debater. i watched her, she's not a bad debater. but i think the debates will be positive for me. i sort of wish we had more than three. we have three. there are three scheduled. and i think we should perhaps have more than three. >> the presumptive republican nominee also said there's a good chance his vp pick could be one of his former rivals. >> well, i would say probably a 40% chance within the group. i've gotten to be friends with a lot of those people, and perhaps enemies with a couple. >> i also saw thing, donald, that you said about john kasich. your view of him has been rising in recent days, as far as possibly selecting him? >> well, i've had a good relationship with him and i really got along with him pretty well. i would say, probably it's unlikely that it will be john. i'm not sure that john even wants it. >> as trump continues to campaign, to officially clinch the republican nomination, he will hold a rally in west virginia later today, ahead of that state's primary next tuesday. now, bernie sanders is also

holding three events, all in west virginia. while hillary clinton will campaign in california. with that, our correspondents are working the latest on these campaigns, and we begin with nbc's jacob rascon, who's covering the trump campaign. jacob, as we heard there, trump talked about his possible vp picks, but in the interview with lester holt, he doubled down on what he would like to see happen in his first 100 days in office, and it includes that wall he claims he can build. >> he did. a lot of changes happening this morning. he's meeting with his staff to talk about and finalize a fund-raising deal. that is a big change. for months, trump talked about how corrupt the fund-raising system was. but he tells lester holt, he has a goal of $1 billion. and then he's talking about vp picks, his committee, his staff is now putting together a committee, which includes ben carson. he's talking about somebody, a 40% chance it's a former rival. he's looking for experience and

chemistry. and of course, there hasn't been a lot of that wiz former rivals. and then he doubled down on his controversial campaign promises. here's what he told lester holt. >> as you try to appeal to the entire country, do you stand by them? do you stand, for example, by the idea of a ban against foreign muslims coming here? >> we do. we have to be vigilant, strong. we have to see what's going on. there's a big problem in the world. look at what's happening with the migration in europe. >> you've also promised to deport those in this country illegally. do you stand by that? >> yes, they'll be deported. look, we either have a country or we don't. we have many illegals in the country and we have to get them out and go through a process, go through a system. >> he's been making the rounds. yesterday, he spent all day talking to nearly every major media group, talking about his first 100 days, saying he's going to move quickly to make big sweeping changes. the key word will be negotiating and appointing strong-willed people to his candidate. he added that in his first 100

days, he will already have the wall designed. he's really doubling down, tamron. >> he's doubling down on that, but already we've seen a reversal on minimum wage. it was back at the end of last year, trump said he would not raise the minimum wage, would not pursue a change there, with wolf blitzer on cnn wednesday, he says he's now open to doing something with it. we're seeing at least the pivot regarding what he knows is an issue that will hit very close to home for the working class voters that he's hoping to pull in with his message. >> and the tax plan. this is very interesting, too. in an interview with cnbc, he talked about how he could see the tax rate for the top 1% going up. that is in the face of one of his most detailed policy proposals that's on his website, which is his tax plan. and already, he's going back on that, and then, as well, of course, as you talked about, in the interview, talking about, seeing the minimum wage, he

could see that going up. so it's just suggestions there going in the face of a lot of what he's talked about over the last several months. >> jacob, thank you very much. let's turn to the clinton campaign. nbc's kristen welker, first to report this morning, that the campaign is ramping up for the showdown with donald trump, by expanding its general election staff at its brooklyn headquarters. this while clinton keeps up her efforts to lock up the democratic nomination against bernie sanders. that primary fight taking her now to california. now, the former secretary of state is also facing some new questions today about her e-mails. a romanian hacker, who first revealed clinton's private e-mail address, now claims he gained access to her server. he's given no documentation to back it up, nor has he released anything online to support these allegations. the fbi's review of the clinton server logs showed no sign of hacking. according to a source familiar with the case. the clinton campaign calls the claims baseless and mrs. clinton has always said the server was not breached.

and kristen welker is with the clinton campaign in los angeles. it's interesting that this unsubstantiated claim by this hacker comes up. it is the kind of claim that donald trump's campaign would seize on, kristen. we saw him do that with ted cruz, down to the father's alleged connection with jfk, and this is perhaps why she is beefing up her staff already. >> undoubtedly, tamron. and donald trump has been very clear that he is going to make an issue of the e-mail scandal, regardless of what happens. as we know, there's also an fbi investigation. donald trump vowing to bring it up, every day of his campaign. so the clinton campaign really bracing for an onslaught of attacks here, not just about her e-mails, but also, trump has said he would bring up the past indiscretions of former president bill clinton. yesterday, she sort of laughed that off. she said, hey, that was a discussion from the '90s. so we'll have to see if that is a tactic that works. but we also know that she's digging in. she's been a lot more aggressive against him on the trail

yesterday, trying to paint him as someone who voters should fear. saying that he's a loose cannon. and making sure that voters remember every single controversial comment. i just heard that discussion you were having with jacob, tamron, and it's so interesting, because part of the clinton's campaign key strategy is to make sure voters remember everything he said in this primary battle, particularly as it relates to women and minorities. so that's going to be one of her tactics moving forward. she's reaching out to independents. she's also reaching out to republicans. yesterday, the campaign released a list of republicans who will be supporting her in the fall. as you mapped out, though, tamron, she is fighting on two fronts right now, not just this general election, but also this primary battle. and that's what brings her to california today. this is, of course, the state that holds the most delegates. and i have been talking to top democrats who say, it's just critical that she continues to fight this primary battle, so she heads into the convention on a strong footing. but, again, this general election is her primary focus, and she's beefing up her

campaign headquarters, her staff there, in brooklyn, as we reported earlier today, tameron, to try to take on donald trump right now. >> kristen, thank you. we're joined now by nbc political analyst and "huffington post" global editor, director, howard fineman. and former -- the longest title. and former bush/cheney senior adviser, robert traynham. i'll start off with you here. "the texas tribune" says for the first time since his own presidency, george w. bush will stay silent. a spokesperson says that he also has no plans to participate in or comment on the race as well. and if that's not enough, just in our 9:00 hour, bush's former chief of staff, andy card was on this network ands here's what he had to say. >> i have a hard time seeing a away for them to responsibly put things like that into our platform. the republican party is not about donald trump. it's about giving the leadership to this country that it needs in

every level of government. >> bottom line, if you were in the voting booth today, donald trump, hillary clinton, a couple thirty-party candidates, where would you put the check mark? >> i would probably write in a name today. write in another name. but i'm waiting for donald trump to show me that he has the capacity to lead in a responsible way and that he recognizes that he will be the leader of all of the republicans, and if he gets recollected president, he'll be president of all of the people. >> robert, your reaction, that andy card is waiting for donald trump. >> well-said, secretary card. i'm in that same boat. let's look at the facts. donald trump is not a conservative, at least according to his own methodology. he has yet to give a substantiative response on foreign policy, whether it's north korea, whether it's china, whether it's with putin. he talks about building a wall and having the mexicans pay for it. that's not very realistic. when you ask donald trump about his tax policy, there doesn't seem to be one. when you ask donald trump

whether he's pro-life or pro-choice, he goes back and forth depending on the decade. i think a lot of conservatives out there, george w. bush and george h.w. bush, included, look at donald trump and say, i'm not exactly sure he represents my views. and the reason i'm not sure if he represents my views is i don't know what he stands -- >> where do you go from, not being sure if you know he doesn't. when you hear andy say, we're waiting to see if he will be the leader of all republicans. you've had a year to get to know him. honestly speaking here, do you know he's not this individual that you are willing to vote for at this point? or you think he's going to change -- >> well, i'm not willing -- well, i'm not willing to vote for him at this point, simply because i don't know what he stands for. and the little bit that i do know that he stands for, according to my conservative philosophical beliefs, he doesn't square with those. over the last nine months or so, i'm not exactly sure we got to know donald trump through and through from a policy standpoint. from a personality standpoint, we got to know him fairly well. and we've seen mitt romney. we've seen jeb bush.

we've seen scott walker. we've seen marco rubio go on and on and on about his lack of specificity. so this really goes down to the personality, as opposed to the policy. and the only thing we know about him now is the personality. >> howard, what do you think about this? "the new york times" says, president trump, here's how he says it would look the first 100 days. by the end of the first 100 days, the wall with mexico would be designed, immigration ban on muslims would be in place, the audit of the federal reserve would be underway, and plans to repeal the affordable care act would be in motion. he also then has already reversed his stance on minimum wage and perhaps more things to come. how does hillary clinton's campaign, if bernie sanders does not get the nomination and becomes an ally, how do they then seize some of these ideas that trump has not backed away from? >> well, i think donald trump really started the war in his interview with lester holt, tameron. because he didn't back away from

his ban on foreign muslims entering the country. he did not back away from deporting 11 million hispanics and other immigrants into the country who are here without documentation. so i think hillary will join the battle on that. she has joined the battle on that, but i think the clinton camp would prefer it to be about issues such as the affordable care act, about women's rights, about women's health. she would prefer to put forward for it to be about the health and welfare of the american people as opposed to fighting on donald trump's turf about immigration. i think that's his strongest suit, tamron. that's what basically got him this nomination. that's where he began, with fear of foreigners. you remember he began on the birther issue. then he went to immigrants from mexico. then he went to muslims. after san bernardino, after paris, he got a boost.

that gave him that sort of campaign of fear that allowed him to take over the republican party. the other thing i'll add here, there's never been a situation like this. the establishment republicans don't like him. the former presidents don't want to endorse him, the conservatives are against him. and by the way, he's not really a republican. how he does this without the support of the party that just nominated him is going to be fascinating. but he's broken every rule in politics so far, and a united party behind him might be another one that somehow he manages to break. >> but it's clear, howard, he's banking on the fact of the line that he continues to recite that he has brought in millions of millions of voters to the republican party. so it is what -- the carrot that he dangles in front of the establishment -- >> he does. >> that he was able to pull out that victory. >> i want to ask you about the fact, when donald trump secures the nomination, will be able to receive classified briefings. he told robert costa of "the washington post," he's eager to start receiving these briefings. talking points memo reports

that, obviously, trump's campaign chief, paul manafort, according to reports, has worked for pro-putin/russian oligarchs, and there is a concern now that one of the main advisers to donald trump could also have access to this information, via trump. this gets very complicated. it gets very "the americans," that cable show. but nevertheless, is there a concern here? >> well, it's highly ironic, and not a little bit contradictory, that donald trump, who's gotten this far, by posing fears about foreigners and foreign influence in america hired as his main political adviser a guy whose whole business for the last 25 years has been advising authoritarian figures and wealthy people all around the world. and using america's power and influence to try to help those people. that's what paul manafort has done. that's what he did in ukraine, that's what he did in africa,

that's what he did in portugal. that's what he's done all over the world. you couldn't find a more internationalist guy than paul manafort to be running this america first campaign. so if their controversy is about that, donald trump better expect this to be the first, not the last. and i think that's something hillary will look at. if donald trump wants to go after the clinton foundation, hillary will go after paul manafort. >> and let me go back to this search for the vp, robert. you have kelly ayotte, who is up for re-election. she seems skeptical of wanting any association with donald trump. who would, realistically, at this point, who would be your pick for the vp slot for donald trump? and who do you think is actually interested? >> well, let me answer your second question, first. i think chris christie probably is interested. he was one of the first people, first presidential candidates to endorse donald trump when he dropped out. but he seemed like on the campaign trail to have a pretty good report. they know each other fairly well. obviously, that's very important when you're picking a vice

president choice. the question is, who will pick it or who will choose it? and i think donald trump needs to find a bona fide conservative. someone that stands the test of time. someone that conservatives trust. someone who knows what they're doing, if, in fact, they're in the white house. and that's why i would be curious to know whether or not donald trump goes with perhaps a scott walker, the governor of wisconsin, or maybe even marco rubio, who is a conservative, but still fairly new on the national scene. we'll see who decide toss throw their hat in the ring. >> it would be interesting to see the list they form. but, howard, i want to talk a little bit about optics, as well. have to know after donald trump's victory in indiana, he's back on the phone, on various news programs, from this network and others. hillary clinton sat down with andrea mitchell in a wide-ranging interview. there have been people who express concern of this phone-in style campaign. do you believe there has to be a reset on both parts, if it is hillary clinton, to become more accessible and give more

interviews, popping up on the morning shows and not plugging it, just because i am on one, and also really a pushback on donald trump being able to be this voice in the air on programs, who obviously want to hear from him as voters do, but, you know, i think have expressed some concerns about this way of handling his interviews. >> yes. and i think you're right, tameron. i think the general election of a presidential campaign, especially in our modern, not only television, but social media age, is very, very intimate. and donald trump is going to have to come out from behind the phone or the iphone or the telephone or whatever he's using to call in, as indeed he did with lester holt, who was looking at him face to face, as chris matthews was, when chris did a very good interview with donald trump. trump will have to acknowledge that. and hillary, as well. you make a really good point. hillary will have to be more accessible, less controlled, more intimate, more right there in living rooms and on the iphone, you know, on the

smartphones of people, because that's what's going to decide this election. it's going to be a very, very nasty, opposition research-driven presidential election. that means the character of the candidates under pressure is going to decide it. and that means they've got to get in front of the cameras face to face with the american people. >> and robert, lastly, this coalition that donald trump will need to pull in these conservatives, i know you pointed out that he needs a very conservative or a true conservative vice presidential candidate there. but when you look at the number people who have rejected him, other than senator sessions, what conservative, a true conservative as you have described, would pair up with him, and help him proceed ahead. >> that's the riddle. and i'm not sure i have the answer to it. i mean, a lot of people out there, myself included, are saying, look, this is the presidency of the united states of america. this is about policy. this is about people. this is about people's lives. and so phoning it in, presumably with a cheat sheet in front of

you, and phoning it in, perhaps so you can control the interview, just doesn't work. so therefore, whoever you choose as your vice presidential candidate, needs to be as substantiative and as conservative as you claim to be. the answer to your question, tamron, i'm not exactly sure who that person would be, with the exception of chris christie. >> thank you both for your time. interesting conversation. a lot to cover there. thank you, both. and coming up, north carolina lawmakers have just days to stop that so-called bathroom law from taking effect. after the justice department says it violates the civil rights act. up next, how north carolina could lose billions in federal money if this controversial law is enforced. also, new news this morning. the fda releases tough new rules on those popular ecigarettes, including banning the sale to anyone under 18. this, by the way, as california the legal smoking age to 21. we'll have the latest on these two new rules and regulations that a lot of people are reacting to.

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this morning, we're also following reaction from north carolina after the justice department's warning that the state's controversial transgender bathroom law violates the civil rights act. in letters sent yesterday to governor pat mccrory, the head of the university of north carolina system and other agencies, the doj said the law also known as hb2 must not be enforced because it is illegal. in his reaction last night, governor mccrory called it something we've never seen regarding washington overreach in my lifetime in the most private areas of our person life. apparently now it is also the federal government's mission to determine our restroom, locker room, and shower policy. right now it's unclear how the

state plans to proceed. nbc justice correspondent, pete williams joins me now. >> well, the governor says the state's reviewing the letter and deciding what to do. what the justice department told north carolina is that this law dealing with transgender access to bathrooms, violates federal civil rights law, and told the state to respond by monday. if the state goes ahead and carri carries out the law, it could lose roughly $2 billion in federal funds. that's for its public schools and universities. what the letter says is that north carolina is violating federal laws that bar sex discrimination. it says that federal courts upheld that sex discrimination includes differential treatment based on any sex consideration. so it says the state can't deny transgender employees access to bathrooms based on their gender identity, while affording that access to non-transgender employees. now, to answer your question, tamron, the justice department

officials say that they hope north carolina will voluntarily agree to abandon enforcement, but if the state goes ahead, the government could cut off federal funds, or file a lawsuit, or both. >> pete, we'll see what happens next there. thank you very much. coming up, the philadelphia police commissioner says he is concerned about the tactics behind this week's police-involved shooting that left an unarmed man dead. now, this will comes just months after the doj released a damning report on the city's police shootings. also this morning, former nfl quarterback johnny manziel makes his first court appearance on that domestic violence charge. it is one of the stories we are updating this morning around the news nation. as you'll see, when shoppers add antem to their jet carts, they automatically shrink the prices aof millions of other products.d antem to their jet carts,

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spotlight small businesses that may very well inspire you. male b melba was named one of the best soul food restaurants in 2015. melba wilson's road to this point has not been an easy one. and now melba is sharing some of her favorite recipes in a new cookbook called "america's comfort food." thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> it's not often a guest starts off by saying, i brought you some fried chicken, collared greens, and mac and cheese, which you did, and that's going to distract me. but i think a lot of people were inspired. a, you were successful, b, you focused on hiring folks who lived around the restaurant. why has that worked in growing your business or how has that worked? >> i'm actually born, bread, and buttered in the village of harlem. and it's important to let people

know, you can come from a community such as harlem and open your business within your community. you don't have to always look outside of your community. and i feel that the best way to make a difference and for true economic development is to do it yourself and show people it can be done. >> we know the storied history of harlem, and right now, if you look up real estate prices, they are on the up, but it was not always that case. people still don't, in many situations, want to reinvest in harlem. businesses, especially. what do you see as the light at the end of this tunnel, where you knew this would pay off? >> if you look at harlem, we have over half a million people there. there are five bridges that connect to harlem, as well as we have an infrastructure in terms of the mta and the train station that are second to none. it's 20 minutes from the world financial center. so it's easily accessible and there's a conglomerate of diversity there and different people. you're right, tamron. it wasn't always that way, but who better to invest in me and

my community than me? >> the other thing that you've done is your approach to hiring. you've been willing to give people in the neighborhoods who may not be able to get a job somewhere else a chance, because of criminal backgrounds, because of other challenges that may have been included drug arrests. you've said i'm willing to look past this to let you in, to prove yourself. >> definitely. i think that we all, you know, fall off every now and then. in some way or another. and i look at my life. if it weren't for second chances, where would i be? you know, i've never been to prison or anything like that. but i've had a job that perhaps i did something wrong or incorrect. and someone gave me a second chance. and i look at it and i say, if not me, who? and if not now, when? >> and looking at how you started the business, you basically wiped out your savings account. you had money under your mattress. >> i did. >> i can't -- my heart races thinking of the gamble that you took, with everything you had. >> everything. everything.

starting out, a small business owner, never having owned a business, never having had a loan, i knew that it was going to be difficult for me. >> and you were trying to open up a soul food restaurant in harlem. >> in harlem. so i did what my mom and dad used to do. i mm would always take money and put it under the mattress. it was a habit i had for many, many years. every payday, every friday, i would take a little bit and put it under the mattress, put it under the mattress. it ultimately ended up being a little over $300,000. and that's what i used to open up melba's. >> i clearly need to put more mattress money. >> let me ask you this, in all seriousness, when you see the challenges of restaurants, even those that are in prime real estate areas like a wall street or near rockefeller center, i believe the average time spent for a restaurant to stay open is about two years. >> yeah. >> you've beat the odds. and in an area that some would have passed on. the number one reason why is what? >> i think the number one reason why is that it's about comfort.

and the thing of comfort, you get that at the door, when you call, and until the end of your meal. it's also about commitment. i'm not giving up on a neighborhood that hasn't given up on me. and that's harlem. >> well, you've not given up on the neighborhood and they've not given up on you. i won't even run down all the celebrities i've spotted in this restaurant. you love live music. >> i do. >> all kinds of celebs have come in and spontaneously jammed while eating their soul food. thank you for believing in harlem as harlem has believed in you and a great success story to inspire. thank you so much, melba. i ended the segment early so i can eat my food. just kidding. thank you. developing now from business to the business of politics, senator bernie sanders campaigning in west virginia. he's discussing poverty in our country. where more than actually one third of the people who live in west virginia, they live below the poverty line. plus, how people in west virginia's coal country may actually prefer sanders, who's described as one of the most anti-coal candidates in history. we'll dig into that headline.

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like making planes, trains and hospitalrun better. why don't you check your new watch and tell me what time i should be there. oh, i don't hire people. i'm a developer. i'm gonna need monday off. again, not my call. . we're following some breaking news out of texas. this is actually spring branch, texas, near san antonio. some incredible images of a warehouse fire. this is by an -- near an elementary school. the school has been forced to evacuate. during the commercial break, several explosions were heard coming from this building, we're learning more as i speak regarding this warehouse and what was housed in there. but you see that thick, black smoke, nearly taking up the entire screen there and the fire engulfing most of that factory. but this is a warehouse. we're not up to date on how many individuals were in there or what this factory or warehouse houses. it's near a school. you see several buildings in and

around this factory. we're getting some more information, i hope, on the details of this area, but it is not from this vantage point, an isolated area, looking just, as what you see here, the buildings near it. and we do know that there is at least an elementary school not very far from this. we'll continue to follow this breaking news, this massive fire and explosion at a texas warehouse and we'll get back to that as soon as i get some information here. but meanwhile, let's get to politics. bernie sanders takes his uphill battle for the democratic nomination to coal country today. he was -- he has actually three events in west virginia, starting with a roundtable at a food bank that's in kimball, west virginia, located in a county where more than a third of the population lives below the poverty line. now, west virginia holds its primary in five days and one recent poll shows sanders leading clinton there by eight points. when hillary clinton campaigned in the state earlier this week, she was met with protests, angry people over the recent comments about the coal industry. a victory in west virginia would

put sanders on a winning streak that he can carry to kentucky, where he's also expected to do well. at a rally last night in lexington, sanders did not mention hillary clinton, not even one time. instead, he took aim at donald trump. >> i know that there is a lot of nervousness around this country that donald trump ma become president. ain't gonna happen! >> nbc's chris jansing is live on the phone with the sanders campaign. two things to discuss, the hostage of not mentioning clinton at that rally. and also west virginia, how the coal country seems to have embraced bernie sanders, chris. >> and for a lot of people, that is sort of counterintuitive, right? because he is somebody who has been against fracking. he's somebody who has supported the fossil fuel industry. wants to move towards more renewable sources of energies

and yet, it's amazing how strongly hillary clinton's words about coal miners and putting them out of business have been resonating here. there's an ad that's absolutely scathing against clinton, using her own words against her. but bernie sanders isn't running, it's a down person ticket who's running as a conservative for the supreme court. this is a place that is in bad economic shape. he is in one of the absolutely poorest counties in the entire country, where his populist message seems to override some of the things, some of the concerns that coal miners may have. i had a pretty intense conversation with senator sanders last night about the impact of poverty, and he prfrad it this way, in this panel discussion that got underway about ten minutes ago, he talks about poverty as a death sentence. and as an example, in fairfax county, virginia, which is about a six-hour drive from here, the

average male live 82 years. in this county, it's 64. when you look at women, in fairfax county, the average woman's life expectancy is 85. here in mcdowell county, it's 73. so this is something that he is looking at very closely. it is interesting, he didn't mention hillary clinton here. in some ways, he doesn't need to, because president obama, who she has aligned herself so closely, is extremely unpopular here, while bill clinton was popular, president obama, his personal ratings here are the second lowest in the country by some surveys, just behind wyoming. in fact, bernie sanders has won the endorsement of the state democratic party chair, something that hasn't happened elsewhere. so, he is going full steam ahead, trying to give the appearance of someone who is a general election candidate, knowing that there's that uphill climb. knowing that there is, as one of

his aides put it to me, yet a sort of yankee syndrome, where people want to back the winner. they want to put out the message that bernie sanders still has a chance to win, however high that road is to climb. >> chris jansing live with the sanders' campaign in west virginia. thanks, chris. up next, california is raising the smoking age to 21, becoming the second state to do it. this as the fed makes a move to ban the sale of ecigarettes to anyone under the age of 18. we'll have these stories and more news for you when we return after a short break.

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we're keeping an eye on this raging fire brurning out of control in alberta, canada. it's being called heartbreaking. it's forced now tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. officials have declared a state of emergency in the city of ft. mcmurray. more than 250 firefighters have battling this blaze and more than 1,600 structures have been damaged or destroyed. flights in and out of town have

now been suspended there. and investigations are underway in philadelphia after a police officer shot and killed an unarmed driver tuesday night. a plains clothed officer reportedly approached that driver's minivan on foot during a traffic stop. the driver identified as richard ferretti reportedly tried to flee the scene, trapping the officer when that officer opened fire, according to police. witnesses say they heard a man yell out, i'm stopping, i'm stopping. no weapon was found in the vehicle. both philadelphia homicide and internal affairs are investigatiinvestigat investigating. the philadelphia police department has been under scrutiny by the justice department for shooting of civilians and its lack of transparency. and a judge in texas has ordered former nfl quarterback johnny manziel not to have any contact with his former girlfriend. manziel was officially indicted today after he was accused of assaulting his former girlfriend at a dallas hotel, and then threatening to kill her. he denies hitting her. manziel faces misdemeanor assault charges that carry a

sentence of up to a year and a $4,000 fine. and we have news that could affect millions of people nationwide. the fda just announced it plans to regulate ecigarettes and it means no sales to anyone under the age of 18. msnbc's chief legal correspondent, ari melber is going through this new regulation. and on social media, other than political junkies, ecigarette fans are some of the most vocal people, so i'm very curious to see the reaction to this news. >> this is a very significant development, by any health or legal standards, tamron. as you mentioned, before today, anyone under the 18, any child, any minor, could buy ecigarettes and e-tobacco products, even though they couldn't buy the conventional kind of under federal law. a lot of people and a lot of health experts felt that was a huge loophole. today, the obama fda changes that with this outright ban, essentially, on ecigarettes for minors and basically also treatitreat

ing ecigarettes under federal regulations, for the northeast part, like normal tobacco products. this is huge, because as you mentioned, 480,000 americans die every year in smoking-related illnesses. i'll tell you, you're looking at the new rule there on the screen, that even though the fda is doing all of this, they note in this ruling, you want to show people, you mention the fans out there, the fda admits that ecigarettes are, of course, a lot less risk to a user than combusted tobacco products. combustible products being the kind you smoke. so i want to play a little bit more of the background, because this has been discussed in politics for a while. in fact, the authority for this rule coming out today came from a 2009 law passed on a bipartisan basis by congress and that president obama signed, of course, in the first year of his presidency. here's senator jeff merkley talking about some of these issues. >> we can see here particularly flavor flavors in the ecigarette

category. and we have a whole variety we have coffee, we have cherry. no individual can look at the flavors of these products and not know that they're targeting our children. >> you know, back in the day tamron, they used to target the advertising, why you need joe the camel, a cartoon, to appeal to adults. here some say the product itself is tailored towards children. the flavors themselves, of course, aren't being banned or anything like that, but it will be a lot harder, starting today, for children to get ecigarettes, tamron. >> all right. thank you, ari. a new law in california has raised the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. governor jerry brown signed that legislation yesterday. it includes restrictions on dipping and chewing tobacco, as well as ecigarettes. the new law does not apply to military personnel. california is the second state to raise the smoking age. factoid, here. hawaii was the first. coming up, two elite universities are investigating online allegations of a gang rape. the president of spellman

university urges the anonymous accuser to come forward. but that alleged victim says she already did and claims nothing happened. we'll have the very latest on this story that's also getting a lot of attention this morning. its way into your day, i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. make sure your doctor hears you too! i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands, don't suffer in silence! ep on up and ask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. tell 'em cedric sent you. dad, yoh no, i'll take you up to me off rthe front of the school. that's where your friends are. seriously, it's, it's really fine. you don't want to be seen with your dad? no, it's..no.. this about a boy? dad! stop, please. oh, there's tracy. what! [ horn honking ] [ forward collision warning ] [ car braking ] bye dad! it brakes when you don't.

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welcome back, we want to take you back to texas, it is near houston, spring ranch texas of this massive warehouse fire. it is still burning. firefighters are battling this huge fire. we are being told that will it started as a house fire that spread to this warehouse, so far no injuries are reported. this warehouse appears to be a packaging and a filing company of some sort. that's the description that we have right now. such a ferocious fire. there is been several explosions heard from the scene. the cause is unknown. a near by elementary school has been evacuated and due to the

release of hazardous materials. we'll continue to follow the developments there. very frighten fire to say the least in houston at this warehouse. not very far from an elementary school. there is a shelter in place order. we have been watching similar explosions for the past few minutes with this fire. thankfully at least right now no injuries to report but you can see those firefighters have their work cut out for them as they are close in and as always with this unpredictable situation of dealing something as we are watching a series of explosions. it looks like just to the right there an apartment complex and we are seeing people walking not very far. the shelter in place order may not have spread the news to these people. looks like that warehouse is very close to a small apartment

come ple complex. i wa . i want to get the the disturbing story we have been following out of atlanta. on the anonymous account, it titled rape. the account went onto detail this alleged attack. it set a social media fire storm. gabe gutierrez is joining us live from atlanta, what is the university saying about this, gabe? >> reporter: a few review of this case and yesterday the president of the moore house college released this statement saying he was deeply trouble for this allegation for spellman. as you mentioned, there is been a fire storm since that series of social media post that described an alleged gang rape.

it is unclear when this took place. the person posted that alleged went to school officials and took school officials about a month to get back to her. she went upstairs during a party where she was drinking and she was assaulted by four students, four male students. this has prompted a fire storm on social media. nbc has not been able to verify any of these allegations or made contact with the person who made the post. the police department is also not investigating this case so far because no victim has come forward. now, again, spelman's president has tweeted an invitation to this person to reach out personally so she can provide assistance and support. the college continues to follow any leads in this case and many questions surrounding this

disbudi disturbing allegation. >> okay, gabe, we'll continue to follow this story and we'll bring you the latest. that does it for this hour. thank you very much for joining us. up next is "andrea mitchell reports." ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪ ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪

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their silence speaks volume. john mccain running for reelection says he could be in trouble because of trump being at the top of the ticket. i have no doubt that this maybe the race of my life. >> you cannot always get what you want. ♪ >> rolling stone told donald trump get off their clouds and stop playing their song. good day everyone, i am andrea mitchell in washington. donald trump brushed off news at the last two republican presidents, both bushes are sitting out his white house campaign.