President Donald Trump is launching his speech to the National Rifle Association with a recitation of grievances about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Speaking to the gun rights group's annual convention Friday, Trump said his political enemies "tried for a coup, didn't work out so well. And I didn't need a gun for that one, did I?'

The friendly audience applauded the quip, but Trump wasn't done. He said he's seen "corruption at the highest levels. A disgrace. Spying. Surveillance trying for an overthrow."

Mueller's probe found no evidence that Trump and his campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election.

But his report contained damning detail about Trump's efforts to shut down the investigation, fire Mueller and lie. Some Democrats say there's ample evidence of obstruction of justice.

Trump said Democrats are "obsessed with hoaxes, delusions and witch hunts."  And in a pre-emptive attack against his 2016 Democratic challengers, Trump also claimed that Democrats "want to take away your guns.

And he told the thousands in the crowd: "You better get out there and vote," saying of the 2020 election, "It seems like it's a long ways away. It's not."

Trump also wished his wife, First Lady Melania Trump a happy birthday.

POOL

Indianapolis, Indiana - 26 April 2019

1. Donald Trump on stage, walking up to podium

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"Well I want to thank Chris and Wayne. I'm thrilled to be here in Indiana with the men and women of the NRA. You are a great American patriots."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"And you see it now better than ever, with all of the resignations of bad apples, they're bad apples. They tried for a coup, didn't work out so well. And I didn't need a gun for that one, did I? All was taking place at the highest levels in Washington D.C. You've been watching, you've been seeing it. You've been looking at things that you wouldn't have believed possible in our country. Corruption at the highest level. A disgrace. Spying, surveillance, calling for an overthrow and we caught 'em. We caught em."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"America's future has never been brighter and yet Democrats have never been angrier. Especially now that their collusion delusion has been exposed to the world as a complete and total fraud."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"Democrats are obsessed with hoaxes, delusions and witch hunts, that's what they're obsessed with, that's what they want to do. And we can play the game just as well or better than they do. Far left radicals in Congress want to take away your voice, your jobs, your rights and they especially want to take away your guns, you know that. They want to take away your guns. You better get out there and vote. You better get out there and vote. It seems like it's a long ways away it's not. I was saying to Melania, our great first lady whose birthday it is today. Happy birthday Melania."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"In recent days, leading Democrats have proposed banning new guns and confiscating existing guns from law abiding citizens. What they don't tell you is the bad guys aren't giving up their guns. And you're not going to be giving up your guns, either."

++ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++

President Donald Trump is launching his speech to the National Rifle Association with a recitation of grievances about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Speaking to the gun rights group's annual convention Friday, Trump said his political enemies "tried for a coup, didn't work out so well. And I didn't need a gun for that one, did I?'

The friendly audience applauded the quip, but Trump wasn't done. He said he's seen "corruption at the highest levels. A disgrace. Spying. Surveillance trying for an overthrow."

Mueller's probe found no evidence that Trump and his campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election.

But his report contained damning detail about Trump's efforts to shut down the investigation, fire Mueller and lie. Some Democrats say there's ample evidence of obstruction of justice.

Trump said Democrats are "obsessed with hoaxes, delusions and witch hunts."  And in a pre-emptive attack against his 2016 Democratic challengers, Trump also claimed that Democrats "want to take away your guns.

And he told the thousands in the crowd: "You better get out there and vote," saying of the 2020 election, "It seems like it's a long ways away. It's not."

Trump also wished his wife, First Lady Melania Trump a happy birthday.

POOL

Indianapolis, Indiana - 26 April 2019

1. Donald Trump on stage, walking up to podium

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"Well I want to thank Chris and Wayne. I'm thrilled to be here in Indiana with the men and women of the NRA. You are a great American patriots."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"And you see it now better than ever, with all of the resignations of bad apples, they're bad apples. They tried for a coup, didn't work out so well. And I didn't need a gun for that one, did I? All was taking place at the highest levels in Washington D.C. You've been watching, you've been seeing it. You've been looking at things that you wouldn't have believed possible in our country. Corruption at the highest level. A disgrace. Spying, surveillance, calling for an overthrow and we caught 'em. We caught em."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"America's future has never been brighter and yet Democrats have never been angrier. Especially now that their collusion delusion has been exposed to the world as a complete and total fraud."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"Democrats are obsessed with hoaxes, delusions and witch hunts, that's what they're obsessed with, that's what they want to do. And we can play the game just as well or better than they do. Far left radicals in Congress want to take away your voice, your jobs, your rights and they especially want to take away your guns, you know that. They want to take away your guns. You better get out there and vote. You better get out there and vote. It seems like it's a long ways away it's not. I was saying to Melania, our great first lady whose birthday it is today. Happy birthday Melania."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"In recent days, leading Democrats have proposed banning new guns and confiscating existing guns from law abiding citizens. What they don't tell you is the bad guys aren't giving up their guns. And you're not going to be giving up your guns, either."

++ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++

Agitated and angry, President Donald Trump squared off against Democrats on Wednesday, unloading a rambling string of name-calling attacks as lawmakers deepened their impeachment inquiry.

Democrats put the White House on notice that a wide-ranging subpoena would be coming for information about Trump's actions in the Ukraine matter as they try to push past the stonewalling of a probe that's testing the limits of the constitution's system of checks and balances.

"I believe that our constitutional responsibility rises above politics and that we have all sworn an oath of office," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren Wednesday during a gun policy forum in Nevada.

"We need to get out there and do what the Constitution requires of us and that is hold this president, who believes he is not subject to the law, to hold him accountable."

Las Vegas – 2 October 2019

1. Wide of Sen. Elizabeth Warren

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"A hostile foreign government attacked our 2016 election for the purpose of helping Donald Trump. Part two, then-candidate Donald Trump welcomed that help. And then part three, when our federal government tried to investigate part 1 and part 2, Donald Trump did everything he could to interfere with that investigation which is a violation of the law. No one is above the law."

3. Cutaway of Warren

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"I believe that our constitutional responsibility rises above politics and that we have all sworn an oath of office and we need to get out there and do what the Constitution requires of us. And that is hold this president who believes he is not subject to the law to hold him accountable."

5. Sen. Cory Booker walks to gaggle

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Cory Booker, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"The President of the United States, forget this investigation, on the Mueller investigation was not allowing the subpoenaing of documents, not allowing people to come and testify before Congress. That is not allowing Congress to do its job. That is problematic. That's why I moved, not as quickly as many others, but that's what made me move to calling for impeachment proceedings because the Constitution sets up checks and balances. It is against our Constitution when a president thinks he's above those checks and balances. That's like he's not behaving like the leader of the free world he's behaving more like a dictator would. So yeah. Mueller did not clear him of obstruction. He gave 10 examples of behavior and actions that could constitute obstruction. We have an obligation in Washington to investigate those things and now the clarity with which we see the president in his own words pointing to a potential impeachable offense. So we need to investigate him and we need to have the authority with which to do that and impeachment proceedings give us tremendously more legal leverage to make sure that this investigation can continue. The American people deserve to know the truth."

7. Wide of Booker

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"I am deeply troubled and saddened that the United States Congress, with all of the work that we need to get done on everything from smart gun safety laws, to what we need to do to have an infrastructure plan to what we need to do to deal with the climate crisis that we are going to have to spend our time holding accountable a president who is lawless and who is evidenced no respect for the oath of office that he has taken. Oh that it didn't have to happen. But it does in defense of our democracy and in defense of the construct of our democracy which says that when you have a member of any branch of government in this case the executive who has violated the trust and abused their powers they have to be held accountable. Am I looking forward to this? I absolutely wish we were not at this moment. I wish so many things that are just not possible because Donald Trump is not capable of what I believe a president should be."

9. Wide of Harris

Agitated and angry, President Donald Trump squared off against Democrats on Wednesday, unloading a rambling string of name-calling attacks as lawmakers deepened their impeachment inquiry.

Democrats put the White House on notice that a wide-ranging subpoena would be coming for information about Trump's actions in the Ukraine matter as they try to push past the stonewalling of a probe that's testing the limits of the constitution's system of checks and balances.

"I believe that our constitutional responsibility rises above politics and that we have all sworn an oath of office," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren Wednesday during a gun policy forum in Nevada.

"We need to get out there and do what the Constitution requires of us and that is hold this president, who believes he is not subject to the law, to hold him accountable."

Las Vegas – 2 October 2019

1. Wide of Sen. Elizabeth Warren

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"A hostile foreign government attacked our 2016 election for the purpose of helping Donald Trump. Part two, then-candidate Donald Trump welcomed that help. And then part three, when our federal government tried to investigate part 1 and part 2, Donald Trump did everything he could to interfere with that investigation which is a violation of the law. No one is above the law."

3. Cutaway of Warren

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"I believe that our constitutional responsibility rises above politics and that we have all sworn an oath of office and we need to get out there and do what the Constitution requires of us. And that is hold this president who believes he is not subject to the law to hold him accountable."

5. Sen. Cory Booker walks to gaggle

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Cory Booker, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"The President of the United States, forget this investigation, on the Mueller investigation was not allowing the subpoenaing of documents, not allowing people to come and testify before Congress. That is not allowing Congress to do its job. That is problematic. That's why I moved, not as quickly as many others, but that's what made me move to calling for impeachment proceedings because the Constitution sets up checks and balances. It is against our Constitution when a president thinks he's above those checks and balances. That's like he's not behaving like the leader of the free world he's behaving more like a dictator would. So yeah. Mueller did not clear him of obstruction. He gave 10 examples of behavior and actions that could constitute obstruction. We have an obligation in Washington to investigate those things and now the clarity with which we see the president in his own words pointing to a potential impeachable offense. So we need to investigate him and we need to have the authority with which to do that and impeachment proceedings give us tremendously more legal leverage to make sure that this investigation can continue. The American people deserve to know the truth."

7. Wide of Booker

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"I am deeply troubled and saddened that the United States Congress, with all of the work that we need to get done on everything from smart gun safety laws, to what we need to do to have an infrastructure plan to what we need to do to deal with the climate crisis that we are going to have to spend our time holding accountable a president who is lawless and who is evidenced no respect for the oath of office that he has taken. Oh that it didn't have to happen. But it does in defense of our democracy and in defense of the construct of our democracy which says that when you have a member of any branch of government in this case the executive who has violated the trust and abused their powers they have to be held accountable. Am I looking forward to this? I absolutely wish we were not at this moment. I wish so many things that are just not possible because Donald Trump is not capable of what I believe a president should be."

9. Wide of Harris

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus124540

Agitated and angry, President Donald Trump squared off against Democrats on Wednesday, unloading a rambling string of name-calling attacks as lawmakers deepened their impeachment inquiry.

Democrats put the White House on notice that a wide-ranging subpoena would be coming for information about Trump's actions in the Ukraine matter as they try to push past the stonewalling of a probe that's testing the limits of the constitution's system of checks and balances.

"I believe that our constitutional responsibility rises above politics and that we have all sworn an oath of office," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren Wednesday during a gun policy forum in Nevada.

"We need to get out there and do what the Constitution requires of us and that is hold this president, who believes he is not subject to the law, to hold him accountable.

Las Vegas – 2 October 2019

1. Wide of Sen. Elizabeth Warren

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"A hostile foreign government attacked our 2016 election for the purpose of helping Donald Trump. Part two, then-candidate Donald Trump welcomed that help. And then part three, when our federal government tried to investigate part 1 and part 2, Donald Trump did everything he could to interfere with that investigation which is a violation of the law. No one is above the law."

++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Cory Booker, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"The President of the United States, forget this investigation, on the Mueller investigation was not allowing the subpoenaing of documents, not allowing people to come and testify before Congress. That is not allowing Congress to do its job. That is problematic. That's why I moved, not as quickly as many others, but that's what made me move to calling for impeachment proceedings because the Constitution sets up checks and balances. It is against our Constitution when a president thinks he's above those checks and balances. That's like he's not behaving like the leader of the free world he's behaving more like a dictator would.

++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, (D) Presidential Candidate:

"I am deeply troubled and saddened that the United States Congress, with all of the work that we need to get done on everything from smart gun safety laws, to what we need to do to have an infrastructure plan to what we need to do to deal with the climate crisis that we are going to have to spend our time holding accountable a president who is lawless and who is evidenced no respect for the oath of office that he has taken. Oh that it didn't have to happen. But it does.

Heated town halls peppered moderate Democratic lawmakers as they took a two week-recess from Washington to hear straight from their constituents about the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

There's been nothing quiet about their first visits home.

In front of New Hope Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, supporters of President Donald Trump hollered for his re-election and inside, Rep. Elaine Luria personally delivered her call for Trump's impeachment, drawing a standing ovation from more than half of the 200 or so people attending her town hall - and a few jeers, shut down quickly by church security officials.

"I got no problem throwing you out," the Rev. James Allen, the moderator, told one heckler. "If you can't sit here and be respectful, get out."

The man, a Trump supporter, agreed to quiet down and stay. But the signs were there that Luria's call last month for Trump's impeachment sits uneasily among some of her constituents in one of the most deeply split congressional districts in the country.

It's not clear, though, that the calls for formal charges against Trump have generated a voter backlash, even in districts like Luria's.

Luria, along with six other freshmen who flipped Republican districts in 2018, played critical roles laying the groundwork for the impeachment inquiry.

They had resisted calls for the Republican president's impeachment over Russia's election interference. But details of Trump's pressure on Ukraine's president to investigate the Biden family was, Luria and the others wrote in The Washington Post opinion article, a clear abuse of power and an impeachable offense. Their column, in part, freed up House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch formal impeachment proceedings.

In Luria's district, national security is understood perhaps better than elsewhere: 1 in 5 people are active military personnel, veterans or their families are.

"You do have very heavy military and veteran presence there and it remains to be seen how persuadable a lot of those voters may be who may be Republican leaning but maybe again persuadable on, on questions of the president's conduct," said Kyle Kondik, an elections analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and national Democrats are closely watching districts like it for clues to whether their drive to impeach Trump supports or imperils the party's congressional and presidential ambitions in 2020.

In Michigan, another front line Democratic freshman and co-author of the Op-Ed, Michigan's Elissa Slotkin, faced boos - and then applause - when she started explaining why she, too, had called for an impeachment investigation.

Slotkin's district was carried by Trump by 7 percentage points in the 2016 election.

"For me, involving foreigners in our political affairs was beyond the pale," she said. "All I can tell you is I did not come to this lightly, and I did not want to be doing this, I felt compelled to do it. "

She was confronted by one town hall attendee who said a decision to impeach Trump will cost Slotkin her seat.

Back in Virginia, Luria also acknowledged the impeachment decision may cost her.

"I feel very strongly that I made the right decision," said Luria, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and black belt in taekwondo. Her home, a short walk from spectacular views of the Virginia Port Authority and not far from Norfolk Naval Station, is adorned with ceramics and other souvenirs that she and her husband, Robert Blondin, picked up on their global travels.

It's was sentiment Luria repeated that night at the town hall at the E. Ray Cox Sr. Convocation Center. Eight miles away, 12 people were killed during the May 31 mass shooting at Virginia Beach Municipal Center - including Ryan Keith Cox, the pastor's son. Luria opened the event by noting that the last time she spoke there, it was for the younger Cox's funeral. His coffin rested where she now stood to answer questions.

But the moment did little to ease the crackling political atmosphere in the room.

The retired naval nuclear engineer, 44, pointed out four people in the front row helped by her office on immigration, health care and veterans issues. And she mentioned work she's doing leading House subcommittees on seapower and disability assistance as a member of both the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees. She also said she's working on "common-sense universal background checks" for gun purchases.

Then Luria took questions, drawn from a plastic box and read by Allen. A bit more than half were supportive of her call for Trump's impeachment.

"Bravo," said one questioner, noting Luria's "brave patriotic decision on the impeachment inquiry."

Luria won the race over Republican retired Navy SEAL Scott Taylor by a little over 2 percentage points, while Trump won the district by more than 3 percentage points.

That makes the district, which straddles the place where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean, a key bellwether in a state where people don't register by party.

Virginia Beach, Virginia - 3 October 2019

1. Pan, Congresswoman Elaine Luria walks into New Hope Baptist church for town hall meeting

2. Close-up audience applauding

3. Various town hall meeting

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. James Allen, town hall moderator, reading comments and questions:

"Bravo Zulu on your brave patriotic decision on the impeachment inquiry."

5. Mid, some members in the audience give Luria a standing ovation

6. Cutaway meeting

7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Elaine Luria, (D) Virginia:

"And this instance is a clear instance of the President of the United States enlisting the help of a foreign leader to influence and malign a potential political opponent to affect the outcome of our next election, all under the guise of trying to fight corruption in another country.

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. James Allen, town hall moderator, to Trump supporter in the audience:

"I will throw you out, I don't have no problem about throwing you out. Now, if you have a question, we'll ask your question but you are not going to sit here and heckle the Congresswoman. We don't want to hear that. If you can't go, if you can't sit here and be respectful, get out."

ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Washington - 4 October 2019

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Kyle Kondik, University of Virginia Center for Politics:

"If the Democrats tell the story right, it is probably an easier one to explain (than the Mueller report) and that maybe that's why some of these national security Democrats were willing to go along here, because one, they may have legitimately felt that the behavior was more egregious but it might also be that the behavior is easier to explain."

Hartland, Michigan - 3 October 2019

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Elissa Slotkin, (D) Michigan:

"For me, involving foreigners in our political affairs was beyond the pale. It just was beyond the pale."

11. Pull back of some in audience giving a standing ovation in the Cromaine Library

12. UPSOUND (English) Town hall attendee:

"There's anger out there. They are tired of this president being undermined and this is just another phase of this."

13. Slotkin listens to an attendee

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Elissa Slotkin, (D) Michigan:

"All I can tell you is I did not come to this lightly, and I did not want to be doing this. I felt compelled to do it. And I understand that there's disagreement, obviously."

15. Wide, town hall meeting

Washington - 4 October 2019

16. Wide, President Donald Trump standing in front of White House taking reporter questions

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"This is about corruption and this is not about politics. This is about corruption. I really believe that they (the Democrats) are going to pay a tremendous price at the polls."

Hartland, Michigan - 3 October 2019

18. UPSOUND (English) Town hall attendee:

"If you guys go ahead and impeach him, we may never have this meeting again because you might be outa here."

19. Slotkin poses for a photo with constituent Larry Parsons

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Parsons, Slotkin Constituent:

"I think she's under control and influenced by (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and not her constituents. There's nothing that the president has done that is impeachable. And I totally respect people's opinions. That's why we vote. And we don't impeach presidents, because we didn't vote for them."

21. Various of Slotkin constituent Tom Moran and others outside the library

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Moran, Slotkin Constituent:

"I salute Elissa Slotkin for standing up and being willing to risk her career on a principle."

Norfolk, Virginia - 3 October 2019

23. Close-up sign of Norfolk

24. Various views of navy ships

Washington - 4 October 2019

25. SOUNDBITE (English) Kyle Kondik, University of Virginia Center for Politics:

"You do have very heavy military and veteran presence there and it remains to be seen how persuadable a lot of those voters may be who may be Republican leaning but maybe again persuadable on on questions of the president's conduct. But yeah, I mean that's ... of all the congressional districts in the country, of course, many of them are super Democratic or super Republican not really competitive. Virginia 2 is right about right near the center of the country in terms of the median and you know average House district."

Norfolk, Virginia - 3 October 2019

26. Pan view of Congresswoman Elaine Luria's home

27. SOUNDBITE: (English) Elaine Luria, (D) Virginia:

"You know, people sent me to Washington to make tough choices and you know, I spent 20 years in the military.  I didn't spend 20 years in the Navy to watch this happen, to watch the Constitution be trampled on and I feel very strongly that I made the right decision."

Virginia Beach - 3 October 2019

28. Pan, people arriving at the New Hope Baptist church for town hall meeting

29. SOUNDBITE (English) Francine Humphrey, Virginia Beach resident:

"For the community that we serve, you know,  there are going to be mixed feelings about it but I think it will make us stronger because we are actually doing something and not waiting for something to happen."

30. SOUNDBITE (English) Patrick McShane, Virginia Beach resident:

"One of the reasons I wanted to thank her, because it is not an easy district. A lot of military here. We are very moderate.  But sometimes the right thing is the right thing, but it is hard to do and I appreciate her doing it."

31. Pan of meeting

32. SOUNDBITE: (English) Elaine Luria, (D) Virginia:

"You know, I think it is pretty clear, pretty clear from my opening remarks that we are focused on a lot of things. We are focused on a lot of things for this district and a lot of things for this country and it is very unfortunate that we find ourselves in this situation where we have to be focused on this. And it is not Adam Schiff and it is not the Democratic Party that got us here, it is the actions of President Trump."

33. Close-up audience applauds

34. Various, Luria addressing town hall meeting

35. Various, pro-Trump demonstration outside town hall meeting