even on the same call, but we can't get any information out of our own government about it anymore. does that mean we're supposed to trust the foreign governments? that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow. did former national security adviser michael flynn break the law? top lawmakers say it's possible after he failed to disclose foreign payments. plus with the threat of a government shutdown looming, republicans offer up a spending plan that leaves out money for a border wall, but other sticking points remain. and the first daughter got booed after mentioning her father at a summit in berlin. good morning. it is wednesday, april 267, i'm alex witt alongside richard lui.

>> and we start with some startling accusations against michael flynn. yesterday two leaders in congress saying he may have broken the law when he failed to report payments that he got from the governments of russia and turkey. kristen welker with more. >> reporter: closing in on the 100 day mark, the trump administration forced to revisit a controversy from day 23. that is when general michael flynn was fired as national security adviser, now the white house under fire for not turning over to congress information about flynn's business ties to russia. >> the white house has refused to provide this committee with a single piece of paper in response to our bipartisan request. >> reporter: the committee says flynn may have broken federal law by not asking permission or disclosing that in 2015, he was paid nearly $34,000 to attend this dinner for a pro putin russia television station, nor did he disclose his firm was

paid more than $500,000 to lobby for the turkish government. kasie hunt speaking to the republican chair of the oversight committee. >> do you think michael flynn broke the law? >> it doesn't appear as if he complied with the law. >> reporter: the white house saying most of the requested documents were handled under the obama administration. >> to ask the white house to produce documents that were not in our possession is ridiculous. >> reporter: michael flynn was fired for lying about a conversation with the russian ambassador. and he's already the focus of two separate congressional investigations and an fbi probe into possible ties between the trump campaign and russia. >> the fact that mike flynn did not fill out his disclosure forms, those are red flags, those indicate he was trying to conceal something about these russian payments. >> reporter: just last month, flynn requested immunity through his lawyer to testify before congress. the president supporting the move calling the investigations a wichl hunt. >> this is not only a nagging

story, it's a potentially explosive one. >> reporter: the attorney for michael flynn telling nbc news flynn did brief the defense intelligence agency about this speaking event in russia both before and after it happened and answered all of their questions. richard. >> kristen welker, thank you so much. joining us now ken delanian. this is a problem when we look at pre-approval or disclosurdis. and then the question of penalties associated. >> it may be both things. there is the question about whether he should have gotten approval for being paid to take that trip and go appear at a dinner on behalf of russian state television and secondly whether he disclosed that he was paid on his security clearance formed that he filled out in january 2016 as part of his normal reupping of his security clearance. don't forget he was head of the defense intelligence agency. he hasn't joined the white house yet, but he was stilling out

forms to continue his top secret security clearance. these kind of violations are rarely prosecuted, but when you're in the crosshairs of an fbi investigation into whether the trump campaign colluded with russia as many people believe flynn is, any little violation becomes significant because it creates leverage, it creates an opportunity for the fbi to go after you and that may be why his lawyer sought immunity and issued that extraordinary letter saying my client has a story to tell. >> so the white house is denying the oversight committee request for documents. let's take a listen to sean spicer yesterday. >> everything that is being discussed occurred prior to his employment at the white house, occurred as a consultant. and so whatever he did, as long as he did it in compliance with the law, every one of us has the right do that. that is up to an individual and comply with the law. >> so first up, what are house investigators looking for and secondly, is the white house denying access, does the white house have access to these

papers? >> the white house has told house investigators that they are declining to provide certain paperwork having to do with contacts that -- phone calls flynn made as national security adviser on the grounds that those may be classified. there is ordinary information the white house is saying it doesn't have. and for example the house is we have interevery interested in we former attorney general sally yates told about the conduct that led to flynn's resignation. >> okay. ken, thank you. another federal judge has dealt a blow to donald trump and the sanctuary cities. this judge has blocked the white house from withholding federal funds from local governments which prevent police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. judge ruled the order unconstitutional because it imposes conditions on federal funds that had already been approved by congress and that the president's actions were too broad. the white house fired back

during a briefing with reporters last night, reince priebus said it's the ninth circuit going bananas adding the idea that an agency can't put in some reasonable restrictions on how some of these monies are spent is something that will be overturned eventually. we'll win the supreme court at some point. there are signs risk of a government shutdown is a baiting. white house pushing back the timing on funding a down payment on a wall along the mexico border. >> is president trump willing to sign a government spending bill that does not include that money? >> yeah, because i think the bill at least the offer that we received from the democrats the last couple days included a good bit of money for border security. >> in case anybody has any question, the wall is going to get built and the wall will stop drugs and it will stop a lot of people from coming in that shouldn't be here. i watch these shows and pundits in the morning, i don't know what they are talking about, the wall get built 100%.

>> when will the wall get built? >> soon. we're already preparing, doing plans, specifications. and the wall gets bimuilt. >> in your first term? >> sure, we have a lot of time. >> and more republicans are easing off expectations that a literal 2,000 mile wall will ever be built. >> what you see is it doesn't have to be a physical wall. it can be components of surveillance. it can be some fencing in some areas. because of the way that the drug cartels work, you know that you have to have increased surveillance in the area. >> sticking points remain like funding affordable care act subsidies and health care for miners in coal country. president trump set to hold a rare meeting at the white house as he welcomes all 100 senators for a briefing on the situation with north korea. the briefing was original areally scheduled for dooid itoa

secure room at the capitol, but he suggested a move to the white house. some lawmakers are questioning that decision. democrats tell nbc news that the briefing may double as a photo-op for the president, but yesterday the white house disputed that this is the administration's meeting. >> let's be clear, that meeting is a senate meeting led by leader mcconnell just utilizing our space. so that is their meeting. so we are not there to talk strategy. there are four briefers coming up to talk about the situation in north korea. they will be briefed -- this is a senate-led meeting that they are getting those four briefers will share to them the current situation in north korea. the seblgouth kore secretary of others will talk about military actions and the way that they see the play of the land. i mean they will answer questions as they routinely do.

>> also expected in attendance, sects of state, defense, along with the director of national intelligence and chairman ever the joint scheef chiefs of sta. as the president looks to renegotiate nafta,ever the joint chiefs of state. as the president looks to renegotiate nafta, talking about the tariff on softwood lumber. here are the statements side by side. the one from the white house is on the left, acknowledging the leaders had spoken about trade issues and describing the conversation as, quote, amicable. however the statement from ottawa, on the issue softwood lumber, the prime minister refuted the baseless allegations by the u.s. department of commerce referring to accusations that it gets canadian companies an unfair pricing advantage by providing subsidies. the prime minister vowed to vigorously defend its interests when it comes to dairy trade. big trade stories from mexico, the u.s. just lost a long running dispute with the world

trade organization deciding that mexico can sanction the u.s. for unfairly penalizing its tuna industry. and president trump issued his strongest message to date on the holocaust while speaking at the annual day of remembrance seic ceremony yesterday. take a listen. >> that is why we're here today. to remember and to bear witness, to make sure that humanity never ever forgets. yet even today, there are those who want to forget the past. worse still, there are even those filled with such hate, total hate, that they want to erase the holocaust from history. those who deny the holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil and will never be silent. we just won't. we will never ever be silent in

the face of evil again with. this is my pledge to you. we will confront anti-semitism.. this is my pledge to you. we will confront anti-semitism.. this is my pledge to you. we will confront anti-semitism.. this is my pledge to you. we will confront anti-semitism.. this is my pledge to you. we will confront anti-semitism.. this is my pledge to you. we will confront anti-semitism.. this is my pledge to you. we will confront anti-semitism.. this is my pledge to you. we will confront anti-semitism. so today we mourn, we remember, we pray, and we pledge never again. >> jared kushner was there. ivanka visited a berlin holocaust memorial yesterday. back in january, the white house drew heavy criticism for failing to include any mention of the jewish people in a statement. the adl which was critical praised yesterday's speech calling that one bold. and still ahead, one of nascar's most popular are drivers putting on the brakes on his racing career. plus 12 million of you at risk of severe weather as heavy rain continues to hit parts of the northeast. bill karins has the forecast

next.

what's the story behind green mountain coffee and fair trade? let's take a flight to colombia. this is boris calvo. boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. all for a smoother tasting cup. green mountain coffee.

let's get a check on your weather with bill karins. bill, the rain is moving out of the northeast, but some trouble for the middle part of the country. >> yeah, good morning. a lot of active weather over the next couple days. possibly tornadoes, maybe a few strong ones. then flooding threat through the weekend and we may get ourselves a colorado snowstorm by the time we get through saturday. first off let's start in the northeast. this is where we had all the problems yesterday with all the heavy rain. raleigh had significant problems, they had a lot of flash flooding. here are some of the pictures. way too many vehicles were submerged, some businesses had water in them. and today will be a day of cleanup and sunshine for you in north carolina. so that storm so slow moving,

still located just off the delaware/new jersey coastline. do not expect a lot of heavy vein today rain in the northeast. but gloomy cloudy weather will continue. so airport delays because of low visibility. we had severe storm last night, but they have weakened so watching heavier rain toward st. louis. this afternoon things get interesting. a new storm will be coming down through the southeast. already a moderate risk of severe storms, 12 million people are at risk of severe weather. and if we're get being tornadoes, from shreveport to monroe, louisiana and southern half of arkansas from texarkana over to greenville, mississippi. and we use see a wind damage threat toward memphis and. later tonight, but the tornado threat coming out of east texas. and i mentioned that the flooding threatsth also, first round will be today, tonight, with a heavy rain, arkansas and southern missouri. and then this weekend, another storm in the same locations. so we'll have to watch out for flooding in the days ahead.

and as we've been mentioning, it's been very warm in areas of the east, cool in the northwest and that continues through today. >> floods and tornadoes and snow -- >> springtime, right? living up to its reputation. >> thanks, bill. during her first international trip as part of her father's team, the first daughter was invited to participate in a panel discussion about women's issues. at one point ivanka trump came to her father's defense after a handful of audience members booed and groaned after she brought up his name. >> he's been a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive in the new reality of -- >> you hear the reaction from the audience. so i need to address one more point. some attitudes towards women your father has publicly displayed in former times might

leave one questioning whether he's such an empower for women. are things changing, what is your comment on that? >> i've certainly heard the criticism from the media and that has been perpetuated. but i know from personal experience and i think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades when he was in the private sector are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man. >> while ivanka was there to discuss global entrepreneurship and empowerment, a new report is taking a closer look at the chinese factory which makes clothing for her fashion line. according to the "washington post," a factor auts i had showed that employees work nearly 60 hours a week to earn wages of about $62 a week. the factory also makes goods for companies like calvin klein and

tommy hilfiger. ivanka trump has stepped down from are her brand and rolled the assets into a trust. she still retains an owner ship interest though and you can see hallie jackson's interview with ivanka trump on the "today" show pup. spurs coach gregg popovich is apparently a pretty generous guy. and also, rockets eliminating the thunder, putting an end to russell westbrook's historic season. lieu he ewiouis has it in sport. . tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. this scarf all that's my left to rememb... sayonara.

what. she washed this like a month ago! the long lasting scent of gain. now available in matching scents across your entire laundry routine. 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.

what's the best way to get v8 or a fancy juice store?s? ready, go! hi, juice universe? one large rutabaga, with eggplant... done! that's not fair. glad i had a v8. the original way to fuel your day. trust #1 doctor recommended dulcolax. use dulcolax tablets for gentle dependable relief. suppositories for relief in minutes. and dulcoease for comfortable relief of hard stools. dulcolax. designed for dependable relief.

welcome back. nba playoff match-ups in the western conference, let's start in los angeles where the jazz are now just a win away from the next round after gaining the edge against the clippers. utah's jason heyward was back to form after leaving game four because of food poisoning scoringi in27 points. the jazz will try to wrap things up in game six on friday night. to san antonio, spurs bounce back from a pair of road losses taking a one game series lead after defeating the grizzlies last night. gentlem san antonio takes game five 116-103. and just a side note on the generosity of spurs head coach gregg popovich, according to the san antonio express news, he appears to have left a memphis server a $5,000 tip on a bill of

more than 800 bucks while the team was in the city last week. that's a pretty good way to make someone's night. and in houston, james hardin and the rockets are making it a tough call for this year's mvp race eliminating russell westbrook and the thunder from the postseason with a 105-99 win last night. hardin's 34 points was enough to help houston withstand a 47 point game from westbrook who finished just one shy of a fourth straight triple double. things got heated on the court after westbrook found beverly, they traded jabs in the postgame interviews. take a listen. >> he looked up and said i got 40 points. and i said that's nice. took 34 shots to get it. >> he was talking about he was first team all-againdefense, bu didn't know what he was talking about because i had 42 at the time. the series, you know, i don't know what he talking about. maybe he was dreaming some [ bleep ]. i don't know. >> hard to believe that okc is

out. turning now the to the headlines in nascar, dale earnhardt jr. has announced he will retire after this season. the 14 time most popular driver has won 26 times including a pair of daytona 500 crowns and two nascar championships. he returned to the track this year after missing the end of last season with concussion related symptoms. >> i guess what i'm saying is that i accomplished way more than i ever dreamed, way more than i ever thought i'd accomplish. so i'm good, you know. i'm good on that front. i'm so blessed and fortunate as far as what i was able to achieve. >> it will mark the end of an era. a group led by derek jeter and jeb bush zetd set to become the next owners of the miami marlins. the deal reportedly worth $1.3

billion does not as of yet have a binding contract and needs approval from major league baseball still. and on the field in milwaukee, brewers first baseman set a franchise record for april with his league leading 11th home run ever the season, eight of which have come off the reds pitchers alone. with four games left to play this month, he's within reach of the mlb record of 14. and finally in st. louis, blue jays showing us a new favorite way to score. >> hits it high and deep to right. on the track, at the wall, it's off his glove off the wall. they have wave him home. here is the throw to home plate. and he didn't tag him. >> that is unreal. take a look again. he's like super man right over

him. he leaps over molina to touch the plate. jays beat the cardinal s 6-5. i don't think i've ever seen that before with glp that w. >> that was a flying front roll. wow. >> you got to try that. >> i don't think so. still ahead, president trump takes tax reform, but could congress be looking at changes that would affect your 401(k)? plus top lawmakers seem to suggest michael flynn broke the law by not disclosing foreign payments. those stories and more next.

testinhuh?sting! is this thing on? come on! your turn! where do pencils go on vacation? pennsylvania! (laughter) crunchy wheat frosted sweet! kellogg's frosted mini-wheats. feed your inner kid what's the story behind green mountain coffee and fair trade? let's take a flight to colombia. this is boris calvo. boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. all for a smoother tasting cup. green mountain coffee. hey, need fast try cool mint zantac. it releases a cooling sensation in your mouth and throat. zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. nexium can take 24 hours. try cool mint zantac. no pill relieves heartburn faster.

skinew band-aid® brand skin-flex™ bandages. our best bandage yet! it moves like a second skin. ♪ dries almost instantly. better? yeah. go! good thing because stopping never crosses your mind. band-aid® brand. stick with it™

if you want to stay on top of your health, one simple thing to do -- is take the pledge to go and get screened for the cancers that might affect you. so stand up to cancer and take the pledge at getscreenednow.org it only takes a minute to take care of yourself, and nothing rhymes with "org"...

welcome back. i'm alex witt. richard lui and louis burgdorf, as well. tensions overnight as the u.s. began moving parts of its miss and he will defense system to a site in soeruth korea. and the u.s. is conducting joint military drills with seoul. the uss karl vin a schlt schlts region conducting exercises with japan. and north korea had live fire drills but so far no nuclear test. lawyers for aaron hernandez have filed a motion to vacate his conviction in the murder of odin lloyd. massachusetts law allows charges to be expunged if the defendant dies while the case is under appeal as is the case with hernandez. dean of the massachusetts school of law telling "usa today" that

if a defendant cannot assist in their appeal, then law calls for the conviction to be vacated. and the senate has confirmed former u.s. attorney rod rosenstein as next deputy attorney general. he will oversee the government's investigation to n. to russia's election meddling following the recusal of jeff sessions. chuck humschumer says rosenstei has agreed to appoint a special prosecutor if one is required. congressional leaders say that former national security adviser michael flynn may have violated federal law by not disclosing payments from russia and turkey. he was paid nearly $34,000 to attend and address the gala with president putin, that was in december 2015. and he got more than half a million dollars to lobby for the turkish government last year. in a bipartisan news conference, leaders of the house oversight committee jason chaffetz and cu

have seen, he did not report the funds from the russian trip or show that he asked for permission to be paid by a foreign source. last night chaffetz rebuked flynn and raised more questions. >> you can't do this, you can't as a former military officer, nothing specifically with mr. flynn or general flynn, it has everything to do with former military officers. they can't go and take money from a foreign government. you can't get a direct payment like that because former military officers can be called up and into duty at any given time. that does beg another question which is how did he get a security clearance. if he can all those things, how did he get a security clearance. >> and attorney for flynn responded to that yesterday saying as has previously been reported, general flynn briefed the intelligence defense agency extensively regarding the rt speaking event trip both before and after the trip and he answered any questions that were posed by dia concerning the trip during those briefs.

and the house oversight committee leaders also challenging the trump administration to provide information. the white house is denying a request for answers relevant to flynn's payments and his contacts with foreign nagtsdth na nationals. the administration argues that because the screening predated the start of administration, the documents generally would not be in the possession, custody or control of this office. press secretary sean spicer elaborated and elijah cummings responded. >> we didn't assume the white house until january 20th at noon, so we don't have the documents prior to assuming the white house. they listed for every call and contact that he made, which is an extraordinary number that is very unwielding request. to document every call that he may or may not have made a not exactly a request that can be filled, but every document they asked for, my understanding is that he's gotten. >> how about the calls when he was working during the

transition on behalf of mr. abo trump, should you provide that if you can? >> the question is if you can. when you ask for every call, that's a pretty -- there is -- to ask for every call or contact that a national security adviser made is pretty outlandish, if you will. >> i listened to mr. spicer today talk about claiming that they don't have documents. i was very upset just listening to that because they do have documents. as a matter of fact, they have told us that they have documents, but they found every excuse under the sun not to produce the documents. this is not some witch hunt. this is about a fight for the solve e solve of our democrat. >> richard were oig said hburr

not rethink their opposition to the immunity. >> would you give immunity to testify? >> no. i don't see the need for any type of subpoena process. when we are interested in having individuals in for interviews, we'll go through the process of inviting them, working with legal counsel if in fact they have one like general flynn and try to accommodate the 23450nee. >> last month president trump said he should ask for immunity in the face of, be quote, witch hunt. >> joining us now, ken dilanian. ken, who is in charge of this investigation into flynn? because i just talked about and richard as welle in the last couple minutes the senate intelligence committee it, defense intelligence agency, house oversight committee. how many overlapping investigations are there? >> well, alex, in about terms of the allegations the lawmakers made yesterday, they have actually asked the defense department inspector generinspe

those. but there are four congress allege iestigations in to the overarching issue of russian hacking and interference into the election and whether any members of the trump administration or trump associated colluded in that including mike flynn and the most important are being conducted by the house and senate intelligence committees. but for my money the most significant investigation is the fbi investigation. the fbi is the one that can command the resources of the u.s. intelligence committee, can gather documents, can interview witnesses. they are the ones gathering information. the role of the congressional investigation is more to get that information in front of the public. >> okay. >> and ken, the train moves forward here because we have more hearings, they will be confidential, but it includes former cia director, we also have sally yates that will be speaking. what do we expect to happen with this with the russian connection question? >> well, the yates testimony is very important because after all, yates explained to the white house that flynn had misled the white house about his contacts with the russian

ambassador. so investigators want to know what else she said. she said flynn was blackmailable and is there anything else there is one of the big questions. whether sally yates can testify about that in public is an open question. >> all right. ken, thank you so much. the white house has stepped back from the brink of a potential government shutdown over funding the border wall as the president turned his attention now to changes in the tax code today. bloomberg reporting this, that the plan will include a repatriation tax of 10% to lure in the more than $2.6 trillion in earnings that american companies are believed to have stockpiled offshore. the a.p. reporting president trump's plan will increase deductions that americans can claim going significantly higher than the $6300 standard deduction for individuals and $12,600 for couples. but a "usa today" report suggests lawmakers are reportedly looking at removing the upfront tax deduction for the traditional 401(k)

retirement plan contributions. mitch mcconnell weighed in on the report yesterday. >> i'm sure everything will be floated in the context of comprehensive tax reform. it will provide plenty of opportunities for you all to write stories about would is being rumored. >> meanwhile house freedom caucus members may be close to supporting a new version of the republican health care plan. the "washington post" reports several republican lawmakers including caucus leaders mark meadows, jim jordan, are ready to back the new legislation citing multiple white house officials. while caucus members would not publicly comment, arizona representative trent franks said work on the new bill is, quote, going in a good direction and that welgd nd not b we would no it was voted out of house this week. but gop leaders are skeptical of

how much support any new legislation would garner. and a new video and new information has surfaced about the violent episode caught on camera when a united airlines passenger was dragged off the plane to make room for airline employees. the security officers reports offer a stark contest to what was caught on the actual video. tom comes tell lstello reports. >> reporter: surveillance camera appears to capture a routine boarding for the flight. we see dr. dao wearing a baseball hat walking on board. a short time later -- >> two passengers are refusing to get off. >> reporter: united airlines called airport security. >> any information, were they drinking? >> no, it's something with an over soldle and involuntary. >> you overbooked a flight? >> yeah. >> reporter: minutes later, dao allegedly sured serious injuries as he was dragged from his seat. dr. dao's wife is seen

frantically running off the plane and then back on again. soon after, an ambulance arrives. in an incident report, the security officer who grabbed dr. dao james long reported that dao had refused to leave and folded his arms tightly. when he grabbed dao, long reported dao began flailing and fighting and dao fell and injured his mouth on the arm rest. dr. dao's attorney calls that utter nonsense. >> i'm not going. i am not going. >> reporter: video shows dr. dao refusing to leave his seat before being grabbed, but not being violent. four security officers have now been suspended. the united incident and another involving american airlines bringing scrutiny to the entire industry. now with the major airlines announcing policy changes, several members of congress are calling for federal investigations even a new passenger bill of rights, meanwhile united's promise of having the results of an investigation by the end of the month is now just a few days away. lew

louis, back to you. attorneys for dr. dao says he suffered an concussion and will have to have surgery. pretty sure that story is not going away. >> i still cannot see that video of him with that face bloodied. all right. in a much different vein here, still ahead, a man, a tutu and bar fight. it's part of a story that has one u.s. senator apologizing. plus, major flooding in north carolina and some 12 million people are at risk of severe weather today. we're talking large hail and tornadoes. bill karins next.

there's nothing more than my vacation.me so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. they offer free cancellation, in case i decide to go from kid-friendly to kid-free. now i can start relaxing even before the vacation begins. your vacation is very important. that's why booking.com makes finding the right hotel for the right price easy. visit booking.com now to find out why we're booking.yeah it's the simple things in life that mean the most. boost® simply complete™. no artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners, plus 10 grams of protein and 25 vitamins & minerals. it doesn't get better than this. boost® simply complete™. she pretty much lives in her favorite princess dress. but once a week i let her play sheriff so i can wash it. i use tide to get out those week old stains

and downy to get it fresh and soft. you are free to go. tide and downy together. 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. let's get a check on your weather with meteorologist bill karins. you have a lot to tell us about. >> a lot of interesting weather out there and pretty incredible

stat that i'll bring you at the end of this for the pacific northwest. so here is our storm in the northeast, the storm that brought all the flooding for north carolina yesterday. still periods of rainbows through northern new england. grab the umbrella. it won't pour all day, and it will slowly improve d.c. first and then philadelphia, baltimore and eventually late in the day areas like new york city. but the big story today is the severe weather outbreak that is expected this afternoon and this evening. 12 million people at risk from st. louis south all the way down to just about the gulf coast. the area with the greatest risk is the red box here, a chance of not just a tornado, but maybe a strong tornado or two. let's get to the interesting stuff. here is the rain forecast over the next five days. and this area here northern arkansas and southern missouri, that is 7 to 10 inches of rain that is predicted. so we expect to hear into the weekend about a lot of flooding problems from st. louis southwards down into areas from memphis into arkansas. a lot of rain in a short period

of time. and then we're also dealing with the weather with in the northeast and pacific northwest, a report from one city outside of seattle, hasn't seen the sun in 30 days. and here is a story of what is going on, this is called a mega moisture bloom in the northwest, from 6,000 miles from japan and philippines all the way across the pacific, this moisture plume pointed right to t northwest and it's been a miserable spring. let's turn to business thousand where president trump is piece by piece looking to reshape u.s. trade with some of our closest partners. slapping hefty tariffs on canadian lumber after u.s. dairy farmers complained. nancy, a major shift here in u.s. policy. how is this going to affect the markets? >> well, that's right, a major shift and we talk about the u.s. secretary of commerce wilbur ross saying he will look at

crucial sectors when it comes to doing deals for trade with countries, one by one here. but this comes as the white house is trying to apppli play fears of a trade fight with canada. we know there was a phone call between president trump and just are continue trudeau in which the white house said was amicable, butt canadian prime minister did promise to defend his lumber industry after a threat to impose tariffs on lumber, there is also a dispute surrounding the dairy industry. elsewhere, markets are shrugging off trade fears and welcoming an anticipated tax plan coming from president trump with details due later today, expected the headline will be a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 15%. that is seen as good news for earnings, but fiscal hawks in congress may raise a few concerns on that one. so look for reaction on the hill. >> and a big media headline reports that radio giant iheart media is facing a possible bankruptcy. what will we see there? >> yeah, big development here.

and according to reports iheart media which is the holding company of iheart radio, biggest operator of radio stations in the u.s., has worned iarned inv that its next update will include a disclosure saying there a substantial doubt in its ability to survive financially in the first quarter of 20189. so look for additional updates coming from the stock reaction. >> all right. thanks. jeans have gone through plenty of trend changes, but now nordstrom is offering the opportunity on-to-showcase a hard day of manual labor with none of the actual work. the retailtailer is selling pre-muddied jeans for the low price of $425 a pair. nordstrom says the denim, quote, embodies rugged americana, work wear that has seen hard working

muddy coating that shows you are not of a fwrad afraid to get do dirty. t critic it is ask who would buy these? don't workers you qualify for free shipping if you purchase them. >> i can dirty my jeans for free. everybody in the studio is saying no. >> $399, i'd do it. $425, no way. i draw the line, my friend. okay. how about this? talk about a trade war. actually canada is definitely winning the fast food war. listen to this, taco bell says customers age 19 and up are going to be able to buy beer at select locations beginning in ju june. toronto will likely be the first and more beverages could be added to the menu later. still ahead this morning -- >> he's been a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive.

and the new reality of -- >> ivanka trump on stage with some of the world's most powerful women forced to defend her father are's controversial statements on women at an event for women. a live report next. for women. we've got a live report next. boost. it's about moving forward, not back. it's looking up, not down. it's being in motion. boost® high protein it's intelligent nutrition with 15 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. boost® the number one high protein complete nutritional drink.

if you want to stay on top of your health, one simple thing to do -- is take the pledge to go and get screened for the cancers that might affect you. so stand up to cancer and take the pledge at getscreenednow.org it only takes a minute to take care of yourself, and nothing rhymes with "org"...

welcome back everyone. ivanka trump wrapped up her first overseas trip as a member of her father's administration. joining us from berlin, nbc

correspondent hallie jackson. we've seen part of it. you sat down exclusively with the first daughter. what all did you discuss? >> reporter: a bunch of topics on the table when ivanka trump was here for the women 20 summit, empowering female entrepreneurs specifically. one of the questions she got is to define her role. that was her first question out of the gate. a reaction as ivanka trump answered that question that you probably heard about over the last 12 hours or so. some in the audience hissing and booing trump. she answered her father was a tremendous champion of families. on her role, she left much of it undefined saying she's still listening and learning. she's working to figure out what she wants to do, gather ideas and bring them to her father whom she called a curator of ideaing. there's a lot of german media attention on this as well.

listen. >> you're front page news in berlin. one paper called you the first whisp whisperer. how do you like the question? >> i don't like the inton nation of that which assumes that -- i don't like the word accomplice. in this context, i don't know that's productive. one of the things i value about my father as first a businessman and now as the leader of our country is he cure rates ideas and likes to hear from people with diverging viewpoints. that's not always true in politics. it's actually seldom true. >> one of the other things we talked about was the chemical weapons attack in syria. her brother told the telegraph that he believed ivanka trump may have talked to president trump about the attack.

trump told us later that any interpretation that she encouraged her father to strike syria would be a flawed interpretation. she said she shared her views with him and their views aligned. she said she believes it has to be part of the solution but not the whole solution. >> safe travels home, my friend. republican senator mike enzi of wyoming who is apologizing for what he calls a poor choice of words he made about lgbtq rights. he was speaking to middle and high school students in his home state. according to reports the senator responded to a question about lgbt rights which saying that, we always say in wyoming you can be just about anything you want to be as long as you don't push it in somebody's face. i know a guy who wears a tutu

and goes to bars on friday nights and is always surprised he gets into fights. well, he asks for it. i would be interested in anything on how we can make it better. a later statement said the senator believes everyone should be treated with respect. he doesn't believe anyone should be bullied, intimidated or attacked because of their beliefs. coming up on "morning joe," the latest on the investigation of michael flynn. >> with the border wall off the table for now, can they keep the lights on in washington. representative kevin brady coming up. and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision,

or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. knows how it feels to seees your numbers go up, despite your best efforts. but what if you could turn things around? what if you could love your numbers? discover once-daily invokana®. it's the #1 prescribed sglt2 inhibitor that works to lower a1c. invokana® is a pill used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. and in most clinical trials, the majority reached an a1c goal of 7 percent or lower. invokana® works around the clock by sending some sugar out of your body through the process of urination. it's not for lowering systolic blood pressure or weight, but it may help with both. invokana® can cause important side effects, including dehydration, which may cause you to feel dizzy, faint,lightheaded,or weak, upon standing. other side effects may include kidney problems,

genital yeast infections,changes in urination, high potassium, increases in cholesterol, risk of bone fracture, or urinary tract infections, possibly serious. serious side effects may include ketoacidosis, which can be life threatening. stop taking and call your doctor right away if you experience symptoms or if you experience symptoms of allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, or difficulty breathing or swallowing. do not take invokana® if you have severe liver or kidney problems or are on dialysis. tell your doctor about any medical conditions and medications you take. using invokana® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. it's time to turn things around. lower your blood sugar with invokana®. imagine loving your numbers. there's only one invokana®. ask your doctor about it by name.

before we toss it over to "morning joe," we'll check the stories in the day ahead. >> full schedule for president trump, expected to sign an executive order authorizing review of certain national monuments created in the last 20 years. that move could open them up to mining timber, harvesting and development. >> the president is set to unveil the broad outline of his tax overhaul plan. as part of his plan he's

expected to propose slashing the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 15%. that does it for us on this wednesday. i'm alex witt alongside richard lui and louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. a federal judge blocks the president. michael flynn is feeling the heat. house republicans trying to figure out a way to repeal obamacare. >> welcome to january. >> it's not scripts from last month, these are today's headlines. the white house struggles to move the ball forward and change the narrative. good luck with that, good morning everyone. it's wednesday, april 26, welcome to "morning joe." with us onset we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle, washington anchor for bbc world news america katty kay, and in washington columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatius,