with president trump tomorrow. we will have that for you tomorrow night. that is it for our broadcast for tonight. for all of us here in new york good night. thank you for being with us. president trump yesterday announced that the search for a new permanent fbi director will begin immediately. added trump, at the same time, i don't want to be russian in deciding who did putin charge. james comey fallout continues. this morning there are new reports that the now former fbi director had asked for additional resources for the russia investigation in the days leading up to his firing. plus president trump meets with russia's top diplomat, but bars american media. and according to russian state media, the president will also meet with vladimir putin in july. and president trump's job approval rating hits a new record low. new polling shows he's losing

support from key parts of his base. good morning. it's thursday, may 11th. is. >> and this morning a congressional investigation into michael flynn, it's advancing as the state intel committee issues subpoenas to the former national security adviser, but that is being overshadowed by the sudden ouster of james comey who was leading the probe into russia and the election. pete williams begins our coverage. >> reporter: the justice department is now looking at five candidates all within the fbi to act as interim fbi director after the firing of james comey as the bureau struggles to adjust are to the shock. fbi insiders tell nbc news that many at fbi headquarters believe he was fired because he would not end the russia investigation, something the president clearly wanted over tweeting two days ago when will the taxpayer funded charade end.

the justice department and white house say the final steps in firing comey who husbandgot bac washington after being in the was, they say he met with jeff sessions and rod rosenstein and said he wanted to talk about his concerns that comey should be fired. rosenstein said he had reached the same conclusion and agreed to put his thoughts on paper which became the three page memo blasting comey's handling evof e clinton e-mail investigation. congressional sources say comey asked rosenstein last week for more resources for the russia investigation, but a justice department official says that request was never made. a spokesman says the president has been thinking since he took office that comey was not respected. >> rank and file of the fbi had lost confidence in their director. accordingly the president accepted the recommendation of

his deputy attorney general to remove james comey from his position. >> reporter: current and former agents say that is not true, that while some thought comey miss handled the clinton e-mail investigation, they didn't lose confidence in him. >> he's a good man. he's well intentioned, well thought of. is the law enforcement community thinks very highly of him. and it's just a terrible thing that has happened here. >> reporter: people throughout the fbi are in shock at the firing which came with no warning. as for the investigation of russia's hacking during the election and whether any trump campaign associates were involved, that work goes on, but some former officials say the firing casts a cloud. >> if you're an investigator, you have to ask yourself how much evidence do i need to support my claims that the point. when will i be believed or not be believed. >> reporter: some in congress say by playing a role in the firing, attorney general jeff sessions violated his pledge to keep hands off any investigations involving the

campaign, but officials say that was a personnel decision about comey's leadership, not about any investigation. >> pete williams, thank you. senior white house official now describing a small inner circle that had been looped in on the president's thinking regarding firing james comey. we're told it was vice president pence, jared kushner and white house counsel who backed the decision. as for james comey, he was spotted at home yesterday and three sources confirm he wrote this letter to his former staff yesterday, and it reads in part, i have long believed that a president can fire an fbi director for any reason or for no reason at all. i'm not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. i hope you won't either. it's done and i will be fine. although i will miss you and the mission deeply, i have said to you before that in times of turbulence, the american people should see the fooish as a rock ever confidence, honesty and independence. what makes leaving the fbi hard is the nature and quality of its people who together make it that rock for america. >> and russian president

vladimir putin is weighing in on all this, he participated in a celebrity hockey game yesterday and an evening news reporter tracked him down in the entrance tunnel. take a listen. >> how will the firing of james comey affect u.s./russia relations? >> translator: there will be no effect. your question looks very funny for me. don't be angry with me. we have nothing to do with that. president trump is acting in accordance with his competence. and what about us, you see i'm going to play hockey and i invite you to do the same. >> and in case you're wondering,

vladimir putin scored six goals, had five assists and pretty stellar performance if you ask me. the kremlin announced yesterday that putin and president trump will have their first meeting since trump's inauguration in germany at the g-20 summit. in fact u.s. officials will only say they are discussing it. >> and president trump's decision to fire james comey continues to divide the republican party with one top member now calling on the department of justice to investigate the move. house oversight committee jason chaffetz has announced that he's requested the inspector general to expand his review of russia to look to the decision to get rid of comey. and paul ryan has broke his silence. he's standing behind the president's decision as he echos senate majority leader michl mcc mitch mcconnell's rejection of the a special prosecutor. still there is a growing number of republicans questioning the timing. >> it no doubt calls for a new

investigation which could only serve to impede the current work being done to not only discover what the russians may have done, also to let this body and the national security community develop counter measures and war fighting doctrine to see that it didn't o doesn't occur again. >> i don't think that is a good idea. first of all, we have three investigations going on right now, a house investigation by our intelligence committee which is the appropriate committee to do that and we have the senate intelligence community, you played richard burr, and the fbi investigating all things russia spp so i don't think that is a good idea. >> special prosecutor would say i don't think i can do my job which is to lead the investigation. so i'm not in favor of a special prosecutor because i think the committee can carry out its important and come to a conclusion. >> the timing and the reasons for this decision made little sense to me. and i don't think i've heard

anything since last night that would clarify that in any way. >> i think they have been investigating the trump campaign's connections with russia for a long time. i just think that it obviously was not done in an efficient fashion, but when you fire probably arguably the most respected person in america, you better have a very good explanation. and so far i vnthaven't seen th. >> chuck schumer called for three things to happen in the wake of james comey's firing. >> we will be pursuing several things in the coming days and weeks. first, mr. rosenstein should into tnot be the one on to appoint a special prosecutor. second, mr. comey is needed more than ever to testify before the senate. third, attorney general sessions and denity attorney general rosenstein should brief all

senators on these events separately and in a classified setting if necessary and they should do it soon. >> and also house minority leader nancy pelosi threatening to force a vote on creating an independent panel to investigation the possible ties to russia. she sent a letter to her colleagues yesterday that read in part, if republicans continue to work to hide the truth from the american people, it will be necessary for democrats to file a discharge petition to force a vote on the legislation. discharge petition would allow a measure to be brought straute s the floor, though dems would need a majority to sign on. joining us now, daniel clit dlt m man. how do you think this will affects the president's agenda in congress? >> sucks all the oxygen out of the room because people in the senate, we thought they were going to talk about health care, repeal and replace bill, but if

seems like over the next few months it will just be russia all the time. it makes it harder for president trump to get what he wants through congress. >> let me ask you about the russia investigation what you think is going to happen next with it. we heard paul ryan say that there are several investigations, richard burr reluctant to give his up. but where do you see the russia investigation going toward internally within the fbi? >> i think it creates a lot of enemies for trump inside the fbi. the people who are investigating him were big fans of comey and they were really shocked and angered that he fired their boss who they loved. and so it makes them even more enthusiastic to do their job and hopefully get a leader who they can rally behind and actually get this investigation done in a nonpartisan fairway so we can actually know what happened with the trump campaign's ties with russia. >> all right. we'll talk to you more in a bit about the senate investigation

later in the show. daniel lippman, thank you. a new poll from quinnipiac university shows president trump's job approval rating sliding. 36% approve, 58% disapprove, a net negative rating of 22 points. among independents, only 29% approve of the president and down 9 points from last month. 47% of whites without a college degree approve. a 10 point drop for them. while 48% of white men approve the job trump is doing is satisfactory. down 5 points overall. asked about president trump's first 100 days, 58% say it was mainly a failure. 38% called it a success. the president's honesty rating is at a near all time low. only 33% say he is honest. 61% say he is not. that includes 21% of republicans. and on the question of who voters trust more to tell the truth, 57% say the news media, 31% say president trump. so amidst all of this, the

trump administration hosting russian foreign minister rlavro yesterday. lavrov and tillerson had a closed door meeting with the president in the oval office along with bhaambassador kislya. those photos are from russia's news agency. the official white house photographer was also there, although nothing has been released yet. president trump said the meeting was, quote, very, very good and at a new conference lavrov said they did not discuss the absurd issues related to the russian interference in the election pointing to the story that is fake news. mike pence said emphasizing unwavering u.s. support for ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity. and congressman tom mckoran played a critical role. last night he spent five years

listening to his constituents at a town hall in new jersey. take a listen. >> folks, you get to ask the questions and i get to answer them. >> so answer them. >> he faced hostile questions not only on health care and the amendment he helped write, but on an array of issues involving president trump as well, the crowd took a page out of the democrats' playbook when the congressman discuss youed his party's celebration with the president in the rose garden after the health bill passed. >> a question you asked before about the optics of last week. i didn't think cheerg wing was appropriate that day and i didn't think jeering was appropriate either. i didn't think singing on the house floor was appropriate either. do you have a question?

>> he's in the trenches there. before the town hall even began, a large crowd gathered outside with some lying on the ground holding cardboard tombstones over their bodies. still ahead, congressman mcarthur wasn't the only one who met with an angry crowd. betsy devos welcomed reception when she went to give a speech. and plus looking to expand a ban on certain large electronics on board flights from europe. those stories and a check on the weather when we come back.

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thank you so very, very much for this great honor and privilege. [ crowd booing ] >> i am honored to become a wildcat. and it's a real honor and privilege to be with you as we

celebrate the bethune cook man class of 2017. >> pretty powerful there. that was education secretary giving the commencement speech yesterday at a historically black school. you can see some of the graduated students protested standing up and turning their backs. at one point the school's president interrupted her to issue this warning. >> if this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you. choose which way you want to go. >> devos later said she has respect for all who attended including those that disagree with her. >> let's get a check on your weather now with bill karins. and bill, we still have some risk of severe weather from

texas to virginia this morning. >> yeah, severe storms today and then we'll talk about the nor'easter and washout of a saturday coming up the east coast. sunday may turn out okay for a few spots. so let's start with what is happening now. we don't have any severe weather out there. one thunderstorm headed for st. louis. and another one trying to make its way toward ft. worth and dallas, but also dying off. very typical, storms fire up the a night and then die off and then regenerate this afternoon. so 22 million people at risk are. greatest concentration of the storms are from oklahoma city to tul tulsa, dallas, and spreading into arkansas and louisiana this afternoon. and possibly of wind damage heading through areas like memphis and nashville and from louisville to lexington to kentucky. and maybe an isolated stlorong storm in between rich hand amon ram lee. the weekend nor'easter, by the time we get to tomorrow at 5:00 p.m., the storm located north of

atlanta, steady rains unthrough southern appalachian, thunderstorms down along the gulf. we take the storm saturday morning, heavier rains mid-atlantic region up toward philadelphia. saturday morning kind of a washout here in areas of the chesapeake bay and heading up into southern new england. then throughout saturday, the heavy rain shifts north as the coast storm gets stronger. by 8:00 p.m. saturday, that's when the heaviest rains are right over the top of the tri-state area of new york, new jersey and connecticut. and it looks like boston is not going to be until saturday night. rainfall totals very impressive, 1 to 3 inches all through the mid-atlantic and up through new england. as far as who will have the worst mother's day, it looks like the storm will be far enough north that boston up through northern new england, it looks kind of rainy. but boast souston southwards maa decent afternoon. still ahead, two game sevens

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game. 25 of those in the first half alone. al horford added 19 and celtics take a 3-2 series lead. turning to the ice and a pair of game sevens. the ducks are skating on to the western conference final after defeating the oilers 2-1 last night. while edmonton was first on the board, anaheim answered in the seco second. ea ducks will player the predators in the next round. and in the nation's capital, penguins' marc-andre fleury turning aside 29 pucks to help pittsburgh blank washington last night. and they now look on to meeting the senators in the eastern conference final there. there was also extra action after pittsburgh had already built the two goal lead and first game seven fight in nearly

a quarter century. and on to major league baseball. in new york what should have been a routine double play ball to send the mets home with a 3-2 win is mishandled by the third baseman wiflores. and the error is followed by an rbi single hit by hunter pence that ties it. and then a huge three run double to give the giants the lead. san fran snaps a five game losing skid with the win there. mets fans are not happy about that one. and back in the nation's capital where we can finally give some good news for washington sports fans out there. it was plating two runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk the nationals off with a 7-6 win over the orioles. >> washington sports fans, first the capitals knocked out and then the wizards lose. that was a tough one. thanks for that. still ahead, michael flynn

subpoenaed to the senate, intel committee wants the former national securities adviser to hand over documents related to the investigation into russian meddling. and melissa mccarthy makes her return to snl. we have a preview. look closely. hidden in every swing, every chip, and every putt, is data that can make the difference between winning and losing. the microsoft cloud helps the pga tour turn countless points of data into insights that transform their business and will enhance the game for players and fans. the microsoft cloud turns information into insight. they carry your fans shpassions, hopes, and dreams.s. and maybe, a chance at greatness because shoulders were made for greatness. not dandruff.

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getscreenednow.org it only takes a minute to take care of yourself, and nothing rhymes with "org"... welcome back, everybody. it's the bottom of the hour. let's start with the morning's top stories. senate intelligence committee

has subpoenaed michael flynn. the committee asking for documents related to the panel's investigation into russian interference in the 2016 election.documents were initially requested last month, but flynn declined to comply unless he was offered immunity. instead the committee followed up with a subpoena, their first since the 2001 joint inquiry into the september 11 terrorist attacks. investigators have interested in companies that have done business with president trump or people related to his campaign. the "wall street journal" notes that that could include businesses associated with members of trump's family like jared kushner. the white house continues to maintain the investigation will prove there was no collusion between the trump camel pain pa russi russia. and and. it's hard to know where to begin on the firing of fbi director james comey which has cast the future of the bureau and investigation into russia in

serious doubt. at the heart of it is the timing with the revelation that comey had briefed congress on monday requesting more staff and money for that russia investigation from deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. but a spokeswoman for the justice department says during their may 1st meeting there was no discussion of funds or additional resources. and multiple fbi insiders tell nbc's pete williams they believe comey was fired because he would not end the russia investigation. the "wall street journal" reports comey had dug into the probe going from weekly briefings to daily ones concerned over potential evidence of collusion, but the president spanned such speculation during a white photo-op with none other than henry kissinger. >> why did you fire director com comey? >> because he was not doing a good job. very simply. >> did it affect your meeting with the russians today? >> no. >> will the new fbi director be in charge of the rush sha

investigation? >> thank you, everybody. >> the "washington post" reports this morning that by last weekend, the president had made up his mind, comey had to go. quote, the president already had decided to fire company on comey, but several said that he gave sessions and rosenstein a directive, to explain in writing the case against comey. the pair quickly fulfilled the boss' orders and the next day tru trump fired comcomey. >> and this report from hallie jackson. >> reporter: by 5:00 p.m. tuesday, increasingly fed up president had made up his mind. but in the moments before 5:40 when the news broke, a top source says key aides hadn't even heard about the firing. instead they watched it flash across cable, growing angry not about what the president did, but how it was revealed, frustrated by the lack of strategy. by #:00, the president had

called nine senators but not comey who was in california. >> no matter how you fire someone, it's never an easy process. and so he felt like following protocol was the best thing to do. >> reporter: president trump who used to fire people for a living instead dispatched his long time security head to hand deliver a letter to fbi headquarters. one former intelligence officer describes it as humiliating. by 9:00 p.m., white house advisers surprised by the blow back blitzed tv showing comey's motorcade heading back to l.a.x. as he flew off literally into the sunset. >> he was not doing a good job. >> reporter: that's not what the press secretary said a week ago. >> the president has confidence in the director. >> the president had lost confidence in comey from the day -- >> sean spicer said he had full confidence. why did he say that? >> again, he's questioned

director comey's reason for needing to stay at the fbi. >> reporter: but not publicly. and not recently. >> so is it too late now to ask him to step down? >> no, it's not too late, but i have confidence in him.ins tami watergate. they are not well planned and you get repercussions when you don't think things out. >> reporter: some details still aren't clear like the three separate occasions on which president trump says comey told him he wasn't personally being investigated and who initiated those talks. >> i won't get into the specifics of their conversations. >> reporter: and what specifically changed from president trump's talk on the trail -- >> it took guts for director comey to make the move that he made. >> can people take at face value what the president says about personnel issues like this? >> absolutely you can take full confidence in the words of the president. >> reporter: senior white house official is now describing a small inner circle that had been

looped in on the president's thinking regarding firing james comey. we're told it was vice president pence, adviser jared kushner and don mcgahn. all of whom backed down the preside the president's decision. yesterday white house press operation sought to show comey had lost the confidence of high school colleagues, what remained is frustration inside the hall of the bureau. former officials tell nbc news that they believe comey was fired because he would not end the russia investigation and mcclatchy sights that whatever differences existed within the fbi about comey's handling of the clinton, quote, bureau agents are united in their contempt for how he was fired. the "wall street journal" reports that fbi staffers denied the claim made by the president in his letter firing mr. comey

that the director told him on three occasions that he wasn't under investigation. they said mr. comey never gave mr. trump any such guidance which would violate long standing policies on criminal investigations in the bureau. one associate told the paper, quote, that is literally farc t ical. comey has been invited to a closed session ever thof the in committee tuesday. and we're told acting director andrew mccabe will take his place testifying today. it is unclear how long he's actually going to be in the role, the president already considering four other candidates for the temporary post. and as it was put yesterday, mccabe he has political problems in reference to the ongoing inspector general's investigations in the clinton

e-mail investigation. questions first surfaced after it was revealed that mccabe's wife received nearly half a million dollars in campaign donations from clinton confid t confidant's political group. at the time jill mccabe was running for virginia state senate as a democrat. at one point it became an issue and here is nominee donald trump talking about his current head of the fbi. >> so the man that was investigating per frher from th his wife runs for office and they give her more than $675,000 to run. and it just came out they just figured it out. we've never had a thing like this in the history of this country. this represented a large portion of the money the fbi official's spouse had for the entire campaign. a big percentage. it's absolutely disgraceful, it's absolutely terrible.

we have to investigate the investigation, folks. >> at the time the fbi said mccabe followed all protocols related to his wife's donation. the bureau also said jill mccabe's campaign had been over for three months by the time her husband became involved in the clinton e-mail investigation. still the president, he used it as part of his rigged system theme linking the donation to the fbi as recommendation of no charges hillary clinton. joining us from washington, daniel lippman. nice to talk to you once again. so senator richard burr leading the intel panel on the russia investigation, what has been his reaction to the fbi director's firing and could we see comey testify to the house intel committee next week? >> so i think burr realizes that his reputation is on the line. it has been for the last few months that he has been leading the senate intelligence committee investigation. and so he was very critical of trump for doing this. he said that comey was very fort

coming. as to whether he'll testify next week, we have to see. but i think democrats and some republicans really want to get comey's side of the story because he's kind of like the hot ticket for them to hear what he has to say. >> and let me ask you about this possibility of an independent prosecutor. we heard senator burr talk about he does not want that because it means that he can't do his job or the senate investigative committee can't do their job. so what is the likelihood do you think that we will see a special prosecutor appointed. and would that then supersede all other ongoing investigations including the one in the house intel committee and the senate? >> i think as more allegations and more details just come out about what exactly happened with comey and the investigation, that will increase pressure for republicans to name a special prosecutor. but i think unless there is overwhelming public support for this move, then republicans would be smart politically not

to name one because it would just kind of get the investigation out of their hands and you saw with bill clinton once you name a special prosecutor, you have no idea what will happen, it could take down a presidency. >> all right. live in washington, daniel lippman, thank you very much. let's turn to business where one of the hottest social media sites released its first ever earnings report and results are less than stellar. nancy, i guess snap's q1 earnings less than stellar there. >> that's right. and investors not liking what they saw in those results. the stock now off more than 20% near the ipo price when snap did do the highly anticipated debut. the reasons for the disappointment are largely down to user growth. somewhat disappointing and analysts were quick to say this is the facebook effect. we know facebook was striking back when it launched instragram stories featuring some products similar to snapchat including

those filters you often see on social media. that is one reason that investors are disappointing. the other one was the revenue miss. some concerns over the spending the coma on advertising. so on continue to watch action on those shares. elsewhere, keep an eye on verizon communications. they won a bidding war for stra straight path. the company was worth around $400 million just a few years ago. but this deal is all about 5 g technology. and the spectra that straight path holds to on advance that mobile communications going forward. so a win there to verizon. and finally, keep an eye on whole foods after the company reported yet again another slowdown in same store sales, but it wasn't as bad as many analystsxpected, so we saw a pop in the stock price. and they have a pointed a new

cfo and says it will appoint five new directors to the board, all part of their attempt to try and address the complaints from activist shareholders who want this company to address increasing competition and to turn around sales growth. back to you for now. >> all right, thanks citnancy, . and melissa mccarthy goes from pretty to spicy. a transformation you definitely want to see. and reporter claims he was arrested for simply doing his job, but police say there is more to the story.

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♪ and so pretty that i hardly can believe i'm real ♪ such a pretty face, such a pretty -- >> i mean, if about that doesn't get you excited for this weekend, i don't know what will. that is melissa mccarthy there makings transition to snl's one and only sean spicer. and if you didn't know, she's hosting saturday night live this weekend alongside the musical guest. safe to say that would be a great show. >> i'd actually like to see the real sean spicer slide into the room. that would be good. all right, alist claiming h arrested for being too persistent. a radio journalist for public news service tried to ask tom price a question, but with officials say he was causing a disturbance. he was eventually released on $5,000 bail and then gave his version of the events. >> i was recording audio on my

phone and i reached it out to him past his staffers and the other people who were with him. and i asked him the question repeatedly and he did not answer. at some point i think they decided i was just too persistent in asking this question and trying to do my job. and so they arrested me. >> heyman is charged with willful destruction and price says he stands by the officer's decision to arrest. and want to check back in with bill karins for more weather. >> have you seen the fires in south georgia? we've talked about the severe weather, but smoky weather continues. these are some of the images in southern georgia, very difficult to fight. and it's been burning for a couple days now. and a lot of bad air quality headed toward jacksonville, florida area. yesterday it was 96 in orlando, today 97.

so oppressive heat in the southern portions of the country and today will be the same. gainesville at 96, charleston at 94. so while the northeast and great lakes is unusually chilly, it's very warm in the southern half of the country. near record highs. so think of all the firefighters out there in 95 degree heat trying to fight that blaze in the swamps, that is not fun. and northern chill continues. only 60s. new york city, saturday 54 when the nor'easter is nearby. and not much better back through the great lakes. so have and have nots all week long. and the south continues to be mid summer. >> any idea what caused that fire yet? is it weather related? >> i'll look that up for you. i didn't see what caused it. sometimes in the swamps like that, it can be lightning strikes. impressive. >> all right, bill, thanks. still ahead, the world react to the firing of james comey. >> it's complicating thing for the nation's diplomats.

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one day after firing fbi director james comey, president trump had only one event listed on his public schedule, a public meeting with russian's sergey lavrov. andrea mitchell has the details. >> good morning, ayman. president trump found support

for his position that there was no russian meddling in the election. awkward timing for the white house. russia's top diplomat visiting washington only hours after president trump fires the fbi director investigating possible links between the trump campaign and russia's election hacking. >> does the comey firing cast a shadow over your talks, gentlemen? sergey lavrov's joking response before heading the the white house where all reporters were barred but just official photographers let in. russia's official news agency releasing more than 20 photos of the meeting, president trump with the russian foreign minister, president trump with the russian ambassador, a central figure in the controversy over the firing of michael flynn. no pictures released yet by the white house. not a lot was released about what they discussed, but we know they agreed on one thing, the russia investigation is fake news. vladimir putin, after skating in

a celebrity hockey game asked by cbs how comey's firing will affect u.s.-russia relations? >> there will be no effect he says. president trump is acting in accordance with his competence and his law and constitution. russia's foreign minister challenging u.s. reporters. president trump publicly says all of it is false news. given no proof, well, it's not serious. democratic congressional investigators noting the irony. >> you can't make this stuff up. lavrov i will have to say is more consistently on point with the president's message than sean spicer is. >> announcing the president and putin will meet for the first time since mr. trump took office this summer in germany at a g-20 summit. the white house still not announcing it, saying they're just talking about it. >> andrea mitchell thank you.

joining us is nbc's keir simmons. between the president's meeting with russia's foreign minister and the firing of james comey, what's the reaction like that you're getting from overseas? >> in simple terms, this makes it more difficult for america's allies and easier for america's enemies around the world. you haven't heard that much from diplomats around the world who in general prefer to leave u.s. domestic issues as just that, domestic issues. we did overnight get one tweet from the u.s. ambassador to qatar, and she tweeted, increasingly difficult to wake up overseas to news from home knowing i will spend today explaining our democracy and institutions. i think if you take what u.s. intelligence has said about russian intervention in the electi election suggesting that the aim was to disrupt the u.s. democracy and the u.s. elections, well, i suspect they will think that is continuing to

work. russia of course denies it was involved in that way. meanwhile, meme who watch china closely say that there they think anything like that distracts the attention away from china and that can only be a good thing, also suggesting chinese diplomats now think their best strategy is to praise the president. they think if they praise him in general they will move him towards their position. >> interesting to hear. i'm sure that ambassador is not the only one fielding questions. keir simmons, thank you. coming up next on "morning joe" we'll talk with independent senator angus king of maine who has an idea for james comey's next job, leading the senate's probe into russia. plus shawn patrick maloney joins us by up staging an opponent by showing up in his district. "morning joe" is on the way. [boy] cannonball!

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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 welcome back. before we toss it over to "morning joe," let's get a check on the stories you'll be hearing about in the day ahead starting at the white house with nbc's hallie jackson. >> luithe headline belongs to ns

lester holt who sits down with president trump for an exclusive one-on-one interview with plenty to discuss, 48 hours after the abrupt firing of now former fbi director james comey. the acting fbi director, andrew mccabe, will be over on capitol hill later today speaking publicly in that role for the first time as he testifies in front of the senate intelligence committee. we'll have an eye on all of it. louis. >> meanwhile attorney jeff sessions will be in west virginia giving opening remarks at a heroin and opioid summit. the new budget would cut 98% of the budget in the fight against the opioid epidemic in the country. >> "morning joe" starts right now. one, he was a candidate for president, not the president.

those are two very different things. once you take over leading the department of justice, that's very different than being a candidate in a campaign. i think also having a letter like the one he received and having that conversation that outlined the basic atrocities in circumventing the chain of command in the department of justice. any person of legal mind and authority knows what a big deal that is. >> there are stunning new details this morning in the firing of james comey, from the timeline of events to the white house rationale of why it happened. we have it all for you. joe, i usually like to start with the news, but i think we want to hear from you first. go. >> mika, the lies of yesterday morning got burned off by noontime. by the late afternoon some great reporting from a lot of great newspapers, a lot of great journalists. what did