as jonathan alter reminded us, it is south of a constitutional crisis, but to quote eleanor roosevelt about the world war ii era, it is no ordinary time.tim. we can all agree on that. >> to make sure if they are a five-year-old, maybe they're with their parents and they don't pose a threat. but to assume just because of someone's age or gender or whatever that they don't pose a threat would be misguided and wrong. >> this morning the white house is playing defense as nationwide protests continue amid backlash over president trump's immigration order. >> plus new overnight president trump fires the acting attorney general who refused to defend f general who refused to accept his travel ban. and today the president will announce his supreme court nominee. but the congressional democrats are willing to put up a fight.

good morning, everyone. it is tuesday, january 31st. i'm alex witt alongside louis burgdorf. last week sally gates ordered the department's lawyers not to defend the president's executive orders. yates was the deputy toattorney general who issued a statement saying, quote, minute responsibility is to ensure that the department of justice is not only legally defensible but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts. in addition, i am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this

institution's solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand up for what is right. at present i am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am i convinced that the executive order is lawful. now some speculated that yates knew the likely outcome of writing such a letter regardless according to "the new york times" her replacement dana boente was sworn in at 9:00 p.m. at 9:15, yates received a hand-written letter from the justice department informing her that she was fired signed by a white house aide. and at 9:19, the white house said in part, the acting attorney general sally yates has betrayed the department of justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the united states. this order was approved as to form and legality by the

department of justice office of legal counsel. it is time to get serious about protecting our country calling for tougher vetting for individuals traveling from seven dangerous places is not extreme. it is reasonable and necessary to protect our country. democrats took to the senate floor late last night. >> of course, we had a monday night massacre, sally yates, a person of great integrity who follows the law was fired by the president. she was fired because she would not enact, pursue, the executive order on the belief that it was illegal. perhaps unconstitutional. it was a profile in courage. we are a nation that is a rule of law. and you just can't sit down, twitter something out and then think, okay, let's enact it. >> at 9:30 this morning the senate judiciary committee is expected to vote for jeff

sessions to be attorney general. his nomination has become a lightning rod with democrats, particularly over the immigration policy. on the steps of the supreme court last night, democratic lawmakers rallied alongside hundreds of demonstrators in response to the president's travel ban. the rally was backed byhe top elected official chuck schumer and nancy pelosi. they came shortly after house gop leadership blocked legislation to reverse the president's executive order. >> there is a shadow hanging over our ideals and values. there's an assault on our values and our principles. and now, more than ever, we must choose to fight. we must choose to resist. we must choose to stand up for what we believe in. now, more than ever. >> cory booker there. meanwhile, in response to president trump's travel ban, protests continue across the country and beyond. in london last night several protesters gathered outside 10

downey street. the upcoming visit from angela merkel has drawn several thousand signatures but at one point they said they will go ahead with the plan. back in the united states, protests continued. in columbus, ohio, last night hundreds of demonstrators filled the streets near the statehouse. police used pepper spray on the crowd after reportedly telling protesters to move from the street. and in louisville, kentucky, last night an estimated 5,000 people took part in a protest planned by mayor greg fisher. fisher told the crowd that louisville owes most of their growth to foreign-born citizens.

and the dissent channel is used by diplomats as a way to signal their foreign policy decisions. the white house press secretary sean spicer was asked about that state department memo yesterday. >> any government official or anyone who doesn't understand the president's goal in this, and what this actually was, again, i think this has been blown way out of proportion and exaggerated. again, you talk within a 24-hour period, 325,000 people from other countries flew in through our airports. we're talking about 109 people. from seven country that is the obama administration identified. and the bureaucrats have a problem with it? i think they should get with the program or they can go. >> the previous administration famously drew a dissent memo signed by 51 diplomats over its lack of action against bashar al assad in syria. and the white house is defending the fact it did not reference the jewish people in

the statement for the holocaust remembrance day saying critics are just knit-picking. you just heard from sean spicer during the daily briefing yesterday. he also called the critics pathetic. >> by and large, he's been praised for it. the president recognized the tremendous loss of life that came from the holocaust. the statement was written with the help of an individual who is both jewish and the descendants of holocaust survivors. he acknowledged that it is enshrined in the american people's memory so something like this never happens again. >> susan collins from maine tweet, the administration's omission of the jewish people in the holocaust remembrance statement is a historical mistake. then the holocaust museum released a statement. the first two lines contrast the one from the white house, quote, the holocaust was the systemic state-sponsored murder of 6

million jews by nazi germany and its collaborators. nazi ideology cast the world as a racial struggle and the singular focus on the total destruction of every jewish person was at its racist core. after years of waiting, iraqis who helped aid america were finally set to stateside. >> reporter: i'm richard engel with this family who left everything they knew behind and got on the plane for america. they got as far as they layover in cairo where a gate agency told the man he and his family would be deported. what happened when you told everybody, we're not going? >> wow, that was a terrible moment. when i saw their faces and the terrible pain. they were about to faint.

>> after two years of vetting -- >> reporter: even after they risked their lives in iraq and some were killed for it. it's taken the state department a long time to approve their visas. now they are all on hold because of president trump's orders. >> american government invited me, gave me visa, told me come, you have helped us in the past. it's unbelievable. >> reporter: 19-year-old benyad already knows he loves america. the state department invited him for an exchange program. one of his favorite memories was going to a white sox game. >> i fell in love with the place, with the american way of life and their optimism. >> reporter: convinced they were leaving with their new visas, they sold their house, sold

their furniture, the only positions are in suitcases by the door. but there's nowhere to go. there were many translators who served here in iraq and also in afghanistan. the u.s. state department is still not clarifying what will happen to visas that were issued to the translators. they put their lives on the line for the u.s. but now find themselves waiting and confused. alex? >> it is heartbreaking. richard engle, thank you for that. officials say iran test-fired a ballistic missile on saturday. it is not clear if it violates any u.n. security council resolution banning iran from testing ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. joining us now is ali arouzi. how is the u.n. security council reacting to this? >> reporter: well, louis, as you mentioned, this is the first test conducted by the iranians

since president trump has come to the white house. and it certainly has not gone on unnoticed. the united states scheduled an urgent u.n. security council meeting on tuesday to address the matter saying they want the u.n.'s most powerful body to discuss sunday's launch of mediate-range missile. the missile traveled across approximately 500 miles before the reentry vehicle exploded. it is unclear whether it exploded accidentally or deliberately. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he'll speak to president trump about renewing sanctions and for violating the missile program and address the failed nuclear capabilities. the iranian foreign minister here in tehran was given a joint press conference with the french foreign minister here ironically to support a nuclear deal. the iranian foreign minister says iran has the right to defend itself. it doesn't need anybody else's permission to defend itself.

they also argue that iran doesn't have a nuclear weapons program. therefore, the ballistic missile tests are legal. this is obviously going to ratchet up sanctions between the two countries. and we'll have to see what happens on tuesday. >> ali arouzi from london, thank you so much. still ahead, a navy s.e.a.l. killed in a raid in yemen over the weekend. we are learning new details about the first daring raid of the trump administration. plus, new details about the college student accused of opening fire at a canadian mosque killing six people and injuring at least 17 others. those stories and a check on weather when we come right back.

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welcome back. the u.s. serviceman killed over the weekend was petty officer william "ryan" owens.

he was killed after specifically going after computer equipment. according to a u.s. official, almost everything went wrong. 14 militants died along with numerous civilians. officials tell nbc news among the noninform combatants killed were several women and children. a statement to defense secretary james mattis sent condolences to his family saying in part, ryan gave his full measure for our nation and in performing his duty, he upheld the noble lest standard of military service. the united states would not long exist were it not for the selfless commitment of such warriors. and the community comes together to mourn the six lives

lost in that attack in the canadian mosque. the suspect is 27-year-old alexand alexander . the suspect frequented facebook pages to deal with immigration issues and he had commented on pages linked to a far-right anti-immigration group. the second attack was from a witness, not a suspect. and canadian prime minister justin trudeau attended a memorial last night. president trump called president trudeau expressing his sorrow

over this matter. >> we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. it's a terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant and why the president is taking steps to be pro active rather than reactive when it comes to our nation's safety and security. all right. we'll get a check on the weather now with meteorologist bill karins. we'll get a little bit of a dusting in new york? >> just a little white stuff. especially in southern areas of new england, it will be falling during the evening commute. we may have some early dismis l dismissals that could be a pain for parents, but we'll see. cleveland, we may have school delays. also the snow is breaking down to central pennsylvania. so we don't have a lot of

warnings. this is not a blockbuster storm. 20 million are in winter weather advisories. it goes from nothing to winter weather advisories to winter storm warnings. usually a weather advisory means a nuisance-type event. you don't have to stay home or anything like that. that's for areas in the southern hudson valley and all of new england. this is more or less this evening. this is happening out here from cleveland to johnstown to bradford, detroit and grand rapids. here's how much snow we're going to get. the color coatings here. you'll notice southward they don't get anything. that's where it is too warm, so it is from new york city to the hudson valley, only and inch. when we get to the blue color, that's one to two inches of snow. and in the catskills and the berkshires, more there. boston, providence, we have you in the two to three-inch rain range. the timing is during the evening commute. during the day, the snow spreads into new england. then at 5:00 p.m., you will

notice the blue here, the snow right through boston, providence, hartford, mass pike. those areas have minor concerns for the roads later today. thank you for the heads-up on all that, bill. still ahead, no defense was strong enough to protect new england patriots' quarterback tom brady from a question posed by one young fan. louis has that story next in sports. i'm worried i can't find a safe used car. you could start your search at the all-new carfax.com that might help. show me the carfax? now the car you want and the history you need are easy to find. show me used minivans with no reported accidents. boom. love it. [struggles] show me the carfax. start your used car search and get free carfax reports at the all-new carfax.com. testinhuh?sting! is this thing on? come on! your turn! where do pencils go on vacation? pennsylvania! (laughter)

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now it's starting to feel like the super bowl. get your rest this week, rest up, hydrate and get ready for sunday because it's going to be a hell of a game. hopefully we see you back in foxborough with a win. go pat! let's go! >> welcome back. time now for sports. patriots quarterback tom brady giving the home crowd a signature let's go! and this was at a sendoff rally yesterday before leaving for super bowl li. coaches and players showed up to the park before leaving for the big game. perhaps the most memorable moment of the night came from the new england quarterback in response to a question from a 7-year-old. >> who is my hero? that's a great question. well, i think my dad is my hero

because he's the one that i look up to every day. and -- my dad. >> and opening night turned into a disaster for falcons offensive coordinator kyle shanahan who sometime during the media session lost his backpack containing a copy of atlanta's's super bowl playbook among other things. luckily, shanahan's backpack was returned to him after a reporter accidentally took his backpack. and in statement released yesterday by sheldon adelson on the las vegas stadium, the oakland raiders came before the

las vegas stadium authority last week with a proposed lease agreement that has sent shockwaves throughout the community. he reportedly told the las vegas stadium authority board earlier this month they had a new partner lined up, goldman sachs, regardless of whether adelson remained in the picture. and finally, the st. louis cardinals are paying the price for the former scout director chris coria who hacked into the drafting base. the cardinals must pay $2 million and surrender their two highest draft picks to the astros. he will also be placed in major league baseball's permanent ineligible list. >> i don't know about the

atlanta playbook story. still ahead, we have details on the two men believed to be the top contenders for supreme court. plus, we have the latest on george h.w. bush's battle with pneumonia. we'll be right back.

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welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt alongside louis burgdorf. it's the bottom of the hour and here are the top stories.

george h.w. bush was released from the houston hospital after concluding a 16-day battle with pneumonia. the president was admitted after having difficulty breathing and underwent a procedure to remove a blockage in his lungs. the spokesperson says the former president is, quote, thankful for the many prayers and kind messages he received during his stay as well as the world class care that both his doctors and nurses provided. and the white house confirms israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will visit the u.s. on february 15th. president trump has pledged former ties with israel after a rocky relationship with the obama administration. the two will look at possible new sanctions against iran in the wake of a ballistic missile test. and there's a new top law enforcement officer running the justice department, dana boente. he relieved sally yates after she refused to go forward with the president's