breaking news. jim comey is out at the fbi. >> wow. trump fired the fbi director. like you can't justifier the fbi director. if he's gone, who's going to investigate russia's ties to -- oh. >> fallout after james comey is fired as head of the fbi. this morning, concerns about constitutional crisis in the future of the investigation of russia and the trump campaign. >> president trump is set to meet with sergei lavrov later this morning.

and severe storms threaten the heartland, a system that produced tornadoes and hail in texas is on the move. good morning, everyone. it is wednesday, may 10th. in the heat of an investigation into russia tampering with the u.s. elections, the fbi has been fired. in an extraordinary move, james comey was ousted while on a west coast trip, no advance warning to the wider department of justice. the white house issued a statement saying president trump acted based on recommendation from the attorney general and jeff rosen stein. sessions said he would recuse after he failed to disclose meetings with the russian ambassador. and on the front page of the

"new york times," i concur with department of justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau. senior white house official tells us the former head of security and director of oval office hand delivered the letter to department of justice. andrew mccabe, deputy director is now acting director. james comey had been set to testify thursday in open session in front of the senate intelligence committee. while in los angeles, he was set to give a speech. but it never happened, as "new york times" reports, mr. comey was addressing a group of fbi employees in los angeles when a television in the background flashed the news that he had been fired. in response, mr. comey laughed saying he thought it was a funny prank. then staff started to scurry in the battlegrouckground and said should step away. he proceeded to shake hands of employees he was speaking with,

stepped into a side office and confirmed he had been fired. at that point had not heard from the white house. he got into a motorcade, made his way to the airport, snarled in traffic before boarding a private jet, heading back to washington, d.c. and an uncertain future. >> in the midst of vision into russia modeling in the election and firing of james comey, interesting event was added to the president's schedule. he will meet with sergei lavrov today at the white house. the secretary of state was slated to meet with him, it will be the highest level face-to-face meeting with russia of the trump presidency. the white house going into overdrive, trying to explain the firing and bringing out kellyanne conway who hasn't been seen on cable much lately. take a listen. >> why now are you concerned about the hillary clinton e-mail investigation when as a candidate, he was praising it from the campaign trail? >> i think you're looking at the wrong set of facts here, in other words, you're going back

to the campaign. this man is the president of the united states, he acted decisively today. you want this to be about russia when this is about restoring confidence and integrity at the fbi. >> you want this about restoring confidence in fbi. >> i think the bigger point on that is my gosh, tucker, when are they going to let that go. it has been going on nearly a year. frankly it is kind of getting absurd, there's nothing there, we heard that time and time again. we heard it in the testimonies earlier this week, we heard it for the last 11 months, there is no there there. it is time to move on. >> i think when someone, those individuals on the democratic side who are very clear that the director lost their confidence to lead the fbi, who would politicize the process, this is something they should be welcoming, the president's decision, something they called for for awhile. >> last one, is this a coverup? is this a coverup? >> of what? >> people wonder if there's any coverup. >> of what? >> peter alexander getting

straight to the point. huckabee sanders will fill in for the morning briefing. she will stop by for a live interview. joining us, jonathan swan. take us inside the firing yesterday, the white house saying it was in the works for a couple weeks. >> james comey did a number of things that displeased donald trump. for anyone that knows donald trump, it is not that hard to imagine what they are. he contradicted donald trump publicly, which is the worst thing he can possibly do. he did that over the claims that obama wire tapped donald trump. he then also refused to help the white house push back against media stories related to the fbi, russia probe. he said during testimony last week which was televised, we know how much television donald trump watches, he was mildly nauseous that his comments in

the campaign may have influenced the outcome of the election. if you want to enrage donald trump, what you do is suggest that some other factor apart from donald trump's brilliance, charisma, and genius won the election, so it's not hard to imagine how he enraged donald trump. what i will say is that this was classic trump in the way he was fired. comey got no advanced warning. it was, i mean, the vision of keith schiller, donald trump's security handing this to the doj and comey giving a speech, finding out about it on television. it is like the most brutal thing you can possibly imagine, and frankly last night white house officials, look, this was kept at a very close level. there were some fairly senior, not going to say the most senior, fairly senior white house officials trying to figure

out what was going on last night and the preparation for this was terrible. there was no briefing of press really and it was a mad scramble to find of cover it, sort of clean up after this detonated. >> let me ask you about that letter, that infamous letter everyone is sharing it in particular about the second line or second paragraph in it. obviously there's a lot of consternation after reports that the white house tried to get comey to knock down claims of a russia probe. is that made worse by the line where the president writes that he appreciates being informed on three separate occasions that he is not under investigation? >> yeah, yeah, and look, this has already inflamed a number of republicans. i mean, you are going to have a tough time on the hill now with all of these republican senators who are inclined to be quite

independent in the way they view trump. i'm thinking about folks like ben sass, jeff flag, lindsey graham. these are people that take their role very seriously as checks on the executive branch, and you're already seeing them coming out last night with statements saying they can't justify this so i think that problems are about to get worse, not better. >> important to note the actual letter did not say thank you for the service of fbi james comey, but thanking him for telling president trump three times he is not under investigation. jonathan swan, live in washington. thank you. and james comey dismissal has drawn sharp criticism from the left. many including chuck schumer are calling for a special prosecutor to oversee the investigation into the trump campaign ties to russia. >> president trump called me and informed me he was firing director comey. i told the president, mr. president, with all due respect,

you're making a big mistake. first question the administration has to answer is why now. if deputy attorney general rosenstein does not appoint an independent special prosecutor, every american will rightly suspect that the decision to fire director comey was part of a coverup. >> president trump responded on twitter saying crying chuck schumer stated recently i do not have confidence in him, james comey any longer, then acts so indig nant. senate democrats are united in the call for a special prosecutor. some call the situation a constitutional crisis, others compare comey's firing to nixon and watergate. >> i'm looking closely at who this president nominates to be the next fbi director. it is more important if they try

to squash somehow, which is the most significant independent investigation of ties between trump and trump officials and the russians. >> donald trump doesn't want anyone coming any place close to an active investigation into the relationship between the russians, trump campaign and donald trump himself. there's nobody left in america who believes donald trump fired james comey in order to try, because james comey was -- >> looks like that saturday night massacre when richard nixon fired one attorney general after another. i believe the deputy attorney general must appoint a special prosecutor. i urged it for months. >> senator blumenthal says he will introduce legislation today to establish an independent couns counsel if they fail to appoint

a special prosecutor. one senior democratic aide says senate dems may not vote to confirm a new fbi director unless the justice department appoints a special prosecutor, an important to note senator blumenthal will be a guest later this morning on "morning joe." >> let's get reaction to how this is playing out. a number of top lawmakers shared democrat concerns, richard bur oversawing seeing the investigation of russia's role in the election, said he is troubled by timing and reasoning of the move. jangs lang ford of oklahoma said the american people nooet need claire deand deserve explanation. and congressman amash, called the second paragraph in the letter of firing bizarre. jeff flake on the judiciary committee tweeted i spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for

the firing. i just can't do it. senator sasse called the timing troubling, and john mccain said he is disappointed in the president's decision to remove comey from office. corker said his removal at this particular time will raise questions. we will get more republican reaction to james comey's firing when charlie dent joins us in a bit. stay with us. acting director mccabe coming with controversy, questioned by some connections to the clintons. in january, department of justice inspector general launched investigation into the actions leading up to the election, parts of which focused on whether the fbi director should have recused himself from the clinton e-mail probe. potential conflict of interest, wife jill who ran for virginia state senate in 2015 receiv$201 nearly a half million from the political action committee of virginia governor terry

mcauliffe. a clinton confidant. his wife was also out of politics by the time he was named deputy director. mccabe was also target of the senate judiciary committee after it was reported the fbi had once considered paying the author of that controversial trump dossier, christopher steele, to continue his work on behalf of the department. the deal fell apart, but by that time it was already on the radar of chuck grassley, seizing on reports that hillary clinton first hired him to get opposition research on trump. senator sent a letter to the fbi director demanding to know what role he had in fbi plans to hire him. the chairman wrote the american people should know if the fbi's second in command relied on democratic funded opposition research to justify an investigation of the republican presidential campaign. full disclosure is already important, he is already under investigation for his partisan democratic ties.

the acting director was at the center of ethics questions. white house chief of staff reince priebus asked the fbi to push back at "new york times" report that trump campaign associates had repeated contacts with russian intelligence. the fbi never gave that public defense but the white house claims mccabe personally told priebus there was nothing to that "new york times" story, which the chief of staff took as a green light to issue this denial. >> i can tell you, i talked to top levels of the intelligence community and they've assured me that that "new york times" story was grossly overstated and inaccurate and totally wrong. i know what the intelligence committees in the house and senate were told by the fbi and i know what i was told and what i will tell you is that story was total baloney. mitch mcconnell deflects

criticism over an all male working group on health reform. and testimony involving human a abedin. those stories and more when we come back. a abedin. those stories and more when we come back. a abedin. those stories and more when we come back. huma abedin. those stories and more when we come back. i am benedict arnold, the infamous traitor. and i know a thing or two about trading. so i trade with e*trade, where true traders trade on a trademarked trade platform that has all the... get off the computer traitor! i won't. (cannon sound)

mobility is very important to me. that's why i use e*trade mobile. it's on all my mobile devices, so it suits my mobile lifestyle and it keeps my investments fully mobile... even when i'm on the move. sign up at etrade.com and get up to six hundred dollars.

welcome back. senate democrats like to hit the reset with republican colleagues in early stages of tackling the health care reform bill. all 48 democrats asked mitch mcconnell and republican leaders for a bipartisan, open and transparent effort to improve the health care system. leader mcconnell suggested the move is the democrats signaling that obamacare just isn't working. >> if they're asking to participate, they must be conceding the status quo is not sustainable. i certainly agree with that. >> meanwhile, leader mcconnell standing off criticism of the

group tasked with drafting that bill. mcconnell under fire for not including any of the five women in the working group, but he says everyone is part of the process. >> working group that counts is all 52 of us, and we are having extensive meetings as i said a few minutes ago every day, nobody is being excluded based on gender. everybody is at the table, everybody. >> were you disappointed when you learned there were no women on the core working group? >> i was surprised there were not. it really is up to the leadership to decide whom they want so i'm not really troubled by it because i'm going to continue to work with the other senators. >> if you're asked to be on the working group, would you say yes? >> no, i would not at this point. >> amid that criticism, shelly caputo was invited to discuss that for low income americans

which particularly impacts her state. let's check the weather with meteorologist bill karins. severe weather sweeping through the middle of the country, more bad weather in time for mother's day in the northeast. >> i apologize for mothers in new england. it looks ugly. we will talk about that in a second. get to immediate concerns. show you what happened first. 8 tornadoes reported, hail, new mexico was targeted, new mexico into west texas. you can see that tornado, rope tornado in the background. hail did fall, cause a little damage. almost like ping pong ball sized hail there. lot more coming today. now shift it into more populated areas. already this morning, amarillo has the worst weather this morning with thunderstorms and heavy rain. lubbock dodging storms, too. for today, 10 million are threatened by severe weather. some of the storms are in areas of the ohio valley, indianapolis

included. severe stuff in the quad cities, des moines to kansas city, st. joseph, central illinois and through kansas. this enhanced area, if we get a strong tornado, likely between childress and oklahoma city. we will watch western oklahoma and that sliver of texas late today. tomorrow, this is a slow moving storm. 16 million at risk of severe storms. tomorrow, tulsa to dallas to little rock. as far as the east coast goes, we are just fine, stim tll the e and have-nots. chilly in the northeast. orlando, today 96 degrees, one of the hottest spots. west coast is fine, too. in a little bit, how the storm will effect the mid-atlantic and northeast saturday and sunday, mother's day forecast. looks like a nor'easter forecast. snow, rainy, cold. >> come on. >> yeah, i have to look for witness protection program by the time the weekend is over. >> seriously, bill. a lot of severe there.

every other sentence was a severe. >> we expect it. may is peak of severe weather season. if you don't have it, you would be worried. >> thank you. san antonio spurs lost one star player and the team had another close call last night. sports is next. every tv doctor knows that when it comes to hospital romances, the more complicated, the better. i love you. but i love him. i love him, too. so do i. they also know you should get your annual check-up. schedule a checkup with your doctor to learn your four health numbers, and start taking control of your health today. it could save your life. cigna. together, all the way. ...studying to be a dentist and she gave me advice. she said dad... ... go pro with crest pro-health. 4 out of 5 dentists confirm these crest pro-health products... &help maintain a professional clean. crest pro-health... ...really brought my mouth... ...to the next level.

go pro with crest pro-health 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. when i feel controlled by frequent, unpredictable abdominal pain or discomfort and diarrhea. i tried lifestyle changes and over-the-counter treatments, but my symptoms keep coming back. it turns out i have irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, or ibs-d. a condition that's really frustrating. that's why i talked to my doctor about viberzi... ...a different way to treat ibs-d. viberzi is a prescription medication you take every day that helps proactively manage both abdominal pain and diarrhea at the same time. so i can stay ahead of my symptoms. viberzi can cause new or worsening abdominal pain. do not take viberzi if you have no gallbladder, have pancreas or severe liver problems, problems with alcohol abuse, long-lasting or severe constipation, or a bowel or gallbladder blockage.

pancreatitis may occur and can lead to hospitalization and death. if you are taking viberzi, you should not take medicines that cause constipation. the most common side effects of viberzi include constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain. stay ahead of ibs-d with viberzi. welcome back. time now for sports. a federal judge vacated the conviction of aaron hernandez.

the former new england patriot was appealing life sentence for the murder of odin lloyd before his suicide last month left the case unresolved, prompting the court to void the conviction. five days before being found hanged in his cell, he was acquitted of a separate double murder. turning to the nba playoffs, game five for western conference semifinals. they lost tony parker for remainder of the season, last night, leonard went down after twisting his ankle in third quarter. he will return for game six. meanwhile, the rest of the spurs have to step up as it went to overtime. danny green scoring 7 of 16 points while san antonio had 33, triple double from james harden. ginobili blocked the last second three point attempt to get a

110-107 victory. game six is tomorrow night in houston. on the eyes of last night's stanley cup, senators skate on for eastern conference final after defeating the rangers. ottawa had a 2-0 lead in first period, never looked back. winning game six 4-2. they meet the penguins or capitals after that's decided in game seven tonight. hockey is coming to an end and nba basketball as well. >> we're heading into the final stretch of playoffs. exciting times. >> thanks for taking that one. more reaction to james comey's unexpected firing. the white house begins looking for a new fbi director amid new questions about the trump campaign ties to russia. >> tim kaine and lindsey graham two of many guests weighing in on that. we will be right back. there's nothing more important to me

than my vacation. 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 the uncertainties of hep c.

wondering, what if? i let go of all those feelings. because i am cured with harvoni. harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. it's been prescribed to more than a quarter million people. and is proven to cure up to 99% of patients who have had no prior treatment with 12 weeks. certain patients can be cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. before starting harvoni, your doctor will test to see if you've ever had hepatitis b, which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after harvoni treatment. tell your doctor if you've ever had hepatitis b, a liver transplant, other liver or kidney problems, hiv or any other medical conditions and about all the medicines you take including herbal supplements. taking amiodarone with harvoni can cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. common side effects of harvoni include tiredness, headache and weakness. ready to let go of hep c? ask your hep c specialist about harvoni.

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"... 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. it is the bottom of the hour. start with the day's top stories. james comey in the middle of investigation into russia's efforts to skew the presidential election, and any connections with the trump campaign when he was fired without warning. the white house issued a statement saying president trump acted on recommendations of jeff sessions and his deputy, rod rosenstein. andrew mccabe is now the acting

director. meanwhile, president trump meets with sergei lavrov today, highest level meeting with a russian official. >> how did this happen so quickly you're asking. according to white house officials, after taking office less than a month ago, rosenstein self started and concluded comey lost public confidence. presented his findings to the attorney general, set up a dramatic evolution. >> does the president still have confidence, full confidence in the fbi director james comey? >> i have no reason to believe, i haven't asked him. i have not asked the president since last time we spoke about this. >> last time you spoke you said he had confidence, you're not sure to say that now. >> i don't, in light of what you're telling me, i don't want to speak on behalf of the president without speaking to him first. >> all these people report to the president. did he defer in duties as leader by waiting this many months?

>> not at all. the deputy attorney general is a person the fbi director reports to. >> he reports to the president. >> and deputy attorney general was confirmed by the senate 14 days ago, they made that recommendation, forward it to the attorney general. that decision, recommendation came today. the president acted decisively to take them up, concur with the recommendation. >> the decision marks the latest dramatic schapter in the roller coaster relationship between he and president trump who repeatedly praised the now former fbi chief throughout the campaign and early presidency. >> took guts for director comey to make the move he made in light of the kind of opposition he had where they're trying to protect her from criminal prosecution. you know that. i respect the fact that director comey was able to come back after what he did.

i respect that very much. what he did, he brought back his reputation. he brought it back. he's got to hang tough because there's a lot of people want him to do the wrong thing. he's become more famous than me. >> back with us again from washington, national political reporter jonathan swan. you look at that reel of the sound bites, add the tweets where he praised james comey. take us deeper inside how the president went from a defender and praiser of james comey on the trail to rapidly deciding he is an ineffective leader and has to go, especially what was inside rosenstein's memo to the white house. >> people have known donald trump say, there's no middle ground with donald trump. you're awesome, fantastic, the best, the greatest or you're the

worst, horrible despicable, disgusting, and the same person can be both things, depending whether they're helpful or not helpful to donald trump. to the extent he was used at the end of the campaign, he was wonderful, but he has done several things since then that have enraged donald trump. it wouldn't take a great length of imagination to think donald trump doesn't enjoy being called out publicly, which he did when he said barack obama wire tapped him. we have seen more recently another pressure point which is really, really important, i can't emphasize how much the president takes this personally which was james comey intimating during his hearing that said he was mildly nauseous his comments may have influenced the election. donald trump does not want to hear that. >> this was such a major move. do you think the white house expected this much back lash so

quickly? >> based on the media preparation, the answer would have to be no because look, i have been brought into the white house and briefed with small groups on things which they think will be sensitive to prepare the ground for it. i understand this is something they wouldn't want to leak out, but there was no -- this was like political malpractice in terms of how they prepared for this. there was no coherent messaging strategy. didn't see lot of surrogates lined up to go on television and defend the president, so there was not good preparation for this. >> political malpractice and what comes with it. thank you. a number of top republican lawmakers raised concerns over president trump's decision to fire james comey, others are shrugging it off. chairman of the judiciary committee grassley was critical saying the former director's decisions on controversial

matters prompted concern across the political spectrum and from career law enforcement experts. fellow member senator lindsey graham tweeted given recent controversy surrounding the director, i believe a fresh start will serve the fbi and nation well. and john cornyn tweeted these were against him before, now they're for him. susan collins saying the president did not fire the entire fbi, he fired the director. earlier in the evening, she down played the impact of the president's decision on the russia investigation. take a listen to that. >> it will have absolutely no impact at all on the investigation that we on the intelligence committee are conducting. we made a lot of progress in the last couple of weeks. >> we're going to get more of lindsey graham's reaction to the james comey firing when he joins the conversation on morning joe

coming up. they say james comey was dismissed, they sent a letter to the judiciary committee concerning his testimony that took place last week. according to the bureau, comey erred when he said huma abedin forwarded thousands of e-mails while working at the state department to her husband, anthony weiner. >> somehow her e-mails are forwarded to anthony weiner, including classified information. >> she had a regular practice i think for him to printout so she could deliver them to secretary of state. forwarded hundreds of thousands some of which had classified information. >> you heard him say hundreds of thousands of e-mails were forwarded. clarification from the fbi clarifies only two e-mail chains were forwarded to wienner, ten others the product of a backup of her personal electronic device. according to the fbi, all 12 e-mail chains had been previously reviewed by

investigators. the discrepancy first reported by propublicly ka. william sessions, who was fired by president clinton in 1993, that came after an internal ethics investigation found sessions improperly billed the government for personal spending, engaged in false transactions to avoid paying taxes, used an fbi airplane for personal trips. here is how tom brokaw reported it on nbc news. >> it was a three alarm day in washington, the president announcing his policy for gays in the military in one hour, and firing the fbi next. the fbi director william sessions finally got the message today, time to go. he was fired from the president personally after refusing request from attorney general janet reno to step aside. more on this from pete williams. >> reporter: with attorney general janet reno at his side, president clinton went before reporters to say session's

leadership left the fbi in turmoil. >> after thorough review of mr. session's leadership at the fbi, she reported to me in no uncertain terms he can no longer effectively lead the bureau and law enforcement community. >> meanwhile, cnn reporting over the past few weeks federal prosecutors seeked subpoenas seeking business records from people that worked with michael flynn when he was a private citizen, citing people familiar with the matter, cnn reports they targeted people that worked with flynn on contracts after he was removed as director of defense intelligence agency back in 2014. the subpoenas come as part of the investigation into russian interference in the 2016 election. the fbi, justice department, and attorney for flip declined comment. nbc news hasn't independently confirmed this reporting. meanwhile, shawn supervisor defended the 18 day period between when sally yates gave a heads up on flynn's reason with

russia and his firing. called her a political opponent. >> someone who is not exactly a supporter of the president's agenda. you have someone you have to wonder why they're telling something to the point they had to come back a second time because what they were saying is unclear. >> how is she a political opponent? >> appointed by the obama administration, a strong supporter of clinton. >> you said sally yates was strong supporter of hillary clinton. what is that based on? >> i think she's made some -- it was widely rumored to play a large role in the justice department of hillary clinton. >> much more on this and a lot more on morning joe coming up. still ahead. apple retains title as the most valuable public company. that and other stories driving the day on wall street. and the storm that slammed the southwest, more than a half dozen tornadoes, on the move.

bill karins has the forecast coming up. a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter v8 engine. a 10-speed direct-shift transmission. a meticulously crafted interior. all of these are feats of engineering. combining them with near-perfect weight distribution... ...is a feat of amazing. experience the first-ever 471-horsepower lexus lc 500 or the multistage hybrid lc 500h. experience amazing.

there's a moment of truth. and now with victoza® a better moment of proof. victoza® lowers my a1c and blood sugar better than the leading branded pill, which didn't get me to my goal. lowers my a1c better than the leading branded injectable. the one i used to take. and better than that diabetes pill i used to take. (jeff) victoza® works with your body to lower blood sugar in three ways-- in the stomach, the liver, and the pancreas. and while it isn't for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight. non-insulin victoza® comes in a pen and is taken once a day. (announcer vo) victoza® is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes,

and is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck or if you develop any allergic symptoms including itching, rash, or difficulty breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. so, stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area. tell your doctor your medical history. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. now's the time for a better moment of proof. ask your doctor about victoza®.

she hasn't been seen in weeks, no one knows what she's up to. gum shoes, your answer today is to answer this question. ♪ where in the world is kellyanne conway? >> what jeff sessions said in his letter is most important, read it. you need confidence, integrity, action, capability at the fbi. and they feel the current director was unable to perform his duties. you mention the democrats, that's rich. ♪ >> thanks for the trip down memory lane. i was on your show often last fall ♪ where in the world is kellyanne conway? >> kellyanne conway making her return to television. all right. turn to visits where u.s. markets are mixed following

firing of james comey. asian markets higher after swearing in of the south korean president. nancy, good morning. can you take us through the global markets? >> good morning, lewis. that abrupt dismissal of fbi director comey keeps investors on edge. the most immediate was in the u.s. dollar trending slower, they recovered some losses on the green back. expect equities to open lower on wall street according to u.s. futures. although the comey firing may not have immediate impact on markets according to some investors, it is a larger concern it could once again distract from putting through pro-growth agenda in congress, specifically talking tax reform. that's the uncertainty that may weigh on investors' minds. keep an eye on walmart. according to sources, telling "the wall street journal" they could be set to pay a $300

million settlement for foreign bribery allegations, goes back to a five year investigation, the government has been exploring. this sum said to be far less than the near 1 billion dollar section sought by officials under the obama administration. >> and nancy, go one more story, apple hitting a big milestone this morning. tell us about it. >> that's right. apple had crossed the $800 billion mark in trading yesterday before closing just shy of that milestone. it would be the first company to surpass that level, this was largely down to an analyst report suggesting more up side for apple, coming days after some analysts were concerned by earnings reports. fears they didn't sell as many iphones as expected. this analyst at drexel hamilton says there's more up side. sees the stock going to $202 a share. that would be a significant up side. we will see if we get pull back in stock exchange today after that rally.

again, helped the nasdaq hit a record high. back to you. >> thanks so much. let's get a check on weather with the bearer of bad news, nbc meteorologist bill severe weather karins. >> i hate ruining mother's day, picnic plans you have been planning and then have to change the plans. worst in west texas. we have heavy rain, thunderstorms, producing hail. 10 million at risk of severe storms today. watching late day for chance of tornadoes from childress towards oklahoma city. they have a good helicopter pilot if they get tornadoes on the ground, if there's a close enough range, they'll show them on tv. see if that happens. kansas city, north of st. louis, chance for big hail storms late today. time this mess. slow moving storm going through the week. there's today's storm. going to tomorrow, watch dallas to memphis. friday, thunderstorms and heavy rain for kentucky, tennessee and maybe some isolated stronger

storms through mississippi, louisiana and alabama. here's the weekend. yellow is moderate to heavy rainfall. saturday afternoon, philadelphia, new york city, heavy rain moving to you. saturday night, continues around new york city. saturday, high winds, large waves, maybe coastal flooding for southern new england through boston. that morning brunch could be difficult. umbrella will be blowing inside out if having morning brunch in boston. rain during sunday night, sunday afternoon moves toward northern new england. that's the timing for mother's day. rainfall totals, not much flooding concern in the midwest. getting to red and pink, that's two, three inches of rainfall friday, saturday, sunday. that rain is one to three inches in areas of new england. i don't think we're going to deal with a lot of flooding concerns, just localized. mother's day plans, boston,

providence, hartford, looks like an indoor day. >> thanks for that weather update. switching gears to a story developing out of seattle where the mayor is dropping his re-election campaign. comes amid allegations of sexually abusing teenage boys in the 1980s which the mayor firmly denies. >> the allegations against me paint me in the worst possible historic portraits of a gay man. the allegations against me are not true and i say this with all honesty and with the deepest sincerity. but the scandal surrounding them and me is hurting this city. >> murray who is openly gay and married says his quote, heart aches, and his decision tears him to pieces. seattle times reports he was expected to easily win re-election. and jean stoddard was lktd

mayor. he tried to turn it into a lightning rod for donald trump and the race attracted national attention when bernie sanders and the dnc chair campaigned pe campaigned alongside him. it appeared to be divisive because mellow once voted for a bill favored by anti-abortion activists. is the democratic party not in lock stop for abortion. the u.s. approves a plan to arm kurdish rebels. >> president obama has an answer for those who keep asking him to jump back into the political fray. we'll tell you what that is next. studies show that toms have the highest average earning potential over their professional lifetime. see? uh, it's a girl. congratulations! two of my girls are toms. i work for ally, finances are my thing. you know, i'm gonna go give birth real quick and then we'll talk, ok? nice baby. let's go. here comes tom #5! nothing, stops us from doing right by our customers.

ally. do it right. whoo! look out. ally. do it right. 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. 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.o it only takes a minute to take care of yourself, and nothing rhymes with "org"...

welcome back. president obama has been weeding back into the public realm. in milan he discussed what to expect from his future involvement. >> people always ask me, oh, mr. preside president, we need you and we want you involved. i'm happy to get involved. but the greatest thing i think i can give is to make sure that somebody who is 20 years old, 2 1 21, 25, ready to make their mark on the world, that i can help them so they can take it to the next level. >> the former president there looking fairly relaxed. you may recall one of his main calling cards during the campaign trail, don't boo, vote.

yesterday he echoed that sentiment. >> ultimately politicians can help guide policy, but the energy to bring about change is going to come from what people do every day. people have a tendency to blame politicians when things don't work, but as i saulz tell people, you get the politicians you deserve. and if you don't vote and you don't participate and don't pay attention, then you'll get policies that don't reflect your interests. staying overseas, president trump approved a plan to arm the kurdish militia. the key ally against the fight against isis in syria. turkey considers them a threat and the extension of pkk which turkey labels as a terrorist organization.

a pentagon spokeswoman says the u.s. wants to reassure the people and government of turkey that america is committed to protecting our nato allies. nearly 250 people are missing and feared dead after two recent shipwrecks in the mediterranean sea. a rubber dinghy bound for italy sa sank, 82 people feared dead or missile. a woman and six men were rescued off a boat. the un believes more than 1300 people have died or disappeared trying to cross from north africa to italy. chelsea manning, sentenced to prison for leaking classified documents to wikileaks is set to be released after serving seven years. manning, now a transgender woman released a statement saying, quote, for the first time i can see a future for myself as chelsea. president obama commuted all but four months of his sentence just

before he left office back in january. coming up next on "morning joe," a jam packed show as we continue following reaction to the firing of fbi director james comey. sarah huckabee sanders joining joe and mika for a live interview. >> senate torsion lindsey graham, tim kaine and richard blumenthal. "morning joe" just moments away. (vo) introducing 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. 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 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. when...we've got: pills,old, we tea, syrups, steamything... the list goes on and on... but whatever you do, you can add vicks vaporub to the mix. lasts up to 8 hours - clinically proven cough...

...relief so you can sleep. 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. before we toss it over to "morning joe," let's get a check on the stories in the day ahead. president set to meet with russian's foreign minister sergey lavrov. secretary of state rex tillerson was already set to meet with lavrov. >> paul ryan will be in ohio to discuss how reform will help the manufacturing industry. >> the city of angels will make the case for why it should be the host city for 2024 summer olympics. paris is also vying to host the games. loser could snag the 2028 games instead. that does it for us on this wednesday. i'm yasmin va sooufian.

>> i have to reason to believe -- i haven't asked him. i have not asked the president since the last time we spoke about this. >> the last time you spoke about it you said he did have confidence. >> in light of what you're telling me, i don't want to speak on behalf of the president. >> all these individuals report to the president. why did the president wait? did he defer in his duties as a leader of this country by waiting this many months? >> not at all. the deputy attorney general is a person whom the fbi director reports to. >> he reports to the president. >> the deputy attorney general was confirmed by the senate 14 days ago, made that recommendation, forwarded it to the attorney general. that recommendation came today. the president acted decisively to take them up and concur with the recommendation. >> fbi director james comey overseeing the investigation surrounding trump associates and the kremlin now fired by the president. the extraordinary move coming