tomorrow at 9. you can listen or watch on siriusxm radio, the msnbc app or apple tv. we hand off to our dear friend, colleague, and musical theory enthusiast. >> yes, in the commercial break. >> thank you so much both of you. i'm chris jansing, 11:00 a.m. out west, 2:00 p.m. in new york. president trump today trying to do damage control as the dow is struggling to recover following the worst day of trading this year. we've seen a drop just in the last half hour. trump continuing to take credit for positive indicators but when it comes to the massive losses in the stock market, he's blaming china. >> the economy is phenomenal right now. with a normalized interest rate, we're doing phenomenal. we had a couple of bad days, but we're going to have some very good days. we had to take on china.

china was ripping our country like has never happened before in history with any country. they were taking out $500 billion a year. 500 billion and that's not including intellectual property theft, which they were stealing like crazy, so i had to do it. >> and in a series of tweets, the president also took aim at the federal reserve and germany for initiating global instability as well as the media, which he accused of purposefully trying to crash. but the "wall street journal" editorial board has a different theory, the president has no one to blame but himself, quote, wednesday's market moves are an omen of the future, not destiny. the key to avoiding the worst is to restore a sense of policy calm and confidence. stop the trade threats by tweet. someone should tell mr. trump that incumbent president who is reside over elections within two years of an election rarely get a second term. it's that left point that has

left the white house fl, he's running out of tools. continued economic expansion is not a given, rather than attack the global system that has produced so much prosperity for america, trump would do well to harness its potential for economic growth. so our big question today is president trump is own worst enemy when it comes to the economy. joining me is white house bureau chief for the "washington post" phillip rucker, republican strategist rick tyler, msnbc political analyst, and chief economic correspondent for politico and cnbc contributor ben white. ben, let me start with you because of what we have been seeing in the last half hour on the stock market. what is going on? what do we know. >> we know the market is not going to recover from the 800 point loss that we saw yesterday, and i don't know what the direct cost of the current downdraft is, but overall it is

concern about the trade war with china, and all of these tweets and attacks by president trump on the fed, he does want to blame everybody but himself, which is, we know, pretty typical for this president, but the reason that markets have been suffering, the reason that industrial production is down, and manufacturing is already in recession is because of the trade policy because companies don't know what their supply chains are going to look like, they don't know what the trade policy is going to look like going forward. it's not the fault of the fed, it's not the fault of the news media, it's the fault of the white house and the president and the one thing he could do to juice the economy is take all this u uncertainty away. >> phillip is there any indication the white house plans to reverse coarse on the tariffs, on -- course on the tariffs, on the fed, on our allies in light of what we are seeing. >> you saw the president make a decision earlier this week to delay the tariffs with china, which he said was in order to

ensure a successful holiday shopping season in the united states but that's effectively just punting that decision. it's not reversing course. according to my reporting today, there are no plans at the white house right now to prepare for a recession. they are not taking proactive steps right now to do so, in part because they're looking at some more positive indicators such as the unemployment rate, such as consumer confidence even as the market is showing these early warning signs, but there is definitely concern within the president's orbit, and according to my reporting, from the president himself, who's very alarmed about the political damage and economic downturn could have for his reelection campaign. >> new york magazine made an interesting point on twitter last night. i'm going to quote it. have to assume trump is feeking out because neither me nor the fed identically caused today's stock drop and it's unclear his unusual tools will do anything about it. ben, when you talk to economists

and folks on wall street, what would they like to see the president do? what can he do at this point? >> what he can do is not do trade policy via tweet. >> as the "wall street journal" says. >> right. which is absolutely true and as phillip is saying, he paused on the tariffs on china on the consumer goods, at least most that were supposed to go into effect december 1st, paused for december 15th and that's helpful to retailers. he admitted as much, all that does is push the ball down the road again. they could go into effect on december 15th, and i have also been talking to people inside the white house and who used to work in the white house who are concerned that the economy is not going to be strong going into 2020, not going to be something that will be a big boost to his reelection, and that is a selling point. they don't have more room for fiscal stimulus, we have enormous deficits and debt, the tax cut hasn't paid for itself. there's very little they can do

to prepare for a recession, except to make an actual trade deal with china and not continue the bellicose on and off again rhetoric, because it makes it impossible for businesses to plan. you can't set your supply chain, an idea of what your demand is like, your profits are like, if you have no idea what trade policy is. that's the big weight on the policy. that's the big recession risk right now. >> and i guess the big question for the politics of it for 2020, rick, is the whole, i could, you know, shoot somebody on 5th avenue and get away with it kind of theory, and i mean it to this point, eugene scott notes in the "washington post" that the president may have an ace up his sleeve. he writes these facts are concerning for most loyal supporters, these details are not of primary concern because despite some trump backers citing economic anxiety as the top reason for supporting him, his willingness to respond to his supporters cultural anxiety is the hallmark of his reelection campaign.

is eugene scott right? >> he might be right. except that when people start to suffer economically, that is, they look at their iras, 401(k)'s and what they planned to retire on and see them decrease, people get nerkvous. when they look at food inflation, they get nervous, and when farmers, you know, have lost contracts and can't replace them, it's not worth it to place, you know, plant the next crop, they get nervous and that's what people tend to vote on. i think trump's reelection is the economy is central to his case for reelection, and he's very much in danger now of almost single handedly driving the economy into recession. that's not what ben said. what ben was saying is that businesses need to plan, and you would think a businessman like donald trump would know that after the long-term, and what's happening now in the market is

so many people are leaving the market and buying bonds, that's driven the bond price below the 2-year. that's caused an inversion, which is a pretty reliable predictor of recession. so so much money is going in the bond market that the yields have gone way way way down, and because -- and it's not coming back. now, the market seemed to have sparked a rally this morning but it couldn't sustain it and it's reversed course, over a hundred in the opposite direction. we're not going to get an 800 point recovery today. and if you start to look at china, all the other trade deals, there's only been one, the trade deal in south korea. and nafta was reprinting the hard back and paperback with the new chapter. it wasn't a big deal. that has not been ratified. so, you know, predictability people are looking for, and trump is never going to provide

that. >> i wonder, phillip rucker in the few seconds we have left, we have seen before if there's something not working or he doesn't like the way it's being reported, he shifts gear, brings up something else, puts something else into the headlines, causes a stir, but again, if it's your pocketbook, your 401(k) or going to the store and suddenly realizing your bill is a lot higher than it was last week and you have to pick and choose what you're going to bring home to put in the refrigerator, that's a little harder to overcome, presumably. >> that's exactly right, and the economy is not a one-day story. it's not something that is going to disappear. there will continue to be measurements and indicators and reverberations for many months to come if in fact bier heading to a -- we're heading to a downturn and this is a 15, 16, month story that has a bad end in the november. that's why he and his advisers are concerned about this.

>> fi >> while president trump seems more than happy to blast china over trade, when it comes to the rights of hong kong residents to protest what they see as an overbearing chinese government, not so much. there are platitudes about things working out for both sides. politico ben white is back, and anne gear en. you have called the president quote the bystander in chief for his response to hong kong. explain. >> well, his response on hong kong fits a pattern in which the president seems to be more of an onlooker or bystander to world events that really other previous u.s. presidents, other leaders, members of congress, members of his own administration are much more willing to confront on the traditional grounds of the u.s. as a leader and defender of liberty, and human rights. trump rarely challenges other leaders on those points and he hasn't here.

his advice to chinese president xi has been to go and talk to the protesters, but he has not said anything big or meaningful himself about those protesters want and whether he supports it. >> so you write to your earlier point, trump positioned himself in similarly benign fashion against saudi arabia after the killing of columnist jamal khashoggi and detention of women's rights activists and against russia for continued detention of ukrainian ships and sailors. i guess the question is why are we seeing his america first tendencies, sympathy for strong men, something else, what do you see here? >> both of those for sure, and i think the third reason is his own reluctance to really do the things that other presidents have done reflexively as the leader of the free world. that facilities with the america first, his america first view

that the united states has been misused as the world's policeman, that other countries rely too much on american leadership and american money, and he kind of gets all of those things mixed up in his head, and it comes out as a reluctance to really go very hard and forward leaning on matters that really, in this case, don't actually involve u.s. money or troops or anything else. no one is suggesting that he should be sending the u.s. navy in to free hong kong, but lots of people, including a lot of republicans in congress are suggesting that he should stand up and say the united states supports what the protesters want, does not support what china is doing. >> a piece of your own that the dissonance between the white house and the other arms of the administration has persisted, trump's comments were notably less assertive than those of the

state department which pushed back publicly on beijing after government officials revealed personal details about a u.s. diplomat who met with activists in hong kong's pro democracy movement. is that what this has become, various departments of this government almost operate independently from what the president is saying? i mean, that's not the way white houses act. the president leads and you follow. >> right. >> well, as we've seen, this was not a traditional white house in many respects and that's particularly true here on hong kong and the administration's response to it. there have been a lot of people inside the white house both on the, you know, the domestic policy front and the economic front, the national security front who have wanted the president to come out strongly and say we support these protesters. we support freedom in general. we do not support beijing cracking down on what's happening in hong kong. he hasn't done that, and we also report instead this piece on a

conversation that he had earlier this year with president xi in which he essentially said he wasn't going to take a stand on hong kong. part of the reason for that in trump's mind, some of it is the sympathy for strong men and the whole approach, some of it is trade and not wanting to complicate trade talks with president xi and bring in a new element to that. he does, ultimately want to cut a trade deal with the chinese in his mind taking a stand on hong kong would make that harder. i don't think that's true. i think the chinese are able to separate these things, trade and international relations in a large regard but to trump, they are one in the same, and that if you were to criticize xi directly, then he wouldn't get the trade deal he wants. >> ben white, always good to see you. thank you, anne gearen, stick around, still to come, another democrat bows out of the 2020 race, and may be eyeing a run for senate, a move other low polling contenders are being pushed to consider. a bipartisan call for steve king to quit, the iowa congressman asked if we would

even be here if not for rape and incest. could this be the final straw? but right after the break israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says his country is a vibrant and free democracy, and bans america's first two muslim women in congress from entering israel. women in congress from entering israel ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

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facing pressure from president trump, israel is now barring two democratic congresswomen and members of the

so-called squad from traveling there this weekend as they planned. prime minister benjamin netanyahu's office put out a statement. congresswoman that league and omar are leading activists in promoting boycott legislation against israel in the u.s. congress. only a few days ago, we received their visitation plan and it became clear that they were planning a campaign whose sole purpose was to strengthen the boycott and negate israel's legitimacy. the extraordinary move to deny the lawmakers entry came just moments after president trump tweeted about the trip quote it would show great weakness if israel allowed representative omar and representative talib to visit. they hate israel and all jewish people and there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds. back with me, "washington post" anne gearen, joining me senior director of progressive programming for siriusxm and msnbc political analyst, serene max well.

the embassy was asked about the visit weeks ago. they were told anyone is welcome. suddenly, obviously, that position has changed. what's going on here? >> yes, this has been going on for weeks, chris, and the israeli ambassador in washington, ron dermer who is very close to prime minister netanyahu had taken an unusual step for him for putting out a statement on the record in which he says that israel's position is all members of congress should come and see israel for themselves, and anyone who disagrees with israeli's policies should see the country and have a chance to see its people and its security concerns. that has been israel's position going back a number of israeli administrations, the fact that it has changed, and is so politicized is clearly related to trump's view that these two

muslim congresswomen are politically useful for him in culture wars and to rally support among very conservative american jews who are as exercised as netanyahu is about the bds movement. >> and to the point about trump, axios reported last week that the president was lobbying prime minister netanyahu to bar the congresswomen's entry using a law passed in 2017 that requires the interior minister to block foreign nationals if they boycott the jewish state. stephanie gresham called that report fake news. it doesn't seem so fake now. >> i think this is unprecedented, everybody has been saying that all day long, but i think that we're skipping over a couple of things in the tweet that are alarming to ne in addition to the fact that this is happening. he is straight up lying about these congresswomen and their position on israel. they do not hate all jews.

they have never said they hate all jews. they have been critical of the israeli government. they have been clear on the fact they are not talking about jewish people. when ilhan had the tweet that was seen and perceived by many as anti-semitic, she had, you know, listened to colleagues in congress and heard them out, apologized for that. and subsequently, she has not done anything like that since. so the fact that she made one mistake, copped to that mistake, a thing the president will never ever ever do, and the fact that we're still, you know, donald trump clearly is taking this very personally. he personally does not like these congresswomen. he thinks it's politically beneficial to target congresswomen of color, and i hope he's wrong because he's putting their lives at risk every single time he singles them out in this way. >> one of the reasons given for their plan or to reject them coming was the plan was just to go to the west bank, not to meet

with any israeli officials and that they were sponsored by an organization that supports the boycott of israel, but any colleague, ayman mohyeldin had a look at the congresswomen's itinerary, it involves no meetings at all with either israeli or palestinian government officials that they set out to hear exclusively from human rights organizations and ngos on both sides to get a nonpolitical assessment of the situation on the ground. i mean, evan apac said we disagree with their positions but withe agree with their righo go to israel and see for themselves. does israel have any legitimate reason for not allowing this visit? >> well, you can see the political predicament that netanyahu is in, and has been in over this issue because his government's reasons for considering holding up their travel plans or barring them all together have changed a number of times over recent days.

one iteration was that rashida tlaib, of palestinian descent and has family, quite extended family but family in the west bank, were she to apply for a humanitarian visit to visit family, she might be approved. clearly that didn't happen, and another explanation has been that they were not, these congresswomen were not intending to visit vashem, which is the very prominent holocaust memorial near jerusalem and it is very often the first stop for american officials and members of congress when they go to jerusalem, that it was not on the itinerary. it was clear, then, that they had a different agenda. they were flailing about trying to come up with reasons to explain something that flies in the face of israeli government practice of prime ministers of all political stripes going back at least two decades.

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i ran for president because this country being ripped apart by politics and partisan games. today i'm ending my campaign for president but i will never stop believing that america can only move forward when we work together. >> and just like that, another presidential candidate is out of the race. john hickenlooper's departure narrows the field all the way down to 23, announcing today that he'll give a senate race some serious thought. but today another democratic contender who's been urged to drop out to run for senate, especially after the mass shooting rocked his hometown, explained why he is instead heading back out on to the trail. >> there are even been some who have suggested that i stay in texas and run for senate but

that would not be good enough for this community. that would not be good enough for el paso. that would not be good enough for this country. we must take the fight directly to the source of this problem. that person who is caused this pain and placed this country in this moment of peril. and that is donald trump. >> joining me is the president and ceo zur la-- you have a lot democrats looking at and encouraging them, get out of the race, run for the senate, we sort of feel like maybe we have a real chance there. look, hickenlooper says he's mulling it over. bullock is shrugging it off. who's making the right move here? >> i think hickenlooper is making the correct move.

i'm not saying he's a shoe in for that senate seat in colorado because there are already some strong candidates in that primary. >> a lot of candidates in that race. >> and in addition, you know, colorado's thought of as a very purple state, but it's blue, it is blue and in 2016, it was a state that hillary clinton won, so i think that, you know, it's good that candidates are reconsidering whether or not running for president is the most effective way to take on donald trump. i would argue it is not. i would argue that trump is not the only part of the problem. what we have learned is that institutionally, the republican party led by mitch mcconnell is also a piece of the problem. you're not going to get any of the progressive legislation you're talking about on the campaign trail accomplished if you don't have a different make up in the senate. so i think more candidates should ask themselves, am i getting the most effective thing to take on donald trump by running for president. if the answer is no, you need to reconsider. >> and to be clear, obviously it's very much an up hill battle if democrats are going to retake

the senate in 2020, but "the washington post" laid out an interesting road map yesterday that explained why the laikes o o'rourke, bullock and hickenlooper could work. >> in our increasingly polarized almost parliamentary political system, it's tough to buck the top of the ticket unless you're perhaps you're a candidate with a strong image, and a demonstrated history of outperforming your party. that's what these democrats could bring to the 2020 senate race. i think, you know, obviously it would be a challenge for beto and bullock, texas and montana, and low polling and decreasing funds if you're running for president. what do you make of this push, some democrats, pressure on these three guys? >> i have to say, i think it makes very little sense, frankly. in fact, i think what you've seen in 2016 is that democrat -- whoever won the top of the ticket, the presidential candidate is what drives most of

the voting, so in states that trump won, republican senators won, in states that hillary won, democratic senators won, the top of the ticket matters exponentially. i hear the arguments about having people run in these states, but what makes the most sense is for us to go through a process for people to determine, the party determines who the strongest democratic nominee and then actually, there's plenty of time to decide down the road who can run for senate. >> let me ask you about that there is this sense some people are pushing this narrative, the clock is ticking and if they're going to get out and set up for a senate run, they better do did pretty quickly. >> yeah, i mean, there's already a number of actually great candidates in texas running for senate. and beto does really well in texas, but he does well at the top of the ticket. so my view of this is we have a democratic primary. we should see how people are

doing. i think beto last week had a lot of democrats inspired by his tough talk about the president, really taking the fight to trump in a world where people are trying to determine who the best candidate to take on trump. he's making an argument, and i would say we should give him some time to make the argument and if we get past iowa and candidates aren't doing that well, then they should look at the senate race or other opportunities to serve the country. >> let's talk about the republican side of this, obviously they desperately want to hold on to the senate. the president is holding a rally in new hampshire tonight after basically endorsing his former campaign manager, cory lewandowski for a senate run on local radio. take a listen. >> i think he would be fantastic. he's got great energy. he's terrific on television, you've seen. he's a really good guy. i like him a lot. if he ran, he would be a great senator. if he ran and won, he would be a great senator. >> do you think democrats would

love to have him run against gene sheheen. there could be arguably other stronger candidates. >> it sound like he's describing a beauty queen, not somebody who's running to be an elected official. >> terrific on television, great energy s energy. >> sometimes i have to take a step back, when the president is describing the senate candidate as a beauty queen. the problem i have with cory lewandowski is he assaulted a female reporter on camera, and i think that's disqualifying, in fact, for any run for office unless you're going to, you know, be held account fast ball f -- accountable for that, and he has not been held accountable. that's my main issue, and i think it's interesting that republicans think this is their shot to take down gene sheheen, who is a popular democratic senator, and again, i think new hampshire is going to be an interesting state to watch because it comes early in the

primary calendar and we're going to know early on the mood of the voters who live there. >> that's a really good point. i'm wondering what you make up of that potential match up. lewandowski versus gene sheheen. >> you're seeing the trumpification of the republican party. there are others that poll better than cory lewandowski. jean sheheen is a popular senator, and she beats all of these votes. i think the idea that cory lewandowski, his claim to fame was that he was fired by donald trump at one point in the numerous firings that have taken place is qualified to be a u.s. senator is laughable, and i think that people in new hampshire take voting seriously. there are a lot of independents in that state. it's hard for a republican to win with republican only votes. they need to attract independents and i would think he would be a terrible candidate for that. >> you could almost hear the tv

ad on the other side, you know, cory lewandowski, not good enough to work for me, but he's great for the people of new hampshire, right. >> take my reject. that is probably not the best campaign slogan. >> zurlina maxwell, thanks to both of you. we have calls mounting for iowa congressman steve king to step down from both sides of the aisle, this time on his comments other abortion. here's what king told a conservative club in des moines yesterday while arguing that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape and incest. >> what if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were product of rape and incest, would there be any population of the world left if we did that, considering all the wars and all the rape and pillaging that has taken place, i know i can't certify that i'm not a part of a product of that. >> joining me from iowa, political reporter, josh

letterman, republican str strategist, rick tyler. >> voters reelected steve king, despite other hair raising comments he made in the past, in 2010. he said profiling has been a part of legitimate law enforcement. in 2013, when he was talking about immigration for everyone who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they have calves the size of cantaloupes because they are hauling marijuana across the desert. in 2017, quote, i would like to see an america that's just so homogeneous that we look a lot the same. 2017, assimilation, not diversity is our american strength and this year, white nationalist, white supremacist, western civilization, how did that language become so offensive. one argument we have heard from republicans, frankly, although some have criticized what he has said over the last 24 hours or so is leave this up to voters

but what are those voters tell you? >> yeah, chris, we have been talking to folks here in his district all day long. so far we haven't found anyone willing to defend king's comments themselves, and some people say they are so appalled by what he said, he has to go roo right now. there are also people that say even though he puts his foot in his mouth, they think he's a good congressman, and they think the controversy is overblown. >> we're supporters of steve king. he's a fine christian man who represents our state well. >> everybody's interrupted his statement to fit their own means, but the majority of people are against abortion, and i believe, you know, a lot of it was taken out of context. >> what changed that for you? >> just his inappropriate comments that he has made recently. >> is there anything he can do

to win back the vote of you and your fellow minded people? >> resign. >> and chris, we checked in with steve king's office just behind me here in fort dodge to see what he had to say about all of these calls for him to resign. we are told he is not in the office today. >> so there have been republicans as we mentioned, rick tyler who have been critical. liz cheney says the comments are appalling and bizarre. let me play for you just how far and then stopping house minority leader kevin mccarthy went. take a listen. >> there are things that steve king said that i do not believe the party of lincoln would stand for and as a united conference, we actually removed steve king from his committees inside congress, and i think this continues to show why that action was taken. >> but he also still has a vote, rick tyler, the same vote as every other member of congress. what is it going to take for

republicans to say no, no more? >> you know, chris, three years ago, i would have said that steve king was an embarrassment to the republican party but i don't think i can say that anymore. >> is he representative of the republican party? >> you know, not the rank and file. i have repudiated the republican party on this network and elsewhere because of their lack of courage to stand up to the president and what he says, and here's a member of congress in the fourth district of iowa, and they can't even stand up to the stupid things he says. it's not fair to the people of iowa and the people of the fourth district because as leader mccarthy said, he's been removed from all of his committees, so he doesn't wield any influence or power, so he's not helping farmers there, he's not helping the interests of northwest iowa, which he represents and, you know, those people deserve a representative who will actually work for them in congress for their interests, and steve king is in no position to do that. the problem for the republican

party, of course, is that he becomes, as you were suggesting, the face of the republican party, so maybe he'll survive in his district because people will vote for him there, but he hurts the whole ticket everywhere else because people come to believe that that's what the republican party represents. and that's not good. >> we appreciate that. josh letterman in iowa for us, thank you both. >> thank you. how jeffrey epstein's autopsy is raising new questions about how he died behind bars, and look at how the case is empowering women and workplaces to address sexual misconduct. who could be held accountable next. misconduct who could be held accountable next it's easy to move forward when you're ready for what comes next. at fidelity, we make sure you have a clear plan to cover the essentials in retirement, as well as all the things you want to do. and on the way, you'll get timely investment help to keep you on the right track, without the unnecessary fees you might expect from so many financial firms. because when you have a partner

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little as $25 per prescription. ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. raising more questions today surrounding the death of accused sex trafficker jeffrey epstein. a person familiar with the matter tells nbc news that an autopsy revealed the hioid bone in epstein's neck was broken. that break can happen as a result of both hanging and strangulation but occurs more often in strangulations, even with that two other sources say there's no indication of foul play. this as unreleased audio of epstein from 2003 has resurfaced. former "wall street journal" journalist traveled back there. >> i realize what i am. i'm very comfortable in my own skin. i'm not a helicopter pilot.

what i'm really free to do is i feel free to follow my own personality. as we discussed yesterday, i can't be totally, in my own ranch, i can the work i want to do. i'm free to explore as i see fit. >> joining me now, nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk. that's deeply disturbing in light of the accusations against him, but let's go to the investigation. where are we with this? we still don't have a cause of death. >> right. we still don't have a cause of death. all we have is this statement that was put out by the medical

examiner earlier in the week saying that she wanted more information before she could make an official announcement about his death, and so what we're getting is this drip of information that most today, we are learning that in the autopsy, the hyoid bone in jeffrey epstein's neck was broken. this is apparently a bone that is typically difficult to break, although it's easier to break in older men, and it can breakthrough a number of different factors whether it's hanging or blunt force trauma can break it as well, and strangulation. we are told by medical experts a couple of things. one is that you can't on it own use that as a way to determine the cause of death, and also although it is slightly more likely to break during manual strangulation, it's still a nominal difference between that and breaking during hanging. >> and i've covered a couple of murder trials where a hyoid bone was the subject of what was the

cause of death. it gets very complicated, things like what was the position of the body and goes on and on and on, but do we have any indication at this point, at least this part of the investigation might be, i don't want to say settled because people will disagree, but when we might have an official statement. >> we don't know for sure, hopefully by the end of the week. as you know, we are in this environment right now that is rife for speculation, and a little nugget like this is going to send people off into that territory without any real hard evidence. >> no kidding. >> we are still waiting for the cause of death. also really important to point out at this point the law enforcement officials we have spoken to said there's no indication of foul play and it does appear to be an apparent suicide. >> nbc's stephanie gosk staying on top of this for us. we appreciate it. joining me legal counsel for the times up legal defense fund jennifer mondino. thank you so much for being on. one of epstein's alleged victims, jennifer aoroz, the

title was jeffrey epstein raped me when i was 15. she talked about how she feels if she would have come forward his money, influence, and connections to important people made me want to hide and stay silent. those same powerful forces let him hide and evade justice. for years i felt crushed by the power and balance between epstein with his enablers and me. so my question is in the midst of the me too, in the midst of all the conversations about harvey weinstein and others and obviously epstein, do women feel more empowered to come forward, or is the power and balance almost always steel too great? >> yeah. i was really struck by the words that you read. when i heard them the first time, they were heart-wrenching and they were so powerful. they also are just so resonant of the stories that i hear with women that come forward to "the

times" help legal defense fund. i would say absolutely since the me too movement vent viral just about two years ago, women are feeling much more empowered to speak out to tell their stories to come forward and name the experiences that they've had. even just in the first two years of "the times" help legal defense fund, we've had more than 4,000 people come to us requesting legal help. and we know that so many people don't come forward. and even so we've had thousands of people come to us for help. i think it's a powerful indication that women all across the country in all walks of life in all different types of industries are now feeling that they can come forward and be believed. >> and, in fact, back in october last year, "the new york times" put the number of men already taken down by me too at over 200. that list obviously continues to grow. in recent days we saw those

allegations against domingo. there were a lot of questions about who knew what about harvey weinstein. in so many cases there have been ac accusations. people knew it was an open secret. but in general we hear that so often. are you seeing in your work that there is a willingness by some companies, some organizations, to look the other way still? or rather than fire someone or take some sort of action that they might consider to be not financially beneficial to the company? or is that just not as tenable as it once was to look the other way or say i didn't know? >> well, i'll tell you. i think something that is true with the cases that you mentioned, placido domingo and in so many stories that we hear, what is true is that there is a tremendous power imbalance between the people who are being harassed, who are being abused,

and the people that they are standing up against. and so it can be incredibly difficult for people to hold others accountable to speak out. that's part of what we are trying to do with "the times" help legal defense fund, connect people to lawyers, give lawyers money to be able to bring cases against powerful men like the ones that you have mentioned, powerful corporations like mcdonald's and google where workers have started standing up and trying to hold these companies accountable i think because they feel empowered by the #me too movement, by the fact that this is now part of the conversation. >> it is a step forward and we are glad. but more to come. jennifer, thank you and thank you for the work you do. much appreciated. >> thank you. 50 years ago today, peace, love, music, and history. "one more thing" is next. do you want ready to wear clothing without all the hassle? you can, with bounce dryer sheets.

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turn. just a month before the opening act, the original site fell through. but woodstock was saved thanks to a farmer named maxi who was probably the furthest thing from a hippee you could think of, but he respected the festival's goal of bringing people together for good. so he gave the festival his 600-acre dairy farm for just 50,000 bucks. it was a gesture that created history and four days that many have tried but failed to replicate. including this year when plans for a 50th celebration fell through after sites, sponsors and even musicians pulled out including john fogerty who played with credence clearwater revival. but as fogerty tells it, his woodstock experience wasn't as breathtaking as you'd assume. he said the crowd resembled

something out of dante's inferno. because they took the stage at 2:30 a.m. after the grateful dead. >> i came running out there and i see a bunch of people look a lot like me except they're naked. [ laughter ] and they're asleep. finally i went up to the mic kind of apoll jetically. i said, well, i hope you're enjoying some of this. we're having a great time up here. we just want you to like us. we're rocking out. way out there about a quarter mile, some guy's flicking his lighter. he says don't worry about it, john! we're with you! [ laughter ] [ applause ] so in front of a half a million people for the rest of my big woodstock concert, i played for that guy. >> but in a testament to woodstock's enduring appeal, the sound track is currently number

one in classic psychedelic rock on amazon music. i say the minute you get off the air, ali velshi. >> i totally am. that's exactly what i was thinking. >> i can mind-read. i remember having that album back when we, i guess we have albums. turn tables are back, baby. >> it's good to see you, friend. ♪ there you go. >> it's spontaneously started playing baby blue eyes. spontan playing baby blue eyes. spontan playing baby blue eyes. >> i'm not sure what happened there. you have yourself an excellent afternoon. all right, friend. it is in fact thursday, august 15th, and stocks are whipsawing. the market recovered this morning just one day after the dow experienced the worst percentage drop of the year. that's what happened yesterday by the way. the dow dropped 800 points, 3%. take a look at what happened today. this thing has been all over the place trying to figure out what direction it's going in. we are eg