breaking overnight. michael flynn has resigned as national security adviser. the news came just hours after it was learned the justice department warned the white house that flynn could be vulnerable to black mail. plus, the senate confirms two more of president trump's cabinet picks as the battle to fill the cabinet continues. evacuation orders remain in effect this morning for 200,000 people living near california's oroville dam. they're racing to get as much water out of the dam before a new storm hits. a very good morning to all of you. it is tuesday, february 14th.

i'm alex witt along said eamon mohyeldin. this morning national security adviser michael flynn has resigned his post. his departure comes amid discussions that he discussed easing sanctions with a russian ambassador and misled the vice president and other senior administration officials about the nature of his conversations. in a resignation letter flynn wrote, in part, unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events i inadvertently briefed the vice press elect and others with incomplete information. a senior official tells nbc news the president and advisers have been, quote, agonizing over what to do about flynn for days but ultimately the situation became unsustainable, not because of a discussion of sanctions but because he had lied to the president and vice president.

a source said it was the vice president himself who was a driver behind flynn's exit last night. meanwhile, keith kellogg takes over as acting national security adviser and while kellogg is in the running to be flynn's permanent replacement, david petraeus is said to be on the short list as well along with retired navy vice admiral robert harwood who three sources say is the favorite to get the job. petraeus is set to come to the white house today though they say it's not to meet with the president. so far no comment from the president on twitter or otherwise. there were early signs monday when one top member first said flynn had full confidence from the president. >> general flynn does enjoy the full confidence of the president. general flynn said he can't recall and that he had about 30 phone calls with i guess leaders at the time and since then 70 i'm told with different leaders and i'll just leave his comments

at that. >> but later in the day sean spicer said the president was, quote, evaluating the situation. >> he's speaking to the vice president, to vice president pence relative to the conversation the vice president had with general flynn and also speaking to various other people about what he considers the single most important subject there is, our national security. >> late last night the washington report said that sally yates informed the white house that flynn had misled senior officials and that he was potentially vulnerable to russian black mail. according to the post article, concern crescendoed in days after they rolled out new sanctions against russia. the paper reports that after the sanctions were rolled out the obama administration braced itself for the russian retaliation, but to the surprise of many u.s. officials, russian president vladimir putin announced that there would be no response. trump praised the decision on twitter. intelligence analysts began to search for clues that could help

explain putin's move. the search turned up kislyak's conversation and the phone call with general flynn. they told the paper before flynn's resignation that the white house has, quote, been working on this for weeks. and "the new york times" reports that steve bannon asked for flynn's resignation friday. now aboard air force one that day the president told the press he did not know anything about the reports that his nsa adviser had discussed sanctions before being sworn in to office. sally yates was later fired by president trump after she declined to support his ban. joining us from washington to discuss all of this, nbc news intelligence ken delaney and with us on capitol hill, matt nussbaum. i'll start with you, ken. take us inside of this investigation. how did this eventually bubble

up to the white house? >> good morning, alex. we're living the washington cliche that the coverup is worse than the crime. to understand how we got here, let's go back to december 29th when the obama administration imposed sanctions. we expelled 35 diplomats and shut down russian facilities. everyone expected russian president vladimir putin to respond in kind but he didn't. the next day president trump praised him. then david ignatius said michael flynn was in contact with the russian ambassador on the day the sanctions were imposed. flynn says he did not discuss the sanctions. that was the big question. what were you talking about? did you cook up some deal? did you tell the russians you were going to -- the trump administration was going to lift the sanctions? the reason this is important is the trump administration hadn't taken office yet.

there's a law that says private citizens can't make foreign policy on behalf of the united states. the white house had their story and the vice president went on national television and said, no, flynn didn't discuss the sanctions. the fbi was listening and it turns out he did discuss the sanctions. now the white house has had to deal with how to clean that up. here we are resulting in flynn's resignation, alex. >> let's talk about a very interesting point which is sally yates, the acting attorney general who was ultimately -- who ultimately briefed the white house about the possibility that general flynn may have been compromised, she told the white house almost a month ago. it seems the white house aware of what he was saying to his superiors at the white house and ultimately what cost him his job, not the fact that he was discussing the sanctions but misleading officials inside the white house. >> reporter: so that report from the washington post that they were briefed on this in the white house a month ago raises a lot of questions about who knew

what when. we're under the notion right now that vice president mike pence was misled by flynn here. we don't know if the white house counsel was briefed on this a month ago, who did he tell in the white house that flynn had these conversations and was thus susceptible to black mail and this report from the washington post might have pushed forward the resignation and the idea that this story wasn't going anywhere. we do have to ask who in the white house knew about this and why was the vice president apparently not made aware? >> ken, so basically it comes down to mike flynn saying that it was an omission, things were moving so fast and furiously he didn't recall but it comes down to potentially an act of lying versus the content of these conversations versus violating the logan act, the one that you referenced earlier. can you put it in proportion perspective? does this come down to lying or does it all play into the

decision? >> sure. nbc news has confirmed the report that sally yates did warn the white house. why didn't they correct the record earlier. very few experts that we've talked to think there was a prosecutable offense under the logan act. >> pretty obscure. >> that law has never been prosecuted. the issue amounted to the blanket denial in the face of a transcript that said something completely the opposite and a really significant item, which is discussing sanctions on the day they were levied. the bigger concept is did donald trump know about it? they say it's inconceivable he wasn't briefed about high level discussions on sanctions. >> and, matt, very quickly, you know the white house well. what is going on there this morning in terms of the power shift and the dynamics that are at play here? >> reporter: well, i think there's a lot of confusion.

we had kellyanne conway, as you showed, saying that flynn had the trust of the president yesterday. spicer throwing cold water on that. now they're quickly in the search for a replacement, but i think there's turmoil on the national security council and that's not something you want so early in an administration. i think that's raising a lot of concerns. >> thank you both for joining us from washington. well, the united nations security council is strongly condemning north korea's ballistic missile test. in a statement unanimously supported by all 15 members, it said it will, quote, continue to monitor the situation and take further steps if necessary. nikki haley added we call on all members of the security council to use every available resource to make it clear to the north korean regime and its enablers that these measures are unacceptable. it is time to hold north korea accountable, not with words but with our actions.

it's unclear what she's referring to. here's president trump addressing the situation yesterday as well. >> obviously north korea is a big, big problem and we will deal with that very strongly. >> president trump hosted canadian prime minister justin trudeau at the white house yesterday. it's his meeting with japan's prime minister that remains in the spotlight. it comes after photos were posted on social media showing the president surrounded by staffers the night of the north korean missile launch. nbc's kristen welker has these details. >> reporter: president trump aiming to fortify his relationship with key ally canadian prime minister justin trudeau. the two leaders meeting for the first time. it comes as the president faces a major policy test with a foe. after north korea fired a missile the president responded. >> north korea is a big, big problem and we will deal with

that very strongly. >> reporter: but over the weekend questions surfaced after pictures appeared on social media showing the president dining with the prime minister of japan in his florida resort, mar-a-lago. a dinner that started just after 8:00, soon after news broke over the missile launch. the dinner turned into an open air strategy session. top aides holding their flashlights, illuminating documents. house majority leader nancy pelosi tweeting, there's no excuse for letting an international crisis play out in front of a bunch of country club members like dinner theater. they said president trump was briefed before dinner and their dinner focused on an impromptu news conference. >> the united states stands behind japan. senator john mccain was asked to weigh in on the photos taken at mar-a-lago over the

weekend. here's what he told nbc last night. >> on mar-a-lago situation, those pictures? i mean -- >> we can't make it up. >> is there -- but is there -- you laugh, is there a seriousness to it in that there's concerns? i know that there have been a lot of criticism of say, hillary clinton, for her handling of classified -- >> i would suggest that the president get a briefing on the handling of classified information. it's my suggestion there should be some kind of turn over. >> the senate has confirmed two more of president trump's cabinet picks despite objections from democrats. steve mnuchin, a former goldman sachs banker has been confirmed as treasury secretary. they have voted 53-47 with every republican voting for him and all democrats voting no except for senator joe manchin. the senate voted unanimously to

approve david shulkin to head veterans affairs. he's the sole holdover from the obama administration and the first non-veteran to head that department. he's scheduled to be sworn in later this afternoon. linda mcmahon will likely be confirmed as head of the small business administration. >> political reports that senators considering andrew cluster for labor secretary have viewed a tape in which his wife accuses him of physical abuse. this is from a 1990 airing of "oprah." peerstein has retracted the claims writing a letter to a senate committee that she made it up to bolster her divorce settlement. several republican senators remain undecided on puzder's hearing, which has been delayed multiple times is set for

thursday. still ahead, disgraced cycling champion lance armstrong's next trek may be to a federal court. we'll explain why. next, evacuations near the nation's tallest dam. hundreds of thousands of residents are unsure when they'll get back to their home. those stories and a check on weather when we come back. stay with us. ♪ ♪

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former penn state assistant football coach, one of jerry sandusky's son has been arrested and facing sex abuse charges. 41-year-old jeff sandusky was charged with 12 criminal counts, corruption of a minor, solicitation and child pornography. minors with whom sandusky had daily contact. there's no accusation he physically molested either victim. in the wake of his arrest he has

been suspended from his position. jerry sandusky was convicted in 2012 of 45 kourgets of sex abuse and is serving up to 60 years in prison. mandatory evacuations remain in place for nearly 200,000 people living in northern california due to the situation at the or rowville dam. residents living below the dam were ordered to leave due to the erosion. it's unclear when the residents will be able to return home. officials and contractors have been working around the clock to get as much wa tore out of the lake as possible by thursday when another round of storms is expected to sweep across the area. with tt, let's bring in bill karins. >> everyone is worried about the upcoming storms. the upcoming storms will not

produce enough water. if they can continue to release the water at the rate they are now, which is over 100,000 cubic feet per second, the water coming in even with heavy rain will not equal that. this is nighttime video of the main spillway. the backup spillway, the one they're worried about clansing, the water is below that. the lake is down ten feet from its peak on sunday. it's going down four inches an hour. they're going to continue to pour this water out. they don't want to have to use the backup spillway again. the emergency spillway is used when the lake level gets to 901 feet. currently it's at 891 and it's going down. the main spillway, which is severely damaged, is still working. here's the timing of the next storm. not today. this is wednesday into thursday. this yellow is the heavier rain. this is as we go through wednesday it's fine. then it looks like it arrives around 5:00 a.m. so the middle of the night wednesday night into thursday morning is when the round of heavy rain will

come in. it looks like an inch or two. the lake level will level out. maybe the water in will equal the water going out. we shouldn't see lake levels rising too much. then we still see a little bit of rain thursday but the heavy stuff is more wednesday night, thursday morning. rainfall forecast, this is through sunday. another storm over the weekend is a total of three to four, maybe five inches of rain. yes, they're trying to get things done in a hurry but i think we're going to be okay. so that gets us to today's big weather story. texas is getting soaked. great news. we like the rainfall in texas but we don't like the severe weather. that's possible as we go throughout late this morning right through early this afternoon. there's a tornado threat from victoria, houston, galveston. an enhanced risk of the storm. this comes one week after new orleans was hit by their tornado last week. we'll continue to watch that and see how it develops. it's getting to be that time of year. that means severe weather season. >> thank you very much for that. obviously a very dangerous

situation in california. sure. still ahead, the uconn women's basketball team keeps their streak alive with their 100th consecutive win. >> amazing. >> louis has that story next in sports. boost

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welcome back. time for sports. uconn women's basketball team, two years later and with 100 straight wins, the head coach and the lady huskies are still

unbeaten. gabby williams had a career high points in the game and they hit the century mark with a 66-55 win over number 6, south carolina. congratulations to them. in men's basketball, third ranked kansas with an epic comeback hosting west virginia. frank mason put up 29 points. with 11 scored in the final three minutes to lead kansas on a 21-7 run. they outlast the mountaineers, 84-80. let's go to the nba, the new york knicks have been in disorder on the court and behind the scenes. the latest blemish comes after former charles oakley was ejected from madison square garden and arrested after a scuffle. we showed you that video. and it gets worse with them banning oakley from the arena. the beef has been apparently

been squashed thanks to adam silver who met with the two along with hall-of-famer michael jordan who joined the conversation by phone. after the meeting silver released a statement saying, quote, both mr. oakley and mr. dolan were apologetic and their negative impact on the knicks organization and the nba. mr. dolan expressed his hope that mr. oakley would return to msg as his guest in the near future. happy that got better. finally this morning, disgraced cyclist lance armstrong is headed to trial after they refused to reject a federal lawsuit seeking $100 million. the suit originally filed in 2010 by the former usps team made floyd landis was joined by the government three years later after the former seven-time tour de france winner. he was stripped of his titles

and banned from competition. his saga continues. >> interesting to see michael jordan having a role in all of that. >> he's the mediator. >> they brought him in. things are better. hopefully things will calm down at the garden. thank you, lewis. more on the abrupt resignation of michael flynn. plus, president trump and canadian prime minister justin trudeau find common ground. believe it or not it's not about immigration. we're going to tell you what it is about next. (vo) do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; rage, rage against the dying of the light. do not go gentle into that good night. ♪

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. welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt along with ayman mohyeldin. we'll talk about this big story this morning. the resignation of national security adviser michael flynn, but first a look at the morning's other top stories. >> the senate has confirmed two more of the president's cabinet nominees. steve mnuchin was sworn in as treasury secretary. in an increasingly rare show of bipartisan vote, the senate voted 100-0 to confirm david shulkin for veterans affairs. a federal judge has denied emergency efforts to continue with the controversial dakota pipeline. the sioux tribe said it would damage water but the judge

countered damage couldn't occur until oil was flowing. they'll provide weekly updates of when the oil is expected to reach the res ser voice. a federal judge has denied the slowing down of a federal case. the administration's lawyer argued about moving the case along. the judge responded, quote, i'm surprised to hear you say this. the judge said he wanted to see you in court. the resignation of national security adviser michael flynn after apparently misleading the vice president about what he said to the russian ambassador to the u.s. nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is following the developments. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, alex. the resignation of michael flynn, one of president trump's closest aides is truly remarkable. the resignation letter is stunning in what it does not say

because in it flynn writes unfortunately because of the fast pace of events, i inadvertently briefed the vice president-elect and others with incomplete information with regards to my phone calls with the russian ambassador. i sincerely apologize to the president and vice president and they have accepted my apology. senior officials who decided flynn had to go are telling a very different story. a top official telling me late last night it was unsustainable for flynn to stay because he had lied to the president and vice president when he said he had not discussed sanctions with the russian ambassador. the official also says the white house did not leak that decision based on the belief that flynn was compromised, however, that is precisely what the former acting attorney general sally yates and top intelligence officials did believe after they saw the transcript of flynn's intercepted conversation with the russian ambassador. nbc has confirmed that yates and

the others wanted to tell the trump team on january 19th before the inaugural but fbi director james comey objected saying that that would compromise his investigation already underway into the russians and flynn. the following week after sean spicer said at his first briefing that flynn had just repeated to him that he had not discussed sanctions yates did brief the white house counsel at some point later that week. it's not clear why it took so long for the white house then to decide that flynn had to go. the front-runner now to replace him, i am told, by senior officials is vice admiral robert harwood. he is the deputy director of centcom and he is a proto jay of secretary mattis. also on the list though, david petraeus. the president will be meeting later today with his attorney general and homeland security secretary, presumably this has to be topic one. alex. >> andrea, thank you so much for that report. joining us from washington, nbc news intelligence ken

delaney. another good morning to you, ken. let's talk about what happened here. flynn resigning. was that the only option? can you see it playing out any other way? >> reporter: well, alex, in any normal white house flynn would have been gone weeks ago. as you just heard, nbc news is reporting that the acting attorney general went to the white house weeks ago to explain flynn had misled senior officials and she was worried he could be blackmailed. it's remarkable he stayed on this long, not to mention reports of a chaotic, tumultuous national security process. there was a yemen raid that didn't go the way one would want it to go. so there's been a lot of bad news around flynn. at the same time though, just yesterday you had kellyanne conway, you know, hours before this resignation took place saying that flynn enjoyed the full confidence of the president. so, you know, it's sort of -- there's one vote that matters here, and it was donald trump's. apparently at the end of the day

flynn lost his confidence. >> ken, let me pick up on a point that you just raised, and that is the time line and how it played out with the white house being briefed by the former acting attorney general. does this mean this story is far from over? could we see more accountability about who knew what when inside the white house? >> absolutely. not only this particular issue but don't nor get there's a larger counter intelligence probe looming over this. you have some sort of fbi investigation we're told and also house and senate intelligence committees looking at the whole russian hacking operation and whether any other trump aides and trump campaign officials had improper contacts with the russians. this story is not going away. >> ken dilani live in washington. last night david nun nez released a statement that read in part, quote, washington, d.c., can be a rough town for honorable people, and flynn, who has always been a soldier, not a

politician, deserves america's gratitude and respect for dedicating so much of his life for strengthening our national security. congressman bill flores tweeted, glad michael flynn is gone from the white house. we need more sanctions and not fewer. mike coffmay wrote, michael flynn is responsible to the president, vice president and the american people. it is his duty to be fully transparent and forthright in higgs actions. anything less is unacceptable. elija cummings and john conyers are demanding a briefing. lawmakers from the congressional hispanic caucus are expected to meet with the officials on the raids. they'll sit down with thomas homan. the meeting came after they sent

a letter requesting this meeting. meanwhile, homeland security director john kelly discussed that more than 680 people were detained as part of the raids in the city including chicago, atlanta, san antonio, here in new york city. in the same statement he represented bubbling arrests and saying they target the public safety checks such as criminals, alien and gang members as well as individuals who have violated our nation's immigration laws. yesterday president trump said he's simply following up on his campaign promise. >> we have really done a great job. we're actually taking people that are criminals, very, very hardened criminals in some cases, with a tremendous track record of abuse and problems and we're getting them out and that's what i said i would do. i'm just doing what i said i would do and won by a very, very

large electoral college vote. >> president trump welcomed canadian prime minister justin trudeau to the white house yesterday. despite a host of differences between the two, trudeau said they will remain friends. one of the policy differences is on the issue of immigration. here's what the president had to say when asked if he felt the border with canada is secure? >> you can never be totally confident, but through the incredible efforts already i see it happening of formerly general kelly, now secretary kelly, we have really done a great job. we're -- we're actually taking people that are criminals, very, very hardened criminals in some cases with which a -- with a tremendous track record of abuse and problems and we're getting them out, and that's what i said i would do. i'm just doing what i said i

would do when we won by a very, very large electoral college vote. >> keeping canadians safe is one of the fundamental responsibilities of any government and that's certainly something we're very much focused on. at the same time we continue to pursue our policies of openness towards immigration and refugees without compromising security. >> earlier in the day they hosted a roundtable focused on family business leaders. they launched a new council meant to have canadian and american business women. they appointed a cabinet with an equal number of men and women. still ahead, we continue to follow the breaking news out of the white house that retired general michael flynn has resigned as national security adviser. it comes amid reports of chaos within the national security council. is the federal government ready for a crisis response? plus, new video from night

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welcome back. this morning all eyes are on the oroville dam. officials are watching the spillway closely for signs of erosion hoping to prevent a breech that would flood at least three communities affecting more than 100,000. nbc's miguel almaguer has more. >> reporter: good morning, in the words of water officials here they are calling the situation here in oroville dam, very fluid. this is actually the runoff that is coming from the dam as part of the controlled runoff. the big concern here is not the flood gates up at the dam but it's the emergency spillway that officials are so concerned about. of course, it was late sunday when they realized there was

some type of breach in that spillway. they still haven't been able to identify the problem, but officials say they've been inspecting the area. they're trying to shore it up with bags of humongous boulders with packed soil to make sure it doesn't leak. this was such a major issue nearly 200,000 people were forced to evacuate in a matter of hours. it was chaos on the road, and at this hour many if not all of those people remain evacuated. it's unclear when they'll be able to return back home because it's unclear just how serious the damage at that spillway is. officials will be up there all day long trying to assess a volatile situation. >> thanks to miguel almaguer. let's bring in bill karins. how are the water levels? >> they're heading in the right direction. right now coming down the main spillway, which is damaged by the way, water flows down at 50 miles per hour, the equivalent

of the amount of water going over niagara falls is what's going over the spillway at every minute. that's an incredible amount of water. where they're patching and dropping stuff by helicopter is up here where the emergency spillway is. we're ten feet below that level. as long as we're draining it on the main spillway, we're okay. we have a tornado threat from vick for ye victoria to houston. mid morning to late afternoon. this is 10:00 a.m. to about 2:00 p.m. in the houston area. that's when we'll track those storms. here's the timing of it. as we go through 7:00 a.m., as we watch the line through the houston area, noon, lunch hour there. the only other story is we had our huge snowstorm yesterday up in maine, one spot reported 30 inches of snow. they're under another snowstorm. they're expecting another

possible foot of snow in maine. that will be about three feet in about one week. >> come on now. they need snowshoes. >> they need a break. >> they do have snowshoes, snowmobiles, ice fishing rigs. >> thanks so much, bill. much more on the news of national security adviser michael flynn's resignation. hillary clinton has something to say on it. >> russia weighing in and mark held person joins the conversation next. you got it. just say show me millions of used cars for sale at the all new carfax.com. but, i don' want one that's had a bunch of owners just say, show me cars with only one owner pretty cool it's perfect. that's the power of carfax® find the cars you want, avoid the ones you don't plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing start your used car search at carfax.com

back to our top story this morning. the breaking news of the resignation of national security adviser michael flynn. it follows a blockbuster story in "the new york times" about chaos in the national security council and the fitness to lead in the times of crisis. the times reported, quote, several staff members said that mr. flynn who was a career army officer was not familiar with how to call up the national guard in an emergency, for, say, a natural disaster like hurricane katrina or the detonation of a dirty bomb in the american city. >> his primary responsibility is to set up the procedures that would allow the deputies to meet, the principles to meet in the national security council in order for them to move forward recommendations to the president of the united states who makes the final decision. as far as i know, none of those processes have been put in place. we're almost a month into this

administration. we're dealing with a number of crises around the world. i think this is a very dangerous moment not to have those procedures in place. >> joining us now political analyst and co-author of "game change" mark halpern. we're a month into the administration. give us a sense of the chaos playing out in the national security council, already been tested. >> the story of flynn and his resignation is an interesting one and it will be picked apart. what matters is the national security staff nieds to be stood up and dealing with the cabinet departments. of all the things that people were worried about about flynn, this was the biggest worry, that he was not recruiting people successfully, that he was not getting the apparatus ready. you see manifestations about that. so the hope is that the new person that comes in, the list of names of potential success sores is strong, is that this person will work quickly to re-establish the function of the

national security council. you can be a populus president, outsider, guy who wants to change things but there are fundamental things that are establishment and that are sensible for one of the most important jobs in the government. >> are you thinking of somebody who has national security experience or a good administrator? >> it has to be both. the names are people with a military background. the president has shown a predilection in that area and somebody who can work with the cabinet secretaries. if you were skeptical of flynn's ability to do this job, almost all of my sources have been from the beginning before he was named, this is going to be a fresh start. and the prospect that the president can inspire confidence on capitol hill and around the world with a national security adviser. >> michael flynn has been accused of spreading false news.

hillary clinton has weighed in in a tweet. here's the midnight tweet from hillary clinton. she was relying to this tweet, first of all. dear mike flynn and mike flynn jr., what goes around comets around followed by a link to the domino's job page. 12:41. philippe has his own way of saying things but he has a point about the real consequence of fake news. she responded to the judges, the appeal that was not overturned on the ban on the travel ban. i mean, she wants to be part of this conversation it seems. >> she does, but she also i think wants to engage in a series of i told you sos because the reference there is to something michael flynn's son did during the campaign. we won't re-talk about it here, but this is one of the many instances in which the clintons have already said, we told everybody that this is what it was going to be like. i think she feels a certain

sense of vindication and frustration and concern as a lot of people in both parties have of the ways the president has set things up. this is an opportunity for a fresh start. >> doesn't make you feel good. >> mixed feelings. >> mixed feelings. >> there's a lot of it like this is not good for the country. >> see you in just a bit on "morning joe." >> thank you. moscow reportedly offering reaction over flynn's position. they're talking about russia phobia. matt bradley, who's making these comments and what do they exactly mean? >> well, good morning, alex. as you mentioned, news of former national security adviser michael flynn's resignation last night has ricochetted around the world to moscow. they say this is an internal matter and that it's none of russia's business, but several russian lawmakers faulted what they described as an atmosphere of anti-russian paranoia in

washington and among media. more than one pro putin senator said flynn was a victim of those who wanted to see this. they said, quote, while flynn is leaving, the russian problem remains in the white house. he said that trump will be the next target. now flynn's departure is the latest casualty of trump's very public affinity for russian president vladimir putin. they resigned and manafort a high level person in the campaign. it's too early to tell whether trump's presidency will successfully heal moscow's rift with washington. breaking news we're just getting in right now. the british government is confirming that a state visit by president trump will take place despite a petition against the move.

government officials cited the courtesy the president extended to prime minister theresa may during her visit to the white house in making its decision. nearly 2 million people that signed a petition to be canceled, final dates have not been finalized. stories happening in the day ahead. >> we continue to follow adam schiff. he says he has questions about flynn's contact with russia. plus, richard haas, david ignatius and "morning joe" is just moments away.

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have you seen the new white house valentine's day cards? these are cards like the one kids will give out in school but each of them features a character from the trump administration. we have dr. ben carson. kellyanne conway, my love for you is as reeling as the bowling green massacre. education secretary, betsy devos. typos there. president trump's chief of staff ryans preeb because, don't think twice, make out with reince. the first lady, melania trump, i

almost love you enough to leave new york and finally president trump, i'm building a wall around your heart and making you pay for it. happy valentine's day. >> that was brilliant. that's a good thing to start out the day with a laugh. before we toss it over to "morning joe," let's get a check on the stories you'll be hearing about. supreme court nominee neil gorsuch on the hill. house subcommittee will be holding a hearing on self-driving cars. keeping up with technology that's moving so fast. executives from general motors, toyota all expected to testify. and the transportation department will release its "consumer report" cards for the airports. >> i'll belt. that's a wrap for us on this tuesday. i'm alex witt. "morning joe," as you know, starts right now. under siege from day one.

national security adviser michael flynn is out at the nsa. his depture comes amid ongoing reports that he discussedasing sanctions with the russian ambassador and russian ambassador. then according to a senior official misled vice president and other senior administration officials about the nature of these conversations. that caused a concern he might be susceptible to blackmail. in a resignation released by the white house, flynn wrote in part this, quote, unfortunately because of the fast-paced events i inadvertently briefed the vice president and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls to the russian ambassador. i have sincerely apologized to the president and vice president and they have accepted my apology. a senior official tells nbc news the president and advisers have been, quote, agonizing over what to do about flynn for days. but