democrats, if you're not moving forward at this point, you are losing ground. we got to a point based on a trust issue where president trump and general flynn where he had to make a change. >> the fallout continues following the resignation of national security adviser michael flynn. this morning, trying to make sense who have knew what and when and a startling new report about what went on during the campaign. >> plus, president trump could be facing a new foreign policy test. it comes after reports that russia reportedly deployed a missile system potentially violating a cold war era treaty. >> and the president is getting set to meet with benjamin netanyahu. the ultimate goal may be finding peace in the middle east.

but it's the approach that's turning heads. good morning, everyone. it is wednesday, february 15th. i'm alex witt. very busy morning. there is so much dig to dig into this morning about former national security visor michael flynn. his contact with the russian government and when the trump t administration was formed. the vice president was kept in the dark for weeks over justice department concerns about the national security adviser. on january 15th, he said this on "face the nation." >> on christmas day he sent a text to the russian ambassador to express not only christmas wishes but sympathy for the loss of life in the airplane crash that took place. those conversation that's happen to occur around the time that the united states took action to expel diplomats had nothing

whatsoever to do with those sanctions. >> but that still leaves open the possibility there may have been other conversations about the sanctions. >> i don't believe there were more conversations. >> okay. >> again that, was january 15th according to the white house, the white house found out about then acting attorney general sally yates' concerns with the conversation onz january 26th. the vice president was kept in the dark for 15 days, later looped in on february 9th. the only reason pence was informed is because of an impending media report that could cast doubt on his own honesty. but here's the president aboard air force one this past friday. >> what do you make of the reports that general flynn had conversations with the russians without sanctions before you were sworn in? >> i don't know about it. i haven't seen it. what report is that? i haven't seen it. >> there are reports he talked to the ambassador to russia

before you were inaugurated. >> i haven't seen. that i'll look at. that. >> immediately after the department of justice notified the white house council and the white house counsel briefed the president and a small group of advisors. they reviewed and determined that there is not an illegal issue. but rather a trust issue. >> he said i don't know about it. i'll look into that. was he being truthful? >> he was asked specifically, was he aware of a "washington post" story? he hadn't seen that at the time. of course he was involved. i just said he was aware of the situation after the white house counsel informed him in january. >> flynn said the fast pace of events was to blame for his inadvertently briefing pence and others regarding my phone calls with the russian ambassador. it ultimately came down to a matter of trust, not legal concerns. still, earlier in the day there seemed to be a basic disagreement within the administration over the fine print who have was behind the national security adviser's

exit. >> mike flynn decided it is best to resign. he knew he would become a lightning rod and he made that decision. >> the evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation in a series of other questionable instances is what led the president to ask for general flynn's resignation. >> and i spoke with the president this morning. he asked me to just speak on his behalf and to reiterate that mike flynn had resigned. >> that was ultimately what led to the president asking for and accepting the resignation of general flynn. that's it. pure and simple. a matter of trust. >> now the white house insists the president didn't instruct flynn to talk about sanctions but also acknowledged the president doesn't see a problem it with. the associated press citing a white house official report along with chief of staff also questioned flynn multiple times in the weeks that followed. the a.p. report continues saying top aides also reviewed

transcripts of flynn's contacts with the ambassador. nbc news has not independently verified that reporting. two weeks ago the white house added cia director mike pompeo and keith kellog to the president's daily briefing to make sure that flynn was not the only voice he was hearing. general kellog replaced flynn as acting national security adviser and is on the short list to be named to that job. >> phone calls show donald trump's campaign and associates have communications with senior intelligence officials before the election. "the new york times" reports that sourcing four current and former american officials, u.s. law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the time they found evidence that russia was hacking into the dnc. the report also states the intelligence agency's attempted to learn if the trum am cap pain clueded with the russians on efforts to influence the election. it is worth noting that the

times reports the officials interviewed in recent weeks and said they had seen no evidence of such cooperation. the times source was not disclose the nature of the calls. the identity of the russian officials who cooperated nor how many trump advisors participated. but it does state the communications included one time trump campaign chairman paul manaford. he dismissed the accounts labelling them as absurd and stating he in never knowingly spoke to russian intelligence officers. sean spice arr whether anyone h contact with the russian associates. >> he said nobody had been in contact with the russians. today, can you still say definitively that nobody on the trump campaign, not even general flynn had any contact with the russians before the election? >> my understanding is that what general flynn has now expressed is that during the transition period, we were very clear that during the transition period he

did speak with the ambassador. >> i'm talking about during the campaign. >> i don't have -- there is nothing that would tell me anything changed. >> the fbi and white house declined to comment on the story. nbc news has not verified "the new york times'" reporting. now there is new insthigt morning on when federal agents began interviewing michael flynn over his phone calls with the russian ambassador. for that we want to bring in pete williams. >> it turns out the fbi interviewed michael flynn shortly after the inauguration but senior officials say they do not expect that to result in any charges against him. just a few days aftmichael flyn became the national security adviser, he was interviewed by fbi agents about his phone call with the russian ambassador. the officials say the interview was part of the fbi's long running investigation into russia's attempts to influence the presidential election including its hack ago tacks on the democrats. flynn was not under investigation, the officials say

sh the russians were and though the white house says flynn was fired for misleading the vice president, two officials say the fbi vgts do not believe that flynn lied to them and do not expect to see any charges come out of that interview. but i had days of answering questions are not over. members of congress say they want to hear from him. >> i think it is likely that general flynn will be asked to come and talk to the committee about both post election activities and any other activities that he would be aware of. >> some in congress say the transcripts of the phone call with the russian ambassador should be released. >> given the public was misled about the conversations, i think the public has a right to know exactly what flynn represented and who he was speaking for. >> reporter: separate lit army is investigating whether general flynn was paid about it russian government for speaking at a moscow vent with putin two years ago. federal law prohibits former military officers from receiving

foreign payments without permission. the fbi's investigation of russia's involvement in the election is a long way from over, looking at what the russians were doing and whether anyone here was helping them. >> all right. pete williams, thank you for. that seen qunior writer jamie mcintyre. i want to read you a remarkable quote that stood out yesterday from general tommy -- tony thomas, head of the military special operations command. according to "the new york times," told a military conference that "our government continues to be in unbelievable turmoil. "hope they sort it out soon because we're a nation at war." general thomas said in a brief interview, "as a commander, i'm concerned that our government be as stable as possible." that's its language we sometimes use to describe countries overseas. but to hear it reflected in the u.s. about stability and turmoil coming from o top generals,

help put this in perspective. how does this leave the administration's abuilt to deal with crisis on the world stage? >> what is clear is they need have a team in place that can work together. they need to have a leader at the national security council, national security adviser who can fulfill the role and nt traditional sense of s synthesizing all of the various opinions and providing that kind of advice to the president. the secretary of defense jim mattis is at nato headquarters this morning meeting with naught y -- nato members. so it's important that they get somebody into the national security adviser role as soon as possible, someone who has stature and can restore stability to the -- someone who can work as a team with general mattis and general kelly over at home land security and the new cia director as well.

this is moment of instability. let's not overstate what's going on here. what happened is a member of the president's team made a mistake in judge ment. it happened early in this administration. this is something -- the president has a long list of qualified people he can draw on to shore up that team. >> speaking of that long list, let's look ahead, keith kellog at the moment. some are saying it could fall to robert harword. tell us about the top candidates he thinks has the front step on it? >> of course the other person named in the mix is general david petraeus who some people think is a little tanlted. but harword is the guy that a lot of people at the pentagon are hoping for. he has a long history with general mattis when he was head of u.s. central kmant. he was second in command there. they're not just people that work together. they were actually close friends and allies.

and if someone like him would w. his experience having served before, knowing general mattis very well and having a background in counter-terrorism, a lot of people say that would be a perfect match for the pentagon. >> all right. jamie mcintyre, thank you. >> president trump is facing his latest test in foreign policy from russia. moscow secretly deployed a new cruise missile. that moves in direct violation of a land mark arms treaty and comes on the heels of the controversy surrounding mike flynn. joining us on set, cal perry. this is big news. >> this is inn. direct violation of the 1997 inf treaty. these missiles are very long range capability, more than 3,000 miles. they are very, very precise. they are cruise missiles. this is one of three provication that's we've seen in the past month. we saw two fly byes by russian jets on the uss poert in the black sea. and there is this russian spy

ship that is off the coast of delaware. this thing has been off the coast before but it's made a return after we expelled the dislow mats in december. this is not shocking to the white house. they say they're continuing a hard line on russia. listen to sean spicer yesterday. >> the irony of this entire situation is that the president has been incredibly tough on russia. he continues to raise the issue of crimea which the previous administration allowed to be seized by rush yachlt his ambassador to the united nations nikki haley stood before the u.n. security council on the first day and denounced the russian occupation of crimea. as ambassador haley said at the time, "dire situation in eastern ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of russian actions." >> the russians said they'll wait to explain why crimea is part of russia to the americans. a big day for general mattis today. >> thank you very much. >> all right.

to add to this president trump is hosting benjamin netanyahu at the white house today. it's the first face-to-face meeting between the two since the president took office. and out this morning, mult i will reports that a senior white house official said last night that peace between israel and the palestinians is the main goal of the white house even if it's at the cost of a two state solution. that breaks from decades of u.s. policy which held at the only way for peace was for the two states to live side by side. the a.p. adds that multiple state department officials were surprised by the new stance and were seeking clarification from the white house. also expected to be discussed at the meeting, israeli settle ments in the west bank, a growing source of contention between the israeli government and trump administration. since the president's inauguration, israel approved thousands of new settlements. they don't help the process towards peace. >> still ahead, one of america's

most haunting missing child cases, now almost 38 years later. aton paetz gets justice zbrchlt several tornado left this damage around houston, texas yesterday. bill karins is taking a look at that and other severe weather forecasts.

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welcome back, everyone. 30 years after aton paetz vanished from a new york city street, finally closure. a jury found 56-year-old pedro hernandez guilty of murder and kidnapping. he faces life in prison. the case remained cold for years until hernandez made a surprise confession in 2012. his defense argued he was coerced and mentally ill and original 2015 trial ended in a mistrial.

>> the paetz family waited a long time. but we finally have found some measure of justice for our little boy. i am truly relieved and i'll tell you, it's about time. >> etan paetz disappeared if may of 1979 on the first day he was allowed to walk to the xul bus stop alone. his remains have yet to be found. >> and youtube's most popular star also known as pootie pie is in hot water after messages about him surfaced. they anounsd it is severing ties with shellberg and youtube canceled release of an upcoming series with him and dropped him from a premier advertising program. in one of the videos, he hired two men through a site called finer to make a sign that says doej all jews. the purpose of the video was to show how crazy the modern world

is, specifically the services available online. people on fine woehr say anything for $5. now according to forbes, he made $15 million last year making him the highest paid youtube star. >> all right. let's get a check on your weather now with bill karins. bill, kind of a difficult day out there for some folks across the country. >> yeah, especially yesterday. we knew we had the threat of tornadoes. they did happen early. it was 9:00, 10:00 a.m. there were four or five confirmed tornadoes. there was a lot of structural damage to the houses and downed trees. we were very concerned about houston itself at one point. this is the area just south of there. so for today, we still have an isolated severe weather threat in the southeast. greatest concern is going to be this area in north florida, southern korgs portiportions of. these are not severe, just a quick down pour. and also there in panama city to the east of there. tallahassee, albany, you're in

the marginal risk. this yellow area is a slight risk. 2.2 million people affected by the storms today. mostly the greater jacksonville area. wind damage is the greatest threat. the other story, how about your third big snowstorm in six days in northern new england? winter storm warnings are up again. we just finished the big huge blizzard yesterday. now you don't have time to clean up. later on tonight, the snow is going to fly. this is the six, the purple is 12. that is six to 12 inches. maybe a little too warm in portland and portsmouth. that's why the totals are lower. we'll get significant lake-effect snow to the west. the other story, the warmage cross the country is incredible. 64 in denver today. 55 in oklahoma city. and this warmth is heading to the east. it could hit 70 this weekend in washington, d.c. some of that will be up here in new york, too. get ready. this is our spring break. zbh i'm confused by all this. >> the flowers are coming out

way too early. >> the situation with lake orville dam? >> it's down 20 feet. o so if things continue to improve this he have big rains coming. i'll talk about that. >> still ahead, floyd mayweather is tamping down rumors about a return to the ring. >> and the last laugh in the end in sports next. ♪(music plays) ♪ heigh ho heigh ho ♪ ♪ heigh ho heigh ho it's off to work we go here's to all of you early risers, what's up man? go-getters, and should-be sleepers. from all of us at delta, because the ones who truly change the world, are the ones who can't wait to get out in it. because the ones who truly change the world, trust #1 doctor recommended dulcolax. use dulcolax tablets for gentle dependable relief. suppositories for relief in minutes. and dulcoease for comfortable relief of hard stools.

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boxer floyd mayweather is tamping down rumors of a bout against connor mcgregor or any other fighter. mayweather took to instagram reiterating he is happily retired and that there hasn't been any deals made in regards to a fight. meanwhile, mcgregor who was in las vegas yesterday, the same city where mayweather lives and trains, tweeted this photo with the caption, i'm in vegas, floyd retired on my arrival. all right. turning now to action on the nba court. in minnesota, the cavaliers get a sixth win in seven outings. during a had 41-point game from the timberwolves without kevin love who missed his first game with a knee injury, lebron james and irving scored 25 points for cleveland. channing fry adding 21. check out this nifty pass by lebron, throwing the ball between the legs of his defender. the cavaliers beat the wolves

116-108. >> a super bowl bet dictated that the losing side would name one of the baby animals after the winning team's star quarterback. they honored that bet yesterday. i say technically because they named the smallest baby hissing cockroach tom brady. i'm sure he's thrilled about that. >> what? that's a diss i think. >> yeah. >> i'm just saying. that's my interpretation. >> still ahead, top republicans are weighing in on michael flynn's resignation. they're not all on the same page about the contact with the russian agent. >> and civil rights lawyers are fighting for release. we'll tell you about that when we come back. i'm so frustrated. i just want to find a used car without getting ripped off 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 trucks with one owner. pretty cool. [laughs]

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welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt. bottom of the hour just about. we'll start you off with the top stories. the white house is in damage control mode. new information comes in about miael flynn's las few weeks as national security director. we learned the white house kept vice president mike pence in the dark for two weeks about the justice department's warning that flynn could be susceptible to blackmail by the kremlin. significant because it was the vice president who was exposed after repeating false information that flynn provided him about his conversations with the russian ambassador. there is this new report from the "new york times" that claims trump campaign aides repeated contact with russian intelligence officers in the last year of the campaign. they claim that information came

from phone records and intercepted phone calls to russian foreign intelligence service says the accusations are unfounded. the report says there's no evidence that the trump campaign worked with russia to hack the dnc and a reporter that broke this story is joining joe live at the top of the hour in "morning joe." putin is testing the new president by deploying a new cruise missile that violates an arms treaty between the u.s. and russia. u.s. officials have been concerned about the missile program for quite some time. they have developed several options for how to respond including deploying more missile defense as cross europe. no shortage of things to discuss. let's be joined by the senior writer, jamie mcintyre. you have a president who said the most important sthing keeping america safe. national security is his top focus. give us a broad view of how the administration is weighing on

that element and anything else less than a month into office. >> this morning defense secretary jim mattis is in brussels, belgium, trying reassure nervous allies that the turmoil back here in washington is just kind of a passing squall, not the sign of something really serious. mattis is at a disadvantage. he doesn't have a team around him. he says he's going to be kind of in listening mode, not lecturing mode as he meets with the nato allies. the administration faced with threats from north korea. this deployment of russian missiles, iran, all of this going on without now somebody in that critical position of national security adviser on a permanent basis. lieutenant general keith kellogg stepped up. he's in the acting capacity. the search is on for somebody who can bring stability and leadership back to that position. they're looking for someone with stature, credibility, and someone who doesn't have a lot

of baggage to bring with them. >> jamie, the administration has been tested early and it seems frequently from a few different places. you have north korea's missile test, iran's missile test and the russians seem to be testing the watt we are the deployment of the cruise missile and ships off the coast of delaware. how is the administration approaching this? do they have a cohesive policy? are they dealing with them as they come up one after the other? >> we haven't heard cohesive policy. we heard a lot of statement that's they're going to have a cohesive policy, they're going to deal with things in a strong and resolute manner such as north korea, for instance. we haven't heard any idea of what the administration's approach is to try to get north korea to back off of its nuclear ambitions. military action doesn't seem to be a good option. that could result in all out war. they're looking to pressure china to do something about north korea. >> all right. the washington examiner's jamie mcintyre. thank you. there is mixed reaction from

republicans following michael flynn's resignation. it's the fbi that needs to explain what's going on. he told "the washington post" "the big problem i see here is that you have an american citizen who had his phone calls recorded." >> here's what i know. general flynn didn't break the law talking to the russian ambassador. that's his job. who did break the law is whoever recorded this -- whoever recorded his phone call, unmasked it and leaked it. that is clearly multiple violations. >> other republicans are demanding answers about what the white house knew about flynn's conversations. but the scope of their desired inquiries differs widely. >> national security is perhaps the most important function or responsibility a president has. i it this president made the right decision to ask for the resignation. you can't have a national security adviser misleading the vice president and others. i think the key is this.

as soon as this person lost the president's trust, the president asked for resignation and that was the right thing to do. i won't prejudge until we have the information. >> should there be a broader bipartisan independent investigation into the administration's ties to russia? >> i think that situation has taken care of itself. >> is your committee going to take any action on this? >> well, when we get into sources and methods, it really is the per view of the intelligence committee. it's not something an oversight committee can look at. >> i'd like to know did he just do this as a rogue general flynn? did he just decide to call the russians up one day and say, you know, we're going to have a different view on sanctions. don't worry about it. or did it come from somebody else in the white house? if in fact that general flynn was directed by somebody to contact the russians, don't overreact, we may change policy,

that's not a crime. i think that's bad form. it's probably inappropriate. >> the cover-up could be far worse than what they actual dli. >> meanwhile, another area complicated by recent unrest and in fighting in the white house, the issue of ambassadorships overseas m ambassadorships remain unfilled amid a standoff between white house chief of staff. the paper says the president told secretary tillerson he would have say in key appoint mentes. however, priebus got approval for several positions without consulting tillerson who was reportedly angered. several names the president approved are set to be top rnc donors. let's go to a bizarre story involving the half brother of jim jong unwho was assassinated in malaysia. the details are taken ver bait frim a hollywood caper.

>> reporter: a cold blooded execution, straight from a spy movie local media reports say. north korean dictator kim jong un's half brother apparently targeted by two female assassins. he criticized north korea's supreme leader. the alleged hit staged at an airport in malaysia. an unidentified woman covering his face with a cloth laced with liquid, police say. he was seen struggling for help and sought assistance from airport staff but died in an ambulance. north korea's ruthless ruler showing no mercy. kim jong-un had his own uncle put on trial and executed. the latest apparent target, his father's son. he had been their father's favorite but in 2001, he was caught sneaking into japan with a false passport. wanting to visit tokyo's disneyland. estranged from the familiar lishgs he questioned his brother's rule. a dangerous move. >> there still is resistance.

there still is criticism. i think that's why we're seeing high level purging and murders like this. >> the alleged killing just days after king jong unpersonally oversaw a new missile test. clearly aimed at provoking president trump. north korea's dictator demand ago tension and eliminating aopponents, even family. >> thanks so much for that. the government's top ethics office is urging the white house to investigate kellyanne conway for endorsing ivanka's trump's clothing line. they wrote there is strong reason to believe that the president's counsellor violates rules against misusing her positionen that disciplinary action is warranted. the chairman of the house oversight committee who urged the ethics office to investigate is called on the white house to follow the agency's advice. reuters said first arrest of a dreamer. according to the news agency,

daniel ramirez, a mexican man covered by the deferred action for childhood arrivals established during the obama administration was detained. they allow children brought to the u.s. illegally to attend school and find work without fear of deportation. in an interview with nbc news -- or with abc news last month, president trump said his administration was devising a policy on how to deal with people covered with daca without indicate anything concrete plans. the reasons for ramirez's arrest are still in question, a move against daca recipients means a significant broadening enforce ment. ramirez detained in washington is seeking immediate release and injunction to keep the government from arresting him again. still ahead, obamacare takes another hit as another insurance company announces it is dumping the program. we're going to explain why this move may hurt harderen that the others. and benjamin netanyahu takes quite the day to visit the white house. we'll set the stage for his meeting with president trump

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california officials say they're working around the clock to reinforce this spillway amid fears it might collapse and cause widespread flooding. all this as more storms thoed that area. let's bring in bill karins. how it is looking there? hopefully the outslook a little better. >> for the dam, it is. the water is going down 20 feet since sunday when they had the evacuation order issued. they're sending people back to the houses. but we've been advertising more rain is coming. they're releasing it so fast that it's not going to be an issue feen it does rain heavy. i mentioned seven days because we have four storms coming in seven days to the west.

we call this an atmospheric river. how the in the pacific, you can track the moisture here. here is hawaii. sometimes we call this the pineapple express. i starts in hawaii. then the moisture comes all the way up here into areas of the west. it may be in pacific northwest this morning. it may shift a little bit. we'll be on and off with this for seven days. incredible stuff. again this is the main band that's going to go through. that's going to go through late tonight and into tomorrow morning. then we'll get los angeles see some heavy rain. the rain will return back to northern california by the time we get to frichlt again, very active as we go throughout next seven days. i don't think this is going to be the new problem. we'll have new river fears in many areas though. this could get eight to ten inches of rain in the next seven days. >> i thought it never rained in southern california, sfligt wasn't there a song about that? >> everyone in southern california is saying they're the new seattle. >> a lot of things to watch out for there. president trump is set to

welcome benjamin netanyahu to the white house later today. it comes amid reports that white house could break from decade of u.s. policy that a two state solution is the only way forward for peace between israel and the palestinians. joining us now from london, nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley. i know you just recently returned from israel and the palestinian territories. what expected to come out of this meeting? what is the israeli leadership hoping to sell back home? >> good morning. it's anyone's guess thou is going to play out. the stakes are sky high. president trump called this the ultimate deal. and while he tends to indullth in the sorts of exaggerations, he may be right this time. successive presidents have trild and failed to ink a lasting peace accord. as you mentioned, i was in israel and the west bank three weeks ago. israelis, especially conservatives like netanyahu, are hugely optimistic about the trump presidency. palestinians, of course, are fearful. but it is true the president seems to be turning the page on a two-state solution.

this is the concepts that been official american policy for more than two decades. fwhaut could change. president trump's position in the middle east conflict is in a stast flux to put it mildly. he's been backing off the more extreme positions, for example, president trump promised during his campaign he would move the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. that would enflame anger among the palestinians and lead to violence. trump says he is a master deal maker. when it comes to dealing with netanyahu, he might actually meet his match. >> all right. matt bradley live in london. thank you. still ahead, review of joe's exclusive interswru mitch mcconnell. >> plus, republican strategist and nbc contributor rick tyler will join us on set to weigh nont crisis at the white house. we're back in a moment. this is my retirement. retiring retired tires. and i never get tired of it. are you entirely prepared to retire? plan your never tiring retiring retired tires retirement

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welcome back. let's turn to business. a day after the merge we are aetna was blocked by the federal government, humana anounsd a plan to pull out of all obamacare marketplaces next year. tell us why humana's decision is different from other insurer who's pulled out of the affordable care act. >> essentially humana is looking for more stabilization. they say that they do anticipate that marketed will stabilize and this they could come back in again. for the time being, they're not seeing it. they expect what they call individual commercial businesses to stabilize to the point of

them being able to participate in the program again. so based on initial analysis of the data and the period of the 2017 open enrollment period, they're seeing more signs of unbalanced risk pools. a risk pool essentially means older people and sicker people. so people who need more cover and more expensive to cover as well. it was thought that more young people that they would be signing up to the affordable care act from the first of november 2016 through january of 2017 during this open enrollment stage in order to balance out the costs. but lo and behold, it hasn't happened since trump as election. people of this category, they haven't signed up. trump was very quick to treat obamacare continues to fail humana is pulling out in 2018 will repeal, replace, and save health care for all americans. >> live from london, thank you so much. >> let's get more now on the fallout over former national security adviser michael flynn. rick tyler will weigh n first, joe got senate majority leader

mitch mcconnell's take. >> i don't think i'm goingo give the president any advice about the white house staff. every white house seems to me has had intrigue and this will be no different. woinlt give any advice about how to staff the white house. >> are you concerned about ties with russia? what may have been said? the fact that there were reports that the white house knew about this for a month? >> obviously, the president decided to make a change. i really don't want to give any particular advice about. that they all work as pleasure. and they obviously decide to make a change. >> right. as far as investigation goes in the senate, obviously, a lot of people are talking about the need for investigations and the way they came out and said there needs to be a strong, vigorous investigation. >> that's happening. that's happening. >> and you still don't think there needs to be a select committee? >> no. i don't think we need a select

committee. we know how to do our work. we have an intelligence committee. on the judiciary committee, there is a subcommittee that will take a look at it. i don't think we need to set up a special committee. we'll look at russian involvement and the u.s. election. it's a significant issue. we know we're messing around with it. we don't think they had any impact on the outcome. >> joining us now, former communications director for ted cruz's campaign, now an msnbc political contributor, rick tyler. let's take a look at. this we had more executive orders issued by this administration than anyone straight out of the gate. it is one step forward, two steps back. the level of disarray. comment on that. immigration, you know, dealings with russia from the campaign moving forward. what's going on? >> i think we have a crisis of incompetence right now which is that there are so many power senters centers in the white house. nobody knows who is in charge. nobody knows who belongs to which portfolio. and in the cases of the eo, the

executive order on immigration was poorly written and poorly executed and led to the court literally shutting it down. >> so it's disarray? >> it's disarray. the reason you're seeing the leaks is people don't leak when they feel loyalty to their principal toshgts president. and theer leaking because they don't feel loyalty to him. >> let me ask you something. a lot of republicans getting heat for reluctance to call on an investigation. you saw there the senate majority leader saying no need for a select committee. talk about the pressure some of the republicans are facing back home when they're going home to talk to their constituents, not just about this but their views about the president and how he's handling his first month in the job. >> i think right now i think trump supporters still have his back. there is a great mistrust for washington. there's a great mistrust for the media. they're putting it through that filter. if things don't improve in their lives, wages go up, more opportunities, they may lows the president's trust. i they think they have this trust.

the problem you have is this investigation with russia splits the republican party because most historically our relationship with russia has been one of an enemy. he has put russia on a moral equivalency with the united states. now we have reports this morning about the campaign being in constant contact. now contact between campaigns and foreign governments aren't entirely unusual. but now we have a case where the russians have clearly hacked into the dnc, hacked into john podesta's e-mail. and there were communications. people want to know what the communications are. you also have this idea that general flynn talked to the russians and said he didn't tell anybody. that's really hard to believe. the president and anyone would not know exactly what was talking b and in the interim during the transition, i don't -- number one, it would have been the sanctions. he would have either been prepared to talk about it and the idea that it never came up is seemingly ridiculous. >> okay. tyler, great to see you. we'll see new a few minutes on

"morning joe." stick around. >> still ahead, a look at the stories happening in the day ahead. and a packed edition of "morning joe" ahead. >> so much more of joe's exclusive interview with mitch mcconnell including his thoughts on the president's claims of widespread voter fraud and paul ryan, we'll get his thoughts on the latest developments from the white house zbhchlt and three other leading senators, bob corker and democrats dick durbin and chris murphy. jam packed edition. that's just moments away. ♪ ♪ jon batiste has mastered new ways to play old classics. with chase atms, he can master new ways to deposit checks too. easy to use chase technology for whatever you're trying to master.

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national security adviser michael flynn became the first contestant eliminated on the celebrity president. he had his job for only 23 days. the president asked him to resign after he reportedly told the russians not to worry about sanctions put in place by presidenas even in office, supposedly, which sill legal. on the campaign trail, mike flynn said if i did a tenth of what hillary clinton did with her e-mails, i'd be in jail. and now we have this. so, great, let's crunch the numbers. let's figure out how long he'll

be in there. >> all right before. we toss it over to "morning joe," get a check on the stories you'll hear b. >> another busy day for president trump. he prepares to welcome another foreign leader to the white house. hally jackson is following the devel developments zbhchlt good morning. as if we had not had enough busy days at the white house, another is on tap for today. for president trump, the fourth state visit in the first four weeks of his administration. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu set to be here at the white house to meet with the president and his team of advisors. after that, the two of them will be holding, we're told, a joint press conference in front of reporters when there is certainly plenty to ask president trump about. specifically the fallout, as you know, after that abrupt resignation now 48 hours ago of national security adviser mike flynn. we're watching all of these stories. we're also looking ahead to see who the new national security adviser might be with guidance coming into us based on our reporting that could be coming

any time basically within the week, alex. a lot happening at the white house. we'll be on top of every angle for you. we'll see you later on this morning. >> thank you so much. that's a wrap for us on this we. i'm alex wit. "morning joe" starts right now. good morning. it's wednesday, february 15th. welcome to "morning joe." with us on set, we have veteran columnist and msnbc contributor mike barnicle. political analyst and co-author of "game change," john heilemann and former communications director for ted cruz and now a msnbc political contributor rick tyler. along with joe and me, we have a big show this morning. the pace quickens to "the new york times." you have the head of the special ops command telling "the new york times"