nearly nonstop scrutiny for this trump white house so we thought we would take the opportunity tonight to look at that very dynamic. a little more than two years ago this month robert mueller, a justice department veteran with a dozen years at the helm of the fbi was asked to take over the most politically charged investigation since watergate. he was appointed special counsel shortly after president trump's decision to fire a different fbi director james comey. mueller's task to uncover any lengths or coordination between the russian government and individuals associated with the trump campaign. mueller was also asked to investigate any related issues that came out of the inquiry. the special counsel's team closed out its work about ten weeks ago now. their 484 page report said conspiracy could not be proved and the special counsel declined to make a reommendation whether trump obstructed justice even though it sited ten instances of such behavior and mueller's document concluded the findings did not exonerate the president, that didn't seem to matter much to the president. >> there was no collusion with russia. there was no obstruction and none whatsoever and it was a complete and total exoneration. >> the president's new hand picked attorney general william barr appeared to back up the president's claims in his own assessments of mueller's document. barr's handling of the investigations conclusion, his release of his own summery, his repeated use of the president's favorite phrase no collusion drew instant fire and scrutiny. >> i feel your answer was purposely misleading and i think others do, too. >> you lied to congress. the american public has seen quite well you're bias in this situation and you've not been objective. >> i think history will judge you harshly. >> three weeks passed between when you delivered the letter with the focus on the principle conclusions and when we ultimately got the redacted report. >> you in effect exonerated or cleared the president. >> no. >> barr's decision not to release the mueller full report and continued suspicions about the attorney general's independence are fueling house democratic demands for accountability. several committees have issued subpoenas that for the entire document and all the supporting materials as well as key witnesses, one of the most important former white house counsel don mcgahn. he's the one that spent at least 30 hours investigators. he had a front row seat to trump's efforts to end the russia inquiry, he's something of a narrator for the report. it's one front in a much larger war between administration and house leadership in the hands of the democrats. since january, multiple house committees have been investigating donald trump, his people, his policies, his family, his finances. inquiries range from obstruction to abuse of power to communications between trump and putin to loans that he received and of course, his tax returns. trump's response to defy nearly all requests from the house incluing that request for mcgahn's testimony last week, a number of house democrats have said we're now in a constitutional crisis. the speaker sums it up this way. >> i think the president every day gets grounds for impeachment in terms of his obstruction of justice. >> meanwhile, the department of justice under the heading of investigate the investigators and under the direction of said attorney general barr is now indeed opening a quote review of the early stages of the russia inquiry. >> i think people have to find out what the government was doing during that period and we should be worried about whether government officials abuse their power and put their thumb on the scale. >> on that note and here with us for our lead off discussion on this memorial day monday night, kimberly atkins, correspondent for wbur, boston's station and eugene robinson columnist for "the washington post" and elliott williams, former federal prosecutor who was also deputy assistant attorney general and counsel to the senate judiciary committee. good evening and welcome. kimberly, i'd like to start with you. when we look back at it, do you think it will be seen as donald trump's version of project head start, the favorite, the boost he got from his new attorney general barr, those weeks of time where barr controlled what we knew and thought about the mueller report and gave the president flat out the air cover he needed. >> i think that's absolutely true. i mean, we saw for more than a year, the president absolutely bar rate the previous attorney general jeff sessions for not protecting him and not acting in the president's interest because he recused himself from this investigation and what we've seen in attorney general barr is the exact opposite. he is really inserted himself into this, not just as the head of the justice department but as a messenger for the president. he made sure that not just before the report was released, he released that controversial four-page letter which characterized parts of the report once we saw the report was clearly contradictory but the day it was released, it started with attorney general barr setting the tone about what the report said or didn't say before it was even released. so the president was very happy with that and it really ham strung democrats in the house for awhile having really not having a smoking gun to chase impeachment, of course, the president had since in his refusal to allow anyone to testify maybe turning that but so far attorney general barr acted it seems completely in the interest of the president. >> let me take you back to your old employer at the department of justice. we have had a number of our guests, many of them regulars on this broadcast who when barr's name was first floated came on to say i know the guy or work for the guy, some combination of that, most of them believing he was an institutionalest. most of them willing to give the new a.g. the benefit of the doubt. to a person they have call come back on and rescinded that in some form or fashion. how do you feel about your former colleagues, the shape they are in at doj under this a.g.? >> i hope you don't have a clip of me saying that i support barr and that i've got his back and so on because i probably said it on air like former colleagues but many of us ended up disappointed and are disappointed and so no, i do think, i was talking to someone and ran into someone the other day on the street and said there is multiple justice departments, right? it's the folks in the front office and there is a big divide with a lot of the career folks and they don't feel they are being listened to in the same way and that tran sends politics. i don't want to make this into a republican administration thing. you have a justice department that is -- that the president has proven that he's willing to weaponize to use a strong term but the president is willing to treat the attorney general as his personal attorney and this sort of piggy backing on what kim had said, the president got rid ofs effectively because he didn't carry the president's water as a personal attorney would and this is a very partisan attorney general. everyone knew what sessions' record was but even being loyal on a partisan level to the president isn't sufficient and wasn't sufficient and so i think there is a leadership there now and i guess relationship with the justice department that just doesn't, hesitate to say don't have a respect for the rule of law but playing fast and loose and that's driven by the president. it's really a shame. the justice department and people who work there take themselves very seriously, take the sort of lofty integrity stuff very seriously as you almost want to roll your eyes at it and it's really a shame to see what has gone on there. >> eugene, i'm of the opinion that the mueller report needed a writer and i say this as a matter of civic and public education and not partisan politics. it is way too consequential piece of work to not have what a writer would give to it and that's kind of take out some of the dryness, none of the substance and tell more of a narrative. having said that, what do you say to the people who have been disappointed since the day it dropped and perhaps how it's been portrayed and interpreted and the lack of action in its name? >> well, a couple of things. first thing i say is that the way it was portrayed and rolled out by barr clearly was an attempt to put a big thumb on the scale. but there is an issue with the report itself. i mean, he did not come to a conclusion on obstruction of justice. he laid out ten cases to everyone who looks at him, who knows anything about the law, the former prosecutors say that's obstruction of justice. yet, mueller didn't take that step and didn't say that flat out. so that's something fundamental about the report itself that doesn't really depend on the way it was rolled out and in the end, you know, we waited it. we hung on every word and some of the footnotes are fascinating. there is a lot in there but look at trump's approval numbers and some polls maybe they have gone up increate mentally. one wonders to what extent the cake is baked in terms of what people think of donald trump and what people think of his potential legalities and obstruction of justice and even collusion. >> well, kimberly, that gets your attention. eugene's last point and the white house has certainly been defiant in the face of all this. how much do you think democrats in the house are noticing all of this? >> yeah, look, i think for the very point that eugene made is why nancy pelosi has said absent something extraordinary and without strong bipartisan support that impeachment really is a non-starter because it would be divisive to the country. it would also be difficult to do. i mean, there is not the vote in the senate to impeach the president. but what has happened since then is the white house ordering people including former staffers like don mcgahn not to appear, not to cooperate with house investigations, not to compile with subpoenas that, that has created a new energy among house democrats to talk about impeachment, to talk about it more publicly and really try to push speaker pelosi to change her mind and it's unclear right now whether speaker pelosi is giving them the room to do this. you have to understand a lot of these different members have different desires from constituencies. some come from places that really want impeachment proceedings begun and conservative districts they may not and really hashing this out in a public way while nancy pelosi is really staying. it makes me wonder if donald trump didn't issue this, eat it. if he allowed people to go and testify would this all be over already? this insistence to reject these calls and to lead to legal fights that are going to carry out from here on in may backfire on him. we may have to see. >> elliott williams, god forbid 1,000 times if history stopped tonight, if wlaerned it was time to roll the credits, how in your view would the mueller report be enshrined in history? how will it be remembered? >> well, i'll say something that i'm very afraid to say right now. >> we love that kind of thing. >> i'm going to disagree with eugene robinson on one point. i respect him immensely. i'm not sure not coming to a conclusion on obstruction was a failing of -- i signed that letter as a former prosecutor. here is the thing. it was a punt to congress if anything and congress is a body that has the authority and can investigate whether a president engaged in impeachment or serious wrongdoing or conduct but what has happened now is that the president and administration have frustrated any attempt of congress to engage its constitutional duty. again, piggy backing what kim said again, congress isn't exactly tripping over themselves to go impeach the president right now but at the end of the day, when administration is not compiling with even basic oversight requests, congress cannot carry out its fundamental oversight or even impeach the responsibility. so, yes, they could have come to a conclusion as to that as to that obstruction of justice point but there is an entire branch of government that has the ability to investigate a president. so i think that question, you see we're disagreeing on this panel a little bit but that's going to be the enduring question, why didn't robert mueller go there but i do think that that's not the final question we need to ask. it's sort of why isn't the president -- why isn't congress either making a yes or no up or down determination whether to proceed with impeachment and what happens after that and will the president of the united states honor congress as a co-equal branch of government because that's not clear right now. >> in the spirit of the debates about to begin way too early. eugene your name was revoked and you're given 30 seconds rebuttal time. >> i don't know that i need to rebut. it's certainly right it was a punt to congress. i wish he hadn't punted. i wish he had come to a conclusion and because now congress' ability to do its investigation as everybody pointed out is being hampered and congress may have to move to its ultimate weapon. its ultimate method of getting to the truth which would be impeachment inquiry. so but yeah, you're right, it was definitely a punt. >> eugene, kimberly and elliott have all agreed to stay with us here over the break. when we come back, we'll look at the staffing chaos within the white house walls, a lot of top level posts remain unfilled, plus the divisions between those already at work there. and later, the true meaning of this holiday honoring the fallen veterans of our nation. we will ask a man who used to wear four stars on each shoulder what memorial day means to him when the "11th hour" continues. we're just getting started on this memorial day monday night. recent reporting reveal as chaotic scene as a lot of big positions are still being run by acting officials unconfirmed to those jobs. nbc news reporting president trump picked up the pace selecting nominees for high level positions but according for the non-partisan group known as the partnership for public service, there are so many jobs. we quote there are 132 positions that have no nominee at all including the top jobs at drug enforcement administration and the burro of alchol. still with us, our panel on this monday night and eugene, is this the absence of rigor or the presence of an active policy? >> maybe a bit of both. i think it's mostly absence of rigger. this is one of the sort of -- not under reported story of the trump administration but i think an under appreciated fact about the trump administration. it's the general kind of slip shot nature and the fact that >> maybe a bit of both. i think it's mostly absence of rigger. this is one of the sort of -- not under reported story of the trump administration but i think an under appreciated fact about the trump administration. it's the general kind of slip shot nature and the fact that there are all these empty -- it's never been fully staffed the way a normal administration is. it's never been staffed with people of equality that a normal administration has. whatever your political believes, people that have experience and knowledge and know how to get stuff done, the trump administration has never been fully staffed with that and so that's one reason why a lot of the work that comes out of the administration is so lacking just down to the misspellings but also big policy things like the detention of children at the border. that was a deliberate policy but once they decided to take it back, they didn't know where the kids were. they are still trying to figure out how to match kids and parents and that's a function they never really staffed properly. >> let's continue this thread that eugene started, the real life implications of acting secretary of this or that. acting burro chief, acting section chiefs. >> yeah, it's very problematic. this goes back to the transition. they fired chris christie during the transition process and at the start of the administration they weren't prepped up and ready to go. there is two big problems with these acting folks. one is a basic business or organizational matter. people need to know who is in charge. people need to know who their bosses are for moral and organizational moral and running a business. look, the president of the united states is the head of government but he's not running the burro of land management from day to day and so to some extend, people need to have someone in charge:that's important. more importantly, there are jobs in government or tasks that cannot be performed by someone acting. case in point, i remember getting sally yates confirmed to department attorney general, a big issue is the acting deputy attorney general can't sign fisa applications. none of them can be in an acting role. regardless of the i guess concerns about fisa that people might have, it's a core national security function and one that can't be performed by someone in an acting role and that kind of problem exists all across government when you have people who are confirmed to their position. it actually impedes the success of the government in people's lives every day. >> kimberly, let's circle around back to where we started tonight and that is this. the one confirmed head of a cabinet agency that the president has critically for him is attorney general. if there are buescher ra republicans who have been on the international space station and out of touch who landed today either 41 era or 43 era, i think they would be amazed and alarmed when you told them that trump has the attorney general he was looking for and his name is bill barr, the former attorney general. >> yes. i mean, i think -- i mean, look, i don't know the attorney general personally. it seems he has read the tea leaves and sees how president trump has treated cabinet members, even his own previous chiefs of staff who disagree with him or who he publicly undermines them and he says if he wants this job, i guess he needs to stay in the president's good graces in order to keep it particularly looking at his own previous predecessor as i said, former attorney general sessions. but this -- look, there is turnover in every administration particularly coming to a close of a term as president trump has done but what typically happens is there are people lined up as one person steps down, one cabinet member, one head of an agency steps down, there is a host of people behind him or her to step up and be nominated and take that place. from the beginning of the trump administration in part because there are a lot of republicans who told me that they wanted no parts of this administration because those who even agree to become a part of this administration was, were so publicly undermined and insulted and name called even by the president publicly and on his twitter feed. they don't have that bench of folks to come in and fill those slots and the president said he enjoys acting positions because that makes it easier for him to make moves, which means it makes it easier for him to get rid of folks. this is by design and he seems not to be bothered it. >> three of our friends helping us out on a holiday night. our thanks for coming on. appreciate it. with just a month to go until the first debate of the 2020 season, if you can believe it, a look at what to expect from the very crowded democratic field and the man they are all fighting to replace, "the 11th hour" continues right after this. 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(vo) quickbooks. backing you. i just feel like a young man. i'm so young. i can't believe it. i'm the youngest person -- i'm a young vibrant man. i look at joe, i don't know. >> sleepy person. i don't know what the hell happened to biden. i don't know what happened to him. that doesn't look like the guy i knew. what happened to him? >> sleepy joe said he's running to quote save the world while he was, he is going to save every country but ours. >> that's going on on one side. on the other side, you may not want to hear this but we got to start talking about it. the first democratic party debates on this very network are now a month away. there are nearly two dozen democrats in the race yet president trump has already identified his number one challenger as you may have just heard there he's got his sight set squarely on joe biden since the day the former vice president entered the race. you may recall the day and it's been about a month now trump sent nearly 60 tweets in a matter of minutes, all of them aimed at the former vice president. probably no surprise biden's name, entire announcement focused on the damage he says trump is doing to this country. >> i believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an aberrant moment in time but if we give donald trump eight years in the white house, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are and i cannot stand by and watch that happen. >> our nbc news political team sums it up this way, the trump and biden camps are butting heads like it's 2020 already and just a reminder, the first caucus, that still eight months away. the general election isn't until a year and a half from now but early polls indeed indicate trump might have cause for concern. the latest fox news national polling shows more than half oh americans vote for someone, other than donald trump in 2020. with us for more on this two of our returning favorites, donna edwards, democratic member from the great state of maryland and opinion columnist and david jolly, former republican member of congress from the equally great state of florida that since left the house and his political party. welcome to you both. donna, a funny thing happened to the democratic party. joe biden is everything we were led to believe the democratic party of 2019 is not including in the midst of a youth movement, a guy that would turn 80 years old in the middle of his first term. how do you explain it? >> i think democrats are number one looking for somebody they believe will defeat donald trump and i think that if you look at the democratic field one it's an embarrassment of riches and some would say 1,000 flowers blooming is not a great idea but we will end up with five or six of them that really are contesting for the nomination and right now joe biden is at the top of the list. >> well, well answered. david, we've got ten candidates times two at this first debate. we're under a month to go now. how do they possibly stand out without making the wrong kind of headlines do you think? >> i think some will make the wrong kind of headlines but obviously, they are looking for that moment because as you said, as donna said, biden's numbers are strong. the interesting thing where the field stands is you have biden and then just below him, it's about ten points below him but you have a mix of kind of the heart beat of where the democratic party is trying to go arguably in terms of the progressive movement. you have elizabeth warren and bernie sanders and kamala harris, pete, those who speak to the passionate part of the party. what you see is that contrast of display. only three or four candidates legitimately will get a ticket out of iowa, new hampshire and south carolina and they are hoping for that contrast with joe biden. if you are in that mix of progressive candidates, you want that moment to compare your progressive credentials and your electability against the former vice president. >> wonder if the control room can put that graphic of the candidates back on the screen. the numbers or lack of numbers are absolutely remarkable. donna edwards, look at this. eric swalwell, former governor, governor montana, governor colorado. senator from new york, senator from minnesota. this is unbelievable. if you're those people and remember, only 20 of these will make the cut, if you're those people same question to you how do you stand out without making the wrong kind of headlines. >> you know, the thing i've been looking at is the progression up and until the debates take place in another month and what you can see in that list is that some of the people that have risen to the top like elizabeth warren for example whose been sort of a steady, steady climb bernie sanders coming down somewhat, kamala harris, you next steady as she goes. i think these candidates will be able to separate themselves but they may only get a couple minutes to do that and so they have to decide how they will make those couple of minutes count. >> make every moment count of air time coming up. what a night that will be. donna and david have agreed to stick around. coming up, their predictions on what voters expect for the summer season ahead of this. this being the traditional kick off of the summer season tonight when "the 11th hour" continues. we are back and we are joined tonight by not one but two former members of congress. david jolly, i'd like to start with you on this. we are back and we are joined tonight by not one but two former members of congress. david jolly, i'd like to start with you on this. this is about what we call the rust belt and let's for the sake of the good folks there call it the industrial midwest. this is from politico. trump scrambles to develop rust belt slide and aids and allies are moving to sure up his support in three rust belt states that propelled him to the presidency but where his own polling shows him in trouble heading into 2020. there is nagging concern after a midterm election in which republicans across the midwest got clobbered and as trump's trade war is threatening farmers and factory workers who helped put him in office. david, this past week he made what was his 48th visit to the state of pennsylvania since before he declared going back that long. this is where the rubber meets the road. you can't lie to these folks if the situation right in front of them is bleak. >> word is your bond. you use the word lie. the president largely lied to them in 2016 he was going to be their champion which is why, you know, in the earlier sound mashup where donald trump was saying the derogatory comment about joe biden, that's because he's down by 11 points in pennsylvania. right now latest polls have trump losing to every single candidate except beto o'rourke. you will see candidates that try to regionalize this race in the primary and make their case for electability. the candidate that can take back those states that swung towards donald trump in 2016 will beat him in 2020. donald trump has to run almost a perfect race in the states he barely won from hillary clinton and the odds don't look good for the president right now. >> donna edwards, let's talk about one aspect of the economy and it's enormous and that's farming and it's personal for those in it. i'm fortunate enough to have worked in kansas, arkansas, oklahoma, missouri, i lived in missouri. we see tornado ally this time of year. we tend to look at the tornado coverage. farmers look at it for how much precip they will get. are their fields going to be flooded? the corn went in late for them. uncertainty how much soybean crop to put in the ground because of what they will get for it and where it's going to go and can you imagine that's the way you make your living every year you are completely at the mercy of national politicians? >> well, that and then you add to that the president's trade war and the toll that that's taken on the farmers and frankry that it's going to take on consumers from around the country. i come from a farming family in north carolina so i understand that and i think that national policy has to begin to appreciate the day to day, the daily existence of farmers in this country especially our family farmers. we're losing more of them every single day because of the whims of national policy. >> david jolly,over usely the state of florida has seen its own changing fortunes let's say with the money that used to grow out of the ground down there. >> it certainly has. we've moved from was a significantly agricultural economy we're facing challenges certainly in the area of citrus but other commodities as well. there are promises broken from this president even in the disaster relief area. there still has not been funds delivered as a result of one of the greatest hurricanes to hit the state of florida now probably eight months ago. but to our earlier conversation, brian, these regional conversations provide an opportunity for one of those 20 candidates, some of those polling at zero to actually break out of the crowd a little bit, taken eric swalwell, somebody born in iowa and involved in law enforcement in iowa and perhaps understandsish -- issues better. that's an opportunity to pull off an early win and place well enough to move on. i think we will see some of the democratic candidates actually be able to perform well because they can speak to issues in a way the president can't. >> terrific point. thanks to both of our guests. donna edwards, appreciate it. coming up, a reflection on what this day means with a decorated four-star general when "the 11th hour" continues. ♪ stand up to chronic migraine with botox®. what if you had fewer headaches and migraines a month? botox® prevents headaches and migraines before they even start. botox® is for adults with chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more. botox® injections take about 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department of veterans affairs, it's origins go back to 1868, just three years after the end of the civil war an organization for veterans of the union began the may tradition of decorating the graves of the fallen in tradition that was then called decoration day. the first decoration day was held that very year at what was a still small but expanding arlington national cemetery. after world war i, the tradition expanded to include those who fought in all american wars. and then in 1971 congress officially declared the last monday of the month of may now known as memorial day as a national holiday. here with us to join our discussion, the perfect participant general barry mccaffrey, heavily decorated combat veteran of vietnam and u.s. ground commander in the gulf war. general, because you have fought and been wounded for this country because you come from a military family and are now the patriot of your own military family, i thought it appropriate to open with the thesis question for a sixth grader's term paper, what does memorial day mean to you? >> well, that's a good setup. my own son's recently retired infantry officer in iraq and afghanistan. my daughter is an army nurse. the family has been at this a long time. my father in law, late father in law fought in the pacific with the 11th airborne and my dad fought in italy. i think today for a lot of veterans, millions of us, it's a day of remembrance, particularly the vietnam generation 360,000 killed and wounded and now we've got the several million veterans in iraq and afghanistan. we've had almost 60,000 killed and wounded in the war on terror so all of us hold the losses in our hearts. their families, you know, never forget but neither do their comrades. it's a special day country and f forces. that's what keeps us free, these young women and men who are willing to step forward and defend us at risk of their own lives. >> general, talk about how society has changed in your time on earth. we've been at war for 18 years, but to all members of our society, it doesn't feel like that. we've increasingly settled into two categories, and i'm putting this bluntly and oversimpifying for a reason. military families in this country and civilian families in this country who have limited back and forth between them. >> well, you know, it's a strong point. world war ii, 16 million men and women served in uniform, the entire country was involved in a variety of ways. now days, probably around 1% of the country, active guard reserve in uniform, so, the 60,000 killed and wounded in the war on terror have been narrowly concentrated, and they've been at it a long time. we've seen nothing like this since world war ii. some of these air force c-130 squadrons and navy deployments and special operations, have a dozen combat tours. so, it's been an unusual sense of dedication and sacrifice on the part of those who served. but i always tell, you know, remind people, the most trusted institution in american society is the u.s. armed forces. and there's a reason for it. because the families of the young men and women who come join us in uniform, understand this is an organization of honor, of courage and of dedication. >> no one is getting wistful for the lack of a draft in the united states, but in this political season, i'm curious to know if you support the notion of national service, especially since part of the conversation right now is student loan debt, retiring student loan debt and the burden we put on young people when they're all educated up and ready to go into society. >> well, you know, that universal service, brian, is a very appealing concept, sort of a civic duty notion. it won't work. it's too big. there's too many millions of young people, you know, do you really want them out there doing trails in the national wilderness and taking care of old people, who organizes it? so, it doesn't make a lot of sense. what we're always concerned about is to ensure that the recruiting system gets out with the proper tools and inducements to get people to step forward and carry and m-4 carbine in combat to defend the country. so, i'm more concerned about that than i am some sort of general civic notion of national service. >> retired u.s. army four-star general barry mccaffrey. as i said, we couldn't think of anyone we'd rather talk to on a night like this. general, thank you so much. >> thank you, brian. coming up for us, someone else we are thinking of this memorial day night. last thing before we go here tonight, as we mark yet another memorial day holiday weekend. for many american families, certainly ours growing up, we try to pause to think about and talk about the meaning of memorial day. it's especially acute, as you heard general mccaffrey just say, in a nation that's been at war for 18 years. and so, in these waning moments of memorial day, if there's not a specific family member, friend or loved one who you're thinking of tonight, spare a thought or a prayer for robert maxwell, who passed away on may 11th at the age of 98. bob grew up in boise, he dropped out of high school to work on the family farm. he was promptly drafted right into world war ii. because he was raised a quaker, he applied for a non-combat role on religious grounds. he was rewarded with a job as a wire man, the perilous task of stringing telephone lines between headquarters and the front line in the middle of combat. which he did, in north africa, sicily, italy and france. until the night when a german grenade landed in the middle of his platoon. bob did the only thing he could think of in the moment, he grabbed an army blanket to smother the shrapnel and he jumped on the grenade to save his brothers, which he did. the blast knocked him out. it blew away part of his foot, it blew into his arm and his head, but his platoon members all survived. robert maxwell went home badly wounded and was promptly awarded the medal of honor, along with his bronze star, two silver stars and two purple hearts. his medal of honor citation mentions his instantaneous bravery, but he always saw it, quote, there was nothing else to do. bob maxwell returned to the u.s. and became an auto tech instructor at community colleges. for all those who came to know him, he was beloved for his inherent decency and modesty, equal to his towering bravery. his death leaves 70 living recipients of the medal of honor, among them, the three remaining world war ii veterans who received their medal for their combat actions in that conflict. and on that note, that is our broadcast for this monday night, the observance of memorial day 2019. thank you for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. . this morning president trump wraps up i had state visit to japan. while abroad he weighed in on north korea dismissing concerns about recent missile tests and praising kim jong-un. >> president trump is stepping up his attacks on former vp joe biden which is receiving criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. severe weather striking the plains and the midwest. the national weather service confirms a large and dangerous tornado touched down near daytona, ohio. meteorologist bill karins will have the latest in just a couple of minutes. good morning,

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