the alex jones trial is expected to last a couple of weeks in austin, texas. i wonder if the president will weigh in. watch his twitter. that does it for us tonight. rachel will be back tomorrow. and i will see you next weekend on my show "a.m. joy." and now it is time for "the las. i'll see you on my show "a.m. joy." "first look" is up next. the cleveland community in mourning. right now the nationwide manhunt continues for a murder suspect who police say posted video of a brutal killing on facebook. plus, tax returns revisited. the white house is still siding to explain why the president's tax returns will not be made public. >> democrats trying to put their party back together. senator bernie sanders and dnc perez launch a national tour aimed at strengthening the democratic party. good morning, everyone, it's tuesday, april 18th. i'm alex witt along with richard

louis, in for ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf in studio. >> a nationwide search continues for a man who posted the crime on facebook. 37-year-old steve stephens has so far eluded state and federal authorities. he walked up to 74-year-old robert godwin sunday and killed him. the mother of two much godwin's children say he was out collecting cans when he was can killed. can collecting was a hobby he picked up after retiring. >> so, that's what he was doing. he grabbed a bag from my mom's house and he was going to get . i said, okay, well, i -- i see you when you get he back. he didn't come back. >> nbc news correspondent ron allen has been following the story for us from cleveland. what's the latest in the search for steve stephens?

>> reporter: police told us they would contact us if they had something significant to report and we haven't heard from them. they don't know where this individual is and it's been well over 24 hours he's been on the run. there have been no sightings of a car he may have tried to ditch. they still think he's in that same light colored ford fusion. they say he could be near cleveland or far away. there was a possible sighting called into police in philadelphia but that turned out to be nothing. there was a possible sighting or pinging of his phone in erie, pennsylvania, and that turned out to be nothing. authorities are relying heavily on the community. they're hoping someone will come forward, a relative, a coworker, someone who knows him because he does have significant ties to the community. but so far they have not gotten any clues they say would lead directly to him. they have upped the reward to $50,000. they're focusing narrowly on everything they can -- every stone they can overturn. at this point there seems to be

no rationale as to where he went. he vanished and still considered to be armed and extremely dangerous. >> ron allen, thank you. day 89 of the trump administration and new poll numbers show a drop in confidence in the president. while the gallup poll finds his approval rating 40% during this poll, it was practically the same from february, key characteristics showed him siccing. 45% of americans think trump kooeps keeps his promises, down 17 points in two months. 5 % say he's a strong and decisive leader, a drop of seven there. 46% say he can bring about the changes the country needs. that's down seven points. just 36% say he's honest and trustworthy. that's down six points. 42% say he cares aut people like you, down four. 41% believe he can manage the government effectively. at the same time, a pew research poll finds the president's job approval rating marginally the

same since february, around 39%. trump is well below the predecessors. since ronald reagan in 1981, only bill clinton had an approval below majority at 49%. joining us from capitol hill, national political reporter for axius, jonathan swann. good morning to you. the president's numbers, that's what they are. how does he think he's doing? >> well, he thinks he's going terrifically well. but we shouldn't confuse the fact he no longer talks about polls so much with him not being focused on them. my reporting from talking to people inside the white house is that he's very focused on polls and it was interesting to see yesterday, he went back to an old favorite. during the campaign when things were really dark, when things were going badly for donald trump, staff become adept at

printing out rasmussen polls. they are traditionally tilted quite strongly towards republicans and they always looked good for trump. so staff would become accustomed to putting them on his desk. sure enough yesterday, donald trump tweets out a rasmussen poll that had his approval rate agent 50%. i think it's striking he's celebrating a 50% approval rating. >> also when you look at jonathan richard is how this will translate to georgia. big test on national to local numbers. >> yeah. look, regardless of what the reality is in georgia, if the democrat wins particularly with more than 50% and avoids a rinne runoff, this is going to be a really bad outcome for the administration because that will be the media narrative. it will weaken him with congress. trump needs his reality to wield with his knife over rekals trant house numbers to get his aagain

da through, particularly health care. if georgia is a huge defeat, trump will be seen as a weak national leader and he won't be able to apply the same pressure. >> that's something we'll be watching today. jonathan swan, thank you so much. >> thank you. the conditions for conflict in north korea continue to fester. on monday the dictatorship deputy ambassador to the united nations point to recent u.s. missile strike in syria. he also point to a u.s. aircraft group near korea as evidence the united states is creating the conditions for nuclear war. >> the united states is disturbing the global peace and stability and insisting on the gangster-like logic. it has been created dangerous situation in which nuclear war may break out in any moment on the peninsula. if the united states dare opt for military actions, crying out for pre-emptive attack, the dpr

can k is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the american. >> russian state media echoed those remarks from the ambassador. the prominent mouthpiece for the putin government saying, president trump is, quote, war-impulsive and imprulss ive more than kim jong-un. the u.s. state department said it believes china is sending a lot of positive signals about applying economic pressure against north korea but the u.s. assistant secretary of state remains wary. she said if the chinese decide they're not going to work with us or not cooperate with us, then we're going to have to change tack and try something maybe on our own. at the white house annual easter egg roll, president trump had a message. >> i hopthe's going to be peace but they've been talking

about this gentleman for a long ti up. read clinton's book and he says we made such a great peace deal. it was a joke. everything with president obama, he's been outplayed. a ent want to telegraph what i'm thinking or doing. i'm not like other administrations say we're going to do this in four weeks. it doesn't work that way. >> well, it seems the u.s. has split with the rest of the western world in terms of the referendum that gave turkey's president sweeping new powers. president trump called president erdogan yesterday to congratulate him on the victory but international observers say it was neither fair or free. they claim, quote, lack of equal opportunities, one-sided media conch and limitations on fundamental freedoms created an unlevel playing group. the wash dog cites erdogan's

crackdown after the coup attempt. hundred have taken to turkey, but erdogan remains defiant saying we neither see, hear or acknowledge the political reports you'll air. we continue on our political path. talk to the hand. this country has carried out the most democratic elections not seen anywhere in the west. turkey applied for eu membership 1987 and some european leaders are calling an official end to talks that have essentially been stalled since 2007. so, today is the day, april 18th, just a few hours left to file taxes. for president trump, it looks like he'll again buck presidential precedent and not release his 2016 return. yesterday press secretary sean spicer attempted to explain why the president continues to waiver on his commitment to transparency. >> the president is under audit. it's routine, it continues. i think the american public know clearly where he stands. this is something he made clear during the election cycle.

excuse me. hold on. so -- and the one time it was done, i think the people understand how successfulhe president has been and how much he's paid in taxes. we're under the same audit that existed. so nothing has changed. >> president trump will be under audit for this year's returns, yes, under an obscure irs rule. tax returns of both the vice president and president are automatically audited every year. there's no exception to that. but the process for those audits is usually fast tracked. last year despite the audit rule, president obama and vice president biden released their 2016 returns. spicer was pressed on whether he'll release his return. >> you always talk about the president is under audit. is it time once and for all to say the president will never release hease returns. >> we'll have to get become to on you that. >> i mean, really. >> really. >> so, he may? >> no, i said i'll have to get

back to you. he's still under audit. the statement still stands. >> just this weekend president trump weighed in on the continued insistence by many that he release his tax returns, suggesting that it is a fake issue. on sunday he tweeted, i did what was an almost impossible thing to do for a republican, easily won the electoral college. now tax returns are brought up again? but for some republican lawmakers they're getting an earful from constituents in their home districts over the president's continued refusal to release those returns, including senator tom cotton in arkansas yesterday. >> my question is you in congress and the senate have the power to subpoena these tax returns. the president -- the president said during the campaign that he would not release the tax returns while he was under audit. now he says the election has happened and he doesn't need to release his tax returns. i'm wondering if you'll take the

initiative to have him release those returns so we can see what kind of connections he has with different countries around the world and what -- [ applause ] >> and what tax proposals would personally benefit him? [ applause ] >> as far as i'm aware, the president still says he's under audit. [ crowd booing ] >> president trump seeking to hold true to his america first campaign promise. today he will sign a two-fold executive order that will clamp down on guest worker visas. it will also require agencies to buy more goods and services from u.s. companies and workers. the president will sign the aptly name buy american, hire american to the snap-on manufacturing company in wisconsin. that company makes commonly used

tools and mechanics for contractors. the industry that has been hit the hardest by the hire american portion of the eo, u.s. tech companies. they often utilize h1b visas. presidt sriticized it from taken jobs. still ahead, democratic leaders launch an effort to rebuild their party. the u.s. supreme court spares the life of a death row inmate just minutes before his death warrant was set to expire. those stories and a check on weather when we come back. kevin, meet your father.

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welcome back. the democratic national committee has taken its first step toward healing the television within the party following last year's election. dnc chair tom perez announced the complete lis of the party's unity reform commission yesterday. it was created at the party's

national convention in july. this is a last-minute compromise between supporters of hillary clinton and bernie sanders. the commission will now begin the process of discussing reforms to the party's presidential nominating process, including issues like the role of super delegates and caucuses. officials say the goal of the tour is to transform and strengthen the democratic party. meanwhile, senator sanders may be laying the groundwork for another white house run in 2020. sanders, who nearly won the iowa caucuses in 2016, is set to headline a political convention in the key battleground state in july. senator elizabeth warren may be eyeing a challenge to president trump. the senator is kicking off a national tour today to promote her new book. this fight is our fight, the battle to save america's middle class. the tour, perhaps by coincidence, will kick off in the same new york city bookstore that hillary clinton kicked off her own tour to promote her 2014

book "hard oices". let's get a check on you bi karins.th nbc meteorologist welcome back. >> thank you. >> sometimes no big news is good news. >> it is. this has been a warm april and relatively quiet april up to this point. there is some bad weather. some of the worst rolled through south dakota, lightning and thunderstorms probably woke some people up. minnesota has all the bad weather. even noerlts of duluth it's snowing. mostly just a cold rain. there is great stuff after early morning fog. oklahoma city hits 80. atlanta is fine this morning. later on this afternoon main the heartfield airport could have a minor delay with showers and storms in the region. that goes for our friends in the mountainous areas of tennessee and north carolina. from d.c. northward it gets gradually cooler. d.c.'s at 72. beautiful afternoon. boston only 48 today. new york at 61. florida is still very warm. let's track some of the storms. the first batch we have just

mentioned in minnesota, that travels to the east and to wisconsin. falls apart a little bit. don't expect a lot around milwaukee or green bay. carry the weather but don't expect a lot of bad weather. on the tail end a new storm comes tomorrow. looks like severe weather, not widespread. doesn't look impressive on future radar. if you're in the wichita area, omaha, des moines, maybe even chicago, too, there was a slight chance of a strong thunderstorm with large hail or damaging winds. not too many tornadoes tomorrow. that's what's good. april and may are our tornado months. if we can go two or three days without any, that's perfect. a peek ahead to wednesday's forecast, still looking great up and down the east coast. look how warm it is through the middle of the country. this this is sunscreen weather. temperatures in the 80s throughout much of the nation. >> we're so glad you're back. just thought we'd say that. >> the alarm went off at 2:00 a.m. and i thought, i can't wait to see richard. >> you are not. >> i don't think that's true but good to see you as well. the cleveland cavaliers' big three set a playoff record and four overtime games in the search for the stanley cup.

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it's how well you mow fast. it's not how fast you mow... ...it's how well you mow fast. woooh! it's not how fast you mow... it's how well you mow fast! it's not how fast you mow... it's how well you mow fast. they're not just words to mow by, they're words to live by. the john deere ztrak z345r with the accel deep deck to mow faster, better. take a test drive and save up to 250 dollars on select john deere residential ztrak mowers. welcome back. time for sports and the nba playoffs cleveland, a big night for kaf here's' big three. first time lebron james, kevin love and kyrie irving all scored 25 pointsdz in the same playoff game with irving leading with 37 on the night. while the cavs nearly blew it in the fourth quarter allowing the pacers tolaw to within four in the final minut aft leading

18 they close out with a 117-111 win and two-game lead in their first round eastern conference series you? in san antonio, spurs take a two-game series lead against grizzlies behind a postseason career high, 37 points scored by leonard. san antonio regained the advantage and never lost it again on the way to a 96-82 win there. grizzlies' head coach was not happy about the game and how it was officiated. >> it was a poorly officiated basketball game. overall, 35 times we shot the ball in the paint, we had 15 free throws for the game. they thot 18 times in the paint and had 33 free throws. explain it to me. i know pop's got pedigree and i'm a young rookie but they're not going to rook us. that was unprofessional. unacceptable. my guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game and they did not even give

us a chance. take that for data. >> some clear frustration there. turning now to stanley cup hockey and four overtime matches last night, let's start in the western conference where in calgary the ducks are now a win away from moving on to the next round after taking it three-game series lead against the flames last night. anaheim fought back from a three-goal deficit in the second period with corey perry netting the decider a minute and a half into overtime to get the ducks to 5-4 win there. in nashville the predators pushed blackhawks forcing ot with two goals in the fourth peerd, fiala scoring late in the third period for a 3-2 victory. eastern conference, senators take a 2-1 series advantage over bruins in beantown fighting off a three-goal flurry by boston in the second period. ottawa the 4-3 vick story. maple leafs return from two

goals down in the second period to force ot against the capitals. bozak finds the back of the net early in the extra period getting toronto the 4-3 win and a 2-1 series lead there. moving on to major league baseball where in chicago the cubs' kyle schwarber with a bunt down the line, and straddles the line before bouncing off the bag. fair ball. it's no match for the hot bat of eric thames tying club record with a home run in five straight games. >> that bunt, no way! >> pretty cool. >> he's shouting, magnets. >> that was awesome. >> you can't even teach that. thank you. still ahead, democrats see an opportunity in today's special elections in georgia, but president trump launches a last-minute attack. we continue to follow latest

on the search for the cleveland suspect accused of killing an elderly man and then posting video of the crime on facebook. that's next. stay with us. who's the new guy? they call him the whisperer. the whisperer? why do they call him the whisperer? he talks to planes. he talks to planes. watch this. hey watson, what's avionics telling you? maintenance records and performance data suggest replacing capacitor c4. not bad. what's with the coffee maker? sorry. we are not on speaking terms. hey, need fast whattry cool mint zantac.ker? it releases a cooling sensation your mouth and throat. zantac works in as little as minutes. nexium can take 24 hours. try cool mint zantac. no pill relieves heartburn faster. what's the best way to get v8 or a fancy juice store?s? ready, go! hi, juice universe? one large rutabaga, with eggplant...

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welcome back. i'm alex witt in with richard lui in nor ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf with us. we have more on the planned executions in arkansas. early this morning the security blocked the state's request to carry out the first of eight death sentences. lawyers for the death row

inmates labeled the state's plan assembly line killing and says it increases the chances of a botched procedure. they also claim that the lethal injection drug, one of which expires at the end of the month, amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. there are five more execution scheduled before the end of april. and it's tax day in america. chances are, slim here that tax rules will be any different when americans file again in 2016. steve mnuchin is pushing back on tax timeline. he says the failure to reach a deal on health care. august was his original get it done by goal. mnuchin now says the end of the year is his expectation. the people of flint, michigan, will be one step closer to finding out where their water will be coming from in the future. mayor karen weaver will announce her recommendation for the stet's long-term primary backup system later today.

epa, state and county officials will all be on hand for that announcement. a manhunt continues for the suspect who police say filmed himself killing an elderly man before uploading that video to facebook. the manhunt for steve stephens has expanded nationwide. ron allen is following the story from cleveland. good morning. what's the latest in this manhunt? >> reporter: well, alex, authorities have upped the reward to $50,000. they're trying to focus the public's attention on this. they're trying to get someone in the community, a relative, coworker, friend, to come forward because stephens had ties to this community. he seemed to have a job that he had been at for several years. they closed down because they were concerned about whether this might be some kind of workplace retaliation situation. he apparently had a woman he was living with. there are others in the community who knew him. apparently no one has come forward with information that would put him in a place where authorities could track him down. they seem to have no leads.

they say he could be near, he could be far, that's unusual given the fact he had so many ties in this community. they consider him to be armed and extremely dangerous. for the victim's family, we have not heard much from them but they're obviously grieving, obviously shocked this could happen. there seems to be no connection between the shooter and the victim, 74-year-old mr. godwin waiting for easter dinner to be finished, trying to collect aluminum cans. just around the corner from a home that he apparently occupied with some other members of his mily jusa senseless can killing that has this community very much on edge, very much concerned and everyone hoping there will be some break that will lead them to the suspect. vice president mike pence spoke in tokyo a short while ago where he's talking about bilateral trade relations and the standoff with north korea. joining us from tokyo, janis

mackey. >> reporter: the vice president is continuing his message of security assurances for the region, given the rising tension over the situation with north korea. now, when vice president mike pence originally had this trip planned, he was supposed to be focusing on trade and economics with japan. naets still on the agenda, but still needing to address what is the real threat of north korea. here's what he had to say. >> the united states will continue to work with japan and with all our allies in the region, including south korea, to confront the most ominous threat posing this region of the world, the regime in north korea. all options are on the table. >> the vice president was in south korea yesterday and had very strong words, suggesting that if north korea wants to avoid the same treatment as syria and afghanistan, it needs to stop trying to advance its

weapons programs. he did dial it back a bit and say that the u.s. would still be open to negotiations with the regime, but everyone within the administration from the secretary of state to the vice president and president trump saying all options are on the table. what isn't clear is what those options are. north korea, meanwhile, is taking it all as a threat, blaming president trump for ramping up tension here. the deputy ambassador to the united nations yesterday saying north korea is prepared for all-out war if it comes under attack from the united ates. richard? >> thank you so much. janis mackey live in seoul, south korea. president trump is playing the expectations game. voters in georgia he's sixth congressional district head to the polls to cast their vote in a primary that's because somewhat of a referendum in president trump. president trump injected himself in the race yesterday going after democrat jon ossoff leading the crowd of 18 candidates. trump tweeting the super liberal

democrat in the georgia congressional race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes. the president also recorded a robo call urging georgia voters to defeat ossoff. >> hello, this is president donald trump. liberal democrats from outside of georgia are spending millions and millions of dollars trying to take your republican congressional seat away from you. don't let them do it. tomorrow there's a special election for congress in georgia. only you can stop the super liberal democrats and nancy pelosi's group, and in particular, jon ossoff. if you don't vote tomorrow, ossoff will raise your taxes, destroy your health care and flood our country with illegal immigrants. >> ossoff responded to the president but he didn't deviate from his message. >> i appreciate his interest in the race. i think he's misinformed about my views and priorities.

i'm focused on metro atlanta, how we can cut wasteful spending, to prioritize infrastructure and higher education to develop metro atlanta into the silicon valley of the south. >> so, if ossoff captures 50% of today's primary, he'll avoid a june runoff against a single competitor. he does not live there but says he'll move back if he wins. republicans has held the seat for the last 37 years. the seat opened up after president trump named tom price health and human services secretary. last night trump appeared to realize forcing a runoff would be the safestout come for republicans. he tweeted with 11 republican candidates running for georgia on tuesday for congress a runoff will be a win for lower taxes. jonathan swan joining us. good see you again here. a lot at stake here, as you've

been saying. >> it really depends on whether he -- look, if ossoff follows below 50% and there's a runoff, i don't think that tells you anything funld fundamental about political dynamics because there are so many republicans in this race and still likely if gate the republican totals, if he wins, gets above 50%, then we really need to take seriously after the kansas result where there was a huge swing in republicans that we're watching the early stages of a nation wild swing. it will be obviously bad for the party but terrible for donald trump because republicans in congress will no longer view him as this popular and, in some respects, terrifying figure. he'll have much less ability to pressure them for his legislative agenda. >> you know, jonathan, speaking of political dynamics, even though it's over 18 months away, you're talking about members of congress already feeling the heat about the next election. how so?

>> there was a stunning town hall, there's been many of them, but this in reno, nevada, tom heller, and he made some comments that are raising eyebrows among conservative leaders. he said, i will protect, i will protect planned parenthood. he said that he supports federal funding for planned parenthood. i spoke yesterday to a couple of conservative lead straight after that. penny nance said he's going to be hearing from her activists. another conservative leader who spoke not on the record told me he's out of his mind and he's going to face extreme blow-back. it shows you how concerned people like dean heller are and how they're trying to pivot for 2018. >> there are opposing faxes in the republican party but in democrats you have tom perez and bernie sanders launching a

nationwide campaign. how is that playing out on capitol hill? >> i think there's been such a fundamental shift in the democratic party. used to be that bernie sanders, i mean, he wasn't even part of the party, but let's take elizabeth warren. she was seen as a fringe figure on the left. she's really now setting the tone and the policy direction for the democratic party. chuck schumer, the senate leader, doesn't dare go against the -- bernie, liz warren, frank. he's recognized all the energy is where they are and there are many ways pulling the party in their direction. >> jonathan swan, thank you so much. >> pleasure. well, nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt is in georgia for that special election coverage. she'll join "morning joe" for coverage later on this morning. after nearly one year after the death of prince, new court documents show investigators found prescription pills throughout his home, even though the musician did not have a

regular doctor or a prescription. nbc's miguel ali has more. >> reporter: new search warrant shows a sizeable stash of powerful drugs for which the musician does not have prescriptions discovered throughout his home. some inside bottles labeled vitamins and aspirin. detectives also recovering a suitcase next to prince's bed with his alias, inside a powerful opioid and handwritten lyrics for the song "you got the look." ♪ yes you do >> reporter: the mega star found unresponsive inside his mansion a year ago this week. killed by an accidental overdose of the powerful painkiller fent n >> once they start mixing these different types of medication, that's when things can go south.

>> reporter: when some medications were prescribed under long-time friend kirk johnson, former drummer said he was unaware prince was addicted to pain medication. but a drug rehab center said johnson contacted them because the star was struggling with opiate use. his attorney saying johnson never supplied the drugs which later caused prince's death. >> authorities seem to have indications there was prescription drug abuse so they're foowing the sourcing, where did that all come from. >> reporter: in the death that shocked the world, still no criminal charges. and an investigation that is far from over. still ahead, the white house has an answer for those wondering why the president spends so much time at his mar-a-lago resort. at 117 years young, this woman may just be the world's oldest living person. we'll have her secret to longevity next.

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played at the white house today and trump actually forgot to put his hand over his heart. take a look at melania here. ♪ o say can you see >> she was like, just pretend you have one and put your hand over it. well, the white house is pushing back against criticism of the president's frequent trips to mar-a-lago. according to an analysis by "the washington post," the president has spent about one out of every five minutes of his presidency at that private club. donald trump's son eric defended his father's trips to mar-a-lago in a new interview with the irish independent. he compared the mar-a-lago to president bush's crawford, texas, ranch. he called it a mar-a-lago an amazing estate that has been a very effective tool for my father to go down and get to know somebody without sitting across a wooden partition. sean spicer was asked whether the white house would be more transparent about who the president meets with at mar-a-lago.

>> i think we've done a fairly good job of making sure that people know who he's meeting with, who he's speaking to and when appropriate the contents of those calls. i think the president and -- is entitled to have some times with his family and friends to just catch up. >> the conservative budget watch dog judicial watch puts the price tag of each mar-a-lago visit at $1 million. other estimates claim it's upwards of $3 million price tag per visit snul we'll get a check of your weather with bill karins. >> we're watering the flowers and lawns in a few spots this morning. umbrella weather heading anywhere in minnesota, also northern wisconsin. pretty good thunderstorms by sioux false and houston area. houston, you talk about rainfall and early morning traffic, it's always a nightmare. there are some thunderstorms dotting the landscape, too. the big story this april is unseasonable warmth that

continues out there today. so many locations are seeing beautiful explosion of leaves, flowers, grass is growing . chicago beautiful at 75. d.c. about perfect at 71. atlanta at 81. orlando about 86. tomorrow we do it all over again. cleveland, 84. st. louis, 85. mobile at 84. still holding onto coolish type weather in the northeast. we'll see as we heads toward the up coming weekend a cooling trend. there's still cold air in canada that will occasionally sneak down. later in the week we cool it off. this isn't earth-shattering. but in chicago we go from 60s to 50s this weekend. don't put those coats away quite yet. other areas we stay in the 80s. today's forecast, relatively quiet. a few spots with wet weather and a few thunderstorms late in the day in atlanta. doesn't look like anything too bad is coming this way either. nice, quiet weather pattern, no tornado outbreaks.

we're done with the snow, which is a thumbs up. >> let's keep the warm weather. bill, it's sometime tore you to take notes. there seems to be a new oldest living person, violet brown who lives in jamaica and she celebrated her 117th birthday last month. she is earning the title after the death of emma morano. her birth certificate has been certified by the group guinness depends heavily on. she was asked the question everyone wants to know, what do you eat? >> . >> i don't eat pork and i don't eat chicken. but i eat any other things. >> anything but pork and chicken. longevity must be in the genes

because miss brown has a son who is 97 years old. >> wow. >> pretty unbelievable. >> she's amazing. >> no economicen or pork. >> look how she's communicating so clearly. she's just getting it done. good for her. >> jamaican rum, that's what it is. >> well, you never know. good for her if it is. still ahead, we'll get a look at the stories driving the day in business. tax standoff. the battle over president trump's personal taxes now seems to be affecting his plans to reform yours. we'll explain that next. we can't stay here! why? terrible toilet paper! i'll never get clean!

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today is april 18 which means you've got just a few hours left to file your taxes. for president trump it looks like he will once again buck presidential precedent and not release his tax lurn for 2016. press secretary sean spicer attempted to explain why the president continues to waiver on his commitment to transparency. >> the president is under audit. it's a routine one. it continues. i think the american public know where he stands. this is something he made clear during the election cycle. hold on. the one time it was done i think the people understand how successful the president has been and how much he's paid in taxes. but we're under the same liup that existed, so nothing has changed. >> spicer is light in the fact that the president will be under an audit. the tax returns of both the president and vice president are automatically audited every

year. no exceptions to that. the process for those audits is usually fast tracked. former president obama and vice president biden were subjected to the same rule. spicer was pressed on the president trump will ever release his tax returns to the american people. >> you always talk about under audit. is it time to say once and for all the president is never going to release his tax returns? >> we'll never get back to you on that. >> i mean, really. >> really. >> so he may. >> i said i'd have to get back to you on that. i think he's still under audit. the statement still stands. >> the president's refusal to release his tax returns could also take a policy toll. "the new york times" reports democrats are now refusing to work with him on tax reform until he makes his own tax documents public. a few more business headlines for you here. president trump is expected to follow through on his america

first campaign promise. he signs an executive order today to support domestic products and workers. >> essentially there's two main problems to the executive order, one is about loopholes around federal procurement, hoping to make the level footing for american companies when it comes to bidding for u.s. government contracts, when it comes to competing with their foreign competitors. the other is the h-1b visa, the three-year to six-year visa for workers. typically it's for skilled, highly educated workers. he's trying to tighten the enforcement of restrictions on how well paid, qualified those applicants are. planning to meet with the deputy prime minister of japan. that follows in the wake to pull out of the pacific rim trade pact. netflix is earning better than

expected. i think pretty solid beat against the expectations from the market. investors are cautious about there's a huge, huge, cash burn. the content the company is clearly costing a lot of money. they're now close to hitting 100 million subscribers, a pretty major milestone for them. >> willem marks live from london, thanks so much. up next on "morning joe," all eyes on georgia where the political world is looking to see if democrats can flip tom price's old house seat from red to blue. >> nbc's kasie hunt is in georgia. also mayor kasim reed joins the conversation. "morning joe" is just moments away.

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before we toss it over to "morning joe," we'll bring you a check on the stories of the day ahead. >> we'll start at the white house as the president prepares to leave washington today, nbc's hallie jackson has more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. today it is road trip time for president trump. going back to some familiar

territory, wisconsin, where he's expected to sign an executive order for buy american, hire american. his administration looking to point to some domestic accomplishments in these first hundred days, real questions about where the administration's foreign policy goes from here after the tough talk on north korea over the last 24 hours from his vice president. all of it, by the way, happening on tax day with president trump still refusing to release his tax returns. the white house now not ruling out he may never release them. back to you. >> happening today, the mayor of flint, michigan, will announce her recommendation for the ci city's long-term backup water system. the final decision is still weeks away. >> that's a wrap for us. i'm alex witt alongside richard lui and louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >> we will be stronger and bigger and better as a nation than ever before. we're right on track.

you see what's happening and we're right on track. thank you everybody. ♪ still crazy after all these years ♪ >> and that's all the time we have today for "morning joe," thank you so much for tuning you. hope you and your family -- >> what was that? if you're a little kid and you're scared of rabbits -- >> oh, i've got to call my daughter. >> call your daughter in a minute. >> willie geist, you are pretty much the expert o of combining rabbits and white house ceremonies. >> that's the season premier of "veep." he was doing the easter egg roll, he was hosting it but went into a speech about how his admini