that's a wrap for me this hour. such a flash to have my colleague here in studio with us from across the pond. you have good stuff. you'll pick up on puerto rico and you have a former white house adviser taking apart the trump plan. >> absolutely. all right. good day. i'm keir simmons world head quarters in new york. we begin with the mayor of san juan responding to president trump after he attacked her this morning in a fiery tweet storm. he said such poor leadership ability by the mayor of san juan and others in puerto rico who are not able to get their workers to help. adding they want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 federal workers now on island doing a fantastic job, the president said. the mayor earlier criticized the

administration's response to hurricane maria. this morning crews told my colleague that it should not be about politics. >> i am not going to be distracted by small comments, by politics, by petty issues. this is one goal, and it is to save lives. >> the situation in puerto rico remains dire. many of the islands 3.4 million residents still without water, gas, or even cash. president trump is headed there on tuesday. but at this hour will be making a series of phone calls to puerto rican officials and brock long. let's bring in kelly o'donnell who is in branchberg near president trump's golf resouth in new jersey. can you give us an idea of what trump will be discussing with puerto rico officials? >> we have not been given a specific preview. we can look paced on how the president typically interacts

with officials when there's a situation like this. we found a number of times when he's in his new jersey home, and it's a weekend, but they'll try to make public the fact that he's doing business calls. of course, this is a heightened crisis. there's a series of phone calls with officials. current and former from puerto rico as well as the u.s. virgin islands. typically what the president would be doing to trying to get a sense of what needs there are. talk act things that maybe they can't see publicly in terms of security issues that may be coming up and a chance for a personal connection. we've seen the president have these kinds of calls before. typically with the governors of florida, louisiana and texas in the earlier phase of the hurricane damage in that part of the damage. and now with the focus in puerto rico an american territory where all the citizens are american citizens. though they do not vote for president or vice president. the president is talking about ways to rebuild puerto rico based on his public comments

yesterday. but what was really striking is how he approached his twitter feed early this morning with a series of tweets where he calls out the mayor of san juan as you pointed out, and also suggested that somehow the people on the ground in the midst of this crisis may not be doing enough to help themselves. that strikes a nerve and is politically among the most tone deaf things the president has tweeted, because people are in a state of emergency there. they are needing resources and help. puerto rico started with a disadvantage in terms of economic strength. they've had a terrible debt problem. at the same time because they are an island, you can't roll in resources as easily as you can to florida, and texas and those sorts of things. there are concerns about whether the response has been swift enough. the president will try to hear the questions and issues, try to offer whatever information he can, and we think that the white house may consider giving us some photos of this.

we have requested coverage to actually be in the room when the president is talking to these officials there. we have not been granted that access yet. it's becoming a bigger issue how the president is personally interacting with puerto rico. he and the first lady are scheduled to be there on tuesday. >> okay. kelly o'donnell, thank you. i want to bring in our panel, paul singer, white house reporter for political matthew and new york times national politico reporter alison dor. this was the mayor of san juan begging for help friday night. take a listen. >> if anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying. and you are killing us with the inefficien inefficiency. and the bureaucracy. so mr. trump, i beg you to take

charge and save lives. if not the world will see how we are treated not as second class citizens but as animals that can be disposed of. >> more than a week after hurricane maria trump is fighting with the mayor feuding with the nfl and spending the weekend playing golf. is trump not just not getting it? >> you know, i think the issue is not whether he's getting it. we need to focus on the fact that there are still people in puerto rico we have not reached. people up in the mountain regions. we don't know what's going on. i think we should take the attention off president trump and the mayor of san juan and think about the fact that there may be tens of thousands of americans essentially lost to us at this moment that we have to find some way to get aid to

them. >> trump has come under criticism for the day he's dealing with the puerto rican crisis. there's another u.s. territory we're hearing nothing about, the u.s. virgin islands. has he turned a blind eye to that crisis? >> i can't say whether or not the president is turning a blind eye to it. i can say this is a president who is obviously distracted and a president really still engaged in personal feuds, and it has visceral and emotional reactions to people who possibly criticize the government for trying to do when they want the government to be doing more. you think of the mayor who said essentially inefficiency is killing people and that we are in a state where we really need the federal government to stand up. and when you have the president saying well, puerto rico just wants to have more people do things for them, they want to get everything done for them, essentially you would think about this and if i had to think about it that way, you think if president trump was arguing and really attacking others in the

middle of katrina atop of the other issues going on, it would have been so scandalous. it would have been remarkable. it would have added a new layer to katrina. i think whether or not the president is turning a blind eye is up in the air, but he does not know how to focus when everyone in the world is saying you need to focus on both puerto rico and the virgin islands as the islands are americans but not feeling they're treated as such. >> should we be surprised? we have a track record with the president where he goes on the offensive. that's what he does. right? >> right. >> this is definitely what he does, right? >> right. that's what he does. yeah. >> it's hard not to be surprised. this president whenever he's insulted or he feels that he's been insulted, whether it's by the pope, whether it's by a gold star family, whether it's by its fellow republicans, he likes to hit back however politically damaging or dangerous that might

be. and that's what he's doing. what we heard from the mayor of san juan in that clip you just played was not an attack on president trump. it was an emotional plea for more assistance from the federal government. which i think is what the people of puerto rico expect from their elected officials. but the president's responded by dismissing it as just a partisan attack, and something people should ignore. >> president trump is still tieing aid to the island's financial crisis. what do you make of that? >> well, it is true that the island has been in terrible financial crisis for quite a while. but that also means that their need for assistance from the mainland is greater because they just don't have the resources available to them. texas is a pretty well-off state. it's pretty closely connected to louisiana and the rest of the land mass. they could get assistance in there fast. there's not the desperation after the hurricanes there as there is in a place like puerto rico which is both remote and, frankly, quite poor. so the challenge for the

americans and the government has to be how do we serve our neediest, basically? and at the moment there is no one more needy than the puerto rican americans. >> matthew, president trump is set to visit puerto rico. how is he going to be -- what's his reception going to be like? do you think he cares what his reception is going to be like? >> we know he cares about how crowds greet him. he cares about the optics. he likes being seen getting cheered on. in texas he was commenting on the size of the crowd which people felt was tone deaf given the devastation. this is set to be an awkward vilt. it was already going to be awkward given the scale of the disaster and the way the response has been criticized but now the fact that he's feuding with a political figure in san juan makes it more treacherous, but it's because of his own actions. >> how do you see the week playing out with president trump visiting puerto rico?

>> i think there are two things. one, we have to not separate this from the idea that there are people who think that puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands are being treated differently because, one, they're not the mainland, but these are people not in people's minds, who aren't characteristically american. they're an island of people of color. the same argument was in katrina. people thought it's a majority black city. people aren't being treated the same because of the color of their skin. i'm not saying that's the argument that i'm making but that's clearly the case, and i think that echo of that argument is going to follow donald trump as he actually steps foot on puerto rico and has to be pictured with people looking and looking at him and understanding that tension. i think the week goes on with the president essentially, i think, continuing to be emotional. he's someone in his 70s. i don't expect him to change. i think if this mayor says something to him while he's visiting that he is going to fight back. that he's going to attack whoever he feels like is criticizing him. if that's someone who lost their

home or someone who is a local politician, i think president trump is not going to pull any punches for the entire week. >> okay. so there's a new trump tweet that we just can read out now. despite the fake news media in conjunction with the dems an amazing job is being done in puerto rico. great people. is that -- i mean, is that in any way a true reflection of what's really going on in puerto rico? >> we had a reporter down there yesterday who said there were still 10,000 container ships full of aid that have arrived at the ports but cannot be contributed or is waiting to be distributed. i'm not saying that's the blame of the federal government or the blame of the government on the island of puerto rico. i'm not saying it's the blame of president trump. but until that aid is actually in the hands of the people who need it, i don't think any of us can declare success. i don't think any of us can declare this is over. and i can't say we can declare

that we've done all that we need to do. >> matthew, again, it feels like the attention is in the wrong place. the attention is on politics when really the focus should be on how to help people. i mean, is that -- who's to blame for that? is that the president too focussed on politics? >> i think the president's rhetoric since the storm first made land fall has kind of been all over the place. we remember last weekend when the full scale of the devastation was first coming into view, he wasn't talking or tweeting about that. he was tweeting about the nfl and protests there. and he kept tweeting about that into the beginning of the week, and now he's starting this feud, and he's following the normal trump yan play book. if something's not going well, attack the media, blame democrats, but i think you're right. a lot of americans are saying shouldn't the attention be on getting aid down there as fast as possible, and not passing blame? >> paul, matthew, and yamish,

thank you all very much. now to puerto rico where resources are starting to trickle in. fema is receiving a shipment that will have significant amounts of water and food. they will be distributed as soon as it gets to port. the 11 regional staging areas. >> that's the governor of puerto rico updating recovery efforts amid backlash over the slow federal response. it took congress four days to katrina. hurricane maria ten days later the white house has no formal aid package for puerto rico. the official death toll is at 18. many puerto ricans on social media are doubting that number. they believe more bodies will be uncovered once power is restored and roads are passable. joining me now from san juan is nbc news medical correspondent,

dr. john torez. based on what you've seen, can we expect the number of dead to rise? >> reporter: when i talked to the mayor earlier today, she told me that number you're hearing, 18, is just the tip of the iceberg. he says in smaller communities in hospitals there's probably patients that have died unfortunately and they're not able to get that information to san juan. she thinks the number will grow once communications open up. here in san juan the hospitals are starting to function. they're getting electricity and water. in the small communities, that's where the problem is. oftentimes they're on generator, running out of diesel. they might not have water and people can't get where they need. a few minutes ago a woman in san juan was having difficulty leaving her house. she's 90. she had a foot issue. she was able to get here. i was able to look at her and find out her foot had issues going on with it because of the standing water she had around there. i was able to clean that up and take care of her. at this point telling her at the

same time she needs to see a doctor when she gets out of here and especially if that foot gets worse. these things are happening in the big city but also outside the big city. and they're heappening more and more frequently. yesterday we saw patients who were bedridden, starting seeing pediatric patients in houses. the patients can't get to the hospitals. that's the situation here. >> and what's your assessment, doctor, about how that plays out. the question is how long do we have before this becomes an even greater crisis? >> and the problem you're having right now is it's basically switching from the immediate effects of the hurricane, the first week or so, people that have the trauma of drying to clean up and get back to the houses. it's going to start switching to a public health crisis. because of standing water, the mosquitos will breed. diseases happen here, and they're afraid it will happen more often.

talking to the mayor, i asked her is the health care system in puerto rico on the verge of exploding. she said they're at pacapacity. if help doesn't get here, she thinks the system might fall apart. she's hoping the help gets her in a robust fashion. san juan is doing better. the small communities, not as well. >> it's great you're there. dr. john torez, thank you. next, tom price is out. the secretary of health and human services after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars an charter flights. what his departure could mean for other officials. also accused of expensive tax fu funded travels. >> that kind of behavior has no place at the prep school. it has no place, and it has no place in the united states air force. if you can't treat someone with dignity and respect, then get out. for your heart...

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the white house is in the thick of a new scandal bringing for shakeups for the trump administration. former hhs secretary tom rice resigning after it was revealed he spent more than a million taxpayer dollars on his travel during the ire of his boss, president trump. price's departure is set over the backdrop of trump's campaign promise to drain the swamp and rid washington d.c. of waste and corruption. slammed wasteful use of taxpayer dollars when he was in congress. >> i think we've made it halfway where we ought to, and that is cut it from eight to four. now we need to get it from four jets to zero. this is just another example of fiscal irresponsibility run

amuck in congress right now. >> let's bring in former senior adviser to senator marco rubio and also alex. alex, let me start with you since you're not with us. the president promised to drain the swamp. were his people not listening? >> look, dr. price clearly made a mistake. he acknowledged as much. he said he was going to repay the government for some of the private flights that he took. but clearly that wasn't enough, and i think president trump sent a very strong message by accep accepting dr. price's resignation, and all travel needs to be approved by general kelly. i think president trump is sending the strong message. clearly, it wasn't received by all, but i think moving forward we'll see fewer private planes

being flown by cabinet secretaries. >> i'd assume so. bazl, is that right? is this the right way to run a government? effectively, it's a government based on you're fired? >> well, i think the president may have sent a strong message, but i don't think it was for the issue that we're discussing. i don't think it was necessarily related to the efficiencies in government and these private jets. i think it had more to do with the inability to pass health care. the president is fond of in the sports parlance, ws. he's not getting one with this health care bill. for all of the reports about how the president has taxed the secret service with his trips to mar-a-lago and with their support of other family members, i don't think efficiency is really top of mind for him. i think this is a function of he was not -- price was not able to get health care through. this was just the last straw, but i don't think it was the

main cause. >> alex, it's a shame we didn't have a camera on john kelly when he realized that this was playing out like this. >> yeah. i think that's right. i'm sure that chief of staff kelly was mighty upset about what was happening. it's just bad press at a time when the president doesn't need bad press. he's coming off what's arguably the worst week of his presidency so far. >> we keep saying that. right? >> yeah, but this one -- he's had a lot of bad weeks, but i think this one was exceptionally bad. his endorsed candidate lost the alabama runoff from the senate race. health care went down. and then, of course, the crisis in puerto rico which you just talked about in the previous segment where he's getting a lot of -- i think -- fair criticism for that. and now the weekends with him having to accept the resignation of his hhs secretary. i can't think of how weekend get much worse than that, and so, yeah, i think the chief of staff

kelly is very frustrated. this was supposed to be the week where they were unveiling tax reform. that was going to have a lot of momentum moving forward. instead j they're embroiled in scandals. >> we talk about alabama. that is one of the crucial questions here for me. at what point does president trump's base look at this and say you promised to drain the swamp and you're right in the middle of the swamp. >> i don't think they're there yet, but they will get there fairly soon. my guess is at some point the republican party is going to step in and say we don't have anything to hang our hat on. you've got to start passing bills and start giving us the support in the legislature to be able to take something back to our constituents, because however supportive donald trump's base is, it's not enough to get republicans secure in a house or senate, or even able to secure the presidency in 2020.

so i think at some point his core supporters will support him no matter what, but i think this is a question of how the larger republican party engages. >> all right. thank you very much. after a big defeat on health care, president trump looks to score a victory on tax reform. trump denies his plan favors the rich. next, we're going to put that claim to the test. throughout my career, i've been fortunate enough to travel to many interesting places.

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president trump says the nice item on his agenda, tax reform won't benefit him. the top 1% would be gainers in the overhaul goes through according to a new report by the nonpartisan tax policy center. in a moment, we'll be joined by the highest ranking member of president obama's economic team. but first here's a breakdown on the president's tax plan. >> president trump wants to make some big changes to the u.s. tax

code. he says the rich will not be gaining at all with this plan, and some things that are suggested might help the middle class. for one, he wants to double the standard deduction meaning more middle income americans koultd keep more of their paychecks. while most deductions are eliminated, he promised to keep it on mortgage interest and charitable donations. overall, it's clear the rich will benefit from this trump tax plan. first the top tax bracket will be reduced to 35%. what does that mean? the country's highest earners will make out well. republicans are saying they could add an additional top bracket for high income earners but for now that's just talk. corporations would also see their taxes slashed from their current statutory rate of 35% to just 20 % which would be a boon for shareholders who tend to be

wealthy, but those tax cuts could do little for the middle class. and trump wants to extend similar cuts to owners of pass through businesses who report company profits on their personal tax returns. some 95% businesses in the u.s. are pass throughs. but the tax policy center found that 90% of benefits of this tax cut would go to those in the top 1%. the president also said this. >> it's not good for me. believe me. >> oh, really? that's not true. his plan repeals the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax to massive wind falls for the wealthy. remember, trump claimed he's worth in excess of $10 billion. if true, and with no us kaestat, his family would save 4 billion in taxes on their inheritance. in the only tax return we've seen from 2005, trump was forced to pay an amt of $31 million

instead of using loopholes that would allow him to pay a lot less. so his plan? it's really good for him. the president can say what he will, but the rich are gaining a whole lot under his plan. middle class americans? well, not so much. >> not so much. our thanks to sktephanie rule. with us the economiced adviser joe biden. thank you for joining us. stephanie talking about the amount that president trump says he's worth, the $10 billion, and suggesting that that would mean that the trump family would save 4 billion if the plan goes through. is that effectively right? >> as far as we can tell, trump and his heirs would gain hugely from this plan. probably the biggest part is the elimination of the estate tax.

that means his heirs would be able to inherit his billions without any tax on them. the estate tax is a particular source of this lie we've been hearing about how the tax won't help the very top of the pay scale, because it only effects the top .2 w, i should say the richest .2% of estates. if you're a couple, you don't start even seeing that tax until your us kate until your tax is worth more than 11 million. that's probably the main way his heirs would take a hit, and also the amt. we don't know much about trump's tax returns. in the one return we've seen, it's the case that he paid a 25% effective rate largely because of that $31 million ding from the amt. that's a little bit of trump getting revenge on the tax code there.

>> and most folks who inherit $11 million are not members of the middle class. right? is it right to say, is it as simple as this, that if you do this, you effectively increase inequality, because the amount of money that the wealthy have just increases through the generations. or is that too simplistic? are there benefits from this kind of change? >> i think you've identified one of the costs, but i think there are two. there are two big problems with the plan. we have two significant imbalances in the economy. you hit on one of them, the fact that our inequality in this country, whether it's income or wealth or even power, is at historically very high levels. this plan based on what we've just discussed and heard from stephanie significantly exacerbates after tax inequality. now, the market by itself is generating enough inequality, i don't see why you want a tax plan to help it worse. but if you want to offset the

inequalities which i think should be a crucial part of our policy agenda, you need the revenues to invest in human capitals and jobs and infrastructure in offsetting the kinds of things you've been talking about on the station, i'm referring to puerto rico. when you rob the treasury of over $2 trillion in revenue to exacerbate after tax inequality, it makes no sense. >> there was a theory under reagan and thatcher that if you help the wealthy, then there was a trickle down effect, and the whole economy would benefit. do we -- can we say that's true, and in that sense, could this tax reform be a boon to the u.s. economy? >> it's kind of ridiculous that we're even arguing about trickle down tax cuts now. i mean, the evidence has piled up against them year after year, decade after decade.

the idea that you can still sell a tax cut by arguing that it will pay for itself, i don't think you can find an economist who's not being paid to say otherwise, who would agree with that. that doesn't mean that there are never any growth effects from tax changes. of course there are. but a tax cut like this is poorly designed in that regard, and it would never come near near close to paying for itself. i suspect that the estimates we're seeing so far that's going to add a couple of trillion to the ten-year deficit are very much on target. >> all right. it's a complex subject. jarod, thank you for helping us make a little bit of sense of that. thank you very much. >> my pleasure. outrage over the president's words about the situation in puerto rico next. we'll talk with the chair of the congressional hispanic caucus about the white house's response. oh, you brought butch. yeah! (butch growls at man) he's looking at me right now, isn't he? yup. (butch barks at man) butch is like an old soul that just hates my guts.

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[ sighs ] and i am a senior public safety my namspecialist for pg&e. my job is to help educate our first responders on how to deal with natural gas and electric emergencies. everyday when we go to work we want everyone to work safely and come home safely. i live right here in auburn, i absolutely love this community. once i moved here i didn't want to live anywhere else. i love that people in this community are willing to come together to make a difference for other people's lives. together, we're building a better california. members of the congressional hispanic caucus held a press conference asking paul ryan to bring a vote on disaster relief

to puerto rico and the virgin islands. there were tears choked back while talking about the white house response. >> unfortunately this administration's response has been inexcusably slow and ineffective. yesterday i was proud at more than 140 of my colleagues joined me in writing to the president and asking for some basic tangible steps to improve the situation. now we need to start focusing on congress. >> this morning the san juan mayor was targeted by president trump for what he called, quote, poor leadership, just one day after the mayor begged him for help. the congressional hispanic caucus responded to those attacks on twitter this morning say, quote, there is no room for dealing with fragile egos when lives are on the line.

joining me now, a democrat from new mexico and chair of the hispanic caucus. thank you for joining me. >> thank you for having me. >> lives are on the line, right? >> this is exactly what this is about. lives are on the line every second that passes where we don't have an effective, coordinated response. people are at risk, and, in fact, people are dying. >> was the hispanic caucus's tweet about fragile egos directed at president trump? >> well, yes. i mean, the impact that we really wanted to make is why do we have the president making this issue personal? he's attacking the victims that we are charged with supporting, and this is a pattern we see play out in the white house over and over again. if they have an ineffective response or they're failing at a particular strategy, they reduce their efforts in terms of communication to literally going

after the victim or the party that they disagree with instead of having a substantive, effective, coordinated response. and for us, this is incredibly shameful that this is where we are when, in fact, there should be many more federal personnel on the ground restoring access to those remote and rural areas in both puerto rico and the virgin islands. that has yet to be done. you're a democrat. at the president's allegation, i guess, made on twitter is that the democrats instructed the san juan mayor to be nasty to trump. is that something that you recognize? how do you answer that allegation? >> well, i think it's ridiculous, in its nature. we had a slow response to katri katrina. we should have learned from that, but nine days after there

were 60,000 individuals, troops, military, federal personnel, on the ground. there were hundreds of held continue eve copters and ships and planes all measured and coordinating to do something about that disaster. the federal government is, in fact, responsible for a coordinated emergency response, and as part of that assessment, they're also required to know which areas in the country are weak. so we know that puerto rico has some real significant challenges. the notion that he's going to make this partisan as if we didn't know that puerto rico, two things, had two hurricanes, that maria was a category 5, that they had no resources close by, they were ill-prepared to respond. to make it personal and partisan is, again, i think a very immature effort by the white house to keep us from having a real discussion about making sure we have an adequate and immediate response.

>> let's just try to step past the politics a little bit. it feels like the politics at times like these can become a distraction. they say a portion of 15 billion would be used for puerto rico as well. is that enough to cover puerto rico, texas, and florida? >> no. it is going to fall so short, and while agreed, we shouldn't be any partisan discussions, but our effort when we were leaving the house session on thursday is to point out there was no reason that you don't keep members of congress here, and we don't have a robust discussion about when we need aid and where it's going to come from. >> the continuing problem with dealing with president trump for you, isn't it? you're getting dragged into the politics? >> it is. and in this case, so many things that we could debate about whether or not it's a fair earnest professional debate. but here where we have human lives at stake, we don't have

the hospitals open and operating, where schools aren't operating and we don't have access to rural areas. it's been nine days since the rural areas have had water or medicine, that is inexcusable. if we want to have a political response later, fine, do it after. you're saving lives. you're restoring puerto rico. you're in the virgin islands and making sure people who need health care and food and adequate supplies are being cared for and supported. you don't do that in the context when we don't have sufficient resources or response, and you make this personal or partisan. it's irresponsible to behave in such a manner. it was congress who said you have to do something about the jones act. there was no leadership from the white house or federal government. it was the hispanic caucus and leaders who said you have to have a disaster czar. you need somebody with experience on the ground.

you get people making statements without going to puerto rico who then go to puerto rico and they're not having that same white house response. they are saying we are not satisfied with our response. we are not there yet. there are real problems here. because there's no way if you're on the ground to continue that line of communication that we're doing a great job with 11,000 people. it's not true. >> and you are out of your voice for that call for help. thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much. to learn how to help victims head to nbcnews.com/puerto rico. now, does jared kushner's use of his private e-mail account have any influence of mueller's probe? we'll dig through it all, next.

the russia investigation involving private e-mail servers, new testimony from president trump's self-proclaimed dirty trickster.

this week we learned that jared kushner and five other advisers close to the president reportedly used private e-mail servers to conduct white house business. executives from facebook, google, and twitter have been asked to testify in public hearings and outspoken trump adviser roger stone made an appearance on capitol hill testifying before the house intelligence committee. he later told reporters he was not involved in any collusion with russia and is aware of no collusion between russia and anyone involved with the trump campaign. joining me now is former michigan u.s. attorney barbara mcwade. barbara, roger stone said paul manafort expects to be indicted. there could be a act to force cooperate from manafort. as far as my knowledge goes, it's a pretty tough piece of

law. >> it is, and it's intended to prohibit and punish u.s. business persons who engage in bribery with foreign national companies to do business there. the purpose to eliminate political advantage over others who play by the rules. the offer for a private briefing about the trump campaign or any other access he might have offered could be a thing of value that could constitute problem. >> the law is being used for leverage. is that your assessment? >> well, it would seem one common strategy is that you prosecuter others who are lower levels of a criminal organization in hopes to secure their cooperation for leniency on the charges so you can go others. in this case, if you can get charges against paul manafort, perhaps you can persuade him to

cooperate against higher members of the trump administration including president trump himself in exchange for a promise of recommendation of leniency. >> you've been calling for a special investigator to look into the collusion even before the appointment of mueller. are you satisfied with the course of the investigation so far? we don't know much of what's going on behind closed doors. >> well, it's difficult to know what progress they're making. with the bits of reporting we're seeing, it's clear they're working hard. and i'm cheesed robert mueller is the person who is the special council and the team he's assembled are outstanding prosecuters and investigators. i think at the end of the day, the point isn't to prosecuter someone. the point is to get to the truth. and if prosecution is appropriate, once we know the truth, then that will happen. and i think most people should take comfort in knowing it's robert mueller who will l make that decision. he's someone who has been a leader in republican and democratic administrations, someone who is bipartisan, works hard, and has a reputation as a

straight arrow. i feel good that it's robert mueller who is working so hard on behalf of the american people. >> okay. quickly, let's talk about the upcoming testimony from the social immediate companies in the russia probe. social media is one of those freedom of speech areas of the internet. is the laurel vant here? is there some way the law may come into play with those companys? >> we may find gaps in the law. it's illegal for others to make, foreign influence in our campaigns. the laws weren't thinking about things like facebook and twitter. whether it's illegal to accept funds for tadvertising. they were not focussed on candidates but more on issues in an attempt to drive wedges between people. so i think finding out more about what happened is really important so we can prevent kind of mettling in the future and

perhaps in ad laws as we find necessary to try to prevent this new kind of infiltration. >> the world is changing fast and the law moves slowly. barbara, thank you. we'll be right back. where, in all of this, is the stuff that matters? the stakes are so high, your finances, your future. how do you solve this? you don't. you partner with a firm that advises governments and the fortune 500, and, can deliver insight person to person, on what matters to you. morgan stanley.

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our coverage of the crisis in puerto rico continues with a war of words between the president and the mayor of san juan. how the president is firing back after she criticized his response. lilly. she pretty much lives in her favorite princess dress.

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let's get the lady of the house back on her feet. and help her feel more strength and energy in just two weeks. yaaay! the complete balanced nutrition of ensure with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. ensure. always be you. a good day to you. i'm keir simmons at world head quarters in new york. we begin this hour with president trump defending the white house response to puerto rico. moments ago trump tweeted out despite the fake news media in conjunction with the dems an amazing job is being done in puerto rico. great people, exclamation mark. last night the mayor called out the administration for the slow response. he fired back on twitter saying

such poor leadership ability by the mayor of san juan and others in puerto rico who are not able to get their workers to help adding they want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 federal workers now on island doing a fantastic job, the president said. this morning the mayor told my colleague that the focus should be on the relief operation, not name calling. >> i am not going to be distracted by small comments, by politics, by petty issues. this is one goal, and it is to save lives. more than a week since hurricane maria ravaged puerto rico, the situation is dire. many of the islands 3 .4 million people still don't have access to basic necessities. for more, i want to bring in kelly o'donnell near president trump's golf resort in new jersey. kelly, puerto rico is facing a humanitarian crisis. why is the president