soldier killed in iraq. trump's campaign chairman saying this morning, not to expect an "i'm sorry" from the candidate any time soon, if ever. >> i think the sentiments about what he feels towards that family and what they went through, he's expressed -- just because he doesn't a the words everybody wants, he has said he is sorry for what they have gone through but keeps going back to the main issue and the main issue isn't this family, it's the cause of suffering of this family. this is a time in august, as you know, george, you have been through this, we have tried different approaches out. september, october, you have your messages honed. the strategy said, hillary clinton can't change her position in that content. our political team up and ready across the country this morning with all of this covered. we want to start with nbc's katy tur in portland, maine, where donald trump will be later today. kate what are sources telling you, will we see a reset?

>> reporter: my sources say things are not bad right now, things are very good. they point to the july fund-raising numbers, $82 million. they say this is not a campaign in turmoil. but let's be honest about it. donald trump has been jumping from one controversy to the next. he's not doing well in battleground state polling right now. and he is chasing an onslaught of criticism from his own party, and threats even from republicans to unendorse him or not vote for him come november. so things are not as fine as they may make them out to be. that being said, the campaign is adamant that they are the anti establishment campaign, that they don't need the endorsement of other politicians, and frankly, when you talk to voters and i have been talking this morning, the endorsement of other politicians does not seem to matter. and this idea that there might be an intervention against donald trump, well, rudy guiliani pushed back against that this morning. take a listen.

>> there wasn't a meeting. i meet with donald trump all of the time. i spent two-and-a-half hours with him. we talk, talk about issues. sometimes we make changes. sometimes he makes changes. it is not different in any campaign i've ever been in, including my own, in which i made changes probably 20 times. it's -- it's an evolving campaign. he is a new candidate that adds a little bit of more of a learning curve than would normally be the case. but you get bad weeks and good weeks. >> reporter: my party sources are not calling it an intervention. they're calling it more of a loosely coordinated effort for those close to donald trump to tell him to get back on message, to leave the controversies behind, and start focusing his attacks on hillary clinton, taking opportunities to go after her and focusing on his own message, job creation, the economy, and national security. yesterday was day one of something of a reset, and republican party sources told me

that was something of a sliver of light for them, that donald trump will get back on message. today is day two. we'll see what he has to say in portland for day three. >> katey, his supporters not going anywhere, and you obviously have been covering the primary from the very beginning. now you know his support is strong and his supporters aren't rattled by these types of controversies. but in order to win the general election, he's got to grow that support. so what is his campaign saying about that? do they still feel confident they can grow their numbers with women, with latinos, with african-americans? >> reporter: you know, the campaign says they feel confident about that. and that's what you would expect them to say. paul manafort this morning on cbs said this is only august. but take a look at pennsylvania. he's down significantly in pennsylvania right now that. is a state he needs to win in order to beat hillary clinton. and they have been trying to appeal to white working class voters. but so far, his appeal, even

among that strong voting block, is starting to crack. he's not maintaining the same level of support that he had just a few months ago. it shows that these controversies, which are unyielding, are starting to take its toll. that being said, he also needs to find a way to appeal to female voters and to appeal to minority voters. so far, what we have seen from the campaign in terms of outreach to those voters is donald trump going on stage or setting out a tweet saying he loves those voters. or ivanka coming out and trying to show the softer side of the campaign. will that work come the general election? so far, the polling says, no, that has not worked. >> all right. katy tracking all of the developments. thanks for that report. i appreciate it. i want to bring in cnbc washington correspondent, john harwood, reporting on the campaigns many internal fights. john, what's the latest today? katie talking about the fact that the campaign is downplaying all of this chaos, which is what you would expect. but i'm hearing that it's very real, and that there is very

significant concern today. >> of course it's real, kristen. look, the things that the trump campaign is saying officially are simply not credible. if you look at the polling, fox news had a new poll out yesterday. donald trump was down ten points to hillary clinton. he was down among college-educated white women by seven and among noncollege women by two. he is doing very badly since the conventions. democrats had a more successful convention than republicans did. and then trump has snowballed the democratic momentum by what he has done over the last week. and in terms of getting back to trump's message, the problem for him is that the message of the campaign is donald trump himself. of and that is not looking to be a winning message at this point. so when people talk about resetting and changing donald trump and getting him to behave differently, it's not clear that that is possible, and what it would look like if he did. >> well, and let me follow up with you there on that point.

who is he listening to, john, if anyone? and is there anyone really running this campaign at this point? we know that paul manafort, obviously, seems to be in charge. but is donald trump listening to him? >> reporter: the friends of paul manafort have told me that he is not listening to him. and if you look at what paul said yesterday when he was interviewed, he said the candidate is in control of the campaign, and i'm in control of the things that he wants me to control in the campaign. that to me was about as plain a statement as you can make. that donald trump is, in fact, in charge of pretty much everything in the campaign. dan senior, a veteran of the george w. bush administration, said this morning, it's a one-man band. now paul manafort is there, he's experienced in national politics, he knows what he's doing. but he does not appear to be able to have control over donald trump. other people from the outside are trying to influence him. but, you know, yesterday when i had an exchange over e-mail with

newt gingrich, is there an intervention. he said no. are you part of an intervention? he said no. so i don't know exactly what this consists. judy guiliani says he talks to him all of the time, maybe he's got some influence. but as for his two sons, bloomberg politics reported yesterday, they have left the country to go hunting. so ivanka may be still around, maybe she's got some influence. if you look at the things donald trump says, including yesterday when he was relitigating arguments over what he said about megyn kelly, blood coming out of her eyes, relitigating what -- the exchanges he had with the disabled report from the "new york times" saying i wasn't physically mimicking, i was portraying someone groveling. that is not the actions of a rational candidate who is taking direction and looking at ways of expanding his support. >> right. and not focused on hillary clinton, which is what the gop wants him to be doing. all right, cnbc's john harwood,

thanks so much for that reporting. really appreciate it. all of the controversies and missteps by trump divert attention away from the democratic nominee, as we were just discussing, hillary clinton. she is pressing forward with her campaign and key battleground states and new polling this morning, as we have been saying from three key states show her pulling away from donald trump. the former secretary of state is in nevada today and in colorado and on wednesday where she took a swipe at donald trump. take a listen. >> when donald trump is asked about where he makes things, he makes them anywhere else but america. you know, his ties, his suits, his shirts, his furniture, his bar ware, made all over the world, bangladesh, turkey, slovenia, mexico. and when asked about that, he said, well, we don't make that stuff in america. well, i'm here to tell you. donald, you're wrong. >> msnbc political correspondent, kasie hunt,

covering the clinton campaign, along with me. and andrea. so kasie, we've been talking to clinton campaign officials, and they essentially are saying, look, our challenge right now is to stay on message, to not take anything for granted. it's still early. and she has been hitting him on the economy. and on his temperament. what are you expecting today in nevada? >> right. i think the goal here is, don't take the bait. and clinton's campaign has shown they're much better at that than donald trump. and i think to persist with this focus, yes, she's out in swing states, she's in colorado, she's in nevada, these are diverse places that, quite frankly, probably aren't going to be as much in play as they normally are. and the reality s her messaging is really about those working class white voters in places like pennsylvania and ohio. at the end of the day, they really have to eat into donald trump's margin there if they want to kind of make sure this thing is on very solid ground. and that's what her speech today in las vegas is about. they're focusing on apprenticeship programs, who does that speak to? it speaks to people without

college degrees. and that, of course, is donald trump's strongest group. >> and kasie, they're obviously targeting those voters very significantly. they could hold the key to this election. and i understand you actually have some new reporting at this hour about the clinton campaign's potential first steps in making a presidential transition. what have you learned about that? >> well, kristen, we're actually not that far away from a potential transition. you know, with just 90 some odd days until this actually -- until the election and only a month or so after that before the new president will be taking office. so the clinton campaign has filed paperwork. this is something both campaigns do, setting up their transition team. john podesta will be the president of that effort. they're still yet to name a chairperson. so there will be somebody else as well working on that at the highest levels. and the white house has also been reaching out to both campaigns. denis mcdonough, chief of staff calling both governor chris

christie and with the clinton campaign to talk about the next steps for this, both campaigns can start working out of office space that's not far from the white house. as they all start to take these traditional steps. we also, of course, know that both campaigns can get those intelligence abbreviation that general election nominees are promised, although it's on the campaign to say schedule them, kristen. >> all right. we will certainly keep our eye on that one. kasie hunt, thank you. as the tension builds between donald trump and the rnc, what's the breaking point? and the big question, could donald trump drop out of the race? there are no signs this would ever happen, but what if he did? msnbc chief legal correspondent, arrestee melber, joins me now. so ari, i've been talking to republican sources, they say, look, this is highly unlikely, but a scenario getting some buzz. what would happen and how would the party in this case a new no, ma'am re. >> senior republican sources emphasize this is not on the table, and i know that before, during and after this segment, we hear about it from trump

trained supporters on twitter. the point here is not to overly speculate. but there is discussion within the party about this great unrest and concern. so there is a discussion over what is even possible. we'll show you here. the republican rules do stipulate there are other options under rule 9, basically, the rnc can be authorized and empowered to fill any vacancies for president. the key words there for us being declaration or otherwise, the idea if a candidate completely withdrew, a formal refusal or god forbid, some other reason they vacated like unexpected death. yes, the rnc has this process. the 168 rnc members can basically choose a candidate. and that's national committeemen and women and the state chair from every state. the other alternative would be to actually reconvene an entire convention. that is even more unfeasible. >> and it's my understanding this would have to be donald trump's decision.

in other words, he could not be forced out. would his campaign have any power if that were to happen in terms of who would become the nominee? >> that's exactly right. he cannot be forced out. indeed, while we're in the muck of the rules here, i'll show you another one. rule 4b, which actually says once the nominee is chosen, the rnc actually has the power to declare any member who refuses to support the nominee. if anything, the rules completely reinforce the power of the nominee. if you have a situation where they completely withdraw, it goes back to the rnc and whoever may have worked for the nominee, they don't have any other sway. i would point out, all of this is what comes through the leverage or the sort of emergency scenarios or hitting the red button. just like republicans have pushed back on the language around intervention, many pushing back around the language or idea that anything other than a full march to the finish like is going to happen. everything that said, our colleague, john harwood, was telling you, some of the defenses are reading as noncredible. not only to independent

observers but also republicans in the party. we are at an interesting point where, again, reinforcing how unlikely any changes to the nominee, there is clearly something unusual happening for the kickoff of a general election where the party is still going through spasms of debate over their nominee and his fitness to make it to the finish line. >> ari, great insights as always. thank you. terrifying moments overseas. a man goes on a stabbing spree on a london street, killing an american and injuring five other people. what was behind this brutal attack? we go live to london, next, with details. of first, presidential nominees, dueling live events. rally, north carolina, where mike pence is holding a town hall and democratic vp hopeful, tim kaine, is addressing the national urban league in baltimore. we're back after a quick break. stay with us. (vo) my name's nick and i make dog chow in denver, colorado. one of my fondest memories of khloe is the day we got her.

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and we have some breaking news to tell you about now. a north carolina man has been charged with supporting isis. nbc justice correspondent, pete williams, is here in washington. what do we know at this point? >> his name is eric jamal hendricks, 35, from charlotte, north carolina. the fbi says it got on to him when they arrested a man in ohio who bought a weapon from an under cover federal agent. and in interviewing that man, they said he had been in contact with this man, hendricks, in north carolina. and that hendricks had been contacting him on social media and trying to get him interested and trying to put together some kind of sleeper cell in the u.s. to conduct attacks here on behalf of isis. the fbi says in a criminal complaint unsealed just moments ago that he was in touch with many people on social media, including those two men who last

spring carried out the attack on the situation in garland, texas. they said he was reaching out to many people, including, unbeknownst to him, an undercover fbi operative. so he's charged with providing material support to isis. he's been arrested and he'll face the charges in court later today, kristen. >> all right. pete williams, thank you for that breaking news update. really appreciate it. heading to london now, today's london mayor urging residents to remain calm after an american citizen was stabbed to death in a busy square. a 19 year-old man, a norwegianian national, suspected of killing one. mental illness, a significant factor in the incident. nbc's matt bradley in brussels square where the stabbing took place. matt, what else do we know about the attacker and american citizen who died? >> reporter: well, the u.s. embassy has confirmed it was an

american citizen killed, kristen. we actually don't have any more details beyond that. for privacy, not going into identity of the victim. five other people injured who were stabbed in this attack. three just released from the hospital and we're hearing a fourth one will probably be released very soon. also, that attacker, the perpetrator of the crime, he was released from the hospital, as well. but, of course, he's still in police custody. and some of the other details we're getting from him, from scotland yard and from the norwegian ministry of foreign aai affai affairs, this man immigrated to the u.k. back in 2002 when he was only 4 or 5 years old and basically living here ever since. but again, as you mentioned, the police all but dismissed any speculation that there was islamic radicalization involved in this. they are saying there is no evidence this crime was caused with any ideological motive behind it at all. but still, kristen, this is a city on edge. we just saw a really ramped up police presence throughout the city. and this is the heart of tourist

london. this is the center of london. there are hotels all around this square that houstons of tourists from for the summer here. this broke into the tranquillity of what we saw here in -- of this what could have been a really nice touristy time here in london. >> and matt, just to follow up on that point, there were initial concerns that this may have been a terror attack, particularly everything that has been unraveling overseas. and authorities were pretty quick to knock that down, right? i mean, they really got out in front of it pretty quickly. is that accurate? >> yeah, that's fair to say. after france and then belgium and germany, they're just waiting and some londoners worrying they are next. so when something like this happens, speculation is going to arrive very quickly at terrorism as a motive. >> indeed. nbc's matt bradley in loont. thank you, matt. coming up, florida unleashes

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helps defend against occasional digestive issues. with three types of good bacteria. live the regular life. phillips'. tensions ratcheting up between donald trump and the gop as reports continue of a high-level intervention plan to try to get the candidate back on message. new polls this morning show trump trailing clinton in three battleground states. so can the republican change his behavior and pivot toward the general election, like he's been promising to do for months. joining me now is the "washington post" ed o'keefe. thanks for being here. really appreciate it. >> good to see you, kristen. >> so this morning, the trump campaign waking up to the news that more republicans saying that they're not going to endorse him, adam kissinger. how are they responding and how big a deal is this, do you think? >> they're starting to blame us, kristen. the media. they're saying -- >> starting to? >> yeah. well, now they're really doing it.

nit-picking everything trump says, they claim, and certain publications far more focused on trump's miss steps than those of hillary clinton. look, this is what happens when somebody starts to slip a little bit. they start to suggest the media isn't doing them any favors, improperly covering the race. and i think i would argue that certainly this organization has in a fair and balanced way covered both of them. he's struggling in new hampshire, pennsylvania and michigan, three states he would need to win or at least do well in. he's under water. and what i think is most striking lieu, we're beginning to see this affect the senate races, as well. kelly ayotte struggling against maggi hassen in new hampshire and one survey showing matt toomey down, as well. if it starts to bleed into those races, that's really when republicans will start to panic. if they can't hold on to congress, really they'll have nothing after november. >> and ed, let me pick up on that point. i want to do more on the trump campaign. but obviously, you have top republicans, you have paul ryan,

who are making that their key focus. just making sure they hold on to the house and to the senate when they look at those poll numbers that you just mentioned. there have to be jitters running throughout the entire republican establishment. >> there are. i suppose the silver lining is it's only august. and people really won't devote much attention to this in most states until after labor day. but you see those senate numbers in those two contests, new hampshire and pennsylvania. that's kelly ayotte and pat toomey. if you add mark kirk, expected to suffer a loss, that's three seats that democrats could conceivably pick up. they need to hit four or five to retake control of the senate outright that. could come from wisconsin, maybe, with ron johnson, who is skipping an event with donald trump this week in the badger state. it could come from florida or north carolina, or somewhere else. and so once you start to see surveys showing that those republican incumbent senators are in trouble, and then potentially you see house republican incumbents in

trouble, that's really when i think top republican leaders that work here in washington, at least, will really begin to panic. there are still a few dozen house republicans who have primaries this month. there are a handful of republican senators, including john mccain out in arizona who still have primaries. once the dust settles on those, new surveys are taken and we see whether or not trump is having an affect, will we see mass defections, if any, because of concern of what he is doing to the down ballot races. >> and there is no doubt, what is going to be the result. i turn to kelly o'donnelo'donne thanks for being here. can you put that into perspective a little bit. how much jitters, how many jitters are there within the republican party right now about some of these down ballot races, particularly when you look at the new polls out today? >> the concern is real. and leadership on the republican side is trying to say to each of these candidates, the incumbents and those who are running to try to fill a vacancy, run your own

race. stay out of trump's world as much as possible. we have heard john mccain, marco rubio, say i don't want to answer trump questions every single day. i don't want to be peppered with those every day. and there are issues where they can drill down and talk about things that are really relevant to their constituents. it's difficult, though. it would be so much easier if there were a nominee that they could share the stage with and feel they had some coattails to their benefit. so the concern is real. it is a difficult map for republicans, regardless of the nominee, just which states are up and the number of states. so there are jitters. campaigns are filled with nervous stomachs. that's just the nature of it. this is it particularly acute when they have to answer for some of the unpredictable difficult controversial things he says or does. >> and when you think about the controversial things that he says or does, ed, there have been all of these reports about a possible intervention. the trump campaign pushing back against that word, against the

very notion of an intervention. but i was told just today from a top gop official, it is very real. that is something that's going to happen. what are you hearing? >> if you base it primarily on the reporting of my colleagues looking into this in the last 24 hours, here are the facts. the facts are two of his kids are now in an overseas hunting trip. we have always been led to leave the kids have the biggest influence with him. but the sons are out of the country right now. i noticed, for example, ivanka trump was in washington yesterday. perhaps she wasn't -- at least yesterday, directly engaged. there are very few other republicans who can get to him and explain to him the problems. one of them, you know, the former speaker, nuewt gingrich, obviously speaking out. and rudy guiliani could get to him. but trump is trump and takes advice from himself, goes with his gut. and those who believe they can intervene and convince him to campaigning ways i think are seeing right now why that doesn't work. there was a belief that this

would start to change after the convention. it hasn't. it looks to be having an effect in some critical states. whether or not he begins to realize that remains to be seen. and really will only come when he himself realizes it's a problem. >> and kelly, what are you hearing about this? >> i think you're right. the word "intervention" was probably something thrown about to express the emotional feeling of republicans. it has a strong connotation that i think doesn't really reflect what i am hearing. which is almost a daily conversation with prominent republicans. you've got a jeff sessions in the room, the senator who is first to endorse him. a governor chris christie, rudy guiliani, newt gingrich on the phone working with him, working with his grown children over time. there have been frustrations, especially about the khan family situation. and i was told you won't hear him discuss that again. and we have had a couple days now where that had been true. paul manafort has responded to questions about it. but trump himself is not bringing it up. really trying to slam the door on that and advice to him that

that was an inappropriate, wrong strategy. and to try to focus him back on issues like things that relate directly to hillary clinton. we saw some of that in his public appearances yesterday and then veered into the dissection of the ads being run against him. so i think there is a constant pressure from those who think they can help him be a better candidate, trying to convince him. his clear reluctance is that he's a gut player and likes to follow his own instincts and doesn't always take advice. >> i just want to follow up on that key point. does he take advice from anyone, kelly? >> there are examples where we have seen he agreed -- he came to a point where he agreed he needed to adjust something. and from what i am told through my reporting, ivanka has a very strong voice, jared kushner has a strong voice. we saw it back with the judge curiel session. he did not return to it. i think there are some instances where he can be convinced that

has run its course. at large, i think there are still things that he does that are completely atypical of a candidate, and the hard argument, he embraces that. he doesn't want to be a typical candidate. so when they advise him that this isn't what you should do in order to become president, he bristles. >> and that fires up his base, the fact that he's not a typical candidate. great conversation. thanks to you both for being here. appreciate it. in the wake of the campaign trail littered with controversy, a growing number of political insiders and outsiders, are asking, does donald trump really want to win the white house? we'll take a look at all of the evidence, coming up next. we got another one. i have an orc-o-gram for an "owen." that's me. ♪ you should hire stacy drew. ♪ ♪ she wants to change the world with you. ♪ ♪ she can program jet engines to talk and such. ♪ ♪ her biggest weakness is she cares too much. ♪ thank you. my friend really wants a job at ge. mine too. ♪ i'm a wise elf from a far off shire. ♪ and sanjay patel is who you should hire. ♪ thank you.

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political analyst, michael steele, not mincing words on "morning joe," on what he would say to donald trump after several days of bruising headlines and falling poll numbers. on the front page of the "washington post" this morning, gop at new level of panic over trump. i'm joined now by matt schlep, former political director for george w. bush. thanks for being here. >> great to be with you. >> i want to start there. what is your reaction to what we heard from michael steele? does donald trump want to win this race? >> of course, he does. he's a newbie. hasn't run for city council before, putting together a nationwide effort on every issue under the sun. and what you realize about running for president, it's one of the most difficult -- it's spiritually taxing, emotionally taxing. it's physically taxing. and it's a tough thing. and you see both with hillary clinton, who has had tons of mistakes herself, even though she is a veteran. and you take the new guy, donald trump, it's always going to be choppy. and just get ready for the next

less than 100 days. >> you and i were talking about the timing of this. it comes before labor day, about to head into the olympic stretch, watching every day, of course. this is recoverable, you think. >> absolutely. i mean, the starting gun is labor day, for most campaigns. and look, i haven't enjoyed watching the last week as a partisan republican. he's going to have bad polls that have come out this morning that will come out throughout the next week. that's just the way it is. they had a great convention. and donald trump stepped into a few traps. this is totally recoverable. he absolutely wants to be president. i think he has -- still has a decent shot of getting there. i actually think the race is his too lose. >> let's listen to one of thinks advisers, dr. ben carson, had to say. i'm going get your reaction on the other side. >> i'm not sure that he's not listening. you know, i talked to him very recently, and -- and he is listening. and i think you're going to see him focusing much more on the issues, and on his opponent.

and not allowing himself to be dragged off into the bushes. >> that's dr. carson, essentially saying, look, he's listening to his adviser, you'ring going to see him get back on message. do you think that's a fair assessment? >> completely. look, he will win this race if it's about up-ending washington, fixing the economy, stopping these terrorists and the fact that hillary clinton is not in any position to do any of those things. he will win this race if he's convincing on those issues. >> you've heard about this so-called intervention, the trump campaign downplaying that notion. but there is a sense that some top gop officials will be talking to him. >> happens. look, i'm a veteran of two presidential campaigns. happens in every presidential campaign when bad polls come out or you have a bad week. all the gray beards intervene and say we've got to do things different, got to make changes. this is very typical. by the way, it's happening on the hillary clinton side constantly. she had a terrible sunday morning news conference where she literally said the fbi director said her testimony was

truthful. which everyone realized, it's too bad trump did what he did, because that was a horrendous interview from a veteran. >> that's exactly to the point. if you're one of trump's vie advisers, don't you say, wait a minute, this was a hugely missed opportunity. >> here's one thing i know about donald trump. and i've talked with him enough to know this. he does look at these polls. like a businessman looks at his business returns and p & l sheet. he looks at these polls. he's going to look at these polls and realize he had a bad week. and he will self-correct, just like he has in the past. this race is far from over. nobody on the other side should be gloating. donald trump is in this race and i think it's his too lose. >> the counterpoint the critics would say, does he have the discipline? there's enough time, as you rightfully point out, but does he have the discipline? >> if he doesn't, he won't win. if he does, he will win. i think he does. and we'll get to see it on tv every day. >> you're advising donald trump, what would you say to him? >> i would say -- >> if you were -- >> take a breath. it's going to be okay. if you talk about the economy

and how you're going to fix it, stopping these terrorists and changing the way washington does business and up-ending it and how hillary clinton is not equipped to do any of those things, you will win this race. if other topics come up, simply avoid them. talk about those four things. >> and final thing, very quickly, before i let you go. how concerned are you about the down ballast races? >> they're doing great. i think -- >> down by double digits. >> i saw the poll this morning. in all senate races, you will see lower watermark this week, because of the democratic convention. and she's running in a purplish state. >> sure. >> i think what you'll see in all senate races, they're going to do much better than people thought a year ago. i think florida, new hampshire, i think pennsylvania, i think ohio, i think we're going to win those -- most races, if not all races and i think the congress is going to come back as a republican congress and donald trump still is in the hunt and his to lose. >> lots of predictions. thank you for your insight. great to see you. we have some breaking news next on msnbc.

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and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®. and we have some developing news from the campaign trail from raleigh, north carolina, where donald trump's vp nominee, mike pence, is campaigning, and is was just asked by a child if it's his job to defend donald trump. take a listen to that exchange. >> good morning, governor pence. my name is matthew, i'm 11 years old and i've been watching the news lately, and i've been noticing you've been softening up on mr. trump's policies and words. is this going to be your role in the administration? [ laughter ] >> what's your name, son? >> matthew. >> matthew! what did you say that i'm going to do? >> you've been kind of softening up on his words. [ laughter ] >> let me tell you, matthew.

number one, this boy has got a future. [ applause ] nicely done. let me tell you what. i couldn't be more proud to stand with donald trump. and we are shoulder to shoulder. in this campaign. >> incredible exchange there from raleigh, north carolina. all right. now to some breaking news out of new york. a major mob bust, including the grandson of the late gambino crime boss, john gotti. jonathan dienst of w nbc, is following that story. what can you can tell us? >> yeah, the grandson of the late john gotti, his name is john gotti, arrested by the nypd. charged out of the queens district attorney's office with running a prescription drug ring out of queens, new york. the gotti family, long-known for helping to run the gambino crime family here in new york, a grandson now charged in connection with prescription

drug pill abuse. all this happening while the fbi is conducting a separate mafia roundup in new york, pennsylvania, florida. 40 reputed mobsters being charged in connection with health care fraud, racketeering and numerous other charges. so two significant mafia busts here in the new york area today. one involving members of the gotti family. the other numerous crime families across the east coast. but again, john gotti, the grandson of the late john gotti, set to appear in a queens courthouse later this afternoon on charges that he was selling prescription drugs across the new york area. we're expecting more details out of the nypd this afternoon. back to you. >> all right. jonathan dienst from our new york newsroom, thank you very much. more breaking news now out of florida. governor rick scott talking about the zika virus. let's listen in. >> we are the -- we're going to

have 110 million tourists this year. people coming back from the olympics. this is hurricane season, this is rainy season. we're going to have more mosquitoes. here's what you know about florida. we prepare. i started this in february, declared a state of emergency for any county that had a travel-related case of zika. that was the first month we had it. we have been preparing since february. our county health departments, state health departments, whoever is doing mosquito control in each other, the city, county or district, they are all working well together. i've been holding round tables around the state to make sure people are working together and they are. they're sharing ideas. right here the surgeon general brought in additional individuals, including the cdc to say do you have any additional ideas, taking the best ideas and implementing them. >> do you have a question from the herald right there? >> congress hasn't convened -- [ inaudible ] >> it's disappointing. why would you want to recess? look, the present congress has to figure out how to work together. as governor, i work with my legislature. i can't get things done without

my health at yo legislature. the president and congress need to work together. they need to be a partner in this. this is not a state issue. this is a national issue. now, if they don't, we're going to fund it. and i've already taken -- using my executive emergency authority and added $26.2 million to deal with this. through our department of health. our surgeon general. if we need to do more, we will do more. we have a good budget. we have billions of dollars in surplus. we're going to do our job. is it disappointing? yeah, it's disappointing. >> the florida delegation, florida congressman and women, our two senators. what do you say to them to kind of push their body into getting some action? >> sure. i was up in d.c. and met with members of florida delegation in may. i've had conversations with individuals. i've told them the importance of this. i have asked things from the cdc, i've sent a letter to the president. everybody has got to figure out. you've got to work together.

it's no different than what we're doing here. >> you sound frustrated. >> yeah. i mean, think about it. we -- who didn't know that we were having trouble with zika in this country. it's been going on since early this year. who didn't watch what was happening in brazil. that's been going on for a little bit longer time. we knew this was going to happen. we knew hurricane season is coming. we knew rainy season was coming. so -- they knew they were going to recess. so the president and congress have got to figure out how to work together. that's our job. if you get elected, go work together. >> thanks, everyone! thanks, everyone! thank you! . >> that, of course, florida governor rick scott, talking about the threat of the zika virus, calling on the president and congress to get more funding to this -- his area to help deal with the threat, calling it a national issue, not a state issue. coming up, trill triple threat, heat advisories in the south and a category 1 hurricane makes landfall.

bill karins has details when we come back. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis,

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now to a severe weather alert. more flooding fears for parts of the southeast, still reeling from an historic storm earlier this week. a drenching monsoon rain caused a 1 in 100-year flood, stranding drivers and causing major damage. meteorologist bill karins is here with floods, heat, and even a tropical storm. what is this about, bill? >> a little bit of everything. beautiful weather, too. but not enough of it. the monsoon is in the mornings and then dies down. we'll get the afternoon storms. right now the radar doesn't look too exciting throughout the region. how large the desert southwest is including. colorado, through utah, arizona and a little section of california and southern nevada. so we're going to get that this afternoon. how much rain are we talking about? this isn't like hurricane-type rain, the type of rains in the springtime in areas of the midwest. but what happens is, we get these in the urban areas or mountains or canyons and then you get the water flowing fast. that's when you get the flash

flooding potential. northern new mexico and san juan of southern colorado. and how about the heat? relentless this summer. one of the hottest we have seen in areas of the deep south, excessive heat warnings from little rock to shreveport. temperatures in the shade, feeling like 100 degrees in the shade and then when we add the humanity the feels-like temperature, it will feel like 110 in little rock, 111 in monroe. air conditioners working hard through the region. and then severe weather. yesterday, six tornadoes in north dakota. thankfully missed everything. today we're going to watch for the isolated chance of a tornado, but mostly wind damage and hail will be the threat from lacrosse to mason city. i think minneapolis, the storms over you and passing to your south. green bay, too. milwaukee and chicago some late-day storms, shouldn't be severe. and finally, we'll end with what was hurricane earl, 2:00 a.m. over belize city. a lot of power outages there. the storm dying off over land. and the good news for mexico,

the storm heads for the mountains. it's not going to regenerate in the southern portions of the gulf of mexico. we'll look all clear from earl in the days ahead. i have to end with gorgeous weather. where you are in washington, d.c., north wards in the northeast. this is one of the best summer days you will possibly experience. get the lunch outdoors today. >> i feel almost guilty, but we'll take it. >> i know. >> bill karins, thank you for covering all of those angles. really appreciate it. anticipation mounting over the summer games in rio. keir simmons reports from rio on how the us basketball teams are living in luxury. ♪ ♪ and i need you ♪ and i miss you >> reporter: singing on the flight to rio, the u.s. men's basketball team looking to score their third straight gold. they have medaled in every olympics since 1984. with success comes high security. for some of the world's

highest-paid athletes. that's the nba players behind me and ahead of me, this huge ship. that is where they're staying. they might be mobbed. >> what's it like seeing them? >> it's amazing. >> reporter: big fans? >> yeah. >> reporter: while on board, they have a spa, pool and big beds for basketball players. both men and women's teams. >> they're actually pretty big. i have a walk-in closet. it's awesome, actually. >> reporter: luxurious. how is the accommodation, guys? but it's not all good. the drive to the olympic stadium is long and you often get held up in traffic. the players are not going to love that. most athletes stay in the olympic park. even other nba players representing their home countries. here's andrew bogut with the australians, putting up his own shower curtain. contrast with another luxury ship for olympic officials and friends, expected to dock soon. the same boat used to host vip guests at super bowl xlvi.

new york's own carmelo anthony, has been learning portuguese, along with other team members. hours after arriving in rio, we spotted him looking around his new digs. one more win this summer, and he will be the most decorated olympic basketball player in the world. with the place to hold the party. >> indeed. we will be watching. that was nbc's keir simmons reporting from rio. we have one more olympic story now. in last night's opening women's soccer game between the u.s. and new zealand, the crowd booed and mocked goalkeeper, hope solo, with chants of "zika, zika." before coming to rio, solo upset some, with photos of her wearing mosquito netting and bug strpra. the u.s. shut out zealand and a quest for the fourth consecutive goal. that wrapz up this hour of

msnbc live. i'm kristen welker. tamron hall has more news right now. tamron. >> good morning, everyone. i'm tamron hall live from ours in msnbc headquarters in new york. we just heard from house speaker, paul ryan, reacting publicly for the first time since donald trump refused to endorse him. we are turning around the new sound from paul ryan. he is on a radio show out of wisconsin, and we'll play his reaction when asked about the nonendorsement from donald trump. meanwhile, a new fox news poll shows hillary clinton now down -- now with a double-digit lead over donald trump nationally. the new numbers, 49% to 39%. secretary clinton still maintains a nine-point lead when libertarian candidate gary johnson is factored in with johnson inching closer to the 15% he needs to participate in the presidential debates. also this morning, a new poll from the key battleground

state of pennsylvania. shows clinton with an 11-point lead over donald trump. another new poll to factor in this morning, this one out of new hampshire. it shows clinton with a 15-point lead over donald trump. and one more for you this morning. out of michigan. this poll shows clinton leading donald trump by nine points there. now yesterday donald trump insisted michigans among the states, a part of his secret strategy to win. >> now you know the route to the white house for the republicans is much more difficult. you know that. you look at the maps. you look at the maps. and yet for me, not being your typical republican, i guess, we have a lot of states in play right now that will never -- i think we're going to do great in michigan. i think we're going to do great in states that normally you don't really have. most republicans would never even stop for dinner in some of these states. and you