this morning president trump's wiretapping allegations come to a head. fbi director james comey due to testify on capitol hill and key lawmake lawmakers want him to clear up once and for all the president's proven claim. and neil gorsuch heads to capitol hill today to begin his confirmation hearings. and new overnight, south korean military officials say north korea is making progress with the nuclear weapons program. this comes after the latest testing of a rocket engine and claims from the secretary of state they pose an imminent threat.

good morning, everyone. it is monday, march 20th. i'm alex witt alongside ayman hol mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. today they will hold the first hearing into the meddling of the presidential election. james comey and admiral mike rogers are likely to face questions on the series of tweets that the president sent on saturday morning a couple weeks ago. and two days ago accusing president obama of ordering a wiretap of his phones at trump tower. comey reportedly requested that the justice department issue a denial shortly after the president made his accusations but has avoided public statements ever since. on friday the department of justice provided the house intelligence committee with any relevant material to the president's wiretapping claim. the chairman of the committee, republican devon nunez and adam

schiff say there was no evidence of surveillance at trump tower. joining other hard-ranking republicans and democrats alike who have seen novidence behind president trump's claims. yesterday chairman nunez ruled out wiretaps as the white house suggested. >> was there a physical wiretap of trump tower? no, but there never was. and the information we got on friday continues to lead us in that direction. >> i just want to make that point before you -- there is no evidence there was any wiretap. i'm not talking about president obama doing it or his administration, no evidence of any wiretapping of trump tower? >> no phisa warrant on trump tower. >> today adam schiff and republican nunez diverged on how they interpreted the evidence they have seen. >> i would characterize it this way at the outside of the

investigation. there is circumstantial evidence of collusion. there's direct evidence, i think, of deception. and that's where we begin the investigation. now, i don't want to pre-judge where we ultimately end up. of course, there's one thing to say there's evidence. there's another thing to say we can prove this beyond a reasonable doubt or there's enough evidence to bring to a grand jury for purpose of criminal indictment. but there was certainly enough for us to conduct the investigation. the american people have a right to know. and in order to defend ourselves, we need to know whether these, the circumstantial evidence of collusion and direct evidence of deception is indicative of more. >> have you seen any evidence of any collusion between what i'll call trump world, associates, of campaign officials, trump world and the russians to swing the 2016 presidential election? >> i'll give you a very simple answer. no. >> no evidence of any collusion?

>> no evidence. >> and this was after lking and getting this information from the fbi? >> up to speed on everything i have up to this morning. no evidence of collusion. >> the white house is refusing to apologize to the british government after citing the report made by fox news last week that the british spy agency known as gchq eves dropped on donald trump after the election. andrew that ininapolitano said the agency to have no fingerprints of donald trump. later donald trump repeated the claims. >> three intelligence sources have informed fox news that president obama went outside the chain of command. he didn't use the nsa, the cia or the fbi or the department of justice. he used gchq. what the heck is gchq? that's the initials for the british spying agency.

>> on fox news on march 14th, judge andrew napolitano said three intelligence sources have informed fox news that president oba obama went outside the chain of command, he didn't use the nsa, the cia, he used the gchq. whats gchq? that's the british intelligence agency. >> i didn't make an opinion on it. that was a statement made by a very talented lawyer on fox. and so you shouldn't be talking to me, you should be talking to fox. >> well, on friday a spokesperson for gchq responded to the comments in a rare statement saying, recent allegations made by media commentator judge andrew that

inial napolitano are ridiculous and should be ignored. that same day breitbart distanced himself from napolitano's comments. >> fox news knows of no evidence of any kind that the now president of the united states was surveilled at any time in any way full stop. >> we love top judge. we love him here at fox, but the fox news division was never able to back up those claims. >> the white house said on friday the u.s. officials had spoken with the british count parties but as he left the east room, press secretary sean spicer told reporters that no apology, in fact, had been made. >> was there a formal apology made to britain? >> i think we just reiterated the fact that we were just simply reading the accounts, that's it. >> do you regret the allegations you're making? >> i don't think we regret. we listed a litany of public

reports in the public domain. >> meanwhile, the director for the nsa said the idea that britain had a hand in spying on trump was just crazy. he told bbc news it bellies a complete lack of understanding of how the relationship works between the intel community agencies. a handful of republican lawmakers are speaking about the president's wiretapping claims calling on him to apologize or explain himself. >> frankly, unless you can produce some pretty compelling proof, i think the president, president obama is owed an apology. if he didn't do it, we shouldn't be reckless in accusations that he did. >> it never hurts to say you're sorry. >> so you think the president should say sorry? >> i think so. not just to the president but to the u.k. for the claims or intimation that the u.k. was

involve in this as well. >> i don't know the basis for president trump's assertion. and that's what i wish he would explain to us in the intelligence committee and to the american people. and i do believe he owes us that explanation. >> well, after two nominees and more than 13 months since the death of supreme court justice antonin scalia, the senate judiciary committee will finally begin the confirmation process to fill the ninth seat in the appeals court. neil gorsuch starts the first of four expected hearings this morning hoping to overcome partisan divisions deepened after her i cmerrick garland wad a hearing. now the republicans hope to help garland reach the confirmation to move forward that could force mitch mcconnell to remove the filibuster for supreme court mom niece. something democrats did for lower court nominees in 2013.

gorsuch will be introduced to the hearing in bipartisan fashion by his home state senators, democrat michael bennett and republican cory gardner along with neal katyal, who acted as acting solicitor general in the obama administration. according to a source close to gorsu gorsuch, he had 70 senators that he met with prior to today. and he met at the old executive office building with the white house office and the former clerks involved with the questioning. rex tillerson met with xi jinping yesterday. in contrast to ongoing rhetoric from the president, tillerson appeared more cordial about building a relationship. and xi jinping said this can only be defined by friendship. nigh c president xi is expected to meet with president trump in the next

couple months. meanwhile, tillerson is responding to criticism over his decision to travel with one reporter on the trip. in the interview with the reporter, he said of the decision, primarily it's driven, believe it or not, you won't believe it, we're trying to save money. i'm not a big media press access person. i personally don't need it. i understand it's important to get the message of what we're doing out, but i also think there's only a purpose of getting the message out when there's something to be done. and when we're ready to talk about what we're trying to do, i'll be able to talk to people. but doing daily availability i don't have this appetite or hunger to be that, have a lot of things, have a lot of quotes in the paper or be more visible with the media. in the north korean state media, they conducted a test of a high-thrust rocket this weekend in the latest ongoing escalation of tensions in the region.

joining us from seoul is matt bradley with more. good morning to you. >> reporter: it's a troubling development that could allow north korea's nuclear missiles to strike the united states. a new engine, fueling a fresh round of north korean propaganda. an engine test which some say could repel and intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting u.s. soil. kim jong-un promised to get this operation going in a new speech. north korea put on a provocative display of force and unprecedented two nuclear tests last year. and it successfully fired four ballistic missiles off the coast just two weeks ago. korea watchers expect a new nuclear test any day. if it happens, north korea's test results will almost certainly be different. the country now facing off against the new american administration. secretary of state rex tillerson

warned that a u.s. preemptive strike is a very real possibility. >> let me be very clear, the policy of straw up teenagertegis ended. all options are on the table. >> reporter: rising tensions led to an american missile defense system being moved into south korea this month. still washington may want to take a harder line against north korea. the question is, will the regional partners go along with it? this weekend china's government urged tillerson to take a more cautious approach. following the impeachment of south korean president park, elections in may will put a liberal president in power who may want to pursue dialogue with the north. but the trump administration seems determined to confront them. >> right now four u.s. four-star generals think that north korea either has the capability to hit the u.s. with a nuclear device again or have to assume for planning purposes they have the

capability. >> reporter: a frightening new moment savers now rattling on both sides of the pacific. in a press conference just today, south korea's ministry of defense called the new engine, quote, meaningful progress, presumably to an intercontinental ballistic missile. but the more analysis of meetings follow the capabilities. >> thank you so much for that report, matt. a pair of bracket busters in sunday's second round cap a wild weekend in march madness. those stories and a check on weather when we come right back.

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a former north carolina police chief said he faced

unreasonable detention after traveling to jfk airport. he described his experience in a facebook post saying, he's disappointed after being held at 90 minutes after being held at john f. kennedy airport even after having the appropriate paperbook. his name matched a non-specified watch list. he worked for 26 years in alexandria before becoming chief in north carolina. he's been a u.s. citizen for four decades. a statement from a spokesperson said all travelers are subject to inspection and could be inconvenienced as we work through the arrival process to ensure those entering the country are doing so legitimately and lawfully. now we'll get a check on the weather with meteorologist bill karins. bill, it's monday and the first day of spring. i'm hoping the snow is gone for good. >> the first day of spring, we would like to say snow is

forever gone, but you get the april snows and the pretty pictures of thetulips. the only really bad weath on this monday, we have thunderstorms that rolled through icago with a lot of people up. there was a lot of lightning up in northern illinois and northern indiana. so even detroit, we'll head down to cleveland and toledo if it's not there already. now we'll talk about spring with a quiet weather day today. this is the forecast for the spring temperatures. the odds favor above average temperatures from texas to oklahoma through the southeast and all of the eastern seaboard. so if everyone in the north to the great lakes is still looking at a lot of snow on the ground, you probably like to hear this. also you think of spring and severe weather, but you also speak of flooding concerns. and on the river, thankfully we had such a warm winter, we don't have a lot of snow out there. the spring rainfall forecast does call for above average rains in montana and the dakotas and possibly down here along the gulf coast. near average everywhere else. the spots that are at most risk of flooding are in the northern plains. if we get that anticipated heavy rains. we have the huge snow pack in the west, so the mountain there is near idaho and also the sierra nevada mountain range.

and then possibly in the areas of northern new england. but so far we have been doing a slow melt of a lot of the snow. we want that to continue. but those are the areas more at risk. and more specifically it's the idaho snake river and everywhere out in sierra nevada. the forecast for today, it doesn't feel like spring in oklahoma and texas. it is 92 today in oklahoma city and 91 in dallas. i mean, that is air-conditioning weather. st. louis could sneak up to 81. we are finally starting to warm up a little on the eastern seaboard. this is what we want, a nice slow snow melt. 50 degrees today in new york. 57 down there in d.c. ayman, over the weekend, remember we had the story that the cherry blossoms were going to be early. and then we had the cold freeze and were worried we would lose a lot of them. everyone says they are beautiful and they made it through the cold blast and it is really pretty down there along the mall. >> good excuse to head to d.c. for the weekend. >> let's do it. still ahead, march madness continues. the sweet 16 is set after a few

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yesterday. the sports had a relatively quiet first round of the ncaa tournament. the round of 32 lived up to the madness on saturday. we saw number one overall villanova sfall to eighth seede wisconsin. and last night second seeded duke was unseeded by south carolina 88-81. the game had an offensive explosion in the second round scoring 65 points to erase a ten-point deficit in the game. that's the most ever given up by duke in a single half with coach k. at the helm there. south carolina will meet baylor in the game, the first ever appearance in the sweet 16. that should be a good one. another big upset yesterday, number 7 michigan takes down second seeded louisville 73-69. the wolf arenas get behind a career high 26 points scored by mo wagner who spurred a 26-point

run. they took the lead and never looked back. michigan headso the sweet 16 for the first time since 2014. another notable game, number 10 wichita state nearly upset kentucky that skated by 65-62. wichita heads home after another second-round heartbreak failing to tie or take the lead. the wildcats have the defensive prowess on full display there. and north carolina avoided an early exit against number 8 arkansas. the tar heels blew a 17-point first half lead and trailed by 5 with three minutes to play. but unc closed with a 12-0 run to win 72-65. the tar heels get a date for the sweet 16 for the third consecutive season. also advancing after wins yesterday, top seed kansas along with oregon and ucla. here's a look at the sweet 16 match-ups. the madness resumes thursday night. i can't wait. we'll show you a little

highlight worthy moment from the women's tournament between sixth-seeded west virginia and number three maryland. destiny slokum sends the terps to the locker room after meeting the match-up at the half-court to make that shot. that was pretty incredible. and we head to orlando for the arnold palmer invitational to stick to the march madness theme. heading out of the 17th bunker, zach johnson's ball banks off his partner's and goes into the cup for the unlikely birdie. marc lieshman earns a trip to the masters after a one-shot victory. lieshman also had an eagle on the 16th hole sinking a 50-foot putt. that was pretty exciting as well. >> pretty impressive highlights there. >> don't think i didn't notice that you led with baylor beating

my usc. just saying. >> i'm sorry, alex. i apologize. >> i will leave it at that. glad to be here, not. still ahead, house republicans set an obamacare repeal and replacement despite some opposition from members in the party. and hillary clinton is ready to come out of the woods. what is next for the former presidential candidate? we'll tell you about those stories and more, next. can i get some help. wah his head. ♪ i'm so happy. ♪ whatever they went through, they went through together. welcome guys. life well planned. see what a raymond james financial advisor can do for you. experience exciting offers on sales event is here. our most thrilling models ever.

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welcome back, everyone.

i'm alex witt alongside ayman h mohyeldin and louse burgdorf. acrding to the sheriff's office, around 11:00 saturday night in east baton rouge, deputies went into a business pursuing a rape investigation. shots wither fired and sergeant anderson was shot. police have not found out what provoked the shooting. one week ago anderson helped deliver a baby on the side of the road. this latest chapter is the latest tragedy for the community. last july one east baton rouge parish deputy was killed, two others wounded. the shooting took the lives of two officers and injured a third officer with that department. and fires continue to wreak havoc out west. evacuation orders for the people who live in more than 400 homes

remain in place as firefighters get the upper hand on wildfires out in colorado. the exact cause for the fire is not yet known but officials say it would have been human made. and fire crews in nebraska have worked throughout the night to fight fires that hit the state over the weekend. officials say the fire is contained but continues to burn. and the president is seeing his approval numbers headed in the wrong direction. according to gallop, his approval rating is at 37%. disapproval at 58%. but there's a 17-point swing in just to over a week. the first votes on repealing and replacing obamacare could come on thursday, but major hang-ups throughout maine for right wing members. senator ted cruz went to mar-a-lago with mark meadows to hash out differences before the president went to florida for the weekend as he met with republican house members and sought to reassure negotiations were moving along and the bully pulpit was working. >> it was an amazing meeting

because they were all no's, would you say, mike? in all fairness, after 15 minutes, they went from no to all yes's. it's a great plan, or i wouldn't be involved in it, i wouldn't be involved. so we have the no's. and we have re-jiggered it and we have done some great things. but the no's in every single case went to a yes. it's dying, it's just about on its last legs. if we did nothing, if we did absolutely nothing, obamacare is dead. it will fail. >> reservations remain. the house freedom caucus said their members still oppose the bill in the current form. and heritage foundation jim demint said the improvements need to be made.

what is being considered is work requirements for some medicaid recipien recipients, block grant option to states who get medicaid program assistance and enhanced tax credits to lower income and older americans. >> i feel like it's exactly where i want to be. the reason i want to feel great about this is because the president has become a great closer with members from all over the caucus. we do need to add additional help, but we are not going to make people buy something so expensive that they can't afford, that the markets is not going to offer. so where i dispute the comparison is it suggests we'll have the same kinds of plans offered in ten years that obamacare would otherwise offer. >> but sir, have u.s. to gjust >> se supporting president trums candidacy are concerned

about what could happen to their constitutsver the plan. the plan in arizona has seen the number skyrocket and the number of insurers dwindle. the new numbers associated with the press, suggests that 380,000 people could lose medicaid coverage and the state would receive $2.5 billion less in medicaid funding. jan brewer told the a.p. that, quote, it weighs heavy on my heart when she thinks of the current republican plan to replace obama's law. it just really affects our most vulnerable, our elderly, our disabled, our childless adults, our chronically mentally ill, our drug addicted. it will simply devastate their lives and the lives that surround them because they are dealing with an issue which is very expensive to take care of as a family with no money. brewer and doug doocey are asking for changes. and joining us is daniel

lippman, good to have you with us this morning. we'll talk about where the pressure points are for republicans, where are the vulnerabilities? >> they have not addressed a lot of the moderate republican senators. once it passes the house, it still has topaz the senate. and a lot of moderate republicans think back to when president trump said he wanted insurance for everybody. and they are worried democrats will use that line in tv ads against him next year and say, this bill did not do anything close to that. it's tearing insan apart for millions of americans. >> a daniel, i have to ask you how much you think those meetings that the congressman and senators had when they went home over break, how much all of those town hall meetings may be affecting this. like they really heard from constituents loud and clear. >> well, i think that is in the back of their minds because they know that those town hall meetings would be nothing compared to what you could see next year when people have

actually lost health insurance and they come back to the meeting to say, what are you going to do for me now? that would be bad p.r. for them, only a few months before the midterms. >> and i also want to talk to you about picking their battles basically, because it seems like all of this is overshadowing the confirmation of beneath gorsuch. and that is the big story today. do you think democrats are picking and choosing where they are going to fight? or is the entire thing going to get really nasty? >> i think a lot of democrats are still smarting over how republicans, their colleagues, treated merrick garland last year and how they didn't give him a real hearing, a real shot to be on the supreme court. and this time around, they will carry that legacy and press neil gorsuch to see how much he's going to be a check on trump. they are going do ask him about the travel ban and really press him to see whether he will be as

independent voice or a rubber stamp in the supreme court if he's confirmed, which is pretty likely if you look at the numbers. >> so daniel, given tt point, is there athinthe democrats can do to avoid in this particular situation the nuclear option that harry reid and others had used at one point? is that something for them they say is not worth it knowing we could possibly be breaking this up? >> i think a lot of democrats are going to try to avoid that option being used, because it's kind of a one-for-one swap. it's not like it's replacing ruth bader ginsberg. so they are hoping to only use that filibuster next time around if president trump replaces a liberal with a very conservative person. they want to say, let's hold our powder for that time around, if it comes to that. >> needless to say, it will be a busy day on capitol hill. daniel lippman, thank you for joini joining us. the trump administration has

installed senior aides in every agency tapped to monitor the cabinet secretaries loyalty. while most members of trump's cabinet do not have leadership teams in place, the white house installed 16 advisers from the epa to nasa. these political appointees are in constant contact with the white house and report directly to the office of cabinet affairs overseen by the white house deputy chief of staff. the main objective is to monitor cabinet leaders and top staff to make sure they carry out the president's agenda and don't stray too far from the white house's talking points. the unusual arrangements is breeding mistrust, chaos and inefficiency. and they also point out due to a lack of leadership teams in place at in agencies, these advisers may be heightened in their powers. are we about to see a return to providence from hillary clinton? former democratic presidential nominee has given a handful of speeches and been seen out and

about since her loss in november, including that shot there. but in a speech friday night in scranton, pennsylvania, she said, quote, i'm ready to come out of the woods and help shine a light on what is already happening around kitchen table, at dinners like this, to help draw strength that will enable everybody to keep going. according to the associated press, it's one of several speeches she'll give including the commencement speech at wesley college. and she's reportedly working on a book of personal essays, some of which reflect on her presidential loss. we'll turn to business now with the headlines for uber not getting any better. the president of the ride-sharing company jeff jones is resigning citing differences in approach to leadership. cnbc's steve sedgwick is joining us live from london. uber's ceo travis calernick seems to be at a pivotal moment with the company. >> reporter: i think you're right. and changing some of the leadership at the top is part of that. but look, we know there's a lot of issues at this companies as

well. some would say he's concerned about the old scandal and what you have thrown in. so jeff jones is going and he's president of the ride-sharing operation. and this all came on the former issue with jeff jones because mr. kalernick said he's looking for a coo to runhe business. and the fallout is jeff jones and his position was slightly in the wrong place looking for someone else advise. >> we'll talk about brazil for a second, their president is dealing with a major corruption scandal. and i know this is a multi-billion industry for them. >> i didn't know this, but the brazilians sell more red meat abroad and we know about the huge agricultural exports. but there's concern about the corruption scandal that the quantity of the meat has been

unhygie unhygiene. interestingly, michelle tama, the president of brazil, says this is not a country-wide program and our products are safe as well. and they are big exporters to all kinds of places including the united states. >> michelle tala trying to quell fear there is. steve sedgwick, thank you for your reporting. and according to "the new york times," citing a search warrant, german officials raided the office of volkswagen's chief as well as audi's chief as they look who is responsible for the manipulation of diesel software to deceive clean air regulators. the volkswagen spokesperson said the company is fully cooperating with investigators. we have like an hour to go before spring? spring is coming our way. bill karins will help us look

for all the signs. >> if there are any out there. plus, body language. everyone is talking about this one. we'll revisit the awkward meeting between president obama and german chancellor angela merkel. there are a lot of signs there. we'll make sense of it. we'll be right back. calcu...

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half of the country as we go throughout the week. kansas city is not getting any heat. denver, 86. a lot of beautiful stuff out there. finally to tomorrow, the southeast goes your way. charlotte, 83. jacksonville, 85. there's good stuff out there. the worst weather is in the northern ohio valley. pretty good thunderstorms for overnight thunderstorms this time of the year coming down. indianapolis, wet weather coming your way in an hour to hour and a half. same thing for columbus, you go back 45 minutes. you we'll talk about the stuff we don't want to talk about. warm to cold. this is the next arctic blast coming down. right now it's located in central canada. so we're okay today. and you will notice we are fine, fargo, 51. green bay, 52. and then by the time we get to wednesday, that's when the chill co comes. starting on tuesday in marquette, then it rushes down into the northeast. this is where we have the snow on the ground that won't allow the ground to get warmer. only 25 for a high on wednesday

in buffalo. burlington, 22. by the end of the week, even the northeast begins to warm up. so again, we get this quick arctic blast wednesday, but then the upcoming weekend and the east coast should be in the 60s and 70s. when you think of march, you think one quick day of it. usually you don't want a snowstorm and five cold days in a row, which we just finished. >> i kind of risked that, didn't i? >> yeah, but i won't tell you where she was. nato calls on the countries to pull their weight because the president could be overplaying his hand. and we'll get a live report from china as the secretary of state tries to smooth over the relationship between them and the u.s. back after this. at youringerti, you have access to in-depth analysis, level 2 data, and a team of experienced traders ready to help you if you need it. ♪ ♪ it's like having the power of a trading floor, wherever you are.

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president trump tweeted out saying that china has not been door meetings. the meetings appeared to be very cordial. they did want to try to convey the message that the u.s. and china can find some common ground. mr. tillerson was asked whether he knew the tweet was going to come. apparently he did not. but he did say that it's not a position that is unfamiliar. that there's long been the belief that china does need to use its gloat in the region in order to try to minimize the north korean threat. >> a little twitter diplomacy. janice mackey, thank you, from

beijing. >> do you want to have a handshake? >> in an attempt to downplay handshakegate, sceean spicer sa, quote, i do not believe he heard the question. and he did have a handshake with chancellor merkel earlier in the day. seeing the chancellor, he wanted to quell the attention at the top of the joint news conference. >> in the period leading up to this visit, i have always said,

it's much, much better to talk to one another and not about one another. and i think our conversation proved this. >> and that news conference had its fair share of awkwardness. listen to the president's reply when asked about the german reporter about his unsubstantiated wiretapping during the campaign. >> as far as wiretapping, i guess, by this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps. >> during a closed-door meeting prior to the news conference, the president reportedly pressed the chancellor hard on nato, specifically about payments president trump also tweeted, despite what you have heard from the fake news, i had a great meeting with german chancellor angela merkel. nevertheless, germany owes back money to nato and the united states. must be paore for the powerful and expensive defense it provides to germany. in a statement germany's defense ministry says, quote, there's no

debt account at nato. and the administration reacted to a number of the president's claims saying it is wrong to link nato leadership with 2% of the nation's gdp on defense by 2024 to nato alone. okay. coming up next on "morning joe," -- >> more on the unforced errors on international relations with the awkward photo of angela merkel we just discussed. and as judge neil gorsuch's push gets underway, john cornyn says he will use every tool he has to prevent the swearing in. "morning joe" is coming up. >> there's a lot going on, yeah. . let's take a trip to la plata, colombia. this is boris calvo. that's pepe. boris doesn't just grow good coffee, boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm to grow even better coffee

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delivers natural, flawless coverage that treats skin to 24 hours of hydration. this is what makeup's been missing. hydro boost hydrating tint. neutrogena® see what's possible. welcome back, everyone. before we toss it over to "morning joe," we'll check on the stories in the day ahead. >> a major day in washington. a report from kelly o'connell who filed this fm the president's trip to mar-a-lago. >> reporter: good morning. he won't be there but his presence will be felt.

i'm talking about russia's vladimir putin who will be talking about on capitol hill as the house and intelligence committee talks about russia'ser into fearing in the 2016 campaign. james comey will be the big witness and be asked a lot about the president's allegations about wiretapping and possible ties to donald trump's inner circle and russian operative. lots of question there is. also on capitol hill today, a different subject but also high stakes for the president. the confirmation hearing begins for neil gorsuch. he's a popular figure among conservatives. democrats have many concerns. and this hearing process will get underway but the vote on his selection to the supreme court will still be a few weeks off. however, gorsuch could become the youngest member of the supreme court. and that gives president trump's selection a long-lasting impact. back to you. >> thank you so much, kelly. that's a wrap for us on this monday. i'm alex witt alongside ayman

h mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. it's back. politics is about conflict and before the intel committee. owe the agenda, russia's flungs influence on the election. >> the false claims by president trump that president obama illegally wiretapped trump tower. >> part of trump's ongoing fight to the death no holds bar battle with the facts and those charges rising to an international incident with the president and sean spicer blaming british intelligence for allegedly spying for president obama. >> our special relationship with the uk strained after the president repeated a claim by a commentator on fox news