you can catch me tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. thank you for being with us and good night from new york. the republican health care plan already in jeopardy. it's already facing opposition from republicans and democrats are piling on. plus, president trump tries to put an end to a zriesz he created. he says he has no tapes of his meeting with james comey. in the aftermath of cindy, widespread damage. there's a flash flood watch in effect in ten different states as the storms move in. good morning. it's friday, june 23rd. well, senate republicans rolled

out their health care bill yesterday, and it took little time before they were met with internal resistance and jeopardizing what leaders hoped would be a speedy passage of the bill. the 142-page bill maintains the structure of the house plan passed last month. it ends the tax penalties behind the mandate and offers tax credits to help people buy insurance. it allows insurers to raise the limit of what they charge older customers to five times what younger people pay. it allows children to stay on their parents' plans until the able of 26. it offers states the ability to drop many of the benefits required by the aca, including maternity care, emergency services, and mental health treatment. it would insure 74 million americans phasing out the

expansion provided by obama care between 2020 and 2024. with a long-term overhaul of the entitlement program by tying it to inflation, meaning deep cuts in medicaid funding. now, despite past promises not to cut medicaid, president trump tweeted that he is very supportive and "looks forward to making it really special." while vice president pence promised quick action. take a listen. >> today i want to assure you before the summer is out working with the congress president donald trump is going to keep our promise to the american people, and we're going to repeal and replace obama care. >> with a slim 52-seat majority and no democrats in support, the republicans can only afford to lose two votes, and four have already bluntly declared their opposition to the current bill. in a joint statement senators rapd paul, mike lee, ron johnson and ted cruz said they would vote no with complaints over the continuation of the medicaid expansion through 2020 and other obama care subsidies.

in a new interview president trump, he didn't seem concerned. >> republicans have the house and the senate, but have you these senators that are not on board. >> well, they're also four good guys and four friends of mine, and i think they'll probably get there. >> daniel lipman, co-author of the political playbook. good to talk to you this friday morning. >> happy friday. >> it's not just conservatives who seem opposed to this bill, but some of the centrists like shelly moore capito of west virginia. let's take a listen to her and then we'll talk. >> how are you going to vote on the health care bill? >> no, i haven't. i haven't had the chance to read it. obviously the medicaid expansion, the opioid issue are the areas of greatest concern for me. if it moves in a direction that i think imperils particularly the medicaid expansion issue and the opportunities there, i --

you know, i could have some problems with that. i'm going to do my best to push back as hard as they're going to push on their side. >> so shelly moore capito having some issues there as well. how likely do you think it is that senate majority leader mitch mcconnell gets this bill through the senate within a week as he wants to do? >> you know capitol hill. things take much longer than republicans wanted to get passed. this will probably not get done by next week. as they make the bill more conservative to win over those four hold-outs yesterday, they risk losing those moderates that are worried about the voters in their states that could get hurt if you yank this whole medicaid expansion. those poor voters who voted for trump but, you know, they -- the senators, they want to make sure that their constituents are protected. >> let me ask you about president trump also. he has to contend his campaign promises, and luckily for us, we have the tape of those campaign

promises. >> yeah, that tape. >> we have all the tapes. like this one from may 2015. take a listen. >> i'm not going to cut social security like every other republican, and i'm not going to cut medicare or medicaid. every other republican is going to cut. even if they wouldn't, they don't know what to do because they don't know where the money is. i do. >> that was something that he repeated throughout his campaign. it was like one of the signature comments he would make on the stump. how does the white house intend to reconcile those promises with the version that was put out yesterday? >> they're going to say that promises you make during a campaign are different in the hard reality of governing in washington, but i think, you know, trump is going to be reminded every time by reporters, by sbufrinterviewers this huge switch-up from basically defunding this huge part of medicaid. i think democrats will also bring up his comment describing the house health care bill, which is pretty close to the senate bill as mean. they're saying if the president of the united states is

describing his fellow republicans' bill as mean, then why should we vote for this? >> all right. daniel lipman in washington. we'll be tracking that. coming up on i "morning joe rand paul will give his opinion on the health care debate. a protest outside of mitch mcconnell's office. the demonstration was organized by a group called adapt, which identifies itself as a nonprofit for people with disables. according to the organization, protesters were specifically targeting the medicaid cuts proposed in this senate health care bill and as part of the demonstration, several of the protesters removed themselves from their wheel chairs and laid on the floor. now, according to capitol police, a total of 43 demonstrators, 15 men, 28 women, were arrested. video from the scene shows several of the protesters being carried away by officers as they chanted "no cuts to medicaid." >> while the republicans seek to reconcile a health care overhaul, a poll shows a

perception problem. a mere 16% of americans call the house version of the plan a good idea. democrats enjoy a 17% advantage when it comes to the question of who is better at handling health care policy. the country, they are deadlocked on the future of obama care. really the same number of people want to repeal and replace the law as want to keep it. president trump has finally tried to put to rest the ongoing mystery he started. whether he secretly recorded his private conversations with rememberformer fbi director james comey. the president yesterday tweeted out, "with all the recently reported electronic surveillance intercepts unmasking and illegal leaking of information, i have no idea whether there are tapes or recordings of my conversations with james comey, but i did not make and do not have any such recordings." now, the white house has dodged questions in response to the president's original tweet from last month. you may recall. just two weeks ago the president himself seemingly downplayed

their existence when asked about them. nbc news's halle jackson has more. >> are there tapes, sir? >> oh, you're going to be disappointed when you hear the answer. don't worry. >> i'm not surprised. i don't know why he said there were tapes to begin with, but now we know there are no tapes. he is not going to rise or fall on his tweets. he is eventually going to rise and fall like the rest of the republican party on whether or not we produce results for the american people. i have come to conclude that he is going to tweet when he wants to tweet, and the question is can we consolidate the majority that we have now and be effective? time will tell. >> the president didn't make tapes, it if he is not aware of tapes, then why did he hang the idea tapes over jamses comey's head? was he trying to intimidate him or stop other people from coming forward? there's a lot that remains to be answered here. i think after the president's

most recent tweets, the questions the americans are asking and our committee is asking, if you didn't tape-record these conversations, why did you suggest earlier that you had? were you trying to intimidate james comey? were you trying to discourage others from speaking out? why wait so long to tell the country? what does that say about how you run this country that you wish to create uncertainty about your own practices in the white house. how does that serve the public interest? >> now president trump is questioning the independence of special counsel robert mueller and his investigation to russia's role in the november elections. in a clip aired on fox news just last night, the president pointed to some of the people that mueller has hired to help from the probe for his skepticism. >> do you think he should recuse himself because he is good friends with james comey, he has hired some attorneys that were part of hillary clinton's foundation and given money to president obama and hillary clinton's campaign. should he recuse himself? >> he is very, very good friends with comey, which is very

bothersome. he is also -- we're going to have to see. we're going to have to see in terms, look, there has been no obstruction. there has been no collusion. there has been leaking by comey, but there's been no collusion, no obstruction, and virtually everybody agrees to that. we'll have to see. i can say that the people that have been hired are all hillary clinton supporters. >> hillary clinton's campaign chairman whose hacked e-mail account was the focal point of the 2016 presidential election will speak to lawmakers investigating russia. nbc news has learned that john podesta will be interviewed by the house intelligence committee next week. according to a former clinton campaign staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity. podesta's testimony to lawmakers will be in a closed session. only various congressional committees, along with special counsel robert mueller are looking at the hacking of podesta's gmail account and it subsequent dumping of wikileaks

in the coming weeks. according to kuwait, which is acting as a mediator, the four gulf arab states, plus egypt, have sent qatar a list of 13 demands for ending the ongoing blockade in that country, including in that list reducing diplomatic ties with iran, closing the turkish military base, and shuttering state-funded broadcaster al jazeera. also included is a demand that qatar cut off relations with and stop financing terror, sectarian, and idealogical fp associations with hezbollah. there are allegations of terrorism funding, and that's given qatar ten days to dplie. nbc's lucy cav nay will have a lot more on that story. also, new investigations by the ap and human rights watch. detail potential serious abuses at a secret prison network in yemen. the rorgtd reveals that hundreds of people are detained throughout at least 18

facilities, which are run by the uae and yemeni forces and include an airport, military bases, ports, private villas, and a nightclub. the prisoners there routinely tortured with methods reportedly including, but not limited to heavy beating, and that includes the use of weapons being blind-folded for weeks, electric shocks, sexual abuses, foot cane and a method referred to as the grill where victims are tied to a spit and spun in a circle of fire. one former detainee tells the a.p., "i would die and go to hell rather than go back to this prison. if it was bin laden, they would not do this. the a.p. reports that the united states, a close security ally with the uae, has participated in interrogations in yemen, though no witnesses or detainees say that american forces were involved in torture abuses." senior american defense says u.s. forces have been involved in it -- or have knowledge of human rights abuses. more than 10,000 people have

been killed in the conflict in yemen where a saudi-led coalition is fighting with rebels. >> disturbing details in that report. still ahead, a group of inmates at a jail in georgia get a chance to escape, but they do something else instead. plus, we have our eye on tropical storm cindy. bill karins has a check on the forecast coming up. ♪

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when only certain people can get it. let's fix that. let's give this guy gig- really? and these kids. and these guys. him. ah. oh hello- that lady. these houses! yes, yes and yes. and don't forget about them. uh huh. sure. still yes! you can get it too. welcome to the party. introducing gig-speed internet from xfinity. finally, gig for your neighborhood too. flash flooding still a major concern due to tropical depression cindy. the storm made landfall yesterday morning in louisiana. officials are saying more rain and tornadoes could be on the way. >> heavy rains raise the risk of flash flooding in ten states across the southeast. up to three inches of rain is expected from tennessee to pennsylvania with isolated areas possibly seeing up to six inches. residents in alabama are recovering after a suspected tornado destroyed several

buildings near birmingham and injured a number of people there. further west low-lying towns in louisiana are urging residents to seek higher ground as rising floodwaters there could impact homes and roadways. heavy rains are expected to move through the mid-atlantic region and parts of new england with all of the rain from cindy off the east coast by saturday evening. let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. a lot of questions about how this is going to play out, but we know there's some serious flash flooding underway. >> the timing is going to be the issue. flash flood watch, including all of the southern ohio valley, va you will varks and all of kentucky. nashville to memorandum fist, and even portions of alabama.

even atlanta is under a flash flood watch. your saturated soil from the heavy rain a couple of days ago and additional storms today is the reason for that. let's break out the timing of it. this is 8:00 a.m. this morning showing you where the storm is. the reds are where the really heavy rain is. there's a line of showers and storms well ahead of this. it's a totally separate system that will come through the mid-atlantic region early today. it's the flooding threat with cindy. notice by 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 p.m. mostly sen tennessee and kentucky today. by 11:00 this evening it's west virginia for the flooding potential, and as we go through the early morning hours, d.c., you're done by 9:00 a.m. new york city, it looks like still heavy rain and thunderstorms around from cindy by about 9:00 a.m., and that should clear southern new england by the time we get through about 2:00 in the afternoon. then by saturday afternoon and evening, just some scattered typical storms in the southeast. again, the heaviest threat and the heaviest concerns today is kentucky and tennessee. this area from lexington all the way down to tup low, mississippi, and huntsville, alabama. a chance for isolated tornadoes too. that's where the rough weather will be today, and it's still hawkeyes too.

texas all the way to the southwest. i mean, it's only 113 today in phoenix after being 119 earlier this week. yeah, it's either the heat or humidity that looks and feels like summer. >> i like that. only 113. i got one word going for you here, bill. six georgia inmates where being hailed as heroes after saving a deputy who collapsed while on duty overseeing the inmates on a work detail. after the deputy fell unconscious and had trouble breathing due to the heat and a medical condition, they rushed over and removed his bulletproof vest to cool him off and helped him breathe and also called 911. the inmates who are incarcerated for offenses ranging from probation violations to minor drug crimes were rewarded with a lunch in the park, complete with dessert and the local sheriff says the inmates' sentences will be shortened about by 25% for going beyond the normal duties. >> those guys are feeling pretty good. >> i guess it's being rewarded by the correctional officers there. still ahead, we're taking a look at some of the top picks from last night's nba drafts.

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overall pick. he was one of a record 16 freshmen drafted in last night's first round, and as professed by his father, the los angeles lakers selected lonzo ball with his second overall pick. the outspoken dad had plenty to say and even made a prediction for his son's inaugural season in l.a. take a listen. >> lavar, you already got the lakers hat. >> i knew this was happening before it was happening. >> when did you get this hat made? >> when he was a baby. when he was a baby. >> what's it like now that it's come to fruition for you? you've been talking about it for nine months. >> you're talking about 19, 20ers yoo. you didn't have the microphone on me when i was talking about it. >> how good is lonzo ball going to be for the l.a. lakers? >> he's going to take the lakers to the playoffs his first year. come see me when he does. i'll have another hat on that said i told you so. >> no lack in confidence there.

in reaction to that statement the 6ers ben simmons treated crazy pills. teammate joe embid saying please dunk on him so hard that his daddy runs on the court to save him. all right. meanwhile, says a draft night mega deal that sent chicago's jimmy butler where the three-time all-star will be reunited with tim thibodeaux. they acquired zach levine along with the number seven pick that they used to select rory markanan. houston is the first to 50 wins in the season and the fourth fastest team to reach that mark this century. the next closest american league teams have tallied just 39.

a four-game series sweep. a pair of home runs last night, including a grand slam on the way to a 9-6 victory there. >> it was not enough to power past l.a., which went on to beat the bombers 10-5. finally, the braves sprinter known as the freeze took the mlb by storm after a come from behind win in a race that blew a fan off of his feet. the freeze allowed the challenger to zoom ahead while the competition takes an embarrassing tumble there. ouch. that might leave a mark. >> i love how that guy was living it up. come on. come on. the freeze was, like, sorry, bro. he sprints. >> he is too fast. >> just too fast. >> i wonder if we know who the identity of the freeze is. >> that would be good.

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zblafr welcome back. it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the morning's top stories. north korea has reportedly

carried out yet another test of a rocket that the u.s. believes could be part of the country's aim to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile. speaking with winners yesterday, a u.s. official confirmed the latest test saying it could be the smallest stage of the rocket engine. it comes just one day after the u.s. pressed china to exert more economic and diplomatic pressure on pyongyang to help reign in its nuclear and missile programs. prime minister theresa may is vying to protect the rights of the more than three million citizens from other european countries living in britain as that country prepared to leave the european union. miss may gave that pledge while speaking to the leaders of the other 27 e.u. nations at a summit in brussels. some of those leaders say may's plan does not do enough. and this morning flash flooding is still a major concern across parts of the country due to tropical depression cindy. states across the southeast face the risk due to heavy rains as the storm moves further inland. up to three inches of rain is expected from tennessee to pennsylvania with isolated areas possibly seeing up to six inches

of rain. senate republicans rolled out their health care bill yesterday, and it took a little time before they were met with internal resistance and jeopardizing what leaders hope would be a speedy passage of that bill. the 142 page bill maintains the structure of the house plan passed last month. now, some of the details of the bill include that it ends the tax penalties behind the mandate and offers tax credits to help people buy insurance. it keeps subsidies viewed as important for reducing premiums, but lowers the income limit to about $42,000 for assistance, and it allows insurers to raise the limit on what they charge older customers from three times what younger people pay to five times. now, former president barack obama is criticizing the health care legislation unveiled by senate republicans yesterday. on facebook he wrote a statement saying, in part, "simply put, if there's a chance you might get sick, get older oorks start a family, this bill will do you harm." small tweets over the course of the next couple of weeks over the guise of making these bills

easier to stomach cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation. other leading democrats were also quick to voice their opposition to the senate health care bill. take a listen. >> the president said the way this bill cuts health care is heartless. >> it is a tax bill disguised as a health care bill. >> these cuts are blood money. people will die. let's be very clear. senate republicans are paying for tax cuts for the wealthy with american lives. >> you've heard of the movie "dumb and dumber." the republican health care movie is mean and meaner. >> republican leaders in the senate are looking to get their health care bill approved within the next week before lawmakers head out of town for the fourth of july recess. that may be easier said than done. nbc news capitol hill correspondent casey hunt has

more on that from the hill. casey, good morning. >> lewis, good morning. i have to tell you, the senate health care bill -- i think there might be a reason why they spent so much time behind closed doors trying to work this out because the reality is it got the slings and arrows right out of the galt just like many of these republicans expected. four conservatives came out immediately in a group. rand paul, mike lee, ted cruz, ron johnson. that's enough, of course, to take the bill down if they were to put it on the floor. they can only lose those three votes that we've talked so much about. as they starting so negotiate in their direction, they're going to put a lot of moderate votes at risk. people like shelly mark-capito from west virginia. west virginia relies heavily on medicaid. ohio concerned about opioid addiction. smaller than a lot of people expected. it's going to potentially be a long coming weekend for this bill. we expect the cbo score as soon as monday. a lot of people aren't going to

weigh in until that point. i had senator lindsey graham tell me yesterday that they do want to try to put this on the floor next week because unlike fine wine, this is not going to age well. i think that republican leadership certainly thinks there's some truth to that. right now everything is on track, on plan to go next week. >> casey hunt from the capitol. thank you for that. the president's approval continues continue to drop. his approval ratings hovers at 40%. 55% of americans. they disapprove of the job that he is doing in office. he remains upside down on matters foreign and domestic. 48% disapprove of his handling of the economy. 57% do not approve of his approach to foreign policy. though the president has celebrated a streak of special election wins, 50% of americans would like to see democrats control congress and just 42%

say republicans -- a four-point swing since april and 45% of americans would like to see democrats at the national agenda for policy about the same as the president and congressional republicans combined. many still see the president though as a change agent. 46% see it likely he will bring about real change, and of those 60% still believe it will be the right kind of change, though that number is down slightly. when asked about the root of the problems the president has faced 42% say it's because of the nature of the establishment in washington d.c. compare that to 50% who believe he does not have the experience or the confidence to do the job. >> all right. there's obviously a lot to dissect there. let's bring in daniel lipman, co-author of political playbook. we saw some of the numbers there. democrats have an eight-point advantage in the general ballot for 2018, but they lost all four special elections just over the course of the past couple of months, including the most recent one that we saw in

georgia. what are insiders thinking here? what's the strategy for them? >> i think democrats feel like they need to fine-tune their message that, you know, to win next year to capitalize on this huge democratic fury that's been unleashed in the last few months, you have to both find a great message and good candidates and they feel like they've been lacking that in the last few special elections. they feel like the insiders i talked to say that if the republicans pass health care repeal next week and that it goes to the president's desk, that would be a real political victory because democrats would use that next year. >> okay. let's talk about health care here. we talked about this a little earlier. four republican senators, they say that they oppose the current bill, including ted cruz who spoke on capitol hill yesterday. let's take a listen to him. >> this current draft doesn't get the job done. but i believe we did get to yes. i believe we can get this done.

there is an agreement to be reached. the key to getting an agreement, to getting a bill that can pass, we need commonsense reforms in the bill that lower the cost of premiums. >> daniel, literally two votes that they can spare here. how does mcconnell bring those two votes? how does he bring more votes in while keeping the centrists? >> so the senate, you know, has these archane rules so some of the things that mcconnell wants will violate those rules. they have to get a good ruling from the senate parliamentarian to get some of the changes in, but that would also jeopardize some moderate votes. i think mcconnell probably promised cruz and some of those other republicans some cosmetic changes. make them feel good, make them feel that their voice has been heard and that the bill was a little more conservative without going too far. >> all right. daniel lipman live for us in washington d.c. thank you for that. well, house democratic leader nancy pelosi is fighting back amid calls for her so step

aside following the democrats' defeat in the georgia special election on tuesday. >> democrats have lost 60 seats over the past six years, so why should you keep your job? >> you want me to sing my praises? is that what you are saying? why should i? well, i'm a master legislator. i am a strategic politically astute leader. they will always make a target. senator reed was a target. senator daschle was a target. tip o'neil is ate target. i am a target. i think i'm worth the trouble, frankly. >> pelosi met with a dozen -- some rank-and-file democrats are still questioning pelosi's leadership. for example, texas representative phil monvella tempered his critique one day after saying "you would have to be an idiot to think we could win the house with pelosi." >> to really believe that we can win the 2018 election and regain the majority given every poll

that we see, every stat that we see shows that leader pelosi just doesn't help our candidates in those swing districts. if we are going to win the -- if we're going to regain the majority in 2018, we have to have new leadership. >> and even president trump weighed in on the minority leader's future tweeting out, "i certainly hope that democrats do not force nancy p out. that would be very bad for the republican party. and please let crying chuck stay." it's worth noting that since entering the house democratic leadership in 2002, pelosi has raised over half a billion zlarz for her party, or as representative emmanuel clever ii commented, nobody pushed michael jordan into retirement. last night in washington the president and members of congress got together for a picnic at the white house. one member was noticeably absent. steve scalise continues to recover in the hospital. president trump devoted much of his remarks to the congressman from louisiana. take a listen. >> the outpouring of support for steve and his family has been truly inspiring.

we are so touched that joining us here this evening are steve and jennifer's children, harrison and madison. [ applause ] >> beautiful children. we just gave them a tour of the white house. just gave them a beautiful tour of the white house. they got the a tour. you know? sometimes we give the b, the c, the d, and the f tours just like here it is, let's get out of here. we gave them the a tour, and i want them to know that the whole country is praying for their courageous dad and all of us are praying for them. >> the president also went on to commend the two capitol police officers who were wounded and helped ultimately subdue the shooter. the gunman in last year's so-called pizza-gate shooting is headed to prison. edgar madison wells of north carolina was -- has been sentenced to four years for firing an assault rifle inside a

dc pizza rea after saying he was investigating an internet conspiracy theory. he pled guilty in march to federal charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and transporting a firearm over state lines. prosecutors said welch was self-investigating an internet rumor that claimed a common ping pong pizzarea was harboring a sex trafficking ring with connections to hillary clinton. no claims have been shown to have no substance. sharp gains on thursday after senate republicans released a draft of the bill to repeal obama care. cnbc's gemma atkins joins us live. gemma, yesterday the health care sector hit record highs. >> it did, indeed. yes, the shares certainly did soar. it could actually be quite difficult to replace the bill to get passed. it looks like they potentially got ahead of themselves. drafting has been difficult due to the big differences of opinion between the conservatives and the moderates within the party.

the republicans have 52 senators and need to get 50 votes for this to get through. already we're hearing that there are at least three anticipated no votes. it looks like this could be challengin challenging, and this morning in europe we're seeing much not movement in the health care stocks here. we saw some movement in the china focused once. now, moving over to wall street where 34 of the u.s.'s biggest financial institutions have passed the fed's latest round of stress tests. all have been deemed to have enough capital to -- the central bank tested two scenarios. one that looked like the financial crisis, and one that was less severe. this means that banks' investors will be on the lookout for news of a bumper payday as soon as next week. i'm going to hand it back to you, lewis. >> some good news there. still ahead, johnny depp is in some hot water over comments he made regarding president trump. the threat the actor appeared to

lay out against the president coming up. and bill karins is back. he will have more details on trorp cindy as the storm continues to wreak havoc across the u.s. dear son, i know you worry i can't keep up with our weekly tee times. but i've been taking osteo bi flex ease. it's 80% smaller, but just as effective at supporting range of motion and shows improved joint comfort in seven days. which means you're in big trouble, son. you will bow to my exquisite short game. cower at my majestic drives. i will make you question everything, son.

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just cool it to minus 160 and we're set. good on ya. oh yeah. that's jack. a canadian sniper has set a world record for the longest shot in history. canada's military has confirmed that one of its elite special force members in iraq successfully hit an isis target from 2.2 miles away. it took ten seconds for the bullet to strike the target. the military says it disrupted an islamic state tauk on iraqi security forces. the sniper using a mcmillan sniper rifle had to take in multiple factors including wind, gravity, and the curvature of the earth. >> we've been tracking tropical depression cindy. bill karins standing by for us. what are you seeing? >> nothing too dramatic right now. yesterday we had the one tornado out of birmingham, alabama. we still have heavy rain to deal

with. here's where it's currently located between little rock and memphis. not a pleasant morning early today in memphis. it's going to be a soaking rain. possibility of some flooding too and ponding on the roads, and even northern portions of louisiana still dealing with some trailing showers and thunderstorms here. 30 million people at risk for the flash flooding today. again, it's mostly on the mississippi river early today and then kentucky in areas of northern tennessee, and even the southern ohio valley later this afternoon. the other story that hasn't gone away is the excessive heat warnings in the west. now we've gotten the heat all the way up here in the southern portions of washington state. it's spread a little bit. right along the west coast. it's pretty extreme stuff. the excess heat continues today. not quite as bad in a few spots, but still well above average. 1 12 in vegas. 1 13 phoenix.

i notice it goes up to 91 all the way up to portland, oregon, today. that's where the heat continues. into saturday seattle jumps to 85. sacramento at a record high yesterday near 108. saturday looking down to 97. that's more bearable. into next week this is where the real relief comes. portland goes from 100 down to 75 where vegas goes from 113 to 107. it's a little bit of relief. i'll tell you where the cool air is. the gorgeous stuff today, minneapolis, 71. be prepared in the great lakes on saturday for the cool air to move in. you don't get many days this imtoo of year. only in the low 70s in chicago, and then by the team we get to sunday, that great air mass makes it into the northeast. we'll track the storm in a changeable weather pattern over the weekend. no one is going to get washed out. you'll get tloos one good day out of it too, where. >> i think so that. when celebrities enter politics it usually results in interesting headlines. it wasn't that long ago that kathie griffin had a backlash

over a photo of her holding the bloody head of president trump. now johnny depp's comments are turning some heads. >> when was the last time an actor assassinated a president? i want to clarify. i'm not an actor. i lie for a living. however, it's been a while, and maybe it's time. >> so far there's been no additional comment or clarification from the actor. actress and activist alissa milano shut down senator ted cruz on twitter this week. she tweeted to her three million followers, group hug, get in. two days after her tweet had thousands of likes and retweets senator ted cruz tried to join in on the fun. he radio he treated milano

adding we all need a hug. milano who has been outspoken against republican policies then replied not you, ted cruz. you are not invited with a winking face you, ted cruz, you're not invited." she said "any time you want to get together to talk about your duty to your constituents, i'd love to talk, people before party." >> ooh, who's the boss? who would have known? >> still ahead, the diplomatic crisis between qatar and its nation, overseas, we'll have that story soon.

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welcome back. saudi arabia, egypt and bahrain has sent qatar a list of 13 requirements after they cut off ties with qatar. let's bring in lucy kafanov. where do things stand? >> it has just ten days to comply with 13 demands, including cutting ties with iran, shutting down a turkish

military base and it asks qatar to pay reparations. very unlikely qatar will see this as a base for serious negotiations. the country has said it will not hold talks until the punitive sanctions are lifted. this is a tiny nation in the persian gulf, its only land border is with saudi arabia. this is usually when a powerful country in the region would try to step in. it's been very hard to tell exactly to say the least where the u.s. stands on this. the president who last month visited saudi tweeted his support at first saying his trip it riyadh was paying off and his own secretary of state came on and said it was bad. rex tillerson has scheduled to

trip to focus on this issue but very hard to see a resolution soon. >> thanks for joaniining us. why level out the commands with all signs pointed to the fact that qatar would not comply? >> qatar has been clear. these are red lines for them. united arab emirates has relations with iran. >> why should we cut ties. >> right. a and from that perspective, they say these are red lines. the interesting thing is the vision for the region. that's where that last point is going to be interesting. they issued a sectarian, ideological and what they call terrorist organizations. qatar does not seem them like that. >> it doesn't seem like qatar is at a point of desperation yet.

>> and highly unlikely they'll kick out the support sent there. >> and former homeland security second jeh johnson is coming up. there are over 100 million pieces of dna in every sample. with the microsoft cloud, we can analyze the data faster than ever before. if we can detect new viruses before they spread, we may someday prevent outbreaks before they begin. whattwo servings of veggies? v8 or a powdered drink? ready, go. ahhhhhhhh! shake! shake! shake! shake! shake!

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welcome back. before we toss to "morning joe," let's get a check on the stories you'll be hearing about. >> president trump is set to sign a bill today he. it will make it easier for veterans to fire employees of hospital for long waits for treatment. >> an event will focus on improving outcomes for vets and their families. >> have a fantastic weekend,

everybody, i'm yasmin vossoughian with louis burgdorf and million dollar. "morning joe" starts right now. >> he's going to rise and fall on whether or not he produce results for american people. he's going to tweet when he wants to tweet. the question is can we consolidate the majority we have now and be effective? time will tell. >> president trump tries to put together the ongoing mystery that he started himself, whether he secretly recorded his private conversations with former fbi director james comey. lindsey graham saying he won't rise and fall on his tweets. but that one tweet may