ask, ask, ask, and you shall finally receive. seven words. it a start. that does it for us tonight. "first look" is up next. health care countdown with the clock ticking, president trump is issuing a warning to waivering republicans to get behind the gop bill or risk losing seats in 2018. plus another day of intense questioning for supreme court nominee neil gorsuch. so far he's managed to fend off attacks and give a review of the president who nominated him. and north korea attempts another missile launch. the count trry continues threatening actions despite threats from the u.s. good morning, everyone. it is wednesday, march 22nd. i'm alex witt alongside ayman

mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. president trump is on a collision course with his own party over the massive health care overhaul. the bill comes up today and is set for a vote tomorrow, but for the moment, many members of the party say he simply doesn't have the numbers he needs to pass it. last night at a party fund-raiser the president renewed his pitch. >> that legislative effort begins with thursday's crucial vote and it really is a crucial vote for the republican party and for the people of our country. you'll finally repeal and replace the disaster known as obamacare. that's what it is, a disaster. >> and nbc news head count shows 27 republican "no" votes right now. and senator rand paul suggests the number is actually at 35. in the last few days the bill has been sweetened to pull in more conservative senators and

centrist senators. but when that didn't work, the president said, pass it or lose seats. in the meeting that lasted 30 minutes, the president called out the chair of the house freedom caucus. i ask for your support, you can blame me if you want, mark, did you hear that? oh, mark, i'm gonna come after you. i hope mark will be with us in the end. >> when you talked this morning in the closed door meeting about people paying a price, losing seats, getting a majority, is that a threat from the president on this bill? >> it's a political reality. if you go out and promise your voters something on a scale like this, this is something as a party we have made clear, if you give us this, the american people, we will get this done. to go and make a promise and pledge of this magnitude and not follow it through, i'm sure voters would be upset.

>> are you worried, mr. meadows, that you'll lose your seat like the president said? >> i serve for the people in western north carolina. and when you serve in your pleasure, it is only those 750,000 people that can send you home. it's a temporary job and i have known that from day one. >> joining us from capitol hill, jonathan swan, good morning to you. we all remember paul ryan who had his sleeves rolled up and was saying to everybody in the republican caucus, it is now or never. this is our best chance to get this passed. do we see a vote on thursday? and if we don't, how do republicans get themselves to yes? >> they are in a diabolical situation. because the fact is they don't have the votes. doesn't matter who you talk to, talking to mark meadows fairly regularly the last 24 hours, and folks in the leadership and folks on the white house, they don't have the votes. they are probably in the vicinity of 25 hard "nos."

25 or 26. so if they don't have the votes and don't have anything to offer, which they don't, if they offer something substantial to the conservatives they lose the moderates. it's a terrible situation. all they have is the presidential bully pulpit and hope that gets them off the line. >> take a listen to this moment yesterday from congressman paul ryan talking about the work the president has done so far. i'll get your reaction on the back end. >> president trump was here to do what he does best, and that is to close the deal. he is all in and we are all in to end this obamacare nightmare. i think what this comes down to is what is said on those banners last night at his rally in kentucky. promises made, promises kept. the president just came here and knocked the ball out of the park. he knocked the cover off the ball and explained to our members how it is important to unify, how it is important to work together. and i think our members are beginning to appreciate what

kind of a rendezvous that we have here. >> so congressman ryan is not mincing his words. what is the risk for the republicans and paul ryan's relationship with the president if this doesn't make it through? >> well, paul ryan has a situation where he wants to be able to bully, frankly, it's the only word for it, his members, but the dynamic has changed. if this was 15, 20 years ago, you know, if you had tom delay there, a different dynamic where leadership could dictate, that's one thing. but now you've got a house freedom caucus which really feels no obligation whatsoever to paul ryan. in fact, in some ways, sees him as an adversary. so he's really relying on trump. that's what you see there, he's elevating trump and knows that donald trump is very popular in a lot of the house freedom caucus members' districts. so he's trying to ratchet up the pressure in that way because he knows that he, himself, paul

ryan, has no power over the members. >> jonathan swan, great to have you with us. definitely don't miss the conversation on "morning joe." we have senator rand paul and congressman jim jordan who as of now are both firm republican nos on the vote. they are joining them live on "morning joe." amid the concern the house won't have enough votes to repeal and replace obamacare, the dow fell 20 points and the s&p dropped 1%. this is the first time since the election markets reacted negatively over doubts of the president's policies becoming law. press secretary sean spicer was asked about the decline on wall street yesterday and cautioned against looking at a single-day market performance. >> does the president believe that today's dip in the dow is the result of his performance as president of the united states? >> well, i think to look at any one day is nothing that we

have -- we have always cautioned. overall, it continues to be up tremendously. you can't look at one indices and say that is the benchmark of one economy. >> experts say it is important to watch how stocks trade on thursday. well, confirmation hearings begin today for the nominee for the supreme court neil gorsuch. he faced intense questioning yesterday and is gearing up for another round of grilling. justice correspondent pete williams has the very latest. good morning, pete. >> reporter: alex, the second and final day of questions for neil gorsuch. tuesday's session went into the night with the nominee vowing to be independent of the president who chose him to succeed antonin scalia on the supreme court. judge neil gorsuch says he never promised president trump or anyone else involved in selecting him that he would vote a certain way on the hot-button issue of abortion, even though donald trump made overturning the roe v. wade abortion ruling a point in his campaign.

>> i am pro-life and will be appointing pro-life judges. >> reporter: gorsuch met mr. trump when interviewed for that judge. >> in that interview, did he ask you to overview roe v. wade. >> no, sir. >> what would you do if he asked that? >> senator, i would have walked out the door. >> reporter: and he did not say what he would do if the executive action on immigration reaches court. >> the republican congressman recently said the best thing the president can do for his muslim ban is to make sure he has gorsuch on the supreme court. >> senator, a lot of people say a lot of silly things. he has no idea how i would rule. >> reporter: though the questions were pointed, even the democrats found it hard to dislike neil gorsuch personally who remained unruffled and confident. nevertheless, senator al franken asked about a recent statement by the white house chief of staff. >> neil gorsuch represents a conservative, represents the type of judge that has the vision of donald trump. >> what do you think that mr.

priebus was talking about? >> respectfully, mr. priebus doesn't speak for me and i don't speak for him. i am a judge, i am my own man. >> reporter: gorsuch was also asked to comment on president trump's criticism of federal judges. he said he finds it disheartening and demoralizing when anyone attacks the honesty and integrity of judges. including the president, he said, and anyone is anyone. >> thank you so much for that. president trump spoke at a washington fund-raiser for the republican congressional committee raising a $30 million for the gop's efforts in 2018, that's more than $20 million the same dinner raised last year. in his remarks, president trump invoked the legacies of abraham lincoln and dwight eisenhower for launch cross-country infrastructure projects. >> our first republican president, abraham lincoln, ran his first campaign for public office in 1832. when he was only 23 years old.

he began by imagining the benefits that a railroad could bring to his port of illinois without ever having seen a steam powered train. he had no idea. and yet he knew what good it could be. 30 years later as president, lincoln signed the law that built the first transcontinental railroad uniting our country from ocean to ocean. great president. most people don't even know he was a republican, right? does anyone know? a lot of people don't know that. we have to build that up a little bit more. let's taken a ad and use one of those pacts. now is the time for a new republican administration working with our republican congress to pass the next great infrastructure bill. >> well, north korea attempted to launch a missile this morning. however, it failed almost

immediately and exploded just seconds after the launch. this according to the u.s. and south korean officials. it is unclear this time what type of missile was fired that happened at the air base near the sea of japan. this comes one day after the north warned of a possible preemptive strike following the test of the rocket engine. janice mackey farris is joining us from beijing, what else are we learning from this? >> reporter: good morning. this is the latest provocation by north korea and seems to run in line with a series of protests by the regime, given the u.s. joint military drills currently underway in the area with south korea. there was also a propaganda video surfacing yesterday that showed the "uss carl vincent," the american aircraft carrier in the drills engulfed with flames with threatening messages super imposed on it. that seemed to be a response to the warning from the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson

during his asia visit last week that all options are on the table. and that could include a preemptive military strike against north korea. kim jong-un has threatened that he will soon test a missile capable of reaching the united states. so this also suggests there's been improvements, incremental, but incremental advances in the technological capabilities of north korea despite the sanctions. so it is unclear what steps the u.s. could take, to include more sanctions or ramp up pressure on beijing to use the influence with the north. >> this is making for a nearly day-to-day watch. janice mackey frayer from beijing, thank you. and a former player criticizes lebron james' kids. and a severe storm brings damage across parts of the south. we'll get a check on the forecast when we come right back with bill. stay with us.

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welcome back, everyone. today marks the first anniversary of the brussels airport metro bombings that killed 32 people and injured more than 320 others in attacks claimed by the islamic state. a minute of silence was held earlier marking the moment the first explosion was detonated in the belgian capital at the airport. moments ago, the location of the second explosion, instead of silence the transit authority applauded for a minute of noise as a reminder to stand against hate and terror. a memorial to the victims of terror will be unveiled at a ceremony today. the attack is the first violence on belgium's soil since world war i. a friend of dylan roof in charleston, south carolina, will

appear in court after lying to the fbi after admitting that roof told him about his plans for a racially-motivated shooting that happened a week or so before the 2015 killings. authorities say joey meek also said he was not a friend after the shooting. roof was sentenced to death by a jury. in tennessee, alabama and georgia last night there were reports of hail and wind damage. according to the national weather service, one man died after a tree fell on a home about an hour outside of atlanta. more than 100,000 people were without power throughout the evening. as of two hours ago, that number was down to 75,000 people according to georgia power. let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, severe weather to the southeast, and now we have an arctic blast in the northeast. what is ahead? >> you can't win, right? that severe weather was really,

i mean, it went in and came out in a hurry. it started, here's the radar from the last 12 hours. here's the complex that blitzed through north georgia, south carolina, now it's well out into the areas of the ocean. in all, 174 storm reports that proves you don't need tornados to have dangerous, deadly, severe weather. 191 wind damaging reports and 83 large hail reports. it fallowed the swath of the storms to the coast of charleston back to nashville. now we'll talk about the other stuff we don't want to mention, the arctic air that has already arrived. if you step outside in northern portions of michigan, the windchill is heading down through the single digits. 9 right now in saginaw. even chicago, windchill at 19. a lot of the areas yesterday were in the 50s and 60s. so it's a real quick shock to the system. windchill down to 7 in northern new england right now. we haven't quiten gotten the arctic air into new york and d.c. it will be 18 in new york city. 9 in syracuse. 6 in portland. you get the picture, the arctic

blast stays with us. then we get one really cold morning on thursday. it won't be as windy, but temperatures will bottom out. the windchill will be 4 in boston thursday morning. even as far south as atlanta, the windchill will be 39 degrees. so the only cold in the great lakes, northeast and the rest of the country is still very mild with an isolated storm for oklahoma city. we'll talk more about the next big weather story, ayman, that will be a severe weather outbreak on friday. we'll probably have tornadoes with that one. i'll let you know who is at risk coming up later. >> bill, looking forward to that. i like the update on miami as well, it's 83 and sunny there. >> they are just fine. still ahead, the arizona diamondbacks are getting ambitious this season. but believe it or not, it's not on the field necessarily. >> do you know where it is happening? at the concession stand. i just said it. we'll explain the story in its entirety next in sports. ♪ heigh ho heigh ho ♪ ♪ heigh ho heigh ho it's off to work we go

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this is the story of green mountain coffee and fair trade, told in the time it takes to brew your cup. 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 and invest in his community, which makes his neighbor, gustavo, happy. that's blanca. yup, pepe and blanca got together. things happen. all this for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee. packed with goodness. 2009, they lost in the semis to japan right here. and the united states is moving on to the finals! >> there it is. welcome back. the united states is headed to its first ever world baseball classic championship after defeating japan 2-1 in last night's raining semifinal. the deciding one coming in a tie, top of the eighth inning, with runners on second and third. the japanese third baseman misplays a ground ball hit by adam jones leaving him only enough time to throw for the forced out at first base instead of a play at the plate.

the americans will fate puerto rio in tonight's winner-take-all stadium at dodger stadium in los angeles. now turning to the nba with the extra curricular activity between the bulls and the raptors. this turns into a full-on brawl between chicago's robin lopez and ivanka late in the third quarter. both throw a punch before being separated by teammates. they both missed the punches. as for the dust settling for the rest of the game, toronto erased the 16-point deficit ending on a 50-2 run after the ejections including a five-minute scoring drought for the bulls. demarco rosso went on a run. the chicago bulls end on a victory 122-120. and the nets looking for the trigger man.

lopez at the buzzer -- it's good! lopez! >> you can count it. the nets brook lopez beats the buzzer with a jumper from the base line. brooklyn wins it 89-86. after the game, lopez had words about his twin brother robin who got ejected after the fight we showed you earlier on. well, the lopez twins were just both doing what we do tonight. he was doing his dirty job and i was playing real basketball. nothing like a little brotherly love there. all right, the father of three young rising hoop stars including freshman ucla star lonzo ball said his son is better than steph curry and could beat michael jordan one-on-one. this is getting him in trouble by lebron james who said his trouble are set up for greatness as opposed to his own saying

lebron's kids are whack. in an interview lebron james said, keep my kids' name out of your mouth, keep my family out of your mouth. this is dad to dad. it's a problem now. the king not happy with that one. moving on to a different type of beat, where the arizona diamondbacks ushered in a new menu of ballpark options at concessions stands at chase field. this take on chicken and waffles. the funnel came and the sandwich, that looks good. or the 18-inch chicken enchilada topped with enchilada sauce, pico degallo and tortilla strips. if you are feeling fancy, the ranch baguette stuffed with ham and swiss cheese. that could calm your craving, guys. and the update of the favorite from last year, the churro dog 2.0 that still includes a white iced long john donut and frozen yogurt, but this time it's an

oreo churro topped with chocolate sauce, strawberry topping and cookie crumbs. >> i have a stomach ache just looking at the pictures. it's a heart attack on a bun there with the bacon wrapped -- >> you just go for the food. >> something else says they didn't release the calorie count on anything, did they? >> probably not. >> run a lot of bases to work those off. still ahead, supreme court nominee neil gorsuch says no man is above the law. we'll have more from the confirmation hearings. plus, the president accused the campaign of nato of being biased. we'll have more on that coming up. harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. it's been prescribed to more than a quarter million people.

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welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. we are starting you off with north korea attempting to fire off a new missile this morning. but according to u.s. military officials, it appears to have failed within seconds of launch. this follows the north's rocket test this week and a preemptive strike against the u.s. and andrea mitchell will tell us if the threat represents a dangerous escalation, the secretary of state said, no comment. and joe biden heads to capitol hill in hopes of save on obamacare. he joins nancy pelosi, house democrats and people who benefited from obamacare. tomorrow marks seven years since affordab

affordable health care was formed into law. right now it seems that the republicans are still short of votes to pass the repeal of obamacare. hallie jackson has more this morning. >> reporter: this morning the president has 24 hours and counting to sell the republican plan even though right now it looks to be in jeopardy. the art of this deal is more about the math and it doesn't add up for the president. as much as he might want it to. >> we had a great meeting and i think we'll get a winner vote. >> reporter: but even after he and his team stormed capitol hill to sell the bill, the analysis shows 27 house republicans oppose it or lean "no." at least six of them would have to flip. otherwise the bill will fail. a quick death for something republicans spent seven years promising to do. >> thursday is our chance to end obamacare. >> reporter: that's why

president presiden presiden president's working the room. is that implied threat from the president for members who don't back the bill? >> it's a political reality. >> reporter: but mark meadows understands the risk of denying it. >> it's a temporary job and i know it from day one. >> reporter: leaders are scrambling to make new changes to funding for medicaid that could end up covering fewer people. in kentucky, a state donald trump won easily, aaron louis relies on medicaid. >> there are people like me who work full-time, we work hard but still can't afford health insurance and the expanded program covers us. >> reporter: and another change gives help to older americans to offset expensive spikes for some se seniors, but that is not guaranteed. if the bill passes, a critical victory for a president who wants to win. if not, a stinging slam that could cripple the agenda. >> president trump is here to do what he does best, and that is to close the deal. he is all in and we are all in to end this obamacare nightmare.

>> reporter: the president will need to pull out every tool he has to pass what is the first major political test of his administration. the strategy so far has been a mix of sweet talk and tough talk as the president looks to prove he really can be a negotiator in chief, one with a long memory and a lot on the line. ayman? >> our thanks to hallie jackson for that report. coming up on "morning joe," two republicans the president still needs to convince, senator rand paul and congressman jim jordan, live from washington later this morning. and president trump's supreme court nominee neil gorsuch will face another round of grilling by lawmakerson capitol hill this morning. he said he would be independent from the white house when it comes to rulings and more sensibility to his jurists than the other candidates so far. he gave no assurances on how he would side with abortion and would have no trouble holding anyone accountable, and that includes mr. trump.

>> i have offered no promises on how i would rule in any case to anyone. and i don't think it's appropriate for a judge to do so. no matter who is doing the asking. and i don't because everybody wants a fair judge to come to their case with an open mind and decide it on the facts and the law. >> in that interview, did he ever ask you to overrule roe v. wade? >> no sir. >> what would you have done if he asked? >> senator, i would have walked out the door. it's not what judges do. i don't do it at that pennsylvania avenue and they shouldn't do it at this end either, respectfully. we have a convention against torture. and implementing legislation, which banned torture. we have the detainee treatment act which bans cruel and integrating treatment. and we have an eighth amendment. >> well, let me ask you this, does the president have the

right to authorize torture if it violates laws passed by congress? >> senator, no man is above the law. >> president trump might have been sending a message to supreme court nominee last night hours after judge neil gorsuch made an em passioned statement against criticisms like the one the president made, questioning the motives of federal judges. >> when you attack the integrity or honesty or independence of a judge, the motives, as we sometimes hear, senator, i know the men and women of the federal judiciary, i know a lot of them, i know how hard their job is, how much they often give up to do it, the difficult circumstances in which they do it. it's a lonely job, too. i'm not asking for any crocodile

tears or anything like that, i'm just saying, i know these people and know how decent they are. and when anyone criticizes the honesty or integrity, the motives of a federal judge, well, i find that disheartening. i find that demoralizing. because i know the truth. >> anyone, including the president of the united states. >> anyone is anyone. >> well, president trump did not mention gorsuch by name when he appeared at a con grepgsal fund-raiser last night, but he did mention criticism of his language when talking about his struggles in implementing the travel ban from several countries in the middle east and north africa. >> we're also taking decisive action to improve the vetting procedures. the courts are not helping us, i have to be honest with you. it's ridiculous. somebody said i should not criticize judges. okay. i'll criticize judges. >> and white house press

secretary sean spicer weighing in on gorsuch's comments. suggesting gorsuch is talking be about the president is wrong and misleading. he spoke broadly and never mentioned any person. although he responded anyone is anyone when asked specifically about president trump. joining us from capitol hill, we have activist jonathan swan. we heard chuck schumer make the case from the senate floor that the hearing for judge gorsuch should be paused. let's take a listen to that. >> you can bet if the shoe were on the other foot, and a democratic president was under investigation by the fbi, the republicans would be howling at the moon about filling a supreme court seat in such circumstances. after all, they stopped the president who currewasn't under investigation. it is not right to appoint a judge appointment while this big gray cloud hangs over the

presidency. >> so jonathan, is there a sense the democrats are throwing everything they have at the wall to see if anything sticks to try to stop this confirmation? >> chuck schumer is actually in a substantially worse position than might be obvious from his public statements. he's got two options. option one is he lets him through and doesn't filibuster and then the democratic progressive base will attack him with pitch forks. option two is they filibuster, but what chuck schumer does because he's a smart tactician is it is not this -- this fight is important, every supreme court fight is important, it's actually the next fight when you talk to conservatives, it's the next fight that they are really anticipating because that will profoundly change the ideological balance of the court. conservatives even in a post-gorsuch court will still not see it as a reliably conservative court because of anthony kennedy. but it is actually the next fight where democrats will really need to fight.

and if they normalize the nuclear option this time, it makes it much easier for republicans next time. so that's a long way of saying that schumer is actually stuck between a rock and a hard place in this fight. >> yeah. >> jonathan, let me ask you a little bit about what we learned about judge gorsuch yesterday. democrats asking him, pressing him about specifics. and like him or not, he was definitely prepared and pushed back in some cases and tried to stay neutral on key questions and opinions. is this standard fare on a supreme court hearing? >> yes. i mean, if anything, he's probably holding back even more. but, you know, neil gorsuch was preparing in the executive office, in the eisenhower building, third floor, murder boards, and really the strategy was, just don't reveal anything. don't discuss what you might or might not do with potential cases. and, you know, he reviewed the case history. he really did his preparation. and so he knows what he's not going to say, which is just

about everything. you're not going to hear any detail from neil gorsuch. and no matter how uh many different angles they try to hit him from, he's not going to reveal it. >> jonathan swan, great to have you with us this morning. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. an emotional day in the court yesterday in the officer charge in the death of killing a 6-year-old boy with autism. his father is accused of leading the officers with a chase with his son inside the car before they opened fire. jacob rascon has all the details. >> reporter: police body camera footage captured the shooting and the moment officers realized there was a boy in the car. 6-year-old jeremy martis who is autistic die in the front seat shot four times. his father chris few was critically wounded speaking publicly about the night for the first time. he told the jury, officers gave no warning before they opened fire. i had my hands in the air, few testified. i put my hands out the window. they kept shooting.

several witnesses also told the jury mr. few had his hands up which body camera footage appears to confirm. but officer derek stafford's attorney said he and his partner acted in defense after a two-mile pursuit. >> he negligently and intentionally reversed his vehicle in an attempt to hit the officers. >> reporter: few admitted to drinking that night but told the jury he would never hit an officer. and only wanted to get his son to a caretaker so the boy wouldn't be involve in a possible arrest. the prosecution argues nothing few did that night justified the deadly response. >> derek stafford is on trial. and it is just a shame they want to put the victim on trial. >> reporter: stafford and officer norris greenhouse who fired shots at the scene and tried separately pleaded not guilty. jacob rascon, nbc news. >> and that trial is absolutely heartbreaking. that trial continues later this morning. still ahead, rex tillerson

may be the first secretary of state over a decade to skip a nato meeting with counterparts. but late last night the white house made news about the president's own travel plans. we'll have that for you. plus, "wheel of fortune," epic fail. it was just one letter left. this should be a slam dunk, right? >> a streetcar naked desire? >> i can't believe you said that. excuse me, are you aware of what's happening right now? we're facing 20 billion security events every day. ddos campaigns, ransomware, malware attacks...

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kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin trusted advice for life. kevin, how's your mom? life well planned. see what a raymond james financial advisor can do for you. welcome back. earlier we told you about president trump's supreme court nominee neil gorsuch getting grilled by senate judiciary committee members. now as the hearing got started and they get into the later part of the day, the senators started getting a little punchy and maybe in some cases too honest. >> i have asked senator tillis to take over at 8:00 so i can be

in bed at 9:00 because i get up at 4:00 in the morning and i want to be able to get a good night's sleep so i can run in the morning. >> i don't know if you are a joint commander, but you may want to have a cocktail tonight and just kind of relax. i'm done. just don't drink vodka. stay away from vodka for a while. >> senator, i'm going to hit the hay. thank you very much. >> you have never been to russia, have you? i meant to ask that. >> my family's been texting me throughout this process, asking me to ask questions that they would ask. i ask a few of them for suggestions, and my son, a teenager, asked if he would rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck? i have never heard of either. >> my wife also sent me a text a

bit ago and said, i'm sure she didn't expect me to read it, but how in the world is gorsuch able to go so many hours at a time without tpeeing? i won't make you answer, but the scotus bladder is something we all stand in awe of. >> i'm sure he has a great bladder. >> quickly get to the next story. he's another one for you, an epic fail on "wheel of fortune" last night according to literature buffs. you may want to look away from this one. >> he's going for it. 600. >> k. >> no. lisa. >> yeah, even the audience was shocked, needless to say. the name of the pulitzer play by ten see williams is not a streetcar naked desire. >> everyone went, "oh!"

>> i love the fact that it was like, lisa, pick the next letter, obviously. >> that was epic. let's get to the weather, which is kind of epic in the cold. here it is in the middle of march. seriously, bill karins? >> almost every location on the east coast had a warmer february at this point than we have had march. so it's not just -- i remember february was very warm. we have been below normal for this march. we did have the severe weather yesterday and will clean up from that during the day. today should be okay with all the severe storms over with, but quite a show in tennessee and north georgia. we mentioned the cold, the windchills continue to drop. now we are down to 36 in new york as the cold air is just making it to the i-95 corridor. maybe you sneak to work early in boston, but you will come home and notice the winds howling. it will be much colder. we'll talk about what will happen later this week and into the upcoming weekend. for today, the warmth is still in the middle of the country. and it's still very impressive. denver, 76 degrees. dallas at 82. and it's going to build in the next couple of days. we're going to set up a severe

weather outbreak. this is on thursday. temperatures in the 80s here. then we're going to watch the cold air move into the rockies. so by the time we get to friday, the warmth really spreads here to st. louis, little rock, shreveport, and at the same time cold fronts are going to arrive in a new storm. we have a large area at risk for storms on friday. this is just a heads-up. severe weather could be a tornado outbreak coming into the middle of the country for arkansas, texas and louisiana. >> thank you for the heads-up, bill. still ahead, we'll check on wall street after the worst day of the year. plus, uber plays out a plan for its image. but what does that mean for the ceo of the business? the story is driving the headlines, next.

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the white house says the president will attend the nato summit in brussels. this comes amid the claim that is other states owe more money to nato and the united states for defense. in a statement the white house says he looks forward to the meeting and to discussing, quote, issues critical to the alliance, especially allied responsibility sharing and nato's role in the fight against terr terrori terrorism. and the state department spokesman mark toner is trying to put out the flames after it was announced that rex tillerson won't be attending a meeting of nato foreign ministers in april and instead will head to russia. toner said yesterday the united states' commitment to nato

remains 100% and that yesterday the u.s. proposed moving the meeting. and new dates are being considered. unanimous consensus is needed by all 28-member nations. and the markets were sent tumbling yesterday as bank stocks took a hit amid concerns over the vote of the new gop health care bill. villum marks is joining us now from london. the dow and the s&p were hit hard yesterday. and it seems like it is coming from the president's outlook to make good on his policies and promises. >> reporter: yes, we saw the dow jones industrial average down 1.1%. the s&p 500 falling 1.2%. we have seen the incredible rally since trump's election in november. financial stocks like jpmorgan chase and goldman sachs falling pretty heavily with the obamacare repeal stalling in congress a little bit. a lot of the expectation that

pro-business policies would have just pouring out of this white house may be coming to a close. the slump could affect the realization that this takes longer than anticipated. in terms of company developments, uber, the ceo, coming under fire after arguing over pay scales. and he's hired eric holder to investigate sexual harassment. and the board says thigh node a chief operating officer to help him, in his words, grow up. >> villum marks, thank you so much. and restoration work has finished on what christians believe is the burial site of jesus. it is one of the most beloved

shrines. the work focused mainly on the small structure above the burial place, which is known as the eticule. >> the esthetics has been dramatically improvement. this is a place of dignity to what it deserves. >> last year the restoration team peeled away a marble layer reaching what is believed to be the original rock surface where jesus' body was laid. the church in jerusalem's old city will reopen to the public today no doubt to huge crowds. >> i have been there a few times. it's just breathtaking. >> i'm dying to go there. coming up next, the battle over the republican health care bill, front and center, two leading people of the

opposition, senator rand paul and jim jordan. and homeland security secretary je h johnson on the u.s. banning electronic devices on planes. we'll have more coming up in just moments on "morning joe." "got a minute? not for me, for you." new aveeno®... ...positively radiant® 60 second in shower facial. works with steam to reveal... ...glowing skin in just one minute. aveeno® "naturally beautiful results®"

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before we toss it over to "morning joe," we'll check on the stories you'll be hearing about in the day ahead. as president trump is set to meet with top members of the congressional black caucus in a few hours. the two sides will reportedly talk about criminal justice reform, the president's proposed budget, education and health care. meanwhile, the president's new pick to lead the labor department is set to face lawmakers today. former federal civil rights lawyer alexander constant will testify before the house committee. and joe biden will follow democrats on capitol hill for the rally to save obamacare. his visit comes one day before the seventh anniversary of the health care law and one day before house republicans look to vote on their plan to overturn it. a lot riding on all that. that does it for us on this wednesday. i'm alex witt alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts now. president trump was here to do what he does best, and that is to close the deal.

he is all in and we are all in to end this obamacare nightmare. i think what this comes down to is what it said on the banners last night at his rally in pro. the president just came here and knocked the ball out of the park and knocked the cover off the ballpark and explained to our members how it's important to unify and work together and i think our members are beginning to appreciate what kind of ren d rendezvous destiny we have right here. >> quite an interesting take on capitol hill. the president may have knocked the cover off the ball, but he hit it in the stands behind him. a foul ball. still having a lot of trouble getting republicans on board right here. looks like it's going to fall down. the most surprising thing from yesterday, before we open up, the "the wall street journal" editorial page has been, i won't