tonight from nbc headquarters here in new york. ♪ in the aftermath of hurricane maria, the situation in puerto rico is growing dire. fema says more help is on the way. plus, with luther strange closely watched senate primary spelling possible trouble for the gop establishment. and senate republicans scrap another health care vote. now, the question is whether the president's party can score a legislative win before the end of the year. good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, september 27th. i'm ayman mohyeldin. alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf. we begin with the growing crisis in puerto rico in the wake of

hurricane maria. the island is short on food, electricity, cash, reliable communications, much more. and according to the department of defense, nearly 42% of the population, about 3.5 million people are without drinking water. there are 69 hospitals across the island. and according to the governor of puerto rico, only 20 of them are working. now, in some remote parts of the island calls for help have been seen written on rooftops, the mayor told msnbc that the roof needs to be ripped off like a band aid so more aid can come. >> people say, for heaven's sake, write me a memo, ask me what we need. i'm going to tell you, we need gas, we need running water. we need some way for people to find their way around. and we need our hospitals not to

become death traps. >> amid growing pleas for help, president trump announced yesterday that he will visit puerto rico next tuesday and defended the federal response. >> the governor of puerto rico is so thankful for the great job we're doing. we did a great job in texas. a great job in florida. a great job in louisiana. we hit little pieces of georgia and alabama. and frankly, we're doing -- and it's most difficult job because it's on an island, an island in the middle of the ocean. it's out in the ocean, you can't just drive your trucks there from other states. >> right now, the pentagon is increasing the number of military forces being sent in to help with relief efforts. defense officials say the ship "uss comfort" will head to puerto rico as well. >> and the president rejecting the criticism that he was too preoccupied with nfl instead of puerto rico.

here's how he responded to reporters just yesterday. >> well, i wasn't preoccupied by the nfl. i was ashamed of what was taking place, because, to me, that was a very important moment. i don't think you can disrespect our country, our flag, our national anthem. to me, the nfl situation is say very important situation. i've heard that before about was i preoccupied. not at all. not at all. i have plenty of time on my hands. all i do is work. >> meanwhile, lawmakers are pushing for quick approval of relief funding for puerto rico. >> i'm telling you, if things don't ramp up quickly in terms of the aid provided there and the efforts provided there, this could rapidly escalate. we saw 12 people lose their lives in florida in a nursing home because there was no power and air conditioning. puerto rico's just as hot. >> republican senator ted cruz tweeted puerto rico risks becoming a full humanitarian

disaster. and senator john mccain is asking homeland security to wave the jones act. the law points tankers from hauling food among u.s. ports unless those vessels are american made. an establishment of an incumbent went down in defeat as roy moore defeated appointed senator luther strange. strange had the backing of president trump and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and lost by nearly ten points. during the six-week runoff period alone strange and supporting groups spent $4.7 million on tv ads. and moore and aligned groups spent just $1 million. and mcconnell congratulated moore in a state last night that read, quote, he ran a spirited campaign centered around the dissatisfaction with the

progress made in washington. i share that frustration and believe that enacting the agenda that those votered for allows us to work together. and vice president mike pence congratulating roy moore. and president trump tweeted his congratulations to moore and said luther strange started way back and ran a good race. roy, win in november. and since but trump tweeted with the correct month and deleted the tweet. but trump went on with three earlier tweets supporting moore. and steve bannon declared the night a win for trump. >> i want to thank all of the good faux in alabama for supporting donald trump by voting for judge moore. the question was called today in the state of alabama, who's sovereign? the people are the money.

and alabama answered today. the people. >> all right. joining us now from washington is politico's danielle lipman. the big question facing the republican party even for observers outside of it is, are there republican leaders vessel invested in defeating roy moore? is this a setback for them? where is it going to be for the establishment wing of republican party? >> this makes it much harder to keep control. because lots of incumbents are going to be facing conservative charlies like bannon predicted. this gives those people a lot of encouragement. and mcconnell does not like people like judge moore to serve within the u.s. senate. so this marks a real defeat for trump. because it makes him look like -- it embarrasses him by -- he had to delete his own tweets praising luther strange. so, that's kind of -- if you do that, that's kind of a black eye

for trump. >> i got to say, he said thank you for supporting trump. >> his candidate lost. there's also a top resignation going on the top of the dea, chuck rosenburg stepping aside. while he's stepping aside, he's tweeting about the president. tell us about that and the connection to jim kirbs comey. >> he serbed as former chief of staff to comey. so he's pretty close to comey. what we're hearing is, he did not think trump respected the rule of law. he publicly rebuked trump basically. because a few months ago, trump said police should rough people up who are criminal suspects. and rosenberg sent an agency-wide memo to his staff

just responding to the president's comments i don't have a partisan agenda but this is not right. we as dea agents are supposed to treat criminal suspects with respect. we can't beat them up. it was suspected that trump would put his own guy in. so you're seeing that rosenburg quit. he's a career prosecutor. he's not an obama guy. >> let me ask you about this quickly, about the controversy surrounding house and human services secretary price with jets. i know politico has been reporting on this what are the latest details that you are getting? >> so, we've uncovered details of two of those flights. one was to a georgia island where price and his wife own land. and another to nashville where he had a very quick stop to speak at a conference but also had lunch with his son. so the question is did he take

some of these private jet flights paid for by taxpayers with a lot of personal business on the side. that raises lots of red flags as to the propriety of that. eventually, he'll have to account for all of these flights and pay them back. >> there's a startling number of flights that are accumulated. daniel lipman live in washington, d.c. and a law was made official as gop senator leaders decided not to call a vote on the latest health care reform plan. setting back their goal of repealing and replacing obamacare. senators mck s cassidy and grah this resupply. >> to be clear, we don't have the votes. speaking to that and the president, lindsey and me are on

speed dial. am i disappointedy absolutely. >> we haven't given up on changing the american health care system. we're not going to be able to do that this week. but it still lies ahead of us. and we haven't given up on that. >> and late night talk show host jimmy kimmel who slashed with senate republicans as an outspoken critic of the bill tweeted a photo of his son who suffered from congenital heart defects. writing thanks to all those who spoke out, good-bye graham-cassidy. now, to the latest in the saga on the sonic attacks in the embassy in cuba which injured at least 21 personnel. secretary of state rex tillerson speaking yesterday, cuba's foreign minister vowed cuba is not behind the attack. it comes as it's citing multiple sources following the investigation reports that the white house does not believe that the cuban government is

behind the attacks. the mystery has even baffled cuban president raul castro who has denied responsibility. but told a u.s. diplomat in a rare face-to-face meeting that he's equally confused and concerned. still ahead, president trump weighs in on the north korean crisis that is ongoing, warning that the u.s. is ready to use devastating force. we're going to get a live report on the ongoing tensions. and later, senator bob corker said he will not seek re-election, setting off speculation on who will take that seat. those stories and more when we come back. kevin, meet your father.

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welcome back, everybody. president trump hosted spain's prime minister mariano rajoy at the white house yesterday. trump commended spain for their

recent decision to expel the ambassador for that recent nuclear test. and the rhetorical war with pyongyang responding to the allegation that he declared war on north korea and that the dprk will shoot down american warplanes flying in airspace. stake a listen. >> we are totally prepared for a second option, not a preferred option. but if we take that option, it will be devastating, i can tell you, that, devastating for north korea. that's called the military option. if we have to take it, we will. he's acting very badly. he's saying things. north korea is a situation that should have been handled 25 neergs, 20 neergs, 15 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago and could have been handled very easily. you have various administrations, many administrations which left me a mess. but i'll fix the mess. >> his remarks come as reports indicate that north korean government officials have been quietly trying to set up

meetings. in what appears to be an attempt to better underpresident trump. >> joining us live from beijing, china, nbc news janis mackey frayer. you heard tell me say that the north koreans are trying to understand president trump. and i'm curious to get your thoughts in terms of how north korea's strategy is splaying out here, trying to understand president trump. >> well, we have had these reports that these north korean officials have been very quietly trying to work channels in order to get access to american analysts, to scholars, in particular, republican analysts, who may have some sort of read. who might be able to decode exactly what it is is that president trump might be thinking or might be planning. it's unclear at this point whether pyongyang has the will or the means to go to war with the united states. despite this threat of shooting down u.s. military aircraft.

the big problem for diplomatic efforts at this point has been the lack of ongoing and meaningful engagement between pyongyang and washington. or even beijing for that matter. so, that is the big risk right now is misinterpretation and miscalculation. meanwhile, the joint chiefs of staff chairman general joseph dunford told the senate armed services committee that the u.s. is preparing for north korea to have a nuclear capable icbm soon. here's what he had to say. >> whether it's three months or six months or 18 months, it is soon. and we ought to conduct ourselves as though it is just a matter of time. and a matter of very short time before north korea has that capability. >> china remains a key go-between. secretary of state rex tillerson is heading to beijing, he'll have meetings with chinese officials at the weekend. secretary tillerson has been adamant that the u.s. is still looking for a diplomatic

solution to this, despite any contradictions from president trump that he is saying or in those cases tweeting. ayman. >> yeah. and of course, the implications that the united states may have to accept a nuclear armed north korea. janis mackey frayer, thank you very much from beijing. let's get a check of your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, puerto rico's still in a dire situation. and you're telling me about the relentless heat and humidity that's there. and they're really not getting any relief. i guess the heat index yesterday was 108 degrees in san juan? >> yeah. that was -- i mean, it's not that exceptional, i think florida's the same way this time of year. but think of the many people without power. in dealing with especially the elderly and children and sick, 108, that's in the shade, too. imagine what the apartments feel like so just ugly. today is a little cooler than that. heat index will be about 100

degrees, san juan, right around 96. it's still very uncomfortable. that really hasn't changend and it's not going to either. we're still tracking maria. by the way, it was seven day, a week from now that maria was making landfall in puerto rico. only seven days. think of all. stories and miss ray that's happened. here's the latest. 70-mile-per-hour winds. a tropical storm, about 150 miles due east of cape hatteras. this is the closest right now that the storm will come to the outer banks. the winds are not that bad. they've only been gusting at 30 to 40 miles per hour. the only problem is the waves. a little bit of sturcorm surge. and it takes a track after today. the other story, how about the heat groos the great lakes and northeast. chicago hl seven days in a row of record heat. that comes to an end today. cooler temperature as arriving

for you. but we're still very warm. d.c., atlanta, memphis and it's very warm too. and we filmed the switch as cooler air will move into the northeast. today is the last of hot stuff. look at boston, friday, saturday, sunday, 50s and 60s. if you like that summer heat, today it is for you in the northeast. much cooler as we go through the week. >> and in houston still cleaning up from harvey, a lot of people cleaning up their homes having to deem with heat there. obviously, their homes not having electricity as well. a tough situation. we really can't complain having the heat index where it is in new york. >> just a little unusual. still ahead, a bribery scandal has rocked college basketball. at least four coaches have been charged in a federal corruption investigation. those details in sports, next. i was really surprised that i wasn't finding all of these germans in my tree.

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get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if it's severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. other side effects include gas, stomach-area pain and swelling. talk to your doctor about managing your symptoms proactively with linzess. welcome back. time now for sports. a federal investigation into college basketball has led to charges money allegedly flowed between athletes' families, coaches and others with a financial interest in basketball, all with the goal of locking in where young athletes would play, who would represent them and what clothing they would pair. authorities say four assistant coaches from arizona, auburn, oklahoma state and southern california are accused of taking bribes between $13,000 and $100,000 to steer players to a particular sports agents and

financial advisers. also charged in federal court yesterday were managers, financial advisers and the director of marketing for adidas. adidas denied any knowledge of misconduct. and the coaches said they are cooperating with authorities. according to investigators, the idea behind the brand's involvement was high school players would matriculate to colleges sponsored by adidas and later sign a sportswear deal. while specifically named the descriptions appear to match that of basketball powerhouse louisville and university interim president responded with a statement confirming louisville was included in the investigation. promising cooperation with investigators there. another description appears to implicate the university of miami which denied to comment. a statement from ncaa president

calls it deemly disturbing with a despicable breach of trust. and meanwhile they raided the offices and current nba players. just a blockbuster case. let's turn to the nba where lebron james and dwyane wade are on the verge of being reunited. espn reports wade will sign a one-year, $2.3 million deal with cleveland today. this comes after the 12-time all-star and chicago bulls reached a buyout agreement. he'll join james, kevin love, j.r. smith and tristan thompson on the cleveland court while the cavs make due without the injured point guard isaiah thomas until after january. let's turn to baseball. los angeles dodgers finally clinched home field advantage. after defeating san diego 9-2 at

home. the dodgers who currently own the best record in baseball at 101-and 57 two games up with homefield advantage through the nlcs and potentially even the world series. and how about that blockbuster investigation into college basketball? >> it's stunning. a stunning story. >> incredible, depth and scope if in fact it did unfold the way described to have all of those people involved, the companies and sports. it's disheartening to hear that in college sports. >> i think there's a lot more developments on that one. still ahead, after another health care fail, senate republicans are turning their attention to tax reform. plus, a first for women in saudi arabia. the kingdom said they'll finally be allowed to drive. we're going to get a live report coming up next. i no longer live with

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♪ welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. it's bottom of the hour. we start with the morning's top stories, defense secretary jim mattis is in afghanistan in his first trip to the country after the president announced a strategy for the 16-year war there last month. mattis is set to meet with u.s. forces in afghanistan. afghan president confirmed there was an attack at the kabul airport hours after secretary mattis arrived. >> and supreme court justice roy moore defeated luther strange in

the primary runoff. strange who had the backing of the president and senator majority leader mitch mcconnell by ten points. and democrats have an nounsed there will not be a vote to overturn obamacare. senator lindsey graham a sponsor of the legislation to the republicans are still going to work to fulfill their promise of repealing and replacing obamacare. let's go to the latest story we're following, the latest on health care. president trump is to push his proposed overall of the tax code as republicans prepare to unveil the framework of that plan. the president will head to the indiana state fair grounds in indianapolis to sell the plan. it's expected to call for slashing the corporate tax rate from 20% to 35%. and according to details shared with nbc news from a financial industry lobbyists. in the current tax brackets for individuals are expected to be

appe pared down to as few as three, 30%. after republicans lawmakers meet with vice president mike pence at a gop retreat in washington to discuss the specifics of that plan. now, even before the overhaul is unveiled it's already facing possible pushback from the ultra conservative arm of the republican party. mark meadows set a line saying he would vote against if it included a tax rate hike higher than 20%. and during a meeting with members of the tax writing house ways and means committee at the white house yesterday, president trump plays salesman for the overhaul. >> i look forward to working with members of the congress gathered here today. to pass the reform and the massive tax cuts that our

country desperately needs to thrive, to grow, to prosper. if we do this, we will create millions of new jobs for people. and bring many, many businesses back to our shores. we will become a competitive nation again. we won't see companies leaving our country, firing their people, and going and then selling their product, by the way, back into our country with no tax and no retribution. that will all stop. >> and we're getting more reaction from president trump's former strategist, the chairman of the senate relations committee senator bob corker said he will not seek resee election next year. corker said ever since he ran in 2006 he could not serve more than two terms. i also believe the most

important public service and have to offer our country could well occur over the next 15 months. corker offered this stinging rebuke. >> president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability more some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate, in order to be successful. >> senator corker's retirement was welcomed by steve bannon speaking at the victory party for u.s. senate nominee roy moore. >> last night, we talked about start a revolution with judge moore's victory. well, senator corker is not running for re-election. you're going to see state after state after state people that follow the model of judge moore that do not need to raise money from the elites, from the crony capitalists, from the fat cats in washington, d.c., new york city, silicon valley.

>> joining us once again from washington, politico's daniel lippman. glad to have you back. let's talk about bob corker and his surprise retirement. did people in washington see it coming? and what impact do you think it's going to have on the midterm elections next year? >> so, people were pretty much expecting this. he had hinted at retiring. and this kind of is a preview of a bunch of other decisions that we might see down the road from both senators and congressmen, both democrats and republicans, who just don't want to be in congress anymore. so i think corker, once he was passed over for secretary of state and when he had those brushups with trump, he's not a big fan of the president. that made it harder for him to stay in the senate. the senate now is not like the senate of 30 years ago, when everyone was friends with each other. it's become more like the house. >> daniel, let's talk a little bit about tax reform now. so, the window is closed on

health care, as we've mentioned. republicans can moving on to tax reform. is this effort with tax reform going to be any different? and do you think that they have learned from their mistakes so far? >> so, one person i talked to who is close to trump, two days ago, told me that they've done a much better job this time, because they've actually spent months working on their own plan. with health care, they left it to congress, and look how that turned out. but this is still facing uphill battle, because trump is counting on getting some democratic votes. but they haven't really worked with democrats on this issue. and, you know, trump meeting with congressional democrats and republicans yesterday, he pointed to gary cohn and steve mnuchin, some of the wealthiest guys in his cabinet saying those guys won't get a tax cut. there will be things that wealthy americans will be happy

with. but they have to do that for trump voters. that's the key to getting this passed. trump needs to tell republicans this is one of the promises i made to my voters who put me into office. that we can't just cut taxes for democratic rich people who vacation in nantucket. >> daniel before i let you go, real quickly, give us a sneak peek what the playbook is looking at today? >> we're looking at the relationship between mcconnell and trump. we're watching how trump in a dinner monday night he called mcconnell weak. if he's calling mcconnell weak, that's not the best way to get him to dot heavy lifting on tax reform and infrastructure spending. >> i'd really like to see how they speak to each other when they run into each other in the hallways. a new poll of millennials shows america's younger voters have an unfavorable view of the

president. a new poll shows 64% of millennials disapprove of the job the president is doing, while just 21% approve. he does best among white americans aged 18 to 34. but even among them, his support tops out at just 30%. when it comes to parties, millennials are split on democrats. 43 have a favorable view of the party. while 42% have an unfavorable one. the results are unequivocal on the republican party, 58% approve. 26, disapprove. a asians and latinos, they're upside down. 55% of them say the democratic party doesn't care about them like them. switching gears into the investigation into the russian meddling in the u.s. elections, a top member of the senate judiciary committee said he's, quote, 99% sure there will be

some investigation. paul manafort almost concern to be indicted. sand robert mueller would be key trump campaign officials. investigators are scouring documents that date back a decade in the hunt for potential tax and potential crimes. mueller's team will reportedly begin interviewing white house officials this week. let's move to the middle east where yesterday saudi arabia's king salman issued a decree allowing women to drive cars. saudi arabia is unfortunately the only country in the world to prohibit women from driving. joining us from london. matt, good to talk to you. this has a lot of people saying, and me as well, it's about time to make this decree. but it say major step forward for saudi arabia. but something that we've sort of been seeing trickle little by

little. >> that's right, yasmin, this marks the end of what has long been the potent symbol of gender equality in the entire world. it doesn't just bring saudi arabia in line with the western world. there are no other countries even among the most conservative muslim countries that prohibit women from driving. and that's why this decision means so much for saudi arabia, even just beyond this debate about women's rights. this is fundamentally economic, yasmin. as oil prices have dropped and a younger generation of saudi leaders have assumed more and more control, the country can no longer rely on its substantial oil reserves to shield it from criticism from arnold the world. even from its allies like the u.s. the youthful new crown prince who just assumed office needed more women in the workforce and many saudis are hopeful this will be the beginning of a series of reform as saudi arabia

tries to diversity away from oil. let's be clear, most formidable right for women in saudi arabia remains cultural and not legal. with attitudes, women there are going to continue to struggle with serious inequality. >> thank you. i was tweeting about this. one person responded on twitter saying we can't criticize islam that would be bad. the thing is this wasn't a bad islamic law not allowing women to drive. >> yeah. i think matt made a very good point all of the muslim countries in the worldal allow women to drive with the extension of saudi arabia. this is still a drop in the bucket for women in that country. they're not allowed to travel -- they're not allowed to travel. they're not saloued to work without the permission of a male. nonetheless, over the past couple of years, some have been jailed for drying to drive. they've launched campaigns on social media. it is a victory for women's

rights add kvocates in the coun. still ahead, everybody, a massive and fast moving wildfire erupted in southern california as mother nature creates challenges for crews trying to get the upper hand on that blaze. >> bill karins will have details on that blaze. plus, a check of the forecast, when we return. ♪ we're drowning in information. where, in all of this, is the stuff that matters?

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governor abbott said if the state does tap into the rainy day fund it would not be until the next legislative session. and crews in southern california are racing to try to contain a rapidly spreading wildfire as strong winds make their job extremely difficult. the blaze known as the canyon fire has already scorched at least 2,000 acres and is only 15% contained. officials say the seasonal santa ana winds would gust between 20 and 25 miles an hour have fanned the flames causing the fire to spread quickly. as southern california's fire season just begins to reach its peak. 1,000 people have been evacuated as a result. with that, let's get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, those winds are a real contributing factor to the fires? >> it is. it's a reminder. it's the time we hit our peak in the midwest. usually late november and december. this week will be dangerous in california. as you mentioned the winds are

getting gusting. 10% contained. we mentioned 1,000 evacuations, near a lot of property and right near the highway. amazing images with people driving down the highway with the blaze on the side of the mountain. here's the current conditions. the high pressure blows the winds off the shore. when they decrease in elevation, they speed up. you get the warm temperatures with the cinching air and low humidity and of course, it hasn't rained all summer. it's very typical. it's the time of year. l.a., about 86, san diego, 85. you know, doesn't mean the fire is going to widespread or form every single day but occasionally they can. let's talk and switch gears to what's happened in chicago the last seven days. you want to talk about crazy record streak. seven days in a row, chicago has broken their record highs. i mean, think about that. their period of record goes back into the 1800s. and to have seven days in a row of record highs, it just shows you how off the charts this dry

weather pattern and hot weather pattern the record has been from the great lakes to the east. the last time, they have had a summer of record highs, 1988. they just did it here in late september. last part on maria. it's now about 180 miles off the outer banks. there are some gusty winds out there. nothing they can't handle. and overwash and sound flooding on the pamlico sound. that's the biggest issue. that chicago weather streak is kind of off the charts. our friends up in maine saw record heat so late in the season, it's beyond two weeks of what they've ever recorded before. it wasn't just you and i. >> the thing is chicago is going to be looking at this time period when it's february and negative 10 wishing they were back on a seven-day streak. >> glory days of those 90 degree days. this is your favorite story. twitter looks to solve a common

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welcome back. the trump administration is reportedly warning the department of veteran affairs may need more money to help avoid disruption in health care for hundreds of thousands of veterans. according to a.p., the white house says the private sector

health choice program may need the money as early as september. this comes weeks after the program received over $2 billion in emergency funding. in a statement yesterday thevet hopes to work on a long-term fix to give them more access to doctors. the proposal under review by the trump administration would seek money to run for much of next year as the department implements broader agencies. the pains of only being able type 140 character messages may soon be over t. company announced it is experimenting with doubling the length of a tweet of 140 to 280 characters. big news, they are throwing out the format to a small group of users who tweet in languages, including english. >> that may fit everything they want to say. a ceo tweet from jack dorsey said it would look like him saying in part.

this is a small change, but a big move for us. 140 was an arbitrary choice. i know president trump is going to love having an additional 140 characters. >> a lot more emojis. >> it will be a new world. >> a new world. >> exactly. let's turn to business today. awaiting a tax line by the president. jim atkin joins us live. fed chair janet general alluded to more interest rate hikes. >> that's right. let's look at markets. we are seeing more strength in europe this morning, all the major equity markets in the u.s. are pointing to a higher open. yes as you said, traders are waiting for a baited breath for trump's latest tax plan, which he has promised be deliver a tree tax cut for the middle class. a big problem there. trump will say how that pans out

t. dollar is also moving higher on the back of comments from fed chair janet yellin. inflation shouldn't have to get to 2% before raising rates. it's turn to amazon, the echo devices will no longer show youtube videos. this is problematic because amazon doesn't have too much content on its devices, they see customers will be the big losers here. they are hoping to resolve the dispute soon. >> let's talk about football. they have signed a massive deal with the nfl. what can you tell us about this? >> well, listen. get excited, but not too excited just yet. it does not extend to live games. it will be the highlight of the playoffs and the regular season and the super bowl as well. a strategically important deal, facebook needs to improve the video content.

where the nfl realizes people are moving towards social media channels. once they retain viewers as that process is under way. can you log on right now. >> my husband is watching facebook longer than expected? he is watching the plays from the highlights? >> yes. >> republicans are dealing with the aftermath of a third bill to get passed to overturn obamacare. senator rand paul will discuss why he hasn't gotten on board to get the bill over the finish line and what it will take for him to do so. >> plus, president trump and republicans are turning their attention to overhauling the tax code. joe and mika will talk with representative elijah cummings, adam schiff and eric swalwell. ""morning joe,"" everyone, just moments away.

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puerto rico. it's very tough. it's an island sitting in the middle of an ocean. it's a big ocean, it's a very big ocean. >> ah, just some laughs there, courtesy of the daily show, our president ad-libing like he likes to do. those are the stories you will be hearing from in the day ahead. >> president trump heads to indiana to promote his new tax reform plan. the president will make a push at the indiana fairgrounds while heading back to washington. >> vice president pence will rally house republicans around the tax reform framework at the gop retreat. walk is expected to be the first time the house speaker paul ryan and house ways and means chairman kevin brady offer up details on the plan they have been crafting. senators are meet to discuss the 2016 election. committee members are expected to grill whether bogus accounts were used for fake news narratives. that's it for us.

"morning joe" starts right now. good morning. it's wednesday, september 27th. welcome to ""morning joe." "yesterday was a tough day. >> it was a tough day. >> if you're mitch mcconnell. >> isn't it a tough day if you are mitch mcconnell. >> or a member of the washington establishment overall. gop senators pulled the latest plug to repole and replace obamacare. >> if you are keeping score at home, children, number one, they dropped the measure to undue the health care law. >> naming at their promise to repeal and replace. thank god. >> a big loss there. >> the steve bannon outsider candidate defeated the mcconnell backed establishment candidate in the alabama runoff. >> roy moore, that will be a lot of fun for mitch and the rest of the republicans in washington. and the cramer of the foreign relations committee, senator bob corker of tennessee will not be