my friend, Blake Burman, again, at the White House.

So for Democrats who are pushing impeachment and even pushing this big event today, do they regret it? It depends on who you are, of course.

Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tom Dupree.

Tom, good to chat with you again.

What do you make of just how this all went down?

TOM DUPREE, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Well, it has to be a massive disappointment for the Democrats.

They pinned their impeachment hopes on a rock-solid performance by Bob Mueller today, one that would stir the passions of undecided Americans and people who hadn't yet focused on the report. That's, of course, not what they got.

Bob Mueller himself wasn't what I anticipated. He was halting, he was hesitant. He seemed strangely disconnected from key aspects of his own report. Even when they tried to get him to confirm things that were in the report, which you would think would be low-hanging fruit for the Democrats, he stumbled and asked for page number references.

And, of course, he wouldn't give the Democrats the one thing they desperately wanted, which was a statement that, in his mind, the president obstructed justice. Bob Mueller was very clear,he wasn't prepared to go there.

CAVUTO: To be fair to Bob Mueller ,he didn't want to be here. He didn't want it to testify. He wanted a 438-page report, to your point, Tom, to speak for itself.

But what surprised me -- and you know this process better. You know Bob Mueller better. He didn't have his fastball today. And I'm not meaning to disparage him. But he didn't seem to know a lot, or maybe that was his way of not answering a lot, or leaving it at the report.

But certain details that came to light made me wonder, did he delegate a lot of this? Did his staff really write this up more than he did?

DUPREE: It doesn't surprise me that he would have delegated a lot.

Obviously, the investigation was a big project. We all know the raw numbers about number of witnesses and that sort of thing. But at the same time, I would think he would have been more attuned to the need to show that he was master of the report, that he was in command of the material.

He said things like he sat in on very few interviews. I mean, for Bob Mueller, it wouldn't be a problem for him just to sit in the back of the room, even if he wasn't the one conducting the interview, but just to show his active participation and involvement.

And I think this performance today is going to fuel a lot of speculation about just how involved was Bob Mueller in the report that now will bear his name and history.

CAVUTO: What I'm wondering is, everyone, both parties, very deferential to them. And that's fine.

But I'm wondering if, on the part of Democrats hoping to use this as a launching pad for maybe impeachment hearings, or when they get back from recess to go full throttle in that direction, what do you think?

DUPREE: I -- hard to see people getting fired up or more fired up about impeachment after today. I suspect that there will be a constituency within the Democratic Party that will still be pounding the table on impeachment, the presidential candidates, among others.

But I think, for most people, you're going to see a shift reflected in what actually Congressman Schiff said at the end, where the focus now is on the overall morality or ethics.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: That was very unusual.

DUPREE: Yes.

CAVUTO: In other words, this went from breaking laws to just not doing things that seem morally right.

DUPREE: See, if I was listening to see if Schiff was going to phrase his closing statement in the context of high crimes and misdemeanors, which, of course, is the constitutional standard for impeachment, that's not what he did.

He took a different route. He focused on ethics, calling to our higher nature, which is all fine. But that's an argument that you make in the context of the 2020 presidential election, not an impeachment proceeding.

CAVUTO: What did you make of the number of especially Republican inquisitors in both the Judiciary Committee first, then the Intelligence Committee, that said, I have no further questions, or I'm not going to pursue that?

It was almost like they said, I think I have delivered my point.

DUPREE: You know what it reminded me of, Neil? It reminds me of when I'm in court, and you got a feeling that the judge is on your side. The number one rule as a lawyer is, you sit down. If the judge is about the rule in your favor, you don't keep making your case.

CAVUTO: I have no further questions.

DUPREE: And that's what struck me. They left time on the table, which is extremely unusual.

I have testified multiple times in front of House Judiciary. These guys don't like leaving seconds on the table.

CAVUTO: Right.

DUPREE: That is what they're there for. And so when the Republicans started ceding their time again and again and again, that really tells you something.

CAVUTO: You're the best. Tom, thank you. Stick to this law thing. It seems to be working for you, my friend.

(LAUGHTER)

DUPREE: Thank you. Appreciate it.

CAVUTO: Tom Dupree, who is a big help on both Fox News and Fox Business, to put it mildly.

Also want to bring your attention to the corner of Wall and Broad here. Would we have had the gains and the record gains we did in the Nasdaq and S&P 500 today, not so much the Dow, if this had gone differently, or adversely, much more adversely, for the president? We won't know.

We do know that we have records on the Nasdaq and S&P 500. And we have the Dow down about 79 points. But I got to tell you, Boeing was the lion's share of that. It is indicating a lot of problems with that 737 MAX, just completed its worst quarter in its history, and now indicating that that thing might not be flying anytime soon, maybe ever.

We're on that, also back at the White House, where we could -- I stress could -- be hearing for the president of the United States, who thinks this all went well for him today. A lot of people on both sides of the aisle, at least on this matter, agree.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, you're looking at the White House right now. We might be hearing from the president shortly on these developments.

He was tweeting out through the course of the day what he was making of the entire Mueller hearings. They seemed to be going his way, and he liked the way ultimately it presented him, not as any sort of a criminal, and where this sort of thing wouldn't really develop into much more than what it has. So, it won't really move the needle, which, again, is just to the president's liking.

Fox News contributor Deneen Borelli joins us, Democratic strategist Kevin Chavous, and The Washington Examiner's Becket Adams.

Becket, your thoughts on where this goes now?

BECKET ADAMS, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Well, right now, I think what's clear about this is Democrats are going to try to carry this into 2020.

We had Senator Elizabeth Warren was talking about impeachment earlier today. And it's an issue that they're going to -- it's a dead horse they are going to beat. They're going to haul this thing around like the corpse and "Weekend at Bernie's" and try to see if they can jazz up some interest in their -- in their base.

I don't think it's going to go anywhere. The problem with this is everything that is in the report that is most damning, the best thing that Republicans can say about it is that not criminal, but it's not great.

It's nothing that we don't already know about Trump. It's stuff that's baked into the cake. As long as the economy continues to zip along, I don't think any of this is going to actually stick. But I think Democrats will absolutely try to make it stick.

CAVUTO: All right, now you have the clock you're dealing with and the calendar, Kevin, right, because they go on this break that could take them back after Labor Day.

KEVIN CHAVOUS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Right.

CAVUTO: Then I'm wondering what the sentiment would be to take further action or to have more hearings or what.

CHAVOUS: Right. You make a good point.

We have to see what comes of this. I do think there are a lot of people who didn't read the report. We know there are members of Congress who said they didn't read the report. But a lot of people probably did tune into these hearings.

So it's very interesting. It will be interesting to see just what people think about some of the things Mueller said. I mean, he did sort of confirm that, in his mind, the president did commit obstruction. I mean, he was asked if the only reason he was indicted -- wasn't indicted is because of the OLC opinion. And he said yes.

So it wasn't great for the president.

CAVUTO: But he did not -- he did not say outright obstruction. He didn't charge the president with that. He just -- he kind of echoed what he did in the report.

(CROSSTALK)

CHAVOUS: Right. It was like the report.

CAVUTO: Right, where there's not enough either way to go.

The reason why I try to point out that distinction, did it move the needle, Deneen? Is it going to change anything. If you love the president, you still do. If you dislike the guy, you still do.

DENEEN BORELLI, CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I like the "Weekend at Bernie's" analogy.

I was thinking more of "El Cid," because clearly Mueller wasn't in the house. This is not going to move the needle, Neil. This was a huge loss for the Democrats and the anti-Trump media. They hung their hats on the Russia -- Russia collusion, and that there's a there there, and that Adam Smith said that there was more evidence out there that he knew about -- Schiff -- excuse me.

There's nothing there. And today was even more proof of that. Mueller didn't show up. He wasn't in the house. He appeared weak. He could not recall or answer basic questions. And that's because I don't think Mueller wrote this report. Mueller is a figurehead with all of this.

And the anti-Trump lawyers are the ones who really did all of this work, which is why Mueller has no idea what's going on. I was waiting for him to say, what report are we talking about?

CAVUTO: Well, I was a little surprised by that too, Becket.

And I'm wondering how this is going to look. Now, to be fair to Mr. Mueller, he didn't want to be put in this position, didn't want to testify, found it certainly to be weird, at a minimum, for a prosecutor to be speaking before a congressional body, let alone two of them, and didn't want to add fuel to that fire.

But I was surprised that he seemed to have the hands-off relationship because there was so much with which he at least appeared to be unfamiliar, unless it was -- he was being very cunning about it. What did you make of that?

ADAMS: Well, I think he's been cunning.

But this is also part of the frustration I had about this hearing, is, he signaled days and days and days in advance that he didn't want to testify.

CAVUTO: That's right.

ADAMS: And that, if he did, he would only speak about what's in report, which is already publicly available.

So we have these two hearings with panels of men berating a septuagenarian about a publicly available document. And he's there, to the best of his memory, 400-plus pages, trying to recall everything that's in it, while they're basically reciting back to him stuff that we all have access to in the first place.

And so, look, I don't fault him for anything. He's a career lawman. He did a job he was asked to do. I respect him for that. I respect him for his service to his country. I don't think there's anything wrong that you can say about Robert Mueller.

I don't think there's any reason to criticize him. I think this entire spectacle, especially with other things in the news, the United Kingdom has a new prime minister, the governor of Puerto Rico is holed up on his island amid a major scandal, and here we are doing dramatic readings of a publicly available document and watching this image of congressmen berating a 74- year-old man as he tries to remember to the best of his abilities.

I think, after all is said and done, this wasn't the best use of our time.

CAVUTO: And you left out there the S&P and the Nasdaq hitting records. That's fine. You're biased against the market news.

I'm kidding.

Let me get finally, Kevin, from you a sense of relief I was hearing from some of the candidates running that, in their heart of hearts, they don't want this thing dragging on. What do you think of that?

CHAVOUS: Well, I would agree with them, and most Americans do as well.

We're tired of this. It has been over three years. What is in the report is in the report. We didn't get anything new. And polls have consistently shown that election interference is well, well beneath other issues in terms of importance in the minds of voters. That's Democrats and Republicans.

What people want to hear about is health care, immigration is rising, climate change, of course, especially among younger people. So I don't want Democrats -- Democrats to take the bait here. We need to focus on those issues if we're going to beat Trump in 2020, not on the Mueller report, collusion issue. That won't be a winner for us.

We need to focus on issues that are actually important to people.

CAVUTO: All right. We shall see.

Guys, I apologize.

Two live developments we're waiting for, one, of course, from the president, whether he talks to the press, leaving the White House for this West Virginia event.

Also, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where we're following very closely the goings-on of the Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello, who could, could be announcing his resignation. Hard to say. This was a meeting unplanned.

More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUELLER: I have been in this business for almost 25 years. And in those 25 years, I have not had occasion once to ask somebody about their political affiliation.

It is not done. What I care about is the capability of the individual to do the job and do the job quickly and seriously and with integrity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, that was the criticism of this investigation, that it was a bunch of Democrats or Democratic sympathizers who were leading it.

And the president, of course, has been charging that throughout the process. He is answering reporters' questions right now on this and a host of other subjects. We will bring that to you live very soon.

In the meantime, to Hillary Vaughn on Capitol Hill with how this is all spinning out.

Hey, Hillary.

HILLARY VAUGHN, CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.

Well, some House Democrats are doing a victory lap, trying to hype up their caucus following testimony from former special counsel Robert Mueller, because they think that they effectively made the case to the American people for impeachment.

But one person they have not convinced yet is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who told our Fox team today that she only tuned in a little bit to the testimony. And Democratic Congressman Al Green also telling Fox that what was missing from today's testimony was a wow moment.

But other Democrats in the hearing room today had a different view of how things played out for their party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TED LIEU, D-CALIF.: For people who have read the Mueller report or follow these issues, this hearing wasn't surprising. For people who didn't, this should have blown their minds.

REP. DAVID CICILLINE, D-R.I.: And I think the -- that, ultimately, a majority of our caucus will believe an impeachment inquiry is appropriate and we will move forward with one.

The time is long past to open a formal impeachment inquiry, to begin the process of considering whether or not articles of impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors ought to be filed. I think today's testimony further supports that argument.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUGHN: But the former special counsel's testimony had a few hiccups.

He had to walk back some of -- a key part of his testimony in an exchange with Democratic lawmaker Ted Lieu over why they decided not to make a decision obstruction of justice.

House Republicans also aren't convinced by today's affair, saying they don't think that Mueller's moment helps Democrats make the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARK MEADOWS, R-N.C.: Politically, they can. And they can't do it based on this particular hearing. I don't know that this advanced their cause for impeachment. In fact, I would say it didn't advance their cause for impeachment.

But, that being said, articles of impeachment are a political operation, and whether another 115 Democrats will jump on board today, this hearing wouldn't have convinced me, if I was on their side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUGHN: Neil, the big question, did Democrats bring any voters over to their cause? A new FOX poll out today shows that only 49 percent of voters that were polled said that -- or 49 percent of voters polled said there was zero chance that what Mueller said today would change their mind either way about the president; 23 percent said there was only a small chance that Mueller's testimony would make a difference -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Hillary, thank you very much.

All right, now to former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker.

Chris, what did you make of his performance today, Bob Mueller's performance?

CHRIS SWECKER, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Yes.

Well, first, I think it was a complete stalemate and the ball wasn't moved one inch today one direction or the other.

I have known Bob Mueller, served directly under him for, oh, two-and-a-half years, probably sat in 500 meetings with him. I can just say that he wasn't hitting on all six cylinders today. That was -- that wasn't a stellar performance on his part.

Maybe he was tired. Maybe he's just -- his age is catching up to him. But he wasn't sharp today.

CAVUTO: I think a lot of Democrats had expected him to deliver the goods and to raise some of the concerns and remind Congress, it's up to you now to follow up on some of the clear crumbs that I dropped for you to pick up and pursue.

Did that work? Did that happen?

SWECKER: Well, I'm convinced now -- I was very confused when this report first came out regarding volume two and the obstruction non-call.

I'm pretty convinced at this point after his testimony that he did mean to put this matter in the hands of Congress. Whether he -- I don't think he's putting his finger on the scale one way or the other. I just believe that he punted to Congress, or he punted it to the American people in terms of the next election.

But one thing is certain. This matter is out of the hands of the judicial system. It's now in the hands of either Congress or the American people.

CAVUTO: You know, you know him very, very well, and you referred to that and all that.

Now, I'm just beginning to wonder about his management style. I got the impression he had delegated a lot of this. That's a big job, I understand, a big legal team. But there was a lot with which he seemed totally unfamiliar, or at least maybe he was doing that by design, so they would just drop the line of questioning.

But he had his moments where he wasn't only detached, but seemed out of touch.

SWECKER: Yes, there were many moments when he couldn't find his words. He was very inarticulate for Robert Mueller.

CAVUTO: Yes.

SWECKER: And I thought it was a sign when he -- or when there was a decision made to have his general counsel sitting next to him and sworn in.

That was a tipoff to me that he wasn't confident in his knowledge of the report. And I don't think that he knew it chapter and verse.

CAVUTO: But they swore that counsel in, at least in the first hearing...

SWECKER: Right.

CAVUTO: ... with the understanding being the questions would be directed at him. That never happened.

SWECKER: Right.

You were mentioning his management style. I mean, he does tend to delegate.

CAVUTO: Yes.

SWECKER: I think, as has gotten older, he's done more delegation.

What I was working my way around to is, I believe that there were many signs today that this staff had a very heavy role in making some very, very important decisions in this investigation and the report itself.

CAVUTO: All right, Chris, thank you very much for taking the time. It's good getting a friend's insight, someone who worked with the guy for so many years, Chris Swecker, former FBI.

We told you that we were following very closely what the president had to think about this. He's already tweeted about it, that he thinks this was pretty good day.

He is still talking to reporters as we speak. The tape comes in from that, you know the drill. You will see it back and hear what the president had to say about all of this.

Also keeping you on top of developments in Puerto Rico and San Juan, more to the point, where Ricardo Rossello apparently is still meeting with his Cabinet there. A lot of protesters there over the course of the past week have been demanding that he go.

Earlier this week, he spoke with our own Shepard Smith to say he would wait until the end of 2020, not run for reelection. But that's a lot of time. These protesters, and as Shepard reminded him, they want you to go now.

So we don't know whether that is what's going to happen today, but everyone is on tenterhooks in Puerto Rico just wondering.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, the president is still talking to reporters at the White House and saying this whole testimony today with Bob Mueller was bad for our country, and we have done a lot for our country, also saying right now that he didn't have the right to exonerate me. Didn't happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, to hear some of the president's remarks, they didn't lay a glove on him here, referring to the Bob Mueller testimony today on Capitol Hill before two House committees, the president obviously feeling confident that Mueller failed to do what he said a lot of Democrats wanted to do, to sort of nail him to the wall and maybe pave the way to impeachment hearings.

He might be right about that. And given the fact that the markets absorbed all these body blows just fine, thank you, the S&P, the Nasdaq into record territory, the Dow, which has been down a lot today, still finished down. A lot of that was just Boeing and this idea that its 737 MAX could be delayed, if not put off indefinitely, and that it had its worst quarter in history.

So that was the story there. So this is not the story for them now.

To the host of "Making Money," bestselling author Charles Payne.

What do you make of that market reaction?

CHARLES PAYNE, HOST, "MAKING MONEY": It was -- the overall market today, it was absolutely phenomenal, Neil. It really, really was.

CAVUTO: Yes. If you think about it, if it were going just the opposite, I always think the markets aren't red or blue through these kind of things. If they know a crisis is coming, constitutional or otherwise, they're going to sell off.

PAYNE: Right. Absolutely.

And there was no sign of a constitutional crisis. In fact, here was the irony. As the herring went on, and as Boeing layered it on thicker and thicker, hey, not only did we have a terrible quarter, we may not -- we may have to put prediction on hold, that stock started to really crater.

And yet the broader market moved higher and higher. The S&P, the Nasdaq closed at all-time highs. You had about 2-1 stocks up vs. down. It was really a remarkable session.

CAVUTO: The Nasdaq thing was kind of weird too, Charles, if you think about it.

Not to get too in the weeds here, but that it hits a high, but without the help of Apple or Amazon or some of these big names or Google that are going to be the target apparently, the administration going after them.

PAYNE: You're right.

And it's -- at one point last year, back in October of last year, when we were at all-time highs, six stocks, those stocks and a couple others you just named, were responsible for almost the entire move.

Now we have got a market where about 470 stocks are up for the year out of the S&P 500, most of them up double digits, 10 to 20 percent. And today it was about the chip companies. Texas Instruments had one of its best sessions in years.

CAVUTO: But it is nice to see that they're not reliant on the chiefs anymore, that it's spread out to other...

(CROSSTALK)

PAYNE: It really is. It really is. You want the Coca-Colas of the world doing well. You want to see the boring stocks doing well.

You want to see these kind of names where people don't have to -- who are risk-averse, who don't want to be in a stock, because any stock that can be up 20 points a day can be down 20 points in a day.

CAVUTO: Yes. You're right. You're right.

PAYNE: So, you have got to accept that risk.

And it's good to see people with these tamer portfolios participating in this rally.

CAVUTO: Could I ask you about this?

We're waiting also to hear House Democrats convening a meeting on Capitol Hill. And these six committee chairs, I assume among them Intelligence and Judiciary, are kind of -- kind of pathing out what next.

It's going to be really hard to rev up the ante for more impeachment hearings.

PAYNE: It really, really is.

Early on, after Bob Mueller spoke and before he could clarify some comments to Ted Lieu, the Democrats thought they had something there. The New Yorker put out a headline that this -- he all but said that -- The Washington Post -- the headlines were going out fast and furiously.

Bob Mueller has kind of walked that back. Honestly, I think, if you're going to be honest about this, I -- the most vulgar tweet out there by a Democrat, but perhaps the one that hits home most, is from Michael Moore.

I just warn people before you look at it, it is vulgar, but it is Michael Moore. By the same token, it is perhaps the most honest assessment of today: "Let it go."

CAVUTO: So what happens now? If you're in the market, you're looking for some continuity, whatever that can be, it's straight onto the election then?

PAYNE: It's straight onto the election.

Listen, they got -- they did the budget this week.

CAVUTO: Right.

PAYNE: It's not the budget that traditional Republicans have -- at least always said they wanted.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Yes.

PAYNE: Every time they have got a chance to put one in, it never exactly looks the way the same they want.

CAVUTO: Neither party is one of fiscal restraint, yes.

PAYNE: Pox on both houses. But that won't be an issue.

This won't -- Mueller won't be an issue. Right now, it looks like it's really clear sailing with respect to the economy and the stock market. And it's just a matter of keeping it going into 2020.

CAVUTO: All right, buddy, thank you very much, Charles Payne, read on that.

PAYNE: You got it.

CAVUTO: As Charles and I were talking, the president is still talking too.

You know the drill on that. He speaks, they rush the tape back. Maybe it isn't tape anymore. It's all digital, right? So someone has it on a chip or run -- I have no idea. But when he's done, they're going to get that back. We will run it in the newsroom.

We are also watching very closely what's going on in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the governor, Ricardo Rossello, is still holding, as we speak, a meeting with his Cabinet.

You might recall protesters there have been gathering with just the worsening financial crisis there on the fact that they're missing billions of dollars, and the fact that big cruise lines, everyone from Celebrity to Royal Caribbean, have taken them off their tour lists for their ships. That's a big, big financial hit.

He has already said he is not inclined to run for election next year. But those protesters were saying that they want him out now. And in an interview with our Shepard Smith earlier in the week, that was the point that Shep kept pounding. They want you out now.

The indications are, in meeting with his Cabinet, he's trying to either explain otherwise or cave into the reality he is not a very popular guy -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE LESKO, R-ARIZ.: Were you ever fired as special counsel, Mr. Mueller?

MUELLER: Not that I -- no.

LESKO: No.

Were you -- were you allowed to complete your investigation unencumbered?

MUELLER: Yes.

LESKO: And, in fact, you resigned as special counsel when you closed up the office in late May 2019. Is that correct?

MUELLER: That's correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, with me now, the woman who was asking those questions, the House Judiciary Committee member Debbie Lesko.

Congresswoman, very good to have you.

LESKO: Thanks for having me.

CAVUTO: You know, I saw the thrust of what you were getting at here.

You were trying to illustrate the point that the president wasn't trying to interfere with him, in that he hadn't tried to fire him, remove them, or any of that.

Might have been a lot of rumors out there, but, in the end, he got to finish the project, got to leave as prosecutor himself, but on his terms, not on any presidential demands. Was that what you were kind of saying?

LESKO: Yes. I mean, you're exactly right.

So, several Democrats that spoke before me kept on bringing up on how the president wanted to fire Mueller and that he told McGahn, and then he was trying to do things.

But the bottom line is, he didn't fire Mueller, and Mueller was able to do his entire investigation without being obstructed by anyone. And he himself resigned.

So I thought it was really not a good point by the Democrats. In fact, this entire day, I think, was a failure for the Democrats, because Chairman Nadler had public basically said his purpose for doing this was to try to sway the public opinions towards impeachment.

And I don't think he got this from this hearing at all today. In fact, I totally think it was a failure.

CAVUTO: What was the mood of your Democratic colleagues afterwards?

I know, right from there, Mr. Mueller went on to the Intelligence Committee. But I was reading some disappointment in their faces, that either maybe his strained performance, or the fact that he couldn't recall a lot of key details, that this had been a big disappointment to them.

LESKO: Well, you know, I -- I hope you're right, because it should have been a disappointment to them.

I mean, I, quite honestly, was surprised that Mr. Mueller seemed to be having difficulty asking -- answering some fairly simple questions. And then he contradicted himself a few times, especially about this OLC opinion.

CAVUTO: Yes.

LESKO: And that's why I brought that up, because it was right before for me that Mr. Lieu was talking about the OLC opinion. And then I wanted to correct that for the record.

And he seemed to be confused about that, too. So it was interesting.

CAVUTO: In other words, how far he could go on the obstruction of justice charge and all that.

I guess I'm more curious, what happens now? We do know that Nancy Pelosi is meeting with all the key committee heads, including Judiciary and Intelligence, about what to do now.

We don't know what will come up of that. We do know she's speaking likely in the next hour to sort of give us a what next thing. But what do you -- what do you think is going to happen?

LESKO: Well, if the Democrats are smart, they would stop this, because the American people are seeing through it.

I mean, how many subpoenas does Chairman Nadler and the other committees have to deliver and how many contempts of Congress? I mean, it's just becoming commonplace now.

And the American people are ready to move on and really address the important issues. In fact, I had a local radio station in Arizona ask me today, why aren't you focusing on the Russia collusion or interference, I should say, the Russia interference in our elections, so that it doesn't happen in the future? Why aren't the Democrats focusing on that?

Well, that's a good question. I don't know why they aren't.

CAVUTO: Do you think Republicans should similarly desist on the origins of this investigation or just move on?

LESKO: Well, I think the American public probably wants us to move on.

Unfortunately, what we have seen so far from my Democratic counterparts is just about in every committee in the House, they're using it to influence the 2020 election.

So I don't have high hopes that they're going to stop on this, because they just want it to keep coming up in the media. So then I think it's fair game, if they're going to continue, that we want to get to the root of the problem. Like, what started this to begin with? And was there Russian influence on the Steele dossier?

I mean, these are legitimate questions that were brought up today in the testimony. And I do think they need to be answered.

CAVUTO: Do you think -- right now, we're getting hints the president has wrapped up his Q&A with reporters right now on the South Lawn, heading out to Marine One, heading out to West Virginia for a fund-raiser tonight.

But he was saying things like, we had a good day today, no defense for this ridiculous hoax, that, if you looked at the polls and what they're showing, it's a big day for our country and the Republican Party.

But he's pretty pleased. Are you?

LESKO: Well, I think he should be pleased, because, like I said, I think Chairman Nadler's -- he has said it publicly in the past, that he wanted to do this because he didn't think that the American public read the report.

So he wanted to get Mueller on TV, and get some gotchas or something to sway public opinion towards impeachment. And I think it backfired on them, quite frankly. And I think it backfired because, first of all, there's nothing there.

But, secondly, Mr. Mueller himself seemed very disoriented, couldn't answer certain questions. So I don't think that worked in their favor.

CAVUTO: Yes, I was surprised by that myself, Congresswoman. But we shall see.

Thank you for taking the time. I know you had a crazy day yourself.

LESKO: Thank you.

CAVUTO: All right, let's go to Axios reporter Alayna Treene this.

Alayna, as you know, we're waiting for that tape to rush to us from the president. He has just wrapped up what seemed to be a pretty long series of questions with reporters on site of the South Lawn, before heading out to West Virginia for this campaign event.

ALAYNA TREENE, AXIOS: Right.

CAVUTO: But he has said, by and large, that, on the exoneration issue and what Mueller was saying, he didn't have the right to exonerate -- this is the president. "He folded because he didn't have the right to exonerate. Look at the report. Every one of these networks put up their hands."

What do you make of that?

TREENE: Well, I think that's a really interesting question and something that I was chatting with a lot of Republican members on the committees who were there during the questioning, and just Republicans and people on it -- within the Trump administration and on the campaign.

And they were saying that -- a lot of them pointed to Congressman Ratcliffe's questioning. And this is where he brought that up, the exoneration fact. And he's one of the few Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who has a lot of legal experience.

And he brought up, why did you even make the point that -- about exoneration? That's not your job. And we can see the president using that line of questioning. A lot of people were cheering on Ratcliffe during that. I think Congressman Meadows even told us that he was the star of the show.

And so it was interesting that the president really hyped that up. But, again, we didn't really learn a lot from today. I know that, speaking with a lot of members prior to his testimony, they weren't expecting to hear a lot. But they were at least hoping for, especially Democrats, some sort of dramatic clip to come of it, if it wasn't going to be some sort of new revelation.

And Mueller wasn't giving them any of that.

CAVUTO: Mueller had all but telegraphed himself that wasn't going to happen. He was going to stick to the report. Little did we know that he was literal about that.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: But we're also hearing -- and I don't know how typical this is of all the Democratic representatives, but Pennsylvania Representative Dean saying that these Democratic probes of the president are not over, they have just begun.

What do you make of that?

TREENE: So the other day -- yesterday, actually, Pelosi -- Speaker Pelosi's office released this six-page memo outlining some of the framing that they wanted House Democrats to adopt on this message.

And one of them was that, yes, Mueller's work, he's finished with this report, but we're not done here. They plan to continue their oversight efforts into the fall.

And I think that's what Congresswoman Dean was getting at. And they're just showing that this fight isn't over. And they continue to want to harp on what Robert Mueller -- kind of use his completed investigation to continue their own oversight in the House.

CAVUTO: All right, Alayna, thank you so much.

TREENE: I'm sorry. I lost my earpiece for a second.

CAVUTO: That's OK. That's OK. We're done.

All right, now to the president of the United States speaking on the South Lawn a few moments ago to reporters about all these developments.

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