time and radar detected it flying over the mediterranean sea mere minutes before it was scheduled to land in cairo. egyptair has identified the pilot and co-pilot and the egyptian interior minister told "the new york times" that both men had no known political affiliations and had passed security background checks. a senior u.s. intelligence official told nbc news infrared and multispectral images strongly suggest there was an explosion aboard that plane. that is not a confirmation. rather, a working theory for investigators. >> so far at least we have no claim of responsibility or evidence that this was an intentional act, but the fbi as you would expect is working with our partners around the world to try and gain a better understanding of what happened. >> and right now, u.s. and french intelligence officials are comparing names on that passenger manifest against known terrorist watch lists. investigators are interviewing ground staff who had access to

that plane. joining us now, senior white house correspondent chris jansing, from paris. talk to us about the search for answers there in europe. >> reporter: yeah, this could be the first huge break in the case, alex. this morning -- good morning to you. obviously if they have found pieces of the belongings and more significantly potentially the fuselage which is what we're hearing from egyptian military officials, these could be clues that could give them the first clear understanding of what happened from on the ground. obviously, the kind of obvious things you would look at if there's a huge piece of the fuselage, are there holes that might indicate a bomb. there's a whole range now of investigative work that can move forward if they're able to get this and bring it in. obviously, this is something that they have been looking for, this major search that's under way. from here in france, they have provided a falcon surveillance jet that has been taking part in this search as they continue to

look for answers. earlier this morning, alex, the french foreign minister as well as the transportation official held a news conference and essentially said, look, everything is still on the table. they would not say what a lot of folks have been indicating that all of the signs are pointing to terrorism. in fact, they were being cautious about this, even though earlier french president francois hollande who had a conversation with el sisi, suggested that terrorism was a possibility. egypt is a country suffering by deep economic problems, caused by a series of aviation disasters. their tourism has been down 40%. it was just a month ago that president hollande travelled to egypt to sign a $1 billion deal to help the economy there and the relationship between france and egypt, one of the strongest

that egypt has with europe and really critical to what has been a faltering economy there. but back to the focus on this search and investigation which also there's offers of help from the united states. from the u.k. and in terms of planes. you mentioned that white house officials have said that there has been an offer and an ongoing exchange of information, particularly about those terror watch lists. various kinds of intelligence. the president continuing to be briefed, but this is the big break this morning. happening literally just minutes ago. the report from army officials that the egyptian navy has found the belongings of passengers on board that jet, as well as a piece of the fuselage. alex? >> as you reported, secretary of state john kerry had offered help to president el sisi. whenever there's a crash on land usually that is the country --

the agency that take the lead. but in something like this in the mediterranean where it is international waters albeit those off the coast of egypt and in the waters between greece, they'll take the lead. but it has to be a multinational investigation given the nature of this. potential terrorism. that plane having gone in five different stops. >> that's absolutely right. one of the things going on right now and it's happening here in france as well is anyone who had any access to that plane, anyone who worked for the airline, anyone who worked for any of the airports, anyone with any type of access at all, they're continuing to do background checks. this has already gotten under way. they're looking at when they were in contact with the plane. who were they with when they were in contact with the plane? these are key questions if this does indeed turn out to be an act of terrorism. who might have planted something on board that would have caused this kind of catastrophic

difference. also, it's worth noting that for all of these countries but particularly i think egypt and france, the terrorism implications are enormous for their economy. i can tell you just talking to people on the plane and i only landed here several hours ago talking to french and american business people, having been here in november last year after of course the horrible bombings that happened in paris and the tremendous implications that had for the economy here as well as the tourism industry, that and these are things that have wide ranging implications. so this investigation getting to the bottom of what happened including looking at everything that happened at every stop along the way critically important in these early hours and early days. alex? >> all right. chris, i have been handed information that confirms that officials are saying that the chief egyptian minister will be joined by british and french investigators as well as experts from airbus and looking what

they have found here reportedly in the mediterranean. thanks for that. the egyptair disaster has put terrorism back in the campaign spotlight with both hillary clinton and donald trump saying it appears that terrorism was involved. it also touched off a tense back and forth over foreign policy after clinton was asked if she thought trump was qualified to be president. >> i do not. and i think in this past week, whether it's attacking great britain, praising the leader of north korea, a despotic dictator who has nuclear weapons, whether it is saying pull out of nato, let other countries have nuclear weapons, i know how hard this job is. and i know that we need steadiness, as well as strength and smarts in it. and i have concluded he is not qualified to be president of the united states. >> so today we had a terrible tragedy and she came up and she said that donald trump talked about radical islamic terrorism

which she doesn't want to use. she used a different term. she refuses to use that term. and i'm saying to myself, and it's a terrible thing and he essentially shouldn't be running for office. he doesn't have the right to run for office. i'm saying to myself, what just happened about 12 hours ago? a plane got blown out of the sky. and if anything -- if anybody thinks it wasn't blown out of the sky, you're 100% wrong, folks, okay? >> and by the way, clinton is now fund-raising off of her remarks that trump is not qualified. also, trump released a statement that reads in part, the fact that hillary thinks a temporary muslim ban promotes terrorism proves that bernie sanders was correct when he said she is not qualified to be president and by the way, ask hillary who blew up the plane last night. another terrible and preventable tragedy.

she is unfit to serve as president at this delicate time in our country's history. a new poll shows donald trump gaining on hillary clinton. clinton leads trump by six points though that's down by three since april. both candidates are deeply flawed on the question of favorability, clinton is at 31%, trump a mere 26%. on the question of honesty they're neck and neck at a dismal 32 and 31%. on the question of sharing voters' values clinton leads trump by six. and while both are seen as strong leaders, clinton leads trump by 21 points when voters were asked who has the right temperament. inside donald trump's campaign, he is ceding more power to paul manafort. he will be the charge and the chief strategist. he was initially brought on to manage the convention with corey lewandowski managing day to day operations. trump was asked about -- he was out and about for a fund-raiser last night with chris christie in new jersey. they were met with protests on the ground and overhead with a plane dragging this message

there. others were downed by personal like this photo. however, it helped christie to retire his campaign debt and he rhapsodized about his friend, now the presumptive nominee. >> we have been friends with donald trump for 14 years and i said to mary pat, we never ever make a mistake by standing with your friends. and donald trump is my friend. >> chris paid off his entire campaign debt tonight. right? and chris, you can't even give them a table and a seat. that's terrible. when carrier and ford and nabisco leaving chicago with their big plant, they're moving to mexico -- i'm not eating oreos anymore. neither is chris, you're not eating oreos. christie once the most

popular governor in the country has seen his popularity drop. his approval rating is at 29% and the worst of any governor in the nine states they're polled. when the state's republicans were asked if he should be trump's running mate a mere 27% said yes. democratic front-runner hillary clinton declared the democratic race for her nomination effectively over yesterday. in an interview clinton was confident that not only would the nomination be hers, but that senator bernie sanders would work hard to make sure his supporters would back her. >> i will be the nominee, that's done in effect. there's no way i won't be. when i came out and withdrew and endorsed senator obama, about 40% according to polls -- about 40% of my supporters said they would never support him. so i worked really hard to make the case as i'm sure senator sanders will that whatever

differences we might have they pale in comparison to the presumptive nominee of the republican party. >> not surprisingly the sanders campaign disagrees saying in a statement, in the past three weeks voters in indiana, west virginia and oregon respectively disagree with clinton. meanwhile, "the washington post" reports that democratic national committee plans to offer a concession to the sanders campaign, namely seats on a key platform committee in the hopes of avoiding an ugly convention fight in philadelphia. the decision to make the offer is expected in the coming days. however, the sanders camp expects to ask for an increase in the minimum wage and a more balanced position regarding israelis and palestinians which may lead to a bitter dispute. san francisco police chief greg sir resigned yesterday at the request of mayor ed lee. it came after the latest high profile incident, an officer

shot and killed a 27-year-old black woman. the car was stolen and she did not obey orders to stop. over the last year, san francisco police have faced mounting criticism after several scandals unfolded, accusing them of exchanging racist text messages. cell phone footage last year of five officers shooting and kill 26-year-old mario woods in the same neighborhood went viral. a new controversial bill may become law in oklahoma that would make performing abortions a felony. and revoked the medical licenses of physicians who assist in any such procedures. the state legislature approved it which is described as unprecedented and unconstitutional. it now heads to mary fallin. she has five days to decide to veto it or allow it. such a law could not survive a constitutional challenge because

it would violate the supreme court ruling in roe v. wade which legalized abortion. a measure to help protect lgbt people from discrimination failed by just one vote in the house of representatives. causing a chaotic scene in the chamber. >> shame, shame, shame, shame! >> you heard it there, democrats chanting shame, because the amendment had enough votes to vote until some members were convinced to switch their positions. it was defeated one vote, 213-212 prompting this response from steny hoyer. >> i didn't hear the chair request a change. but i do know that from my own personal observation, not one of those members who apparently changed their vote because it kept changing on the board came to this well and had the courage to change from green to red or red to green. how is that possible, mr.

speaker? >> the gentleman has not stated a parliamentary inquiry. >> mr. speaker -- let me raise another parliamentary inquiry. mr. speaker, let me raise a parliamentary inquiry. mr. speaker, mr. speaker -- i asked for a vote on -- >> those in favor say aye. >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker -- >> no -- >> the ayes have it. >> nancy pelosi also released a statement saying in part, quote, house republicans are so committed to discriminating they break regular order to force members to support the republicans' bigotry. veterans "60 minutes" correspondent morley safer died just days after the announcement of his retirement. known as one of the premiere news writers he made his name during the vietnam war. from there, he joined the fledgling broadcast which would

propel him to fame. and while his relationship with "60 minutes's" mike wallace was stormy, he travelled the world covering everything from fine art to the landmark french hotel, the ritz in 1971. >> 40 years ago, you could come in here and watch the truly gilded people at play. scott fitzgerald brought hemingway here and they got very drunk, made passes at beautiful women and got beaten up in fistfights. in the corner cole porter scribbling music on a napkin. winston churchill sipping champagne. valentino and garbo being idoliz idolized. it was the literary and social mecca of the time and everyone seemed young and beautiful and rich. it was to hear that the lost generation came to laugh at the rest of the world. >> morley safer was 84 years old. of course we continue to follow the breaking news this

morning. the egyptian army saying it found wreckage believed to be from the egyptair 804. belongings from some passengers as well as parets of the fuselage. we'll stake a break and come back with the latest. what brand of makeup is better for your skin than wearing no makeup at all? neutrogena® cosmetics. with vitamins and antioxidants. now with foundations in shades for more skin tones.

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make it happen with motrin® liquid gels. also try motrin pm to relieve pain and help you sleep. approaching 49 past, we continue to follow breaking news. the egyptian military saying they believe the navy has found some belongings of passengers, even parts of the plane itself. this from egyptair flight 804. they describe the items as being 180 miles outside of alexandria, egypt. that plane lost contact about 170 miles off the egyptian coast. a ministry of defense spokesman said they're sure the wreckage from flight 804 and all wreckage will be brought back to egypt for investigation. there's growing concern over where the plane travelled before departing from paris on wednesday. cnbc's hadley gamble is joining us live in the french capital. hadley, good morning. what are you hearing about this? >> reporter: good morning, alex.

well essentially we have heard growing questions about the destinations that this a-320 aircraft made before flying out of charles de gaulle at 11:09 p.m. on that fateful flight to cairo. in the 24 hours prior to the depart chur of flight 804, the aircraft made stops in belgium. it was in eritrea, and in tunisia and in egypt itself before arriving at charles de gaulle, so questions if there were security implications for the aircraft and whether this was in fact a terror incident. certainly from the egyptians themselves, the civil aviation administrator saying this is indeed maybe terror. so some big questions concerning what actually happened to flight 804. we'll continue to follow them from here in paris. guys?

>> thank you. cnbc's hadley gamble from paris. let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. what say you about the weekend? >> nothing too violent, sunday, some storms in the central plains. this morning though, we had the really nasty line of ostorm, thousands of lightning strikes headed from new orleans overnight and now knocking on the door around panama city. that will blow by in the next half hour. wait until that blows by until you head out in northern portions of florida. as far as the rain today, areas of southern georgia, alabama, even mississippi, on and off showers and storms. by 5:00 p.m., we're concentrating on the rain, scattered storms back up to cincinnati. then tonight we track this storm into the mid-atlantic region. so evening plans in north carolina or through virginia, you may get rained fourth a short period of time. by 9:00 a.m. saturday morning we're focusing the rain on the mid-atlantic region. belmont stakes going on in maryland on saturday. it looks like heavy rain early

in the morning. then as we go throughout the 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. time period a lot of the heavy rain shifts to the north. philadelphia, looks like a rainy saturday for you. yesterday, southern new england and new york city was looking at a little bit of rain and now a steadier, soaking rain throughout saturday evening. today is by far the best of the next three days from washington, d.c., up through new england and enjoy the sunshine today. because the weekend is going to feature a lot of clouds and some periods of rain. other areas, nice weather today in texas. you deserve it after what you have been through. the worst weather on saturday where it has been for much of the month of may, washington, d.c., and sneaking up into new york and on sunday, some soaking rains. southern new england, on sunday evening. >> spring showers. >> the grass is already green. we'll be back with the latest breaking news that wreckage from the missing plane has been found. dog person.

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we continue to follow the breaking news, the egyptian military says this morning they believe the navy has found some belongings of passengers even potentially parts of the plane itself. this from egyptair flight 804. they describe the items as being 180 miles outside of alexandria, egypt. it lost contact 180 miles off the egyptian coast. a spokesman said they're sure

that the wreckage is indeed from flight 804 and that all wreckage will be brought back to egypt for investigation. this as the latest in a long list of crises that egypt has department with over the years but as the "new york times" reports, the nation seemed poised at last for an economic comeback after dealing with the damaged economy and a diminished currency. this new disaster has come as a shock to egypt's leaders. instead of a typical defensive reaction, egyptian officials were quick to acknowledge yesterday that the plane's disappearance may have been the result of terror. so we know it has been a dark 24 hours or so. so we thought we would end this morning on a lighter note from stephen colbert. >> before we go any further, we have very important breaking vice presidential news from ohio. jim? >> my name is joe biden and i love ice cream. [ cheers and applause ] >> my name is stephen colbert and i love joe biden. and if you think that joe biden

is kidding he's not. >> you all think i'm kidding? i'm not. [ laughter ] >> he means it from the heart. >> my name is alex witt, i love both those guys. we'll have the latest on the discovery of 804 on "morning joe" and plus, donald trump joins us live. we'll talk to him about this incident and the state of the 2016 race. that and much more, coming up next on "morning joe."

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99% of bad breath germs so you can feel 100% in life. bring out the bold™. what just happened about 12 hours ago? a plane got blown out of the sky. if anybody thinks it wasn't blown out of the sky, you're 100% wrong, folks. >> it does appear it was an act of terrorism. exactly how, of course, the investigation will have to determine. >> welcome to "morning joe." >> it's friday, and you see they are fighting. may 20th