headquarters here in new york. earlier this week north korea issued a flew threat claiming we're on the knife's edge of life and death. they don't even have vegetables in north korea. maybe they're just hangry. but not to be outwhack-a-do'ed, president trump responded with this. >> they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. >> first of all, unfold your arms. you look like a jeff dunham puppet. >> this morning, another warning to north korea. president trump now says his promise of fire and fury may not

have been tough enough. plus, the president escalates his attack on mitch mcconnell as top republicans line up behind the senate majority leader, and instead of criticizing vladimir putin for cutting u.s. embassy staff, president trump offers up his thanks to the dismay of top diplomats. we gun with the latest in the week that has seen the crisis plunge to depths not seen since the 1950s. although the fire and fury remarks from his golf club in new jersey on tuesday drew widespread concern for their dire tone, the president now says perhaps he didn't go far enough. >> frankly, the people who were questioning that statement was as too tough, maybe it wasn't tough enough. they've been doing this to our

country for a long time, for many years, and it's about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries. if anything, maybe that statement wasn't tough enough. we're backed 100% by our military. we're backed by everybody. we're backed by many other leaders. i notice that many senators and others today came out very much in favor of what i said, but, if anything, that statement may not be tough enough. >> what would be tougher than fire and fury? >> north korea better get their act together or they're going to be in trouble like few nations have been in trouble in this world. >> speaking for a second time, the president addressed the recent threat made by pyongyang against the u.s. territory of guam. >> in guam -- let's see what he does with guam. he does something in guam, it

will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before what will happen in north korea. it's not adai dare. it's a statement. has nothing to do with dare. it's a statement. he is not going to go around threatening guam or the united states. he is not going to threaten japan, and he is not going to threaten south korea. no, that's not a dare, as you say. that is a statement of fact. >> and secretary of defense jim mattis was asked yesterday about the president's rhetoric relating to north korea. take a listen. >> what i would say here, ladies and gentlemen, my portfolio, my mission, my responsibility is to

have military options, should they be needed. right now you can see the american effort is diplomatically led, diplomatic traction and is gaining diplomatic results, and i want to stay right there right now. the tragedy of war is well enough known. it doesn't need another characterization beyond the fact that it would be catastrophic. >> of course, all this coming as nbc news has learned that the cia and several other key u.s. intelligence agencies also agree with the recent assessment from the defense intelligence agency that they believe north korea now has the ability to miniaturize a nuclear weapon and attach it to a missile. let's get into this. joining us now live from tokyo, nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley. good to talk to you this morning. we heard the president mention japan there as well. that north korea cannot threaten japan, amongst other nations, that are close to north korea. the north korean army says that their plan to attack guam includes firing four ballistic missiles over japan. what's the atmosphere like on

the ground where you are? >> this is the first day of a bank holiday weekend here in japan, and people here have the day off, skps they're just enjoying themselves. for the chattering classes, for the politicians, it's quite a different story. people here are used to these threats. they're used to having these test launches from north korea firing into waters off of japan and over japan. the vast majority of tests have been in the vicinity of japan. it's such a close country to north korea. people here aren't that rattled, but the political classes have been talking about this quite a bit, and there's been some discussion about sort of either

ramping up their defensive capabilities or at least slightly militaryizing to some extent now. if you remember, of course, the defensive posture here for the japanese, it's entirely defensive. the military capabilities they have are totally defensive, and that's actually enshrined in the constitution. one of the lasting changes we might see here is that the japanese might feel as though they need to start arming up a little bit more, and that could be a major change for the entire region. >> well, we're certainly going to see how things develop over the weekend. matt bradley for us. thanks for joining us. appreciate it. >> do you have any response to russian president -- 755 workers from our embassy? >> no, i want to thank him because we're trying to cut down on payroll, and as far as i'm concerned, i'm very thankful that he let go of a large number

of people because now we have a smaller payroll. we'll save a lot of money. >> it's the most drastic cuts from moscow in 30 years. it was a preemptive move ahead of a wave of new sanctions from congress. members of the diplomatic corps, past and present were shocked. former ambassador nicolas burns tweeted, "a shameful statement by president trump. he justifies mistreatment of u.s. diplomats by putin. if he was joking, it shows his true character." one diplomat told "politico," "this is so demoralizing to people serving their country in harm's way." another state department official said, "i kid you not, i have heard from three different people in the last five minutes. everyone seems pretty amazed. this statement is nigh eave and short-sighted. it sends a terrible signal to local employees everywhere." another official responded,

"thank putin? i don't have words that are printable to describe my reaction." in its 2018 budget bru print the trump administration sought to slash the state department budget by 28%. the president ramped up his attacks by tweeting about the majority leader for a second consecutive day saying mcconnell has screamed repeal and replace for seven years and couldn't get it done. then six hours later tweeted, "mitch, get back to work and put repeal and replace, tax reform, and cuts and a great infrastructure bill on my desk for signing. you can do it." then speaking to reporters in the afternoon, the president confirmed a "new york times" report that he confronted the senate leader by phone wednesday and said this about the chief steward of his agenda in the senate. >> just wanted to get repeal and replace done. i've been hearing repeal and replace now for seven years, but i've only been doing this for two years, and i have really

only been doing this for six months, but i have been running. now it's almost two years, and all i hear is repeal and replace, and then i get there, and i said where is the bill? i want to sign it. first day. they don't have it. they passed repeal and replace, but they never had a president, frankly, or a senate that was going to do it. i said, mitch, get to work, and let's get it done. they should have had this last one done. they lost by one vote. for a thing like that to happen is a disgrace, and, frankly, it shouldn't have happened. that i can tell you. it shouldn't have happened. >> should mitch mcconnell consider stepping down and -- >> well, i'll tell you what, if he doesn't get repeal and replace done and if he doesn't get taxes done, meaning cuts and reform, and if he doesn't get a very easy one to get done, infrastructure, he doesn't get them done, then you can ask me that question. >> and in the face of the

president's open disappointment, a handful of republican senators stood up to back mitch mcconnell. cincinnati pro tem and chairman of the finance committee, orrin hatch, said mcconnell has been the best leader we've had in my time in the senate through every tough challenge. i fully support him. tom tillis wrote that mcconnell is the single biggest reason why neil gorsuch is now a supreme court justice. jeff flake of arizona wrote mcconnell does a tough job well. he has my support. and dean heller of nevada tweeted i look forward to mcconnell's leadership as we look to reduce americans' taxes. joining us now from washington, reporter for axius sarah curber. good to talk to you this morning. hearing the president there from new jersey, from his golf club, he didn't exactly give mcconnell a thumbs up, a vote of confidence saying, look, basically if he doesn't get all of these things done, tax reform, repeal, replace, et cetera, infrastructure reform, then ask me that question if i want him to step down.

what's the strategy here? >> i think what the president is trying to do is to align himself in a way that's going to make more sense with the american people, so if you are to take a look at some of the more recent polls, look at the cnn-orc poll that came out the other day, the president's approval rating may be low. it's at 38%. congress's is lower. when you ask the american people who is to blame for the health care bill not going through, only 8% say the president. he is trying to position himself in a way that will get him higher ratings, get him higher approval. it's important to note that this relationship hasn't always been great. there are tweets going back -- mitch mlk connell is right. the president doesn't have a full understanding and grasp of hill policy, and, yet, the president is also right. mitch mcconnell failed to repeal and replace obama care. the both of them have always had a contentious relationship. the president is just being more vocal about it right now.

>> he is trying to separate himself from the failures of the senate, so that his base can't point to him and say, president, you didn't get this done. instead, they're saying, hey, senate, you didn't get this done. mcconnell, you didn't get this done. we have been reporting of the far right attacks on the president's national security advisor h.r. mcmaster. a wall street journal editorial claimed earlier this week, sarah, that steve bannon was behind that onslaught. the president, he was asked to weigh in on this yesterday. i want to play that for you, and then we'll talk. >> do you have full confidence in international security advisor? >> yes, i do. general mcmaster, absolutely. he is our friend. he is my friend. he is a very talented man. i like him. i respect him. >> let's be clear here. mcmaster was actually seated right next to the president when he was making those remarks, so important to note that, but if bannon is indeed behind those attacks, is this now sort of a signal here to back off? >> i mean, he very well could be behind those attacks. remember, those attacks came

from publications like breitbart where bannon used to be an executive, but it's also important to remember that bannon comes from a different sector within the white house. more of a nationalist wing that's directly opposed to sort of the military wing within the white house that's of h.r. mcmaster's, john kelly. it wouldn't surprise me if this was sort of an under-dig at the right wing sort of nationalist group within the white house to back off of these attacks. trump has said repeatedly that he trusts mcmaster, and so that would not surprise me. >> all right, sarah fisher for us. thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. still ahead, with no strategy for the afghan war in sight, senator john mccain comes up with his own solution and criticizes president trump in the process. plus, we're tracking strong storms from the central plains to the east coast. we're going to get a full check of the weekend forecast and much more when we come back. stay with us.

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welcome back, everybody. while speaking with reporters in bedminster, new jersey yesterday, the president was asked about the u.s. strategy for the war in afghanistan. >> did you make any decision on afghanistan, whether to add additional -- >> we're getting close. we're getting very close. it's a very big decision for me. i took over a mess, and we're going to make it a lot less messy, but that has been a place -- 17 years, our longest war i read in one of your columns, and, frankly, it's going to be a decision that's going to be made very soon. in june defense secretary jim mattis promised to deliver a strategy for afghanistan by mid-july. so far nothing has been presented. seemingly frustrated with a lack of action john mccain has now released his own afghan strategy that includes including u.s. trips and calls for a long-term open-ended partnership.

in a statement mccain said, in part, nearly seven months into president trump's administration, we've had no strategy at all as conditions on the ground have steadily worsened. the thousands of americans putting their lives on the line in afghanistan zdeserve better from their commander in chief. also during his landmark day with the media, the president reflected on his decision to ban transgender americans from serving in the u.s. military. >> i have great respect for the community. i think i have great support or i've had great support from that community, right? got a lot of votes. but the transgender in the military is working on it now. they're doing the work. it's been a very difficult situation, and i think i'm doing a lot of people a favor by coming out and just saying it. as you know, it's been a very complicated issue for the military. it's been a very confusing issue for the military. i think i'm doing the military a great favor. >> in spite of claims that the ban was based on military

decisions, the announcement caught top pentagon officials off guard, and here's what the nation's new navy secretary said just yesterday. >> we will process and take direction of a policy that will be developed by the secretary from direction from the president and march out smartly. as i said before, on a fundamental basis, any patriot that wants to serve and meets all the requirements should be able to serve in our military. >> this week five transgender service members, they sue the president over the ban. >> all right. let's get a check on weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, you've got some bad weather hitting oklahoma today and also some cool weather heading to the northeast just in time for the weekend. >> yeah, no, we haven't had a lot of dry summer weekends in the northeast. first, here are the storms in larimer county, colorado. these produced tennis ball size hail, and this tree didn't have a chance. it was just leaf-stripping hail that came down. look at some of the splashes in the water. that's how you can tell kind of the size of that hail. pretty impressive stuff.

a lot of clean-up out there today. let's get into the forecast. oklahoma, not a fun morning. i'm sure there's more than one person watching us early today. those thunderstorms woke everyone up over the last couple of hours. oklahoma city, the thunder is over for you, and the lightning. these are moving now towards eastern portions of the state. there are also scattered storms through kansas and missouri. we have ten million people under flash flood watches. almost the entire state of oklahoma, southern kansas, and now a good chunk from huntsville to birmingham and including the atlanta area. they've had a lot of rain on and off. the ground is saturated. it's not going to take a lot to get flash flooding out of this. we'll have slow-moving thunderstorms through the weekend. as far as what we're dealing with today, by this evening, scattered showers and storms. new york state, pennsylvania, hit and miss through areas of the southeast. by the time we get to saturday, that's when the heaviest rains will be in the mid-atlantic, d.c. area, baltimore, and hit and miss storms through areas of nashville. again, it's not going to pour all weekend long for a lot of us, lewis and yasmin, but we will have hit and miss storms

for anyone. not many people will avoid it. can't promise you a dry weekend just about anywhere. zroo thanks, bill. still ahead, the pga choirp is underway, but jordan spieth's grand slam quest is off to a rocky start. perhaps he could use some rally cat magic that is still clearly in play in st. louis. sports, everybody, is next. need. that sounds made up barry. based on a true story... we're sending you to columbia. of the c.i.a.'s biggest secret. i have helped build the biggest drug cartel this world has ever seen. tom cruise. all this is legal? if you're doin' it for the good guys. [ police sirens ] no mas. no mas. [ laughter ] [ gun shot ] we recognize the dangers involved here. no you don't. shoot the gringo. american made. rated r. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage,

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kevin kisner and -- share the lead at four under 67 after the first 18 holes at quail hollow. it's the highest score to lead this tournament after the opening round in seven years leaving the possibilities wide open for a slew of household names that are not far behind. it was a rough first round for british open champ jordan spieth who struggled with his short game. three putting on two straight holes before saving his round with two birdies in a row and finishing five strokes off the lead at one over par, 72. a win for spieth this week would earn him a career grand slam. turning now to the nfl and an impressive rookie performance. rookie qb mitchell trubiski showed promise. he completed 18 of 25 passes for 166 yards, including a touchdown toss to receiver victor cruz.

coach john fox, however, said he isn't planning on making any changes to the chicago depth chart any time soon. all right. major league baseball. the cardinals were at it again against the royals last night in st. louis. good luck from the rally cat that ran on to the field wednesday night before the go ahead grand slam is still pulsing through university of phoenix stadium, apparently. the cards used the grand slam to take the lead. this time off the bat of dexter fouler. st. louis beats kansas city 8-6 in that one. in the nation's capital marlins slugger john carlos stanton launches his 39th home run of the season. a two-run shot that gives miami a 2-0 lead over the nationals in the third inning. but this game would end up tied in the bottom of the eighth where brian goodwin gives washington the advantage from the solo shot out to the seats in right field there, and in the top of the ninth clinging to a one-run lead with two outs and a runner on third, andrew

stevenson saves the game for the nats making a diving catch along the third baseline to put the ma marlins away 3-2. >> too bad the wally cat running out of that luck. that's for sure. >> still ahead, president trump weighs in on the raid of his former campaign chair paul manafort. plus, more on president trump's escalating rhetoric over north korea. we're going to get a live report coming up next. ♪ ♪ isaac hou has mastered gravity defying moves to amaze his audience. great show. here you go. now he's added a new routine. making depositing a check seem so effortless. easy to use chase technology, for whatever you're trying to master. isaac, are you ready? yeah. chase. so you can.

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welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin along side louis.

it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with this morning's top story. president trump says that his latest threat to north korea unleashing fire and fury on the country perhaps did not go far enough. >> frankly, the people that thought that statement was too tough, maybe it wasn't tough enough. they've been doing this to our country for years, and it's about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries. if anything, maybe that statement wasn't tough enough, and we're backed by 100% by our military. we're backed by everybody. we're backed by many other leaders. i notice that many senators and others today came out very much in favor of what i said. if anything, that statement may not be tough enough. >> what would be tougher than fire and fury? >> well, you'll see. you'll see. i will tell you this. north korea better get their act together or they're going to be in trouble like few nations ever

have been in trouble in this world. >> and later, the president addressed the recent threat made by pyongyang against the u.s. territory of guam. >> i read about we're in guam by august 15th. let's see what he does with guam. he does go in guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before what will happen in north korea. it's not a dare. it's a statement. it has nothing to do with dare. it's a statement. he is not going to go around threatening guam and the united states, and he is not going to threaten japan, and he is not going to threaten south korea. no, that's not a dare, as you say. that is a statement of fact. >> joining us once again from 800 miles southeast of pyongyang in tokyo, nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley. good to talk to you once again. from what we understand, north korea has threatened that they would send ballistic missiles over japan. that would land about 20 miles

or so off the shores of guam. how is the region, from your perspective, responding to all this, and where do we really go from here? >> well, thanks, yasmin. this region is no stranger to the kind of bellicose rhetoric that we're hearing not only from donald trump, but also from kim jong un. at the same time the latest here, the latest reaction is something of a cooling effect. we had a phone conversation just today between h.r. mcmaster, who is the national security advisor, the american national security advisor, and his counterparts in south korea, and they decided that they wouldn't take action unilaterally without approval from the other side. that means that there is some effort to try to coordinate strategy between south korea and the united states. now, here in japan there's been renewed talk of increasing their defensive posture, strengthening it, and possibly moving a defensive missile shield. some elements of a defensive missile shield further south and west. that's the area where the

missiles that would be flying toward guam would be flying over japan. again, it's worth mentioning that so many of the missile tests that north korea have launched in the past couple of years have landed either near japanese waters or crossed over the japanese island. this country is no stranger to that kind of adventurism from north korea. now, there's other issues here. some people are saying that -- some analysts are saying that donald trump's comments are aimed at much at china as north korea. like so many other successive presidents, president trump has been very frustrated that china has not used its influence to prevail upon north korea. >> china certainly integral to helping resolve this situation. good to know that there's coordination going on because no matter what happens there, coordination is certainly important. matt bradley for us. thanks so much. appreciate it. a white house aide says that the secretary of state should not be listened to when it comes to military matters related to

north korea. when asked to explain the different messages trump administrations has made sebasa gorka told bbc radio that no one should listen to rex tillerson. after tillerson said he saw no immediate threat of war with north korea and urged americans to sleep soundly. >> you should listen to the president. the idea that secretary tillerson is going to discuss military matters is simply nonsensical. it is the job of secretary mattis, the secretary of defense, to talk about the military options, and he has done so unekunequivicolly today. that is his mandate. secretary tillerson is the chief diplomat of the united states. >> now, those comments drew a sharp reply from tillerson's spokeswoman heather newart. take a listen. >> secretary tillerson has not spoken about u.s. military capabilities. you all hear me very often from

this room when you ask me about u.s. military assets or plans. i refer you to d.o.d. i think that everyone has clearly heard what secretary tillerson's forceful comments have been and continue to be on the issue of dprk and others issues as well. >> and should be paid attention to. >> i would think so. he is a cabinet secretary. he is fourth in line to the presidency. he carries a big stick. >> gorka later attempted to clear his comments, placing the bram on journalists. >> i never said the secretary of state -- that's fake news 101. >> well, there's audio of you saying -- >> i have the audio. >> nonsensic l a. >> i have the audio as well. thank you. i said for reporters to force our chief diplomat, the amazing rex tillerson, to give details of military options is nonsensical. i was admonishing the journalists of the fake news industrial complex.

if a journalist doesn't know the difference between the secretary of state and the department of defense, they should hand in their credentials. >> okay. a new report details the pressure on former trump campaign chair paul manafort. bloomberg news shows that bob mueller recently sent subpoenas to global banks for account information and records of transactions involving manafort and some of his companies, but even though manafort spokesman said he is not a cooperating witness, the report says manafort has been helping, citing people familiar with the matter. bloomberg claims manafort had alerted authorities to the controversial meeting on june 9th, 2016, involving trump's son and other campaign representatives and a russian lawyer promising damaging information on hillary clinton. the report says manafort has closed the meeting to lawmakers about three months ago in response to a congressional request for any information related to russia during his time on the campaign. he also provided more than 300 relevant documents to congress, though.

he no longer had access to emails from the campaign. on may 22nd nbc news reported that manafort turned over documents in response to a state intel committee request. yahoo news reported that kushner's lawyers discovered the meeting while doing a review during a third week in june and disclosed it on his security clearance form on june 21st. less than two months ago. yesterday president trump was asked about the early morning raid of manafort's apartment by fbi investigators last month. >> mr. president, was it appropriate for the fbi to raid the home of paul manafort predawn? >> i thought it was a very, very strong signal or whatever. i know mr. manafort -- i haven't spoken to him for a long time, but i know him. he was with the campaign for a very short period of time. relatively short period of time. i have alleges known him tore a good man. i thought it was a very, you know -- they do that very

seldom. i was surprised to see it. i was very, very surprised to see it. >> have you spoken -- >> we haven't really been involved. >> back with us from washington reporter for axius sarah fisher once again. i want to start with russia. i want to play his response, and then we'll talk. >> i haven't given it any thought. i've been reading about it from you people. you say, oh, i'm going to dismiss him. i'm not dismissing anybody. i want them to get on with the task, but i also want the senate and the house to come out with their findings. now, judging from the people leaving the meetings, leaks, but they leave the meetings all the time, and they say, no, we haven't found any collusion. there is no collusion. you know why? because i don't speak to russians. >> so there's really no talk of a witch hunt, which we have heard over and over from the president. up until this point when it comes to the russia investigation, he didn't mention it here. what do you make of the president sort of toned down rhetoric when it comes to the

russian investigation? is this advice from outside counsel? is this advice from kelly? is he starting to listen a little bit? >> i think he is. this is very different rhetoric from the reports and the rumors that we were hearing just a few weeks ago. in june one of his close frepds, christopher ruddy, said that he was thinking about dismissioning robert mueller. this definitely sounds toned down, and i think you're right there, yasmin. a lot of this comes from guidance from outside counsel, guidance from some of the advisor that is he has close to him that say the smartest thing you can do here is to comply. now, of course, for president trump, this is personal. any time there's conversation about the russian meddling in the election, he thinks that it takes away from his victory. notice in that same gaggle with reporters, he mentioned how he won certain states. this is what's really getting at it for him. he doesn't want his election victory to be invalidated where. >> as soon as we have this conversation, sarah, what always happens is a tweet comes out, and it completely dismisses everything that we just talked about because we think things are getting toned down, and then they get ramped back up once again. we'll have to wait and see with

that. your bosses, they're reporting on what they call the committee to save america. tell us more about this loose alliance from what we understand of senior white house officials here. >> yeah, that's exactly right. so axios's mike and jim had high level conversations with folks close to the political discourse in the white house. what they found is that there's a loose alliance between really two groups. first you have sort of the new yorker wing. you have the gary cohen's economic advisor. you have the deputy national security advisor, dina poul, who has 25 years of national security experience. these are people who are really good at communicating with the president. showing him visuals, showing him charts. then you have sort of the general wing. these are people like chief of staff john kelly, national security advisor h.r. mcmaster, even defense secretary jim mattis. they all want to get the president the most truthful information so he can make strategic decisions. >> sarah fisher for us.

thank you. appreciate it. >> thank you. still ahead, everybody, where do trump supporters stand now? lewis, he hits the road to talk with members of the president's base in a state that used to be reliable for democrats. plus, bill karins with a check of the weekend forecast when we come back. during our made to move 2017 clearance event, you can do endless online research. or, you can take advantage of our best offer ever on an xt5. don't wait. our 2017 models will be moving fast.

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the big surprise was we're not german at all. 52% of my dna comes from scotland and ireland. so, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt. ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. get started for free at ancestry.com. welcome back. last week we went on the road to see how voters in west virginia, a state that went overwhelmingly for president trump, were feeling about the trump administration so far. this week i hit the road again. this time in eastern pennsylvania. it's part of the country that was dark blue just four years ago. take a listen. ♪ >> i'm in north hampton county, pennsylvania, in the town of easton. this place is known as a

bellweather because it went for obama back in 2012 and then for trump in the last election cycle. i want to know if the voters here still approve of the job that the president is doing. >> i think he will be okay. just got to get some stuff sorted out. >> i think he needs to address a few issues that need to be addressed. >> this is something you wanted to grow into? okay. but at least show that you are looking to grasp the issues for which you are responsible. >> are we going to be in war in a month or two or three? >> i think he is doing a terrific job. first of all, he is -- he has kept his promises. whatever -- he has done as much as he has been able to do where. >> he doesn't affect me in, but he does affect the children and the elderly, and i am not happy about that. >> it's a little scary, i would have to say. not quite sure where he is going to go. especially with the north korea threat. >> he is doing a great job. >> what do you like the most about what he has done? >> he don't take any crap.

trying to get her done. >> he is doing good with immigration. >> i'm not really conservative, but not every single choice has been terrible, but he is kind of getting in his own way. >> i do not approve of the job that our president is doing so far. >> i think he is doing a hell of a job. i just wish people would leave him alone. >> you would vote again for him tomorrow if you had to? >> i don't know about that one. >> you better believe it. >> got to give the guy a chance. he ain't been in there that long. >> it would depend on who he was running against. >> i would not vote for him. >> yes, i would. >> i would never vote for trump. >> yes. yes, i would. >> 100%? >> 100%. >> i voted last year, and i voted for trump, actually. >> you did? >> yes. i believed in what he was saying. >> now you are disappointed? >> i'm very disappointed like a lot of people are disappointed. they thought trump was going to come in here and change everything, and he hasn't. >> if you could vote for tomorrow, would you vote for the president again? >> yes. >> well, there you have it

there, yasmin. the overwhelming majority of people that i talked to that actually voted for trump don't think he has had enough time to get done what he needs to get done. don't think the media has given him a fair shake, and they still want to wait and see what he does, but they still support him. there are only a few outliars there that were disenting and not happy. >> interesting to see such a diversity of opinion and people speaking so frankly with you. that one guy saying get her done. you know what we have to do, we have to go back there maybe in a year or so after he has had some more time and do that same piece again and see what people have to say. that was awesome, lewis. thank you. a new report from the federal government reveals that last year was earth's warmest on record. the findings from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration reveals that the higher temps were the result of long-term global warming and a strong el nino weather pattern. it says that 2016 surpassed 2015 as the warmest year in 137 years of record keeping. the report, which is based on contributions from nearly 500

scientists for more than 60 countries also found that greenhouse gases, global sea temperatures, and sea levels were also at record highs. with that let's get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins standing by. >> hey, yasmin, we're a little past halfway through this year. we're not going to top 2016 for the hottest year on the planet on record. sea surface temperature and land combined. we're going to be either second or third. that's kind of where we're sitting, and we have four more months to go. let's take a look at this morning. a lot of people waking up. a lot of wind danl reports have been reported in oklahoma. these storms are still rolling now, and they're heading down towards the red river here border of texas and oklahoma. also, numerous storms have popped up in the last hour or two throughout missouri. st. louis, you're going to have a wet morning commute. those rain and thunderstorms are headed away from an hour from now. flash flood watch is up for almost all of oklahoma and a good section of alabama here and north georgia, including the atlanta area. let's get into the weekend forecast. for today a few strong storms on the ohio valley.

not widespread. there will be a few hit and miss strong storms. st. louis this morning and then maybe another round this afternoon. d.c., the best chance for storms for you later on tonight. if you have evening plans, keep that in mind. from flefrl, new york city northward, you should be dry throughout your entire friday. hit and miss showers and storms in the southeast. not mentioning a lot about the west because you continue to be very dry and very warm. really no issues right through your weekend. as we go into saturday, hit and miss showers and storms. there will be a period of even heavy rain saturday early this the morning right down the i-95 corridor. then it will dry out during the day, and then additional showers and storms hit and miss late in the afternoon. i think i can give you a good sunday, though, from about north carolina northwards. just the southeast still dodging showers and storms. we haven't had a lot of perfect weekends, the eastern half of the country, and this one definitely won't be one of them either. >> we'll just hunker down until sunday. >> yes, saturday is a good clean everything out, getting things done in the house, and then sunday go out and play. >> thanks, bill. still ahead, the white house's mixed message on the

opioid crisis courtesy of president trump. plus, pop superstar taylor swift takes the stand offering up a blunt account of the alleged groping involving her and a former radio dj. that's coming up. irst person toe alzheimer's disease is out there. and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen by funding scientific breakthroughs, advancing public policy, and providing local support to those living with the disease and their caregivers. but we won't get there without you. visit alz.org to join the fight. "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours. step two: choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business.

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it all adds up to our most reliable network ever. one that keeps you connected to what matters most. welcome back, everyone. with the president declaring the opioid crisis an emergency

yesterday. it came two days after human services secretary tom price said this: >> so we believe that at this point the revousources or the fs we need can be addressed without the declaration of an emergency, though all things are on the table for the president. >> i'm saying officially right now it's an emergency, it's a national emergency, we're going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis. >> it's not clear what led the president to -- officials say the ep deppic claims 142 american lives every day. >> it's staggering. >> and a high-profile trial

involving taylor swift is set to reso resume today. joe fire was in the courtroom and has more. >> on the stand for an hour, taylor swift firmly repeatedly testified a radio d.j. lifted per skirt. it was a definite grab, a very lunched wrong as the picture published last year by tmz was introduced into evidence. swift didn't tell anyone until the meet and green was oaf wear the for fans to leave the room. >> you could have taken -- yes, and you could have change.

kay support swaying they cost him his job. but swift, who is countersuing, alleging said she's questions. i'm never going to say anything different. fans once given fill the courtroom. >> she was very confident on the stand. >> swift said it it apeerl mule her a few dock dals before the photo but mueller testified he had nothing before the me and greet. >> coming up, the saber rattling with north korea. hallie jackson, crist en, with jeremy peters. plus adam kinzinger has dismissed trump's rp if he still

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welcome back, everybody. before we toss it over to "morning joe," let's get a check on the stories you'll hear about in the day ahead. the suspect in the fatal shooting of a clinton police officer earlier this week is set to be in court today in mccarthy. his public defender said he will plead not guilty. >> and a memorial will be held for the woman fatally shot by police last month. she was shot after calling 911. >> pence will give the key note address for an anti-violence group health insurance ahead. that does it for us on this friday morning. have a fantastic weekend.

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >> he has said things that are horrific. well, with me he's not getting away with it. >> i'm very disappointed with mitch. but if me gets these bills passed, i'll be very happy with hip. >> i haven't spoken to him in a long time. but i know prrn. >> during the republican presidential primary, donald trump declared himself to be, quote, the most militaristic person you will ever meet. that may very well be true. if you look at the number of wars he has going on right now. so he's threatening north korea with nuclear war. that's bad. he's waged a civil war with probably the most