which they're serving are designed to do. spencer akerman national security editor. this is a mess. thank you for helping us to try to untangle it. >> now it's time for the last as the u.s. and russia stair each other down over who knew what when over chemical weapons being used in syria, he's forced to apologize after comparing hitler and bashar al assad. >> the doctor dragged off a plane remains in a hospital. >> and a congressional race is closer than many expected. is it a sign of troubles to come for republicans in congress or just a flash in the pan? ♪

good morning, everybody. it is wednesday april 12th. well, this morning the white house is accusing russia of trying to cover up the syrian governments role in last week's deadly chemical weapons a tack. the trump administration has unveiled declassified u.s. intelligence that pushes back on russia's claim that the chemicals were released from a terrorist ammunition dump hit in an air strike. according to the assessment the chemical agent was delivered by a regime aircraft that took off from the airfield. the document also accuses the syrian regime and russia of pushing false narratives in order to confuse the world community about who is responsible for the attack. in an interview president trump tried to ease concerns that u.s. involvement in syria would escalate. >> we're not going into syria but when i see people using horrible, horrible chemical weapons, which they agreed not

to use under the obama administration but they violated it. >> they said they got rid of them. >> what i did should have been done by the obama administration a long time before i did it and we would have had a much better -- i think syria would be a lot better off right now than it has been. >> president trump's son eric helped persuade him to strike syria last week. eric trump told the telegraph that his father's decision was influenced by ivanka's reaction. she was heart broken and outraged by the attack. meanwhile fla vladimir putin says russia has information that the u.s. is planning to launch new missile strikes in syria. he says the u.s. is planning to plant some substance and accuse syrian authorities of using chemical weapons. he did not offer any proof. >> after hours of explaining white house press secretary sean spicer issued a full apology for

suggesting that adolph hitler did not use chemical weapons in world war ii. he killed millions with poison gas. he made this statement responding to a question about why russia should abandon it's support for the assad regime. >> we didn't use chemical weapons in world war ii. now you had a -- someone as despicable as hitler that didn't even sink to using chemical weapons. so you have to if you're russia ask yourself is this a country that you and regime want to align yourself with. >> hitler didn't even sink to the level of using chemical weapons. >> i think he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that assad is doing. there was clearly -- i understand your point. thank you. i appreciate that.

he brought them into the holocaust center and i understand that but where assad went and dropped them down into the middle of towns. so the use of it. i appreciate the clarification. that was not the intent. >> as the comments spark out rage he issued a series of clarifications first saying in no one was i trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the holocaust however i was trying to draw contrast of the tactic of using airplanes to drop chemical weapons on innocent people. then he said population centers and then he added any attack on innocent people is reprehenceable and inexcusable and then he issued a full throated apology calling his words incentive especially during pass over. >> it was a mistake to try to make any kind of comparison. assad did bad things and to make any comparison is a mistake.

>> i'm well aaware of what he did. but it was a distinction that didn't need to be made. to make any comparison is really a mistake. i'm absolutely sorry especially during a week like this to make a comparison that is inappropriate and inexcusable. >> a spokesman for republican donor says spicer phone to apologize and say he made a terrible mistake. meanwhile spicer was met with condemnation from democrats. he said i find nothing funny about the press secretary bungling holocaust history because i'm not sure they should get the benefit of the doubt. she was one of the several democrats that called for trump to fire spicer to which the press secretary responds. >> nancy pelosi says you should be fired.

is your job safe? >> i made a ste and i'm owning up to it and i hope that everyone understands that we all make mistakes and ask for forgiveness. >> just in, u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is currently meeting in moscow with the top diplomat on a mission to pressure the republicans to drop their support of the assad government and moments ago he told tillerson that the u.s. strikes in syria were illegal and tillerson said he hoped to find areas of agreement. russian president vladimir putin claimed assad was framed for last week's chemical attacks. he says it reminds me when in 2003 when they were demonstrating what they said were chemical weapons found in iraq adding we had seen it all already. russia will ask for a united nations investigation into the attack. the security council will vote

on the resolution demanding the syrians cooperate. >> it comes in the wake of the viral video showing a united airlines passenger being dragged off his flight. new video has he emerged taken moments before sunday's incident that seems to contradict the claim that the passenger was disruptive and belligerent. >> i am not going. i am not going. >> the passenger has now been identified. both doctors say dr. dow and his wife first accepted united's offer of $800 each but returned when they realized they wouldn't get home in time for work. meanwhile as the controversy hits the company's bottom line knocking off $255 million in value during trading hours yesterday the ceo now seems to be changing his tune after first blaming dow for the incident. he wrote a letter to employees

yesterday. i deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers a board no one should ever be mistreated this way. i wa you to know we take full responsibility and we will work to make it right. he also improved a thorough review and that refers to the policy of oversold flights. dow is asking for privacy until released from the hospital. they have sent letters demanding answers from the chicago department of aviation. that's o'hare international airport and the ceo of united. >> let's get now to the election in kansas watched by many across the country. republican ron estes has been elected to congress in a special election. he beats james thompson who got very little national party support by just 7 points.

that margin is being looked at carefully because it's a far cry from the number turned in by pompeo that won by 32 points in november. the president won there by 27 points and mitt romney by 26 points. is it things to come or merely a localized anomaly? much is set to deal with the unpopularity of the governor who according to morning consult is no longer the least popular in the country. now nearly the second least popular but it's also being scanned as the potential tip of the coming wave of his content. now democrats are look hungrily at the georgia six district where there's also a special election one week from now. >> in a new interview the president is once again saying health care reform needs to come before tax reform but gave no

deadline. >> we're going to have a tax reform but we're going to do health care first to do it right. >> but you have to do health care before tax reform. a lot of people would say tax reform is so much more impactful. >> you're right but because i'm sang a tremendous amount, ndreds of millions of dollars we'r saying on health care so we're going to have a much better plan than obamacare which is failing and most importantly we'll have great health care and all of that saving goes into the t text. if you can't do that you can't put the savings into the tax cuts and tax reform. >> house freedom caucus chairman is working with paul ryan on a new overhaul plan based on conversations he's had with the head of the more moderate tuesday group and he tells the paper he is trying to make sure that pre-existing condition coverage is taken care of. if there's consensus they should cut it short and get back to

washington for a vote. we're joined by the national political reporter. jonathan good morning to you on a very busy wednesday. i want to ask you, how is health care and tax reform looking like it will actually play out as of now for the republican? >> well, health care is still very big lift. my colleagues yesterday spoke to charlie dent, the head of the moderate tuesday group in the republican house and he told them that he thinks the way to get health care done is to work with democrats so you're seeing a movement away from the conservative faction in the republican house to work with democrats. that would obviously be a radically different bill than on other track you have the white house working with meadows and the ultraconservative house freedom caucus. tax reform was never going to happen in august. steve as treasury secretary was

saying all of this. nobody thought that was ever realistic. i spoke to a source yesterday that spent some time with the president yesterday and they said that the earliest they could conceive of it happening is november and they are concerned about it being not as big and bold aax reform as they originally conceived but perhaps something slimmed down with some tax cuts and not major restructuring. >> can we talk to you about the trump budget which is just out this morning? you got that federal hiring freeze. that's being lifted. how does that sync up with the big cuts to the agencies that are reportedly on the way. >> this is another problem. like there's no clear path for them to get this budge through. they're going to have huge, huge troubles getting this through congress. so again, it's just still very hard to see progress on any sort of element of the trump agenda

at the moment. when you talk to people inside the white house the only thing that they're really bullish on is the executive orders and some of the trade stuff they say is coming around the corner with china and mexico. this budget is still, there's no clear path for it. a german soccer team's bus hit by explosions ahead of a champions league match. >> president trump appears to back away from steve bannon in a new interview. those stories and a check on weather when we come back.

the road can change in an instant. but with lightning fast shifts and dynamic track-tuned suspension, what the road demands, the gs delivers. experience high performance through high technology, in the lexus gs 350 and gs turbo. experience amazing. testinhuh?sting! is this thing on? come on! your turn! where do pencils go on vacation? pennsylvania! frosted sweet!wheat kellogg's frosted mini-wheats. feed your inner kid the ultra-fine mist startstoms working instantly to deliver up to 12 hours of ahhhhh get fast relief

with vicks sinex. i'm proud to make dog chow in (vodavenport, iowa.an. dog chow's been a part of my family's life for over 40 years. my grandfather made it and now i'm making it. as a micro-biologist i ensure that dog chow leads with high quality ingredients.

he was hurt following these

blasts, three blasts outside the team's hotel ahead of a champion's league match in monaco. photos show damage with broken windows and he underwent surgery to repair a broken wrist and debris from his arm. while the motive is still unclear the incident was a target add tack on the team. authorities did find a note near the crime scene described as a claim of responsibility and are working to determine it's authenticity. yesterday's match was postponed and rescheduled for this evening. >> just a bizarre story there. let's get a check on the weather. it felt like summer yesterday. it's all the same. >> we have record highs and numbers in the mid to upper 80s. incredible for april. more widespread warmth in the forecast. we're look at warm conditions across a big portion of the

country. let's show you what we have expecting. high temperatures are likely to climb all the way into the 80s once again and thursday looks very, very warm. climbing to the 90s. we are watching out for heavy rain and gusty winds and right here as we start looking north we couldn't see flash flooding and that's something to keep close watch on as we go throughout the afternoon. 1 million people in risk for severe storms. and keep an eye on that going forward and looking well to the west we are also anticipating some storms there but first i want to talk about florida because we're still dealing with the wildfires. a state of emergency declared to the governor. it's a very dry situation in florida. most of the state dealing with drought conditions and unfortunately the weather doesn't look like it's going to

bring much of an improvement. another thing to mention, we have the risk for rip currents going forward. to the west stormy weather. watch out for rain and mountain know at the elevations above 6,000 feet but unsettled weather from seattle all the way to san francisco. thank you for that. he has died at the age of 71. police in massachusetts say officers responding to a wellbeing check tuesday evening found the guitarist at home unresponsive. they released 11 studio albums and top singles including love stinks and freeze frame and the number one hit center field. he shared a short message on facebook saying thinking of all the times we rickkicked it high rocked down the house.

>> a lot of highlights from major league baseball plus tony romo hits the court for the first and last day of his nba career. sports is next. we can't stay here!

why? terrible toilet paper! i'll never get clean!

way ahead of you. charmin ultra strong. it cleans better. it's four times stronger... ...and you can use less. enjoy the go with charmin.

we're doing this. we're doing sports and he just walked in so he can give us a thumbs up so we know what to do. tony romo in an honorary starting line-up with the dallas mavs. getting to suit up one more time warmed up ahead of the team's home finale against the nuggets and watching from the dallas bench for most of the night. romo nearly found his way on to the court. getting up to check into the game before team owner mark cuban said no pulling him back there. here's cuban on hosting the former dallas quarterback. >> why would you of all people stop him from going in this game. >> because i told him if he was going to go in he had to stretch first and he wouldn't stretch. i don't want to risk him. he's going to be an announcer and get hurt and ruin the rest of his career. the reality was of all the

things tony didn't get a chance to finish out his career the way everybody that loved him as a dallas cowboys would have liked. he didn't get a chance to leave the field the way he would have liked and because we're friends this is really a chance to show tribute. >> tribute indeed. turning now to major league baseball, indians and the white sox tied in the bottom of the 10th inning. cleveland with a runner on first base. >> up the left field, fair ball. down the line it goes. coming around, they're going to wave him home can can and the winners will win the home opener in walk off fashion. >> turning on the jets scoring from first on a double hit down eeft field line. the indians walk off with a 2-1 win. mets, the slugger with a heavy bat yesterday going yard three times in a 14-4 win against the phillies. absolutely crushed them. it's the second time he has hit

three home runs in a single game. impressive. >> from there to anaheim california. angels outfielder makes a laeping grab in the wall at center field. to keep the game tied in the top of the tenth inning. l.a. would then use it's short game to rap things up in the bottom of the frame. >> drops it down the first baseline. will let it go. drive home safely. >> wow, he squeezes it right down the first baseline to walk the angels off with a 6-5 win and finally in miami a furry friend made it's way on to the field before the start of the 6th inning between the braves and the marlins. it was exploring the outfield and then climbed it's way up the wall getting safely out of play hiding out in the home run structure. they went on to beat the braves

8-4. >> still ahead it gets used against him at a town hall meeting. >> plus the fbi allegedly obtained a warrant. he's part of the on going investigation into russia. we have these doe tails coming up next. e® zero alcohol™. it delivers a whole mouth clean with a less intense taste. so it has the bad breath germ-killing power of this... [rock music] with the lighter feel... of this. [classical music] for a whole mouth clean with a less intense taste... ahhh. try listerine® zero alcohol™. also try listerine® pocketpaks for fresh breath on the go.

hey julie, i know today's critic...need a sick day. dads don't take sick days. dads take dayquil severe: the... ...non-drowsy, coughing, aching, fever, sore throat, stuffy... ...head, no sick days medicine. explore your treatment options with specialists who treat only cancer. every stage... every day.... at cancer treatment centers of america. learn more at cancercenter.com/experts tidy cats lightweight with glade clean blossoms. our newest odor fighting scent! gives you the power of choice plus... the power of pleasant. exclusively in lightweight! every home, every cat,

there's a tidy cats for that. introducing new depend silhouette briefs. featuring a comfortable sleek fit. as a dancer, i've learned you can't have any doubts. because looking good on stage is one thing. but real confidence comes from feeling good out there. get a free sample at depend.com.

welcome back. let's start with the morning's top stories. >> sean spicer is absolutely

sorry for comparing hitler to syria's bashar al assad. in an attempt to shame russia's alliance with the assad regime he quoted that hitler didn't even sink to using chemical weapons. the comments were swiftly condemned with the anne frank center calling on spicer to be fired. >> and president trump says he's not going to take up tax reform until a health care overhaul is done. the white house moved on in the wake of the collapse of the plan. house conservatives are now presenting the plan to the speaker as well. >> let's head overseas where we're monitoring u.s. secretary of state's trip to russia. and joining us live now from moscow russia, nbc news chief's global correspondent. so given the tensions and escalating rhetoric over the past several days last week's air strikes how did this meeting begin today? >> good morning. well, rst of all it began

late, about 27 minutes late it's been going on for about an hour and it began, i thought rather unusually with a very long, almost dressing down of the u.s. delegation by the russian foreign minister that said he would be frank and he was. he said we heard a lot of ambiguous and contradictory ideas from washington and we have seen troubling actions in syria. it's fundamentally important, he says, that these actions meaning the air strikes don't happen again in the future and he said it's important for us to understand the real interest of the united states. so a bit of a dressing down even when our tact car length approaches might be different and that was the word that i picked out of all of that

because i don't think rex tillerson is going in there with an ultimatum or demand that russia give up it's support for president assad. i think he has to pick on the difference between tactics and strategy. he'll say look okay tactically in syria you're with assad, you're with iran, you're with hezboll hezbollah, that's fine. but strategically in the world, in terms of your global reputation, even your reputation within the suni muslim arab world is that where you want to be alied to someone that is using chemical weapons? but of course the russians don't accept that syria used chemical weapons. indeed vladimir putin saying in a television interview to be broadcast tonight where is the evidence that syria's forces use chemical weapons? there is none. so i think in some respects the two sides of that meeting may be talking at cross purposes about the syrian use of or alleged use

of chemical weapons. >> he is scheduled to meet today. they'll talk about strengthening ties and hold a joint news conference. he called nato obsolete and says the alliance has to reorient itself on fighting terrorism. and would expand it's reach into eastern europe. they travel for a gathering of nato leaders late in may. a trip that will coincide to former president obama's trip to germany where he will appear at a panel in berlin. it's expected to be the first major appearance of his post presidency. >> president trump is giving a less than ringing proposal of

steve bannon. trump told the new york post last night, quote, i like steve but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late. i had already beaten all the senators and all the governors and i didn't know steve. i'm my own strategist and i wasn't like i was going to change str strategies because i was facing crooked hillary. then candidate trump said quote i have known steve for many years. let's bring back the national political reporter to talk about this. lots of intrigue at the palace. so bring us up to speed on all of your reporting about this power structure and the trouble inside the president's inner circle ft. >> i've heard this myself that president trump is unhappy with a lot of these stories.

it's something that when people work with donald trump there's something that they all know which is the worst thing that you can be called is the brain hind dond trump because that completely enrages him. donald trump has flamed him for stories that he believes that bannon camp planted against jared and ivanka. i was talking late last night to a number of bannon's allies. they are very concerned. they see this as obviously ominous and they begin blame the jared and ivanka camp for moving against steve last week which they very much did. >> let me ask you very quickly about some of those allied with bannon. how do you see his allies, his allies and his future. do they want him to leave the trump white house?

have they given up on trump being a candidate or representative right now? >> there's a large part of donald trump's face that voted for him on this america first nationalist message and if steve ban nonleaves the white house there's no one -- i should say there is kelly an nerks conway but you do not have figures at that senior level arguing that america first nationalist case. what you have got is that pretty traditionally conservative vice president in mike pence and then frankly a liberal democrat so you'll lose that and see a huge reaction from the base. they're already really upset as you pointed out about syria and i think this would be received really poorly by the base. >> all right. great to have you with us. >> the washington post reports

the fbi obtained a court order to monitor the communications of carter page. a former campaign adviser for candidate trump. it was part of an investigation into possible ties between the trump campaignnd russia. law enforcement and u. s. officials told the newspaper that the fbi and justice department got the warrant after convincing a judge that there was probable cause to believe page was acting as an agent of a foreign power. page is firing back at the washington post report in a statement to nbc news. he said in part i was so happy to hear that further confirmation is now being revealed. it shows how long the clinton palm balm regime went to destroy our democracy. >> the justice department is rolling out a tough new plan to crack down on illegal immigration and the backdrop was the u.s. border with mexico. jeff sessions said undocumented immigrants will face felony charges if they enter the u.s.

multiple times or get married to obtain documentation. the new documents present a warning to those that harbor undocumented immigrants and face prosecution. >> for those that continue to seek improper and illegal entry into this country, this is a new era. this is the trump era. the lawlessness and duty to enforce our laws and catch and release policies of the past are over. >> the attorney general's prepared remarks included a phrase calling them but did not use that term on his speech. >> he surging president trump to help find a peaceful crisis

between the u.s. and north korea. it has many asking whether this means beijing is stepping up to play a more active role in solving the deepening crisis. so janice, what's the read out on this? >> well, good morning. president trump made a phone call to china's president xi hours after posting that message to twitter saying if china wanted to help with the north korea problem that would be great. the two discussed the recent escalation. there's no details on what was said between the two men but this does suggest a more proactive role in trying to deescalate the situation on the korean peninsula. also key there was a state run newspaper in china that often reflects the thinking of the leadership that warned north korea that china would cutoff oil shipments if the regime tested a nuclear weapon. now the global times also said that china is tired of having

the north korean nuclear issue at its doorstep and warned the regime to, quote, avoid mistakes. now it's important to stress that north korea depends almost completely on china for oil so this is scene as significant. there were north korean cargo ships that were turn addway from sports as a sign that china is enforcing this ban. so the pressure appears to be building from all sides and all eyes are on pyongyang. >> thank you for that. the ceo of united airline that's accused for being tone deaf in his response to a passenger being dragged off a flight. but now that the company's bottom line is taking a hit his hearing is just fine. remember this. >> would not apply to those that are here illegally. >> you lie. >> that's not true. >> oh yeah, we remember that. that was congressman joe wilson

heckling president obama during his 2009 address to congress. let's just say revenge is a dish best served by constituents. we'll explain that next. you're going to be hanging out in here. so if you need anything, text me. do you play? ♪ ♪ use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap, to friends at more banks then ever before.

you got next? chase. helping you master what's now and what's next. but so we don't have tormin wad to get clean. charmin ultra soft gets you clean without the wasteful wadding. it has comfort cushions you can see that are softer... ...and more absorbent, and you can use up to 4 times less. enjoy the go with charmin. "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours. step two: choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business. if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla

saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months. and otezla's prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and mastop treatment. side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infectn, and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ask your dermatologist about otezla today. otezla. show more of you. dry mouth can affect how your mouth feels and how you feel. discover act dry mouth, specially formulated to soothe and moisturize your mouth. and try new act dry mouth spray for relief when you need it.

the airline abruptly changed course and apologized for the passenger violently pulled from his seat. this to make room for airline employees. >> new video taken moments before sunday's altercation on a united airlines flight. >> no, i am not going. >> i am not going. >> we now know the passenger is 69-year-old dr. david dow of kentucky. he and his wife first accepted unite's offer of $800 each to voluntarily give up their seats

for crew members but returned when they realized they wouldn't get home in time for work. >> i fly to l.a. take a long time. >> airport security and not police officers dragged him out of his seat. >> my god. what are you doing? the video of dr. dow apeerg unconscious and bloody quickly went viral. in china a critical market for united airlines social media was exploded on concern that he was singled out for being asian after first blaming dr. dow for the incident, oscar munos changed his tone in a statement saying i deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all other customers a board. he is now promising a full investigation with results by april 30th saying i have committed to our customers and our employees that we're going to fix what is broken so this never happens again. the flight attendant's union applauded. >> this was inexcusable from start to finish. it was not right.

it's being looked at. procedures are going to be changed. training is going to be better. >> it turns out that dr. dow has a checkered history in kentucky. in 2004 he was convicted of trafficking and prescription drugs and placed on probation and has his medical license suspended. but it's united's handling that has lead to an all out public relations disaster. >> well, dow's attorney released a statement asking for privacy. meanwhile top senators on the congress committee and aviation subcommittee sent letters demanding answers from the chicago department of aviation and o'hare international airport as well as united ceo. >> a police officer is under criminal investigation after his take down of a pedestrian monday was caught on video. they say the officer tried to stop him from jaywalking but claimed the man ignored several commands and tried to walk away. well, events leading up to the

incident were not captured by the witness's camera but he is seen then taking off his jacket and according to police then challenged the officer to a fight. that's when the officer takes him down and starts punching him in the face. you can see the video there as the woman was driving by. he was booked on the charge of resisting an arrest but the charge was later dropped. the police department called t officer' actions as unacceptable conduct and are reviewing video recording from the officer's own vehicle. he is currently on paid administrative leave while the reviews play out. >> volatile town halls continue as members of congress return home. congressman joe wilson drew this familiar response in south carolina. >> boos and chants fill the gym where joe wilson held his town hall meeting. several top ix on the table but his stand on health care drew

the most cheers. his family is covered. >> the government tried to take it away and a lot of people don't know what they have until it's going to be taken away. >> using his own words against him. words he used against president obama it may be a tough cell here at home. >> wilson did later apologize to president obama after that outburst in 2009. >> let's get a check on your weather now. some parts of the country looking good and others still being effected by that storm. >> that's right. one thing we can tell you that yesterday was an unusually warm day with a record high stretching across much of the east coast. look at albany. your record high was 87, almost 90 degrees in april. incredible. with the good comes the not so good because we look at the snowpack that remains well up into mount washington into northern new england. there's concern that it could

unfortunately cause the threat for river flooding and that's what we see right now. we do have flood warnings into northern new england where we're watching for that potential for the rapid snow melt to occur. that's something to keep in mind as we go through a good portion of the afternoon. looking at your forecast going forward we are expecting temperatures to improve and they should be warming up going forward. we'll watch out for the flood threat to continue. the severe weather will brg at least a million people at risk for damagingind and hail possible. a few isolate tornadoes as well. this is into tex and in new mexico where we're watching for severe weather. >> keep an eye on it. >> thank you for that. still ahead a look at stories driving the day in business and how many jobs have been created since president trump took office. do you know the answer to that? >> no, i guess we'll double check all the math. >> absolutely. the road can change in an instant.

but with lightning fast shifts and dynamic track-tuned suspension, what the road demands, the gs delivers. experience high performance through high technology, in the lexus gs 350 and gs turbo. experience amazing. i'm proud to make dog chow in (vodavenport, iowa.an. dog chow's been a part of my family's life for over 40 years. my grandfather made it and now i'm making it. as a micro-biologist i ensure that dog chow leads with high quality ingredients. dry mouth can affect how your mouth feels and how you feel. discover act dry mouth, specially formulated to soothe and moisturize your mouth. and try new act dry mouth spray for relief when you need it.

how fast is fast?? and try new act dry mouth spray in a world of fast internet speeds... there's the best. anthen there's everyone else. bombs away. holy. [ laughs ] get the fastest internet and the best in-home wi-fi from xfinity. and stream on speeds so fast you can catch up on the fast saga before the fate of the furious hits theaters april 14. xfinity. the future of awesome.

welcome back everyone. president trump once again had fact checkers in overdrive yesterday. during a meeting with ceos, the president was discussing the need for high-paying american jobs when he estimated how many jobs his administration has already created. take a listen. >> there's been a lot of progress. we've created over 600,000 jobs already in a very short period of time and it's going to really start catching on now because some of the things that we've done are big league and are

catching on. already we've created more than 600,000 jobs. >> you heard him twice say 600,000 jobs. that's how much he touts he's created. according to the u.s. department of labor, 300,000 in february and march. the president only served two months in january. even if he claimed full edit, his administration's total would fall under his 600,000 claim. toshiba acknowledged for the first time everyone certainty over its future, admitting multibillion dollar losses, much due to its subsidiary that filed for bankruptcy last month. nancy, this is a big moment for a company with a reputation like toshiba in the tech world. >> that's right, alex. the news coming from toshiba

with their earnings that were two months overdue. even so they still didn't get the final approval from their auditors. another stark message coming from toshiba that perhaps their future is in doubt due to the $9 billion loss they expect coming from westinghouse. this is where costs overran deeply. this follows an accounting problem back from 2015. more trouble for this company with their future hanging in the balance there. elsewhere, keep an eye on the battle for retail. we have heard that walmart plans to shuted a few hundred jobs. this was confirmed to cnbc, following the decision to eliminate some 1,000 corporate positions earlier in the year with a spokesman telling cnbc this was a fall low-on from the previous decision. this news comes as walmart announces a price discount for those willing to buy on walmart.com and pick up the

items in store. so the price wars continuing between walmart and amazon as well. >> saves on shipping. thank you, nancy hungerford from london. embattled department of veterans affairs is tackling troubles head on through transparency. new secretary launches a new seb site today that will reveal how care at every clinic across the country compares to nearby private hospitals. shul ken says he hopes the website access to care will help to hold the va accountable. we continue to follow rex tillerson's meeting with his russian counterpart. we have nbc's andrea mitchell live from moscow. also peter alexander on the calls for sean spicer to be fired. katy tur will join the conversation, too. senator dick durbin will be here onset. "morning joe," just moments away. set.

"morning joe," just moments away. ♪

only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol® introducing new depend silhouette active fit, with a thin design for complete comfort. they say "move it or lose it" and at my age, i'm moving more than ever. because getting older is inevitable. but feeling older? that's something i control. get a free sample at depend.com.

welcome back everyone. before we toss it over to "morning joe," let's get a check on the stories you'll be hearing about in the day ahead.

>> nbc news chief white house correspondent hallie jackson, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it is shaping up to be another busy day at the white house. we're hearing from president trump now, more about why he decided to issue the air strike against the syrian regime after the chemical weapons attack earlier this month. the president telling fox business network that the u.s. is not going to get involved in syria, but he says he was disturbed and horrified, paraphrasing here, by seeing these images in the newspaper, on television and elsewhere of the youngestictims of that attack. we expect to see the president expand on his comments later today at the white house. he's set to hold several meetings with united nations secretary general. the two of them will be holding a press conference this afternoon, an opportunity where the president will surely be pressed about his policy and his long-term strategy for syria, all of it coming as his secretary of state rex tillerson is in moscow for this crucial -- we cannot overstate it, a

crucial meeting with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov. we'll be monitoring it all. >> okay. thank you. that's a wrap for us. i'm alex witt alongside ayman mohyeldin. "morning joe" starts right now. the white house draws a tough line on syria, expanding nato and declaring assad's days to be numbered. a gaff on ukraine that unsettled allies. >> speaking of gaffs, in a mid afternoon firestorm, sean spicer calls his vegas rabbi. the controversy that involved adolf hitler, sheldon aid elson and a messy, messy passover. >> that's not good. the republican party asking what's the matter with kansas as a narrow win could spell big trouble for 2018. good morning everyone. it's wednesday, april 12th. with us onset we have