>> this morning, collision course. the white house is looking for ways to undermine the mueller investigation as the president reportedly begins to ask questions about pardons. changes to the president's legal team and the press room. plus, o.j. simpson granted parole after more than eight years in prison. the former nfl star saying he has done his time, and now he is ready to move on with his life. zplienkts there are multiple

reports that the president of the united states is laying ground work to undermine the special counsel, tasked with investigating russian influence and links between the russians and the white house. the president's approval rating landing at 36%. president trump has told aides that he was especially disturbed after learning that special counsel robert mueller would be able to access several years of his tax returns, but his lawyers are sending a message saying, "the scope is going to have to stay within his mandate. if there's drifting, we're going to object." he cited a report on bloomberg that mueller is examining financial transactions between trump, his associates, and russia going back to at least 2004. now, the washington post reports trump has asked his advisors about his power to pardon aides, family members, and even himself in connection with the probe, according to one source.

zbloinchts an advisor said that the president has simply expressed a curiosity in understanding the reach of his pardoning authority and the limits of mueller's investigation. "this is want the context of i can't wait to pardon myself, "a close advisor said." jeff sessions survived a brutal confirmation process, but six months later the president stunned many in his "new york times" interview saying that if the attorney general is going to recuse himself from the russia investigation, he should have said so before taking the job. now, despite the white house's claim that the two men haven't spoken in the last 24 hours, sessions for now remains committed to the job at hand, and at a news conference yesterday designed to crack down -- was overshadowed by the president's comments. >> i have the honor of serving as attorney general. it's something that goes beyond any thought i would have had for myself. we love this job. we love this department. i plan to continue to do so as

long as that is appropriate. >> attorney general sessions, how do you feel like you can effectively serve from here on out if you don't have the confidence of the president? >> we're serving right now. the work we're doing today is the kind of work that we intend to continue. >> i was proud to be here yesterday. i'm proud to be here today. i'll be proud to work here tomorrow. we are spending every minute working to advance the interests of the department and as the attorney general said, we're happy to answer any questions about this alphabet case. it's a very important case. we have a lot of folks here who are assisting in that investigation, and that's all i'm going to talk about today. thank you. >> questions about alphabet. all right. thank you. >> it's not about alphabet. >> are you concerned you'll be seen as a zombie attorney? >> some republicans in frequent touch with the white house said they viewed the president's decision to publicly air his

disappointment with sessions as a warning sign that the attorney general's days were numbered. some senior aides were described as stunned when sessions announced that he would actually remain on the job. well, joining us now from washington capitol hill report reporter for "the hill" molly hooper. what an incredibly busy night. it's been a lot of moving pieces on a lot of different stories. let's start with the president, seemingly on a collision course with the special counsel, robert mueller, reportedly looking for ways to discredit robert mueller and his team. what's your take on that? any truth to that? >> there could be truth to that. i talked to a few republican lawmakers who were former prosecutors, and that's a key point there. former prosecutors. they say, you know, mueller, when it comes to the scope of this investigation, mueller pretty much has free reign. all he has to do is go back to rod rosenstein and say hey, i need to expand our investigation is leading us down this path. the prosecutor said, you know, trump may not be the target. it may be those around him. keep in mind, the people around him include his kids.

they see this as a mama bear protecting his cubs. i don't know if papa bears do that, but the mama bear. you always hear about those mamas. this could implicate his children who have worked for him since they graduated. i mean, this could implicate jared kushner. that's why these financial -- looking into the financial transactions, business dealings with russia is important, especially in light of don jr.'s meeting, you know, last year. >> we know the tax returns have always been a sensitive point for president trump. all right. let's talk a little bit about this portion of the story that deals with pardons. the president has brought power to pardon even before judicial proceedings actually get underway, but is this story more significant because of the optics of it, or because of the possible constitution implications of it that means studying this or his legal advisors are studying this? >> i think that this is a little

bit of both because, remember, last year when hillary clinton was going through her, you know, how do you say, you know, investigation and potential charges, there are conversations about can president obama, you know, pardon hillary clinton before she's even charged with anything? that was a conversation at the time. again, when i talked to republicans, they say, you know, he asks when you are in a room with him, he asks a lot of questions about everything. he is just naturally curious. when the washington post is reporting that this isn't a, hey, i want to pardon myself kind of a question -- line of questioning, just that he is interested in how it all works, they would be more apt to believe that side of it. >> let me ask you very quickly about the team. we know that there's been some changes on the internal side in terms of the white house, but there's also been some changes to the president's external team as well. there are some suggesting that mark has oohasowitz is on his w.

others saying that his role is just being reduced. because there's volatility on the inside and outside, this is really sending a signal of a little bit of chaos to the president's response to this overall legal challenge. >> if you are on the outside looking in, it's regular old american. it does seem very chaotic in the way that things are being handled, but, again, from the perspective of these former prosecutors, it republican lawmakers that i was speaking with, this is not chaotic to fbi -- former fbi director mueller, the special prosecutor, and his team. they are very focused on what they're looking into, and this is more a matter of trump's team -- trump's legal team figuring out how to work with him, and work with washington d.c. you know, mark kasowitz, he is a new york attorney. it's how business is done in new york. it's eye-opening to those of us who cover capitol hill and congress to see the kind of --

what goes on up in new york city, the big city, but down here you need to have connections. notice that mike pence, when he hired his outside counsel, did so with a former prosecutor from richmond. you want people who know exactly how these type of investigations work and the way you need to proceed and interact with the folks involved. >> that's a good point. molly hooper, hope to talk to you later on in the program. >> look forward to it. the parole hearing of the century. you know what we're talking about. o.j. simpson, whose trial in the 1990s for the murder of his wife and her friend became must watch tv was once again in front of the cameras yesterday. this time as the nevada parole board heard his arguments that he should be granted parole on his 2008 armed robbery conviction. nbc's joe fryer reports. >> reporter: mr. simpson, i do vote to grant parole when eligible, and that will conclude this hearing. >> thank you. >> reporter: relief washed over o.j. simpson as a nevada parole board voted in dramatic fashion

to set him free. the unanimous decision reached after the former football star made his case. >> i've done my time. you know, i have done it as well and as respectfully as i think anybody can. >> reporter: at times combative. >> i wasn't there to steal from anybody. i would never ever pull a weapon on anybody. >> reporter: at times contrite. >> you know, nine years away from your family is just not worth it. >> reporter: appearing in front of cameras for the first time in four years, simpson looked thinner. >> i've basically have spent a conflict-free life. >> reporter: he has served as commissioner of the prison softball league, started a baptist church service, and took classes like alternative to violence. >> it gave me so many tools how to use it to try to walk these guys through. you know, not throwing punches at one another. >> reporter: supporters at the hearing included his sister shirley baker and daughter arnelle who testified. >> we just want him to come home so we can move forward for us

quietly, but to move forward. >> reporter: simpson is serving time for the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers. one of the victims, bruce pfroman testified that simpson should be released. >> this is a good man. he made a mistake. >> reporter: even offering to pick him up from prison. >> i'll be here tomorrow, juice. i mean that. rirj >> reporter: it's the latest legal twist for simpson. in a civil trial he was found liable for the killings. the parole board says those cases were mentioned in many of the opposition letters it received from the public. >> these items will not be considered in this case. >> reporter: christopher darden, author of the book "in contempt" was one of the prosecutors in simpson's murder trial. >> he is the same o.j. i saw in 1994. he still is a narcissist. he is still a very manipulative person, and he is still inclined to blame other people for his

conduct. >> reporter: but a state asse assessment deemed simpson a low risk to reoffend paving the way for his release. >> there's nothing normal about o.j. simpson, but this was a normal decision, and that's a good thing for the justice system. >> that was nbc's joe fryer reporting. october 1st is the earliest o.j. could be released, although no specific date has been set. let's head overseas now to the middle east where violent protests and clashes broke out last night in jerusalem after israel banned muslim men under 50 years old from visiting the noble sanctuaries that is known. one of the holiest cities in the jewish and muslim faiths. this comes after two police officers were killed last week by palestinian gunmen. joining us live now from london, nbc news ali arouzzi. friday prayer is a holy day, but very tense, nonetheless. >> that's right. after the two police officers were killed, the israeli police said the israeli government set up a controversial set of metal detectors outside the temple

which had sparked off a major backlash from palestinians who see it as a part of of an israeli effort to control over the holy city, which is both sacred to jews and muslims. all week palestinian crowds have refused to go through those metal detectors, and instead have carried out their prayer services on the street outside the mosque. those prayers have ended in clashes leaving dozens injured. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu met with his cabinet late last night. they've expected some sort of a compromise and an effort to avoid trouble. instead, the government delegated authority to the police. now jerusalem is bracing for another day of clashes after israeli police decided not to remove those metal detectors, and they've also banned men under 50 from attending prayer services or even entering the old city. aggravating the situation that

could -- vast crowds are expected to rally at the mosque. we're just getting reports from our tel aviv bureau that the border police there have just run stun grenades towards palestinians who tried to push police roadblocks back, so we can expect the next escalation today. >> as we know very well, that is a situation that can escalate very quickly. live in london, ali arouzzi for us. a story from the art world, and breaking late last night. a high profile college football coach out of a job after accusations of calls to an escort service. plus, severe weather across the country still in place from wildfires in new jersey and california to storm damage in the midwest. bill karins has all the latest on weather when we come back. stay with us. (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything

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even in recovery from surgery and the announcement he has been diagnosed with brain cancer, senator john mccain is still making his presence felt in washington. he tweeted yesterday that he greatly appreciates the outpouring of support. unfortunately for my sparring partners in congress, i'll be back soon, so stand by. also yesterday, the arizona senator slammed reports that the president was ending a covert cia program aimed at arming, training, and funding opposition rebels to syria's president bashar al assad. "if the reports are true, the administration is playing right into the hands of vladimir putin. making any concession to russia, absent a broader strategy for syria, is irresponsible and short-sighted." the administration has yet to articulate its vision for syria beyond the defeat of isil, let aloin a broader approach to the middle east. mccain didn't stop there adding, on "six months into this administration there is still no new strategy for victory in afghanistan either. it is now mid-july when the administration promised to deliver that strategy to congress, and we are still waiting." meanwhile, back here at home

intense weather outbreaks across the country. there was a possible tornado in upstate new york. in washington township, new jersey, a wildfire has scorched more than 1,000 acres of forest. dozens of fire personnel are trying to contain it, but so far have yet to be able to turn the corner on it. in the midwest heavy flooding in illinois and eastern wisconsin where rising creeks swamped low-lying areas and closed most major roads in the town of arcadia. let's get a check on all of these stories and much more with weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. depending which part of the country you live in, a very different story. >> either you are getting the thunderstorms, bad weather that comes with it, or the heat. we have confirmation from the weather service in buffalo that there were tornadoes in hamburg, noerk, and one was an ef-1, and one was the ef-2. still enough to do a little bit of damage. the heat is probably the biggest story, but severe weather will be a big deal too. 78 million people are under either intensive heat warning or heat advisory. it's the same as yesterday where we hit 1 last night degrees in

areas like oak ok city and tulsa. today we're watching and adding areas to carolinas. it will be humid there. here's how hot it's going to get. you can go from 100 to san antonio to dallas, oklahoma is it, all the way through kansas to one of the hottest spots, st. louis. 103 degrees today. the mid-atlantic is also very hot. 95 in atlanta to charlotte, all the way through raleigh and d.c., and it's humid there too. the heat index will be above 100. new york city north ward, it gets cooler, and many areas outside the city won't be in the 90s. we're going to be watching thunderstorms. the last couple of days we've had many thunderstorm complexes move through the northern plains. that's why we have a flash flooding risk that's very high today along with the severe weather threat. already some thunderstorms just south of chicago through northern indiana, and later on today we'll get a new complex of storms, 27 million people at risk from fargo to minneapolis, lacrosse, madison, and then down towards chicago. a lot more airport delays late today. then we take this mess today and into saturday, i mean this number is amazingly huge. mostly because we're adding the

big cities like new york, philadelphia, and d.c. a slight risk of severe storms. if you have saturday afternoon plans in the ohio valley right through pennsylvania from d.c. to new york, be prepared. there's a good chance of a line of on strong thunderstorms to come through. it only lasts a half hour, but it will be enough that you want to head indoors and stay safe. saturday, 104 in st. louis. 96 in d.c. by sunday everyone cools off slightly. i mean, 90s instead of 1 00s in the middle of the nation. >> i was going to say, if there's any good news with some of the thunderstorms, the hope is that it will cool down. >> you just don't want to deal with the downed tree on your property. >> and certainly the humidity as well. thank you for that. turning overseas to a paternity case involving legendary artist salvador dali, and a fortune teller claiming she is his daughter. the judge approved the move to conduct a dna test. the body was resumed. the artist's teeth, bones, and nails, dna was taken. his body has been buried at the dali museum. the woman at the center of the suit claims her mother had an

affair with dali a year before she was born back in 1956 while working for a family that spent time near his home. still ahead, hugh freeze resigns as ole miss's head football coach, and we'll dig into how his predecessor may have had something to do with it. plus, new meaning to heads up baseball. an unusual ending to this play at last night's red sox game. we'll explain when we come back. stay with us. noo introducing the easiest way to get gillette blades text "blades" to gillette on demand text to reorder blades with gillette on demand... ...and get $3 off your first order dad: flash drives? yup. that's dad taking care of business. laptop setup? yup. but who takes care of dad?

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time now for sports, and shocking news out of college football. the season is about to begin, but ole miss head coach hugh freeze has resigned following discovery of calls to what appears to be an escort service made from his school issued phone. according to the usa today, a call was initially brought to light by freeze's predecessor, coach houston nutt. during a correspondent between nutt's lawyer and special counsel regarding a suit targeting freeze for allegedly violating ncaa rules. the school looked at freeze's phone records as far back as 2012 and found a pattern. ross bjork called it troubling. bjork added that freeze would have been fired for inappropriate conduct had he not resigned. in a press conference last night following freeze's resignation, ole miss chancellor jeffrey vitter said we simply cannot accept the conduct in his personal life that we have discovered. taking over as interim head coach after five seasons of freeze at the helm will be co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach matt luke.

hugh freeze still had three years left on this contract and $12 million which he will not receive. moving to the links at royal birkdale in south port, england, where round two is already underway. jord app spieth and matt kutcher who tied a course record 29 on the front nine each finished yesterday's first round at five under par. a one-shot advantage over the rest of the field. they'll look to stay atop of the leaderboard. kutcher is now the sole leader at minus six. turning now to major league baseball. a race in the national league central. in pittsburgh the pirates are back at 500 following last night's 4-2 win that finished off a four-game sweep of the brew crew. in pittsburgh season high fifth straight win. after six in a row for the cubbies, milwaukee's five and a half game division lead at the all-star break, poof, now down into a single solitary game. in boston an unfortunate ground-out. the blue jays ryan goan, he is trying to get away from the wild

pitch. it actually hits the bat, into play. he is on his keaster and he is out at first. we can relate to that, right? >> i guess he was trying to -- what was he trying to dupe the umpires that he was hit in the head. >> i think he was trying to avoid the pitch and not get hurt. the ball just randomly hit the bat. >> always run it out. always run it out. >> like you would be getting up and running. >> thanks for that, bill. still ahead paul ryan looks ahead to tax reform even though health care isn't done yet, and another cbo score shows millions would be go uninsured in the latest version of the health care plan. plus, exxon fires back after being fined millions of dollars for its dealings with russia. when secretary of state rex tillerson was at the helm of that company. that's ahead. stay with us. ♪ ♪ where all the walls echo with laughter ♪

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welcome back. it's the bottom of the hour. let's start with the morning's top stories for you. president trump's pick as the next fbi director is one step closer to confirmation. the senate judiciary committee unanimously approved christopher ray's nomination yesterday. now, that nomination heads to the full senate for a final vote. majority leader mitch mcconnell has reportedly expressed hopes of confirming ray before lawmakers leave for the august recess. o.j. simpson is one step closer to becoming a free man after he was granted parole after spending nine years in prison for a 2007 armed robbery. now, during the roughly one-hour hearing with the nevada state parole board yesterday, the 70-year-old simpson repeatedly apologized for his actions.

he could be released as early as october 1st. senator john mccain is speaking out following the revelation that he has been diagnosed with brain cancer. the senator tweeted out yesterday that he greatly appreciates the outpouring of support. unfortunately for my sparring partners in congress, i'll be back soon, so stand by. mccain also slammed reports that the president was ending a covert cia program aimed at arming, training, and funding opposition rebels to syrian president bashar al assad. there are multiple reports that a research effort on behalf of president trump is seeking ways to discredit or even fire special counsel robert mueller and his team of prosecutors. according to the "new york times", it includes scrutinizing delegations to democratic candidates, investigators as past clients, and mueller's relationship with james comey whose firing as fbi director as part of the special counsel's investigation. the president had considered mueller to replace comey as fbi director and even met with mueller shortly before he was

appointed as special counsel. mueller was -- there were many other conflicts i haven't said, but i will at some point. white house advisors told the washington post that another potential conflict is an allegation that mueller and trump national golf club in northern virginia had a dispute over membership fees when mueller resigned as a member back in 2011. a spokesperson for mueller said there was no dispute. now, according to "the times" justice department rules are that prosecutors may not participate in investigations if they have a personal or predict relationship with the subject of the case they are investigating. however, something like a campaign donation is not included on this list of things that are a political relationship. the deputy attorney -- allows for a broad mandate into the russia probe in any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation. on wednesday the deputy attorney general was asked to address some of these issues. take a listen.

the political and a.p. report that kasowitz is seen as a diminishing -- is playing a diminishing role in the operation, and the spokesman for the outside legal team tells nbc news that he has resigned his own role. now, he started just two months ago, and according to politico, had grown frustrated with the operation and the warning factions amid the lawyers.

he was also reportedly concerned about whether he was being told the truth about various matters. joining us now from washington once again, capitol hill reporter for "the hill" molly hooper. welcome back. set the scene for us a little bit. we have the president questioning his own attorney general, jeff sessions. he is also reportedly looking at potential ways to undermine the special counsel, robert mueller. it seems like a time of turmoil for the justice department. certainly they must feel a little bit under attack. >> well, i'm sure they do feel a little under attack, but the other problem you have is capitol hill because donald trump is taking on a man in jeff sessions, a former senator from alabama, who is widely respected among the republicans and democrats. democrats won't go to bat for him as much as republicans will, but if anything happens with sessions, there's a reason why when sessions offered his resignation from several weeks ago, according to reports, the president didn't accept it. i mean, if he were to go -- if sessions were to go, a lot of

republicans on capitol hill would not look kindly on that, so to speak. you know, going after mueller, that's another problem because republicans and democrats -- you know, primarily republicans, for all intents and purposes -- support mueller. they support the effort that mueller is leading. in fact, they want him to get all of this out in the public eye and let him take over, but it's the president who keeps tweeting and keeps, you know, bringing this issue up. >> yeah, it seems to some extent his tweets were aggravating. let me ask you about one thing that seems lost on all the news that was breaking yesterday about this ongoing investigation. that was the cbo score. as we were mentioning it, one more release yesterday about the health care bill. what did it show us, and do you think that it's going to change the calculus of the health care debate going forward? >> i think that cbo score will not change the calculus. speaker paul ryan and basically, first of all, the cbo score

showed that under the new senate plan, you know, to repeal obama care, 22 million people -- 22 million more people would be uninsured. speaker paul ryan basically called this a bogus number because part of that -- part of repeeling obama care means repeeling the individual mandate. speaker ryan argues let fewer people would choose to be insured. would choose to actually, you know, subscribe to an insurance plan. >> certainly in the health care debate. live in washington d.c., molly hooper, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you. meanwhile, the trump administration is expected today -- as the white house communications director. now, scaramucci, was critical to give this cavat. nothing is settled until the president announces it. it's a controversial report, and

reince priebus and steve bannon are very much against it. a source tells nbc's katie turr that scaramucci met with ivana trump and the president in the oval office for at least an hour where he was actually offered the job. sean spicer has been pulling double duty as press secretary and communications director since may. yesterday was the six-month mark of the trump presidency. an issue he has been talking about, the health care plan since the very beginning of his campaign. here now is a look back at more than two years of his rhetoric on this issue. >> the big lie. obama care. >> universal health care. >> i am going to take care of everybody. >> who pays for it? >> the government is going to pay for it. >> in 17 it all explodes. whoever is going to be president, it's not going to be easy, but i'll solve the problem. don't worry. >> somebody said donald trump is telling people that have -- what are we going to do? let them die on the street?

>> that's not single payer, by the way. that's called heart. >> we have lines around each state. >> what is your plan? i understand the lines around the state, whatever that means. this is not a game where you draw maps. >> you don't know what it means. >> what is the plan? >> he wants to knock the hell off your medicare and medicaid, and i'm going to save them. >> and a tiny fraction of the cost, and it's going to be so easy. >> we have so many unbelievable alternatives. >> at a fraction, a fraction, of the cost. >> we're not going to have, like, a two-day period and we're not going to have a two had of year period where there's nothing. it will be great health care for much less money. >> repeal and replace probably the same day. could be the same hour. >> unbelievably complex subject. nobody knew that health care could be so complicated. >> get this thing done and get it figured out. >> we were very close. it was a very tight margin. >> how is health care, folks? how is it doing? we're moving along. we're going to get this passed through the senate. i feel so confident.

but we want to brag about the plan because this plan really -- you know, o'been talkii've been about a plan with heart. i said add some money to it. >> it's mean where. >> that's my term, mean. >> 48-4. that's a pretty impressive vote by any standard. we're not going to own it. i'm not going to own it. i can tell you the republicans are not going to own it. i'm sitting in the oval office pen in hand waiting to sign something. >> we shouldn't leave town until this is complete. if we're weak on anything, it's on letting people know how good it was. >> there you have it, folks. as republicans look to bounce back following the collapse of the health care bill, house speaker paul ryan is taking his pitch to overhaul the tax code on the road. ryan toured a new balance sneaker factory just outside of boston yesterday speaking with the company's owners and employees. he called the current code inefficient, unfair, and too complicated. the speaker says despite the setback on health care, he still sees a possible legislative

victory awaiting with taxes. we still can do tax reform regardless of what happens. we already put in our contingency plan for that. we will do tax reform no matter what happens with respect to any other issue like health care reform because we know we have to do tax reform. it's a once in a generation opportunity. >> switching gears a little bit. let's talk about business where there's quite a bibt of news coming out of amazon, including a new program to buy products from retailers at full price, and a deal with sears to sell kenmore appliances all in the works. we're also looking at exxon, which was fine for violating russia sanctions when secretary of state rex tillerson was the company's ceo. cnbc's bill marks joins us with the very latest. a lot happening today, bill. >> yeah, that's right. you know, it's no secret that sears has been in financial trouble. they declared bankruptcy just last month. one of the main reasons for that, of course, is the threat from on-line retailers like amazon. now they've decided to team up with their nemesis, certainlily,

and they're going to be offering kenmore appliances through the on-line retailer's website. amazon is looking to strengthen across the board. it's now promising thousands of other retailers. it will sell their products through systems at full retail price, taking advantage of their dis bougs expertise. this allows amazon to expand its range of products, and another element, when it looks to world domination of amazon, of course, looking at that purchase of whole foods not too long ago the fcc and federal trade commission looking into that right now. they're also following allegations from a watchdog group that potentially amazon has been inflating its listed prices. a bit of a problem for them there. in ermz it of another huge u.s. firm facing some fire from regulators in the u.s. is exxonmobil. of course, they have been stuck with a $2 million fine by the u.s. treasury department for allegedly violating sanctions involving dealings with russia individuals. that, of course, follows the conflict in ukraine back in 2014. rex tillerson was running the company at the time. he is not involved in this probe

at the moment, but it is, of course, embarrassing what's going on at the moment, and the fcc looking at that. regulators looking at that complaint in a great deal of detail, and that's kind of one of the interesting things when you look at the russia-u.s. relationship. >> and just to put it in perspective, $2 million. a drop in the bucket for exxon, which i think its revenues are, like, $78 billion. >> $7.8 billion. >> a pitance for them. >> let's talk about north korea. it's a country that grew despite the sanctions imposed on it. what's driving the growth? it might catch some people by surprise, actually. >> yeah. you know, it's the hermit kim jong un, but its neighbor south korea has been tracking its economics since 1991. they're the ones releasing these numbers. we've seen a gross gdp growth of 3.9%. a lot of that is down to an increase in exports. they're up 4.6%. that has a lot to do with trade with china, its largest trading partner. all of this in the context, of course, of the ongoing nuclear tests. >> yeah, probably an incentive

for china not to cooperate with trying to strengthen those sanctions. >> you said it, not me. >> i think so that for joining us, bill. still ahead, a major earthquake rocking coastal communities in greece and turkey this morning. the footage quite disturbing. the latest on the deadly tremor that has left people in the area on edge, and crews battling a dangerous wildfire near yosemite national park in california. they continue to struggle to contain the raging inferno. plus, bill karins will have a look at weather. any relief from the heat wave gripping much of the country? stay with us.

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there you see scrambling for cover as tables and the building begin to shake. so far the blaze has destroyed at least 45 structures and 1,500 other homes and buildings are still at risk. earlier this week governor jerry brown declared a state of emergency as the state deals with several other wildfires. let's get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. question for the folks out in california probably is are they going to get some help from mother nature? >> not this time of year. their rainy season doesn't arrive until we get it to, like, maybe at earliest october, november. this is the peak of the fire season out west. we even get the fires in the east. usually not big huge ones like the rockies or california. this one is from washington township, new jersey. we showed you the detweiler fire, which is 70,000 acres. this one in jersey is -- they

say they have it pretty well contained. by new jersey standards that was an impressive sight. let's show you what's happening with the heat. obviously, that's the story. excessive heat warnings continuing. 78 million people under heat advisories or warnings. the problem with when you get these big heat waves is at night it doesn't cool off. if anybody doesn't have air conditioning, they don't get relief either. it feels like 91 degrees when you walk out in st. louis. here we are early, early in the morning. it still feels like 90 in washington d.c. those are two of the hottest spots along with their friends in dallas. the dangerous heat continues with the heat all the way from texas to the plains to the east. today will feel like 100 in atlanta. st. louis, it will feel like 109. wichita, 107. in d.c., it if will feel like 102 this afternoon. there is some relief. notice kansas city goes from 97 saturday to 87 on monday. still a hot weekend. chicago is not bad. much cooler by monday. same with nashville. the peak of the heat wave is today. slowly over the weekend we cool it off. but not much in d.c.

the mid-atlantic is the one exception. they're going to stay warm and steamy. notice in boston, only in the 70s the beginning of next week. some areas are lucky and cool off, while others have to wait. >> all right. bill karins, thanks for that. we have some sad news. chester bennington, best known as one of the lead singers in the rock band linkin park is dead from an apparent suicide. he was 41 years old. linkin park released seven albums. their hybrid theory helping ignite a trend of emerging electronic rap and rock music and went on to become the best selling album of 2001. their latest debut at the top of the billboard album charts after being released back in may, the band was set to start touring next week. in a tweet mike, one of the band's founders and the other lead singer, says he is shocked and heartbroken. chester bennington, dead at the age of 41. he will be sadly missed in the music world. still ahead, though, leaders in the senate look to once again tackle immigration reform. how senator lindsey graham says that his long-time friend, senator john mccain, is

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when asked about russian meddling in the election, president trump usually responds that it could have been done by the russians or other actors. no one knows for sure. mike pompeio was in colorado, and he was asked about whether russia meddled in u.s. elections. take a listen p to his response.

>> did russia intervene in our election? >> of course, and the one before that, and the one before that. they've been at this a hell of a long time, and i don't think they have any intention of backing off. >> i am confident that the russians meddled in this election, as is the entire intelligence community. >> senator lindsey graham is looking to instill a bit of bipartisanship in congress as he gets started on immigration reform. graham joined democrat dick durbin to announce they're trying to once again get the dream act passed. the legislation aims to provide a way for some young immigrants who arrived or stayed in this country illegally to become legal permanent citizens. speaking yesterday, graham credited his best friend and fellow republican senator john mccain for helping to inspire him to tackle the hot button issue. >> my good friend john mccain. you asked me how he is doing. he has called me three times this morning. no more woe is me, lindsey. he is yelling at me to buck up.

i'm going to buck up. i got involved because when john ran for president in 2000, he wanted to fix a brecken immigration system because he is from arizona, and he sees the down side of illegal immigration where criminals come across. he sees the abuse of the code. he sees women living in the shadows that have no rights and are being exploited and on and on and on. so i started because john asked me. >> all right. le with, the legislation comes after a group of conservative state attorneys general issued an ultimate mate imto president trump giving him until early september to stop renewing or granting temporary deportation deferrals and work permits to young immigrants. coming up next on "morning joe" matters foreign and domestic with president trump's extended conversations with vladimir putin at the g-20 in the news still. admiral james and former russia ambassador michael mcfaul will join the conversation.

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before we toss it over to "morning joe" let's get a check of the stories you'll be hearing about in the day ahead. >> we start in the white house where the russia probe continues to dominate the hleadlines. halle jackson, good morning. >> good morning to you. this morning the president is still dealing with some of that fall-out after those very controversial comments regarding jeff sessions in that explosive "new york times" interview earlier this week. the attorney general now says he is not going anywhere. he says he loves his job and it's an honor to serve, and he will stay on as long as appropriate. the white house here saying that the president still has confidence in his attorney general but was disappointed. as you heard the president himself say in that decision for sessions to step away from matters related to the russia investigation. we're keeping an eye on that as next week the russia investigation comes front and center here to washington with jared kushner set to appear

monday to be interviewed by staffers on the senate intelligence committee and the potential that we could see donald trump jr. and former campaign chair paul manafort on the hill wednesday talking with senate judiciary. big day and a big week coming up. for now, back to you. >> thanks to halle jackson for that report. speaking of president trump, he and vice president pence will welcome to the white house three of the only five survivors of the pearl harbor attack who are still alive. in addition to that meeting, the men will be honored at the world war ii memorial with pure silver commemorative coins. jeff sessions will be getting out of washington today and heading to philadelphia. he will speak with federal and local law enforcement officials about sanctuary cities and efforts to combat violent crimes. that's it for us on this friday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. >> nicole, you have been around this city for a long time. i cannot possibly imagine the president terminating bob mueller. i mean, it's not even -- it's ridiculous to even consider or talk about.

i mean, it just cannot happen. let's put that aside. if they ever have even discussed that, which i doubt they have. >> that was bob corker, head of the senate foreign relations committee telling us last month he can't imagine president trump would fire bob mueller, the special counsel tasked with investigating russian interference and potential links between the kremlin and the trump campaign. what about actively undermining him? this morning there are multiple reports that president trump and his aides are laying the ground work to allege conflicts of interest in other ways to undercut the russia probe. veteran columnist, we also say veteran -- >> oh. >> mike barnacle. donny deutsche is just donny deutsche.