the way i see it, you have two choices; the easy way or the hard way. you could choose a card that limits where you earn bonus cash back. or, you could make things easier on yourself. that's right, the quicksilver card from capital one. with quicksilver you earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere. so, let's try this again. what's in your wallet? good morning, everyone. i'm tamron hall. we are following breaking news out of syria. russia has conducted its first air strikes in syria, reportedly near the city of homs. obviously this is ongoing and is the cloud that hovers over the

debate between president obama and russian president vladimir putin on how to target isis. russian officials say the target was isis militants. the action came hours after the russian parliament gave putin approval to use military force in syria in support of president bashar al assad. msnbc's brian williams will have much more for us in just a few minutes on that ongoing breaking news. another breaking news story we are following, this one the weather here at home. we just received a new advisory from the national hurricane center with the latest update on hurricane joaquin. joaquin was upgraded from a tropical storm just a few hours ago and people along the east coast are being told to prepare for the possibility of it making landfall along the mid-atlantic states. msnbc meteorologist bill karins joins us now with the latest on this new update and what we should be watching. bill. >> no huge surprises but the forecast has trended more towards the mid-atlantic and a stronger storm now up to 80-mile-per-hour winds. you can see the picture of the

storm. starting to look more like a classic hurricane. the bright red colors is the high cloed cirrus clouds, they are startsing to expand to the north of it. that means the wind shear is weakening. this could easily do rapid intensification over the next day or two. that's three days to intensify, then it will shoot northward. after that it will begin a weakening process. national hurricane center takes it up to 100-mile-per-hour winds by tomorrow morning, then 110 by friday morning. saturday morning they bring it to a category 3 storm. it is well of ot coast but that's going to still produce huge waves for the southeast. by it time it gets parallel to about savannah, at that point it will start going over cooler waters, wind shear will increase and it will gradually weaken. just because it is going to go to a category 3 hurricane possibly, that doesn't mean that's what will hit areas of

the mid-atlantic. the forecast cone. uncertainty. toward the west side it goes toward washington, greenville area, toward atlantic beach, all of the outer banks. then it still could do the miss to the east. even the miss to the east is starting to look more unlikely. far right side of the cone is almost to cape cod. it will focus on the center point. they put it on there for guidance. center line for the most part would come up somewhere here to the northern mid-atlantic section but a lot of our computer guidance is taking the storm system and catching it more with this trough and bending it more towards the mid-atlantic. this is the players in the game. this ridge here, this trough. and this looks like it is going to win out. this is going to actually capture the storm, a stronger storm, and send it back to the coast. here's that path going to a three. this catches it almost like a sling shot and sends it into the mid-atlantic. these are the computer models

we' we'll watch soclosely the next w days. today and tomorrow are your days for preparations in case the storm comes your way. even into category low end 2, category 1, still could do significant damage. still probably could have evacuations on the barrier islands so you have be to prepared for that. the only reason the hurricane center did not shift it further than that, this is our gfs line. this is the european model from last night at 2:00 a.m. the new update will be 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. statistically this is our best computer model that's why the hurricane center hasn't completely brought it up into the carolinas and into virginia. we'll see at 2:00 p.m. if this completely switches and brings it up toward new england or the mid-atlantic, we're dempbltly looking at a better odds of a hurricane landfall some time sunday or monday. >> we'll update our audience throughout the day. back to the breaking news we

are following out of syria. brian williams is standing by with more. >> tamron, thanks. we want to go right now to the white house and kristin welker. the news at this hour of course, the russians hitting targets in syria. there have been indications they say yes, we're looking to cripple isis, but they're also looking to help president assad. >> that's absolutely right. russia thinks that assad is the key to fighting isis. so president vladimir putin, in part, trying to prop up president assad. look, we know that russian officials did alert u.s. officials that they would be launching these air strikes today. they also asked the u.s. to stay out of this airspace. deputy national security advisor ben rhodes really tried to down play what is clearly an escalation in this region. take a listen to what he had to say. >> everybody's looking at putin as if this is some offensive maneuver. again, they've had bases in

syria for a very long time. this is their principle client state in the arab world. it's been collapsing. he's trying to prop it up. i think that's hardly someone who's in a strong position. >> reporter: now this all comes two days after president putin and president obama met at the u.n. we know that the two leaders clashed over the issue of sir gentleman but they did talk about the possibility of some type of coordination with the two nations launching air strikes. when you talk about that clash though, brian, it is on this issue of assad. again, president beauten believes that the key to fighting isis is propping up assad whereas president obama and the obama administration believe that assad has to go. they have been calling for a political transition for quite some time but the reality is they don't have a policy to actually make that happen. so these two sides remain still sharply divided on this issue. just to remind people of the broader context here, the relationship between the united states and russia is really one of its chilliest points since

the cold war, in part because russia has harbored nsa leaker edward snowden but also because of the military incursions by russia into ukraine which have led the united states and several other western nations to slap several sanctions is on russia. whart part of what putin is doing is trying to establish credibility on the national stage and also for the eye of the people of russia. brian? >> showing for the first time some new video in to us from the city of homs in syria. what we lack is just absolute verification that this is what it purports to be. you see black smoke coming from a fire. you see another explosion that appears that it just happened. the cloud above it is fresh. and then you see two jets in pairs. the traditional lead jet, and the wing.

again, what we lack is bona fide and serious information on the ground beyond the fact that several sources are reporting that the russian military is in the air and engaged in hitting selected targets in syria. they say they are looking for isis figures. it is not all together clear whether that is their only target. kristin, do you think we will hear from the president beyond ben rhodes who was at an already-scheduled event across town in washington, what do you think we'll hear from the white house today? >> reporter: well, we know that white house press secretary josh earnest will hold his daily briefing at 12:30. at this time president doesn't have any plans to address this publicly but that's not to say that he couldn't decide to do so. brian, as you know, when the administration is monitoring these types of foreign policy crises really, things could

change on a dime here. clearly the top administration officials discussing this and trying to determine how exactly they want to respond to what we are seeing. again, i would highly anticipate that this will take up much of the briefing here at the white house today. look, this issue of how to fight isis has been one of the key focuses here within the obama administration. part of the policy has been to train and advise those who are fighting against isis. and we learned just days ago that the reality is there really are only a handful of people who have actually been trained. and so at this point in time the president's foreign policy is being heavily scrutinized and highly criticized. a number of foreign policy experts say this the administration just doesn't have a robust enough strategy when it comes to fighting isis. the challenge moving forward is how to work with russia which, as i have laid out, is clearly a foe at this point, so that they can both achieve the same goal which is to try to destroy and defeat isis.

>> kristin welker at the white house. and before we toss it back to tamron hall, let's hear from retired u.s. general monty miggs who's been a consultant with us for many years or military matters. general, i'm guessing you feel the greatest threat here is a mistake and a mistaken engagement between u.s. forces and russia. >> well, exactly right. and that goes back a ways because, remember, destabilize the ukraine, push for a russian interests, put forces in, move to another part of the chess board. create stability in the balkans. remember they kidnapped a defense official from estonia. imbalance things, push forces in, u.s. has no response. here we are in another exact same campaign, on another square in the game board.

r russia wants to keep its interests predominant in the middle east. how do you do that? you keep assad alive, you keep his subject to your whim, and he works all the russian issues. and they see the forces on the ground. first you are seeing the air strikes, but there are tanks and other pieces of equipment that indicate that he's going to do something we are not willing to do, with i is use ground forces to protect assad. >> retired general monty miggs, thank you. steve clemons is an analyst for msnbc and is with "the atlantic." so all that talk about who wants to join our anti-isis coalition, are you telling me that president putin was being less than forthright? >> president putin is engaged in a display of power trying to show he can do things the united states cannot at this moment. he just announced an

intelligence sharing agreement which really caught a number of people off guard because we are the ones that have been negotiate i negotiating. an alliance with iran is a very big coup for the russians. the reinforcements in syria and now the strikes in syria has upped russia's stock, if you will, within syria and makes them an immovable and vital part of whatever happens from here on out inside syria in a way that the united states isn't any more or can't. ben rhodes is speaking this morning at the washington ideas for rim where i was and largely conceded that point, that while we are on the edge and talking about what may be appropriate, the russians are now doing things very directly allied with hezbollah, allied with other players and protecting the damascus regime of bashar al

assad. >> steve, thank you. we'll call on you again quite sure. that is the situation in syria at this hour as we know it. we'll continue to follow it and, for now, back to tamron hall. >> brian, thank you. another developing story we are following, with only hours to go before the deadline, the senate just passed a temporary measure to continue funding the government. the bill will still provide funding for planned parenthood despite a strong push from conservative republicans to defund the organization. with the house expected to approve the measure this afternoon, conservatives in the house are pushing separate measures to keep planned parenthood from receiving federal dollars. this after planned planned parenthood's president cecile richards faced off with house lawmakers for five hours yesterday over those videos secretly recorded by anti-abortion activists. richards discussed the hearing with my colleague rachel maddow last night. >> it seemed like they didn't really want to talk about any issues that were relevant to the topic at hand.

and, frankly, i was a bit dismayed at how little the -- many members of the committee even knew about women's health at all. >> richards also discussed the consequences if republicans are eventually successful in stripping planned parenthood of funding. >> all -- a lots of conversation was today well with be we could just shut down planned parenthood and folks will go elsewhere. even the congressional budget office said just last week or the week before that 380,000 women would immediately lose access to health care if in fact the congress shut down the ability of folks to go to planned parenthood. i do think it may be something that they find is politically effective within their caucus or within the republican primary, but it is absolutely i think a terrible political move in the broader public. >> joining me now, democratic congressman jerry connelly of virginia. he's a member of the house oversight committee and attended

yesterday's hearing. congressman, thank you so much for your time. first let's talk about -- >> my great pleasure. >> thank you for joining. you have here the senate passing this temporary measure. it seems as if we won't have a government shutdown this time around but there are house republicans who are now looking at separate measures to defund planned parenthood. this battle is not over. what do you say to your colleagues across the aisle who want to continue to battle over planned parenthood? >> i think they have bet a lot on some bogus videos. and the more we learn about those videos, frankly, the more undercut the case is against their cause. and do they really want to pit themselves against the health and personal safety and security of 2.7 million american women who avail themselves of planned parenthood services for cervical screenings, ovarian screenings, pap smears, breast exams.

this is a vital service and many of those women don't have easy access to an alternative. >> congressman, it seems that everyone on that panel yesterday, the lawmakers, all left feeling exactly the same way they felt going in to this latest battle over planned parenthood. i want to play for you a key exchange between congressman jordan, jim jordan, and miss richards over the apology for what was seen in that video, the undercover video. let's play it. >> if the videos were selectively edited, heavily edited, if this was entrapment, if this was all untrue, then why did you apologize? >> well, congressman, first, i think everyone has agreed they were heavily edited and that certainly i think -- >> my question is why did you apologize. >> in my opinion, it was inappropriate to have a clinical discussion in and

non-confidential, non-clinical setting and i told you that. >> what were you apologizing for? >> that she used i think in my judgment it was bad judgment to have a clinical discussion in a non-clinical setting and that's -- >> the first video comes out july 14th, two days later you go and issue an apology. you said this -- it's unacceptable. i personally apologize for the tone and statements. >> that's what i felt like -- >> no, no. here's the question. which statements were you apologizing for? >> congressman jordan is a republican but you do have some progressives, some who even identify as pro choice who at least at this point expressed great concern with the 12 hours of video that is now available to be seen unedited. what do you say to those who have those concerns but might still support at least some of the services offered by planned parenthood?

>> well, i guess i would say withhold judgment until we see the full videos which have been denied us. we wanted to have the person taking those videos and starting this subterfuge come before the committee and explain himself. he essentially took the fifth. and the republicans don't want him pass a witness because they know he'll be a bad witness. we do know that edited out of a lot of those videos were in fact planned parenthood staff members saying no, no, no, we're not going to do that. what miss richards was apologizing for was, as she said, i thought it inappropriate that in a clinical setting you had that conversation. what you saw was a witness being badgered for that as if she was essentially conceding his point of view. not true. and i must say the treatment she got yesterday at our committee made the spanish inquisition look like tiddledywinks.

>> you brought issue with the fact that they are salary was brought up repeatedly. you say "my colleagues like to say there's no war on women. look at how you've been treating miss richards." >> that's right. do you think for a minute if we had tom donahue, the head of the chamber of commerce before our committee, any republican would ask him about his compensation or his travel budget or his expenses or his entertainment budget? of course not. suddenly this woman who's the head of an organization, a national organization, doing high-quality -- >> i apologize, congressman. to the senate floor, john mccain is speaking. you well know the breaking news taking part in syria. >> -- with as much time as i may consume. >> without objection, the senator is recognized. >> mr. president, we now have information that the russians have now launched air strikes in syria ostensibly against isis. in reality, it is not clear.

in fact, there is information that some of these strikes were at homs and the latest information is that the syrian observatory for human rights reports that at least 27 people were killed and that six children were among the dead. these strikes near the city of homs is not under control of isis of the islamic state. so already we are seeing the true intentions of vladimir putin, which is to maintain a strong position in syria, his foothold in the middle east, and his propping up of bashar assad. bashar assad, who has killed at least 250,000 of his own

citizens through the horrible process of barrel bombing, has driven millions into refugee status, with the full and complete support of iran, and vladimir putin. i said to my colleagues over the past 6 1/2 years, president obama has sounded retreat across the middle east. in fact, it was one year ago at this time when the president of the united states said our strategy is to degrade and destroy isis. a report yesterday, some 28,000 european and some americans have come in to the fight on the side of isis. mosul and ramadi remain in the hands of isis, and of course the continued advances of isis in syria are well known. in short, a year ago after the

president made that statement, there is no strategy, there is no success, and in fact we now see the result of this failure which is a flood of refugees out of syria and iraq because they have given up hope of ever returning to their homeland. our hearts go out to those who are victims and have had to flee their homeland. we see these refugees and it breaks our heart when we see a little baby's body washed up on the beach. it didn't have to happen. it didn't have to happen. everybody knows that when the president of the united states said we draw a red line on syria and didn't do it, it had a profound effect on the middle east, including sunni arab states as well as shia. everybody knows that when the president turned down the recommendations of his secretary of defense, his secretary of state, which happened to be

secretary clinton at the time, and his secretary of defense to arm the free syrian army and he turned it down. it was another seminole moment. this is a series of decisions or non-decisions which has led to the situation we see today where vladimir putin may have inserted russia in to the middle east in a way that russia has not enjoyed since 1973 when anwar sadat threw the russians out of egypt. he's still on course to repeat this nightmare by withdrawing nearly all u.s. forces from afghanistan, as well as we see in the last couple of days, the taliban capturing the strategic city of konduz. that's terrible in the respect

that that is in the northern part of afghanistan where it was believed was fairly stable. showing the ability of the taliban and the effects of our withdrawal. but i come back to syria and the russian activities today. after four years in syria, the united states has stood by as bashar assad's war on the syrian people goes on and on and on. and this slaughter has been the single greatest contributor to the rise and continued success of isil. have no doubt, it was bashar assad that gave birth to isil. the president has said for years -- for years -- that assad must go. but he has done nothing that has brought us any closer to achieving that outcome. my friends, it's not that we have done nothing. but what it is, we have not done anything that would reverse the trend and in any way further the

goal that the president articulated a year ago that we would destroy -- degrade and destroy isil. in short, this administration has confused our friends, encouraged our enemies, mistaken an excess of caution for prudence and replaced the risks of action with the perils of inaction. into the wreckage, into the wreckage of this administration's middle east policy has now stepped vladimir putin. as in ukraine, as elsewhere, he perceives the administration's inaction and caution as weakness and he is taking full advantage. over the past few weeks, vladimir putin has been engaged in a significant military buildup in western syria, deploying strike aircraft. by the way, he's also deploying aircraft that are air to air, not air to ground. my friends, isis has no air force. this significant build-up of

bombers, tanks, artillery, russian military personnel. meanwhile, our secretary of state calls lavrov franticly and asks him what's going on. >> not once, not twice -- three times. my friends, it was obvious what vladimir putin is doing, and these air strikes are a logical follow-on to his ambition which he is realizing to, one, play a major role in syria, preserve the port, prop up bashar al assad and play a major role in the middle east. all of this is not lost on countries in the region. last time i -- today vladimir putin escalated his involvement as russian pilots carried out their first air strikes in syria. initial reports, as i mentioned, are that they are hitting targets which are not controlled by isil. that should control -- that should fool no one because

vladimir putin's primary authority and responsibility and ambition is to prop up bashar assad against all of his enemies. the white house has said, "it's unclear exactly what russia's intentions are." my friends, i am not making that up. the white house has said it's unclear exactly what russia's intentions are. if the white house is confused about putin's intentions and plans in syria, then the united states is even in worse trouble than many fear. because it is not hard -- it's not hard to discern what vladimir putin wants. in fact, from russia's military build-up in syria to its recently announced military intelligence coalition with syria, iran and iraq. remember, iraq is a country where we lost tlohousands of

american lives and now the iraqi government announces sharing intelligence with syria and iran. amazing. amazing. putin's ambitions are blindingly obvious, my friends. he wants to prop up assad, play kingmaker in any transition, undermine u.s. policy and operations, and ultimately expand russian power in the middle east to a degree as i mentioned unseen since 1973. this week at the united nations, president obama said, "united states is prepared to work with any nation, including russia and iran, to resolve the syrian conflict." it requires self-delusion of tremendous scale to believe that russia and iran have any interest in resolving the syrian conflict. they seek only to keep the murderous assad regime in power.

russia's intervention in syria will prolong and complicate this horrific war. and the main beneficiary will be isil which has fed off the ethnic and sectarian divisions fostered by the assad regime. it is tragic. it is tragic, my fellow americans, that we have reached this point. a syrian conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people, created the worst refugee crisis in europe since world war ii, spawned a terrorist army of tens of thousands, and now created a platform for a russian autocrat to join with an iranian thoueott to prop up a syrian dick take the blsh dictator. this is the result of tarnished moral influencing with leading

from lined, and a total lack of american leadership. my friends, today in "washington post," there is an article by david ignatius. mr. ignatius quotes ryan crocker, one of the great diplomats that i have ever had the honor and privilege to know. ryan crocker says, "russia has played a horrible hand brilliantly. we folded what could have been a pretty good hand," argues ryan crocker, retired u.s. diplomat who has served in nearly every hotspot in the middle east and is among the nation's wisest analysts of the region. "the russians were able to turn a defensive position into an offensive one because we were so completely absent." ryan crocker is right. i would also remind my friends that because of american

inaction, the countries in the region are making their own accommodations. syria -- excuse me. saudi arabia, uae and qatar have all been to russia and arms deals. the saudi arabians have bought $17 billion worth of weapons from russia. uae, $7 billion. qatar, $5 billion. would that have ever happened ten years ago? of course not. but they see america leaving and they are accommodating. we have -- and we have of course refused in many respects to give the kind of weapons particularly that the kurds need. mr. president, i won't go on too much longer. i will summarize by saying that this is a very, very, very sad day for america in the world. the world is watching. it is not confined to the middle

east. we see vladimir putin continue to dismember ukraine, and now some phony separatist elections are going to be held in the area that he now controls. the chinese leader made some nice comments about how they would stop the hacking that is -- that they have been able to compromise our most important industrial military and other secrets. we'll see if that happens. but they're also continuing their expansion of the islands in the south china sea. throughout the world, an absence of american leadership is very visible and very understood by nations throughout the world. and today, we see vladimir putin attack with his airplanes. not just isis, but others who are enemies of bashar assad.

i'd like to also add that these air strikes are indis krcrimina in nature and there has been no attempt whatsoever to stop horrible barrel bombing as general david petraeus recommended before the armed services committee just a few days ago. so this is a bad day, and it is a time for american leadership. and it is a time that president obama woke up to the realities in the world and re-assert american leadership. and that does not mean that we are going to send thousands of ground troops back into iraq or syria. but it does mean that we develop a policy. in the case of -- i am told that these bombings that the american government has said that american planes should not fly and that we have somehow approved of these air strikes.

i do not know if that's true or not. i hope that it's not true. what we should be saying to vladimir putin is that you fly but we fly anywhere we want to when and how we want to and you had better stay out of the way. that's the message that should be sent to vladimir putin. so, i hope that the american people understand how serious this is, and that this rogue dictator named vladimir putin who is a thug and a bully can only understand a steadfast and strong american policy that brings america's strength back to bare. we are still the strongest nation in the world. now it is time for us to act like it. mr. president, i suggest the absence -- >> clerk will call the roll. >> john mccain remarks from the senate floor. you heard me asking earlier to

show the full chamber as we're doing now. no knock on senator mccain or his remarks, but we don't want people to get the imfrom eggs that this is of some moment in the senate chamber. it is not like members are gathering because of this or to hear the remarks. kelly o'donnell up on capitol hill for us. kelly, we're going to hear more from senator mccain, chairman of senate armed services in less than a half-hour he is booked to be the interview subject in, live interview on andrea mitchell's broadcast. this is a complaint that he has made as often as there's been a microphone in front of him. >> reporter: these words were very familiar to me, brian, because i am watching john mccain on the senate floor for years now and he has made these arguments time and time again. and today there's a in you set of facts that sort of bolster the argument from his point of

view. as the chairman of the armed services committee, this is his wheelhouse and his career has given him sort of an insight on these issues, especially when it comes to russia. he was recandidaently traveling ukraine and that is an area where he has many sort of associates and colleagues that he can get sort of on the ground intel about what russia has been doing in ukraine where that has certainly been an ongo going issue and he has contacts around the world that also feed into some of the insights he has about russian operations. some of it of course is just the kind ever u.s. government intel that's coming to us today about these particular strikes. so no surprise that john mccain is a sharp critic of barack obama. and no surprise that he's also tough on his friend, john kerry. they do have a cordial personal relationship but on these issues, mccain has long been very concerned about the aggression of vladimir putin and

he sees the same facts very differently than the president and the current secretary of state. >> kelly o'donnell on capitol hill. let's go over to kristin welker at the white house. kristin, you have a briefing coming up in about an hour where i guess we'll learn more about the white house view of all this. >> we'll learn a lot more, brian. i can tell you that they are in preparations for are that briefing right now as they monitor these air strikes in syria. i was just told moments ago not to expect a statement from president obama. having said that, he is clearly monitoring this situation quite closely. in terms of the counter argument that we might hear from white house press secretary josh earnest, he will say what we have heard them say so many times before here, which is that john mccain essentially is a proponent of escalating military engagement in these various hotspots throughout the world and that the administration has a very different view which they will argue is in part bolstered by the american public which is war weary in the wake of the wars in iraq and afghanistan.

so that has been the debate that has been ongoing for years between senator john mccain and this administration. having said that, there is no doubt that president obama's policy in syria is being jai alai criticized right now as isis militants continue to thrive in various areas. this administration has launched several thousand air strikes over recent months, but that still hasn't done anything to dr degrade and destroy isis which has been the stated goal here. >> kristin welker from the white house. andrea mitchell's broadcast at the top of the hour. now back to tamron hall. nbc news has now confirmed that pope francis did meet with kentucky clerk kim davis during his visit to the u.s. last week. davis of course made headlines for refusing to issue marriage licenses over her religious objections to same-sex marriage. recounting their meeting earlier on nbc's "good morning america."

>> i put my hand out and he reached and he grabbed it. i hugged him and he hugged me. and he said, thank you for your courage. >> nbc's hallie jackson joins me now with more information. we're getting more information and more details hallie about this meeting. it is interesting that we did not hear immediately about it. we're now hearing with francis back at the vatican. >> reporter: yeah. there was sort of that lag of a few days between when this meeting happened which was last thursday, and the fact that we're sort of finding out about it right now. i can tell you new this morning, lawyers for kim davis have shared with us this photo. it is the rosaries that were given to kim davis and her husband by the pope. this was sort of a parting gift after their brief meeting. davis and her husband, joe, were secretly driven over to the diplomatic residence here in washington and that is where they had this meeting with pope francis.

zblm according to kim davis' lawyer, davis and her husband joe were secretly driven to the vatican embassy last thursday afternoon, the couple meeting with the pope who spoke with them in english for about 15 minutes. in a statement released overnight, davis' attorney says the county clerk was humbled to meet the pontiff saying who am i to have this rare opportunity? i am just a county clerk who loves jesus and desires with all my heart to serve him." davis' attorney says the pope also held out his hands and asked davis to pray for him. thanking her for her courage and telling her to "stay strong." nbc news could not verify the statements from davis' attorney with the vatican but it comes after the pope spoke about her situation on the plane back to the vatican. a reporter asked the pope about government officials who refoo us to perform their duties because of religious objections to same-sex marriage. the pope not mentioning davis by name saying, conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right. and if a government official is a human person, he has that right. davis, a county clerk from

kentucky, was jailed for five days after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. >> it's never been a gay or lesbian issue for me. it has been about upholding the word of god and how god defined marriage from the very beginning of time. >> reporter: her actions sparking protests across the country. reportedly leading to a secret meeting in the nation's capitol with one of the world's top religious leaders. it's not entirely unexpected that the pope would take up this issue of religious liberties during his visit. remember, he also met with little sisters of the poor during his trip here to washington with a last week. this has become an issue not just for the pope but on the campaign trail. remember governor mike huckabee who's running for president held that rally with davis. governor huckabee tweeted this morning that he believes the pope recognized kim davis' conscience and her convictions. >> hallie, thank you. coming up, we are still following the track of hurricane

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i don't plan on slowing down any time soon. stay strong. stay active with boost®. we're back with developments in the race for the white house. new numbers out this morning show republican front runner donald trump certainly not winning the latino vote still insisting that "latinos love him." our nbc news/"wall street journal" telemundo poll shows 72% of latinos have a negative view of trump. carly fiorina, ben carson, jeb bush of course all have a favorable rating among latinos. trump appears to be switching up his strategy from the brash aggressive tone that's put him in the lead. nbc's peter alexander joins us live now from washington. i don't think anyone would be greatly surprised by poll numbers regarding latino voters. but the notion that trump wants to transition from this brash style as i've pointed out,

peter, that put him at the top of the polls is interesting. >> that's exactly right. he's always said that he sort of views a glamorized role for the president in the u.s. recent article for "the new york times" he even gave jimmy carter for carrying his own bags off air force one. after a ban from fox news for a whole knicsix days, he was back fox as he tries to shore up support by introducing himself as donald trump, family man. >> the return of one donald trump. >> reporter: donald trump has buried the hatchet with fox news back on the network tuesday less than a week after insisting he would boycott fox for the foreseeable future. >> am i fair to say that in order for you to win republican nomination, that you are going to have to change your style and be a bit kinder and more mature. is that a fair question? >> well, i think it's fair. i think the word mature is not appropriate but i think it is

certainly fair. >> reporter: with his support stalling and popularity numbers well below the likes of ben carson, carly fiorina or hillary clinton, the brash billionaire who's already everywhere -- >> look, i'm on a lot of covers. think maybe more than almost any super model. think more than any super model. >> reporter: is now launching a new pr campaign to show a more personal side, opening up his lavish manhattan penthouse to "people" magazine. my life is so busy and so crazy and i am away all the time, he says if i could just stay home and do nothing it is considered a great luxury. tough talking father of five speaking affectionately about his third third wife melania, a former model from slovenia, and their son barron. he says his family prefers to have no nannienannies. he says if you have too much help, you don't get to know your children. on issues, trump insists empathy will be among his strongest assets. as for his pursuit of the white house, the master salesman recently told "the new york

times" the u.s. needs to be glamorized. the branding of our country, he said, is at an all-time low. and billion clinton is defending his wife, a frequent trump target. >> she's the worst secretary of state in the history of this country. >> clinton dismissing trump, insisting his sales pitch needs work. >> the thing about branding is, you don't have to be -- you can be fact-free. >> for what it's worth -- the billionaire builder known for the over the top properties draped in that sort of gleaming gold palace insists he has no plans to do the same for white house. he says if he were elected he may it up it up a little bit but he adds, the white house is a special place, you don't want to do too much touching. >> peter, thank you very much. up next, tomorrow marks the beginning of domestic violence awareness month. >> we've been offering free moving services to victims of domestic violence in every market we serve. >> next, i'll talk with the owner of a moving company who lends a hand to victims who made

the decision to leave an abusive home but have no resources to do it on their own. it is a very special "born in the usa." we'll be right back. everything kids touch during cold and flu season sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. like limiting where you earn bonus cash back.hings. why put up with that? but the quicksilver card from capital one likes to keep it simple. real simple. i'm talking easy like-a- walk-in-the-park, nothing-to-worry-about, man-that-feels-good simple. quicksilver earns you unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere. it's a simple question. what's in your wallet?

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we are back with today's breaking news. we have the latest advisories from weather officials showing hurricane joaquin strengthening from a tropical storm to a hurricane. some land models show it could make landfall in the u.s. this weekend. we expect an important update on this threat to the midatlantic and northeast coast at 2:00 p.m. eastern today. we'll have that update for you on msnbc. but before we end the show, turning now to our very special series, "born in the usa." highlighting america business success stories with tomorrow marking the start of domestic awareness violence month. our next company is a fitting choice. it's leading the way in moving to end domestic violence.

as the name might suggest, meathead users uses the brains of people to relocate. the california-based company was founded 18 years ago by brothers aaron and evan. and it has since become one of the largest independent moving companies in the state. several years ago they decided to begin offering their services free of charge to help families affected by domestic violence. help them move out of the dangerous situation. and then even join forces with a number of shelters. and now meathead movers is rallying up other companies across the country to do the same. and so far nearly four dozen companies have joined in. and with us is the founder of meathead movers, aaron steed. congratulations on your success and what you have done for families. thank you for joining us. as i tell the story of how you decided to tell the company and the help you provide, is it more personal for you now that you've

gotten to know some of these families, some of these victims? >> yeah, it's incredibly emotional. it's an unfortunate surprise there are so many victims of domestic violence. when we got so many calls, my brother and i decided to offer these free moving services indefinitely in every market we serve. that's what we have been doing. >> tell me about the moment that you and your brother decided you wanted to start this company, with the specific focus on domestic violence victims. >> sure. well, we started the company quite simply because our parents didn't give us any money in high school. so we needed to figure out a way to make money while going to school and playing sports. to our surprise, we would get calls from vick tips fleeing abusive relationships. and i could hear them on the other line, they would tell us, we'll give you anything. our tv, our couch, just help us get out. the abuser will be home tomorrow

evening. we would help them out for free. we did this for a couple years and then finally the abuser came home one time and it got really volatile. a toaster oven was thrown. we were accused of stealing his items. police officers were called. and we knew we wanted to continue to offer these free services, but we had to do it in a safe way. so in 2001 we partnered with the local woman's shelter and we have partnered with dv shelters since then in every market we serve. we currently have seven shelters throughout california that we offer free services for. >> as i mentioned, you have this social media campaign, move to end domestic violence. 42 companies have signed on. your goal is to get 100 companies. you've been featured already in "huffington post," "people" magazine, yahoo! the list goes on. what would you like to see happen next? >> yeah, it's really exciting.

currently there's 54 businesses that have pledged in their local community to either donate their product or service directly to victims of domestic violence or to donate their products and service to their local dv shelter. we are highlighting the businesses on our web page. and there's great examples of how businesses give back. for example, yoga instructors offer yoga at shelters. >> every little bit helps in one everyone is doing. >> absolutely. >> in 2013 recognized at the white house as one of the 100 companies to improve their local company and inspire entrepreneurs. congratulations to you and your brother and the people who help move with the company. obviously, the price tag -- no price tag can be placed on saving the lives that you do. thank you so much. >> thank you, tamron. that does it for this

edition. up next, "andrea mitchell reports." i have heartburn. alka-seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief.

right now on "andrea mitchell reports," putin's power play. launching planes inside syria for the first time today claiming they are going after isis, but u.s. officials say they are targeting anti-assad rebels. >> we are seeing the true intentions of vladimir putin, which is to maintain a strong position in syria, his foothold in the middle east, and his proper up of bashar al assad. >> coming up, we'll speak to the chairman of the senate armed services committee, john mccain, right here. hurricane alert. joaquin gains strength in the atlantic and will head to the east coast with record rainfall already drenching the midatlan