this morning, controversy over condolence call. president disputing a congress woman's account of the phone call made to the soldier. comes as lawmakers ask for answer about what happened there. whiplash. president trump sending mix signals over the bipartisan plan to save health care. killing people and wounding others in a shooting spree. extensive criminal background. good morning.

it's thursday, october 19. i'm ayman mohyeldin. alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf. controversy continued over the president's handling of the soldiers killed overseas with accusations of insensitivity and white house calling critics disgusting. in the car when the president spoke to the widow of sergeant david johnson. told morning joe what she heard and the widows reaction. >> he was almost like joking. he said i guess he said something to the fact he knew what he was getting into when he signed up, but i guess it hurts anyway. you know, just matter of factually. that this is what happens. she was in tears and she said, he didn't even remember his name. >> moments later, president trump tweeted this, democratic congress woman totally fabricated what i said to the wife of the soldier who died in

action and i have proof. sad. wilson stood by her story and raised sergeant johnson, also in the car and heard the president's call actually confirmed congress woman's wilson's account. jones johnson added he did disrespect my son and daughter and also me and my husband. speaking from the white house, the president denied saying what the congresswoman claimed while the white house elaborated on proof of his acquisition. >> didn't say what that congress woman said. didn't say it at all. she knows it. she now is not saying it. i decide not say what she said. i'd like her to make the statement again because i did not say what she said. i had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife who sounded like a lovely woman. did not say what the congress woman said and most people aren't too surprised to hear

that. >> let her make her statement again and you'll find out. okay. let her make her statement again and you'll find out. >> what proof does president trump have when he says congresswoman wilson is not telling the truth? are there reportings of. >> no, but there were several people in the room from the administration that were on the call, including the chief of staff, general john kelly. >> this is a president who wanted to call and offer condolences to the family. to try to create something from that that is congresswoman is doing is appalling and disgusting. >> there's more to the story. the miami herald reporting this morning it was not unusual for congresswoman wilson to be with the johnson family when they received the president's call on the way to meet the fallen soldiers body. locals tell the paper the four terms congresswoman and state rep has been known to take a

hand on approach towards constituents who suffered a loss. in the wake of republicans dealing with the president, wilson capitol hill office staff reportedly notified authorities of receiving multiple threatening phone calls. meanwhile growing confusion around the mission and the delaydela delayed response. white house says protocol is the reason it took nearly two weeks to contact the families of the men killed in the ambush. and also why trump did not publically address it until this week. take a listen. >> president said before there is a protocol for that. there's also we did make public remarks from the administration. i know i did in short order after that happened from the podium at the direction of the -- at the direction of the president and i speak on his behalf. i did that on behalf of the president and the administration. >> however, politico has obtained a draft statement written the day after the ambush by national security counsel

staffer meant for the president to release. unclear why the statement has not been publically issued. reads in part, quote, melania and i are heart broken at the news that three u.s. service member were killed in nigeria. we offer deepest condolence es to families and friends of brave american soldiers and patriots. nay will remain in thoughts and prayers. at the time it was drafted, it was still unknown that david johnson was killed. his body was recovered two days after the ambush. >> to add to the confusion, defense official tells nbc news, it is still unclear who flew the rescue helicopter after the attack. u.s. military first said it was the french military. then the u.s. military. now it may have been a u.s. contractor. now the chairman of the senate armed services committee is demanding answers and telling reporters that the administration has not been upfront about what happened.

meanwhile, the pentagon has sent a team to niger as a part of inquiry and review of the facts regarding the incident. there is now an operational pause in the area. joining us from washington, jacqueline, good morning to you. the president obviously in the middle of this big feud over how and when he reached out to david johnson's family. your party at politico got ahold of a statement drafted by the president to deliver two weeks ago. what happened. why was that statement never read. not clear why the statement was never released, had it been, it likely would have avoided this big headache for the administration. it was typical condolences to your family. typical statement the administration would put out, but in this case, it was never released and not clear if that was an oversight, accident, or intentional for some reason. >> so four lives lost here. incredibly tragic situation.

when are we going to learn more as to what exactly happened. >> there's no clear timeline yet for when the pentagon's investigation to this will wrap up. i will expect when it does, we see a briefing to congress. a closed briefing to congress because senator john mccain has been asking questions and going to look at things like why they were attacked. whether help arrived fast enough and why the body of sergeant johnson was found so many days later. what exactly happened there. >> let's talk to you about the ongoing battle in syria. raqqa t capital of isis liberated by u.s. kurdish backed forces. is this a major turning point in the fight against the islamic state or is it just going to be a small drop in the bucket. >> this is absolutely a major turning point, but it does not mean the end of the fight against isis. they're going to revert to more gorilla tactics. more support of international terrorism. a lot of the attacks against the west you've seen inspired and

facilitated. the group is basically going to go underground and lay the groundwork to capitalize on tensions in the region to be able to come back. so people emphasis this is a major victory, but definitely not the end. >> and switching gears and asking about the ongoing standoff between american backed kurdish forces and the iraqi central government which is also backed by the american government. what is that likely going to end up against isis when you have two american backed sides now in a tense military standoff. >> that's some of the tension that isis could be able to capitalize on, this tension between the kurds and other groups. isis could potentially take people disaffected by that and bring them into the group to have resurgence on future. >> isis creates disorder and also exploits disorder. there's a lot of disorder right

now. confusion over health care on capitol hill this morning. senator lamar alexander republican from tennessee and pat timurry, pattyty murry, pat for a period of one year, two years. we will have a very good solution. great solution ultimately for health care. >> i commend the bipartisan work. i do commend. i continue to believe congress must find a solution to the obamacare mess instead of providing bailouts to insurance companies.

>> whether you see it as bipartisan and lamar alexander is working with on it very hard. if something can happen, that's fine. i won't do anything to enrich the insurance companies because right now, the insurance companies are being enriched. >> we think that this is a good step in the right direction. this president certainly supports republicans and democrats coming to work together, but it's not a full approach and we need something to go a little bit further. >> senator ramon alexander who spoke with the president yesterday morning about the bill says trump has encouraged him on the issue. minority leader chuck schumer is criticizing the messages. >> some of the people think the president doesn't know what he's doing around here. i don't think that.

i give him full credit for engineering this bipartisan agreement. he told me he wanted to encourage it. he will review it. i would expect the president to. >> the president won't make up his mind. he keeps changing his mind on issue after issue. that shows a lack of leadership. he said today would benefit the insurance companies. you ought to read the bill before he tweets. he's got to learn that if he's going to just be so afraid of the right wing, whenever they bark, he runs away. he's not going to be able to governor. >> coming up later this morning, senator bill cassidy who says he plans to push his own health care bill again in 2018 will be a guest on morning joe. switching gears, police in delaware captured alleged gunman in a deadly tuesday shooting spree. started yesterday morning. 37-year-old shot five people killing three at workplace.

just outside of baltimore. later in the morning, officials say shot and wounded another person, someone he knew in wilmington delaware. then last night came the news of his capture. spotted him walking around the neighborhood in newark delawa, . delaware. >> he actually took off running. threw the gun and we were able to apprehend him. a person being targeted. she wasn't out there just shooting at people. >> police say he has an extensive criminal background. 42 arrests in delaware alone. police have not yet named a moti motive. still ahead, state of emergency in a part of florida and it has nothing to do with recent hurricanes. why 500 officers are on the campus today. later, attorney sessions

facing tough questions on the ongoing russia probe. so moments of the hearing got heated. those stories and a check on your weather when we come back. for the holidays, we get a gift for mom and dad. and every year, we split it equally. except for one of us. i write them a poem instead. and one for each of you too. thats actually yours. that one. yeah. regardless, we're stuck with the bill. to many, words are the most valuable currency.

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welcome back. today the university of florida gainesville bracing for a speech. a controversial figure who has been called the leader of the so-called a lot right movement. scheduled to speak at the university this afternoon. no one on campus invited him. no one is hosting him or sponsoring him. we needed him by law to come and rent our space because we have opened our space up to the public. he's part of the public. >> university president said he expects more than 500 law enforcement officers on campus today. the total cost of providing security may exceed $600,000.

florida governor rick scott declared a state of emergency earlier this week in advance of spencer's speech. the relief commissioner says players should stand when the national anthem is played before games and also responded with questions about why the nfl declined to change policy to require that they do so. nbc has more. >> we believe the players should stand for the national anthem. >> nfl commissioner roger goodell explained why the lead is encouraging, but not demanding the players stand for the national anthem. >> what we try to do is deal with the underlying and shall try to understand what they're protesting and address that matter. he has not talked about the efforts to bring attention to issues with president trump who has kept the controversy in the spotlight with tweets and comments. the president tweeted again, too much talk, not enough action. stand for the national anthem. >> we're not looking to get into politics. what we're looking to do is continue to give people focus on

football. >> the league's goal is to give the number of players protesting to zero. beyond continued conversation, he did not offer specifics on how to get there. >> i don't think the nfl is going to achieve anything with any kind of mandate. the president tweeting or saying something about this issue every few days ensures it will become a very emotional issue. >> nbc news, new york. colin kaepernick meanwhile has responded to the commissioner not directly, but through retweet. one a quote from maya anglo. when someone shows you who they are, believe them. another read quite supremacy is thinking that ending black protest is a better goal than ending the murder of black lives. >> this is a debate that will be continuing through the nfl season. and probably a lot longer. let's switch gears and talk about weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> looks just as great as it was. in most areas. we have an exception. the storm that we've been

watching and waiting for moved in last night. heavy rain, 3-5 inches in the mountains caused run offproblems. nothing major. minor flooding expected: going to shift further south and northern california. not going quite make to it the areas where we had the fire. san francisco, the finger is santa rosa. may get a tiny rain. also the cascades here in oregon. again, it's a start. at least we'll get a little bit of moisture in the fire zone. beginning of the rainy season. does look like more storms after this. as far as the eastern two-thirds of the country goes, these are the days you just have to get out and enjoy. it's unseasonably warm from texas to the northern plains all the way through the east coast. notice it this morning especially in areas of the sea board. much warmer than it was the last two mornings. changing high. here's the storm system in the northwest. cold front is what will

eventually return everyone back to normal. take a while to get here. 70s from denver to new york. new orleans in the 80s. dallas at 84 degrees. typically temperatures in the 50s and 60s this time of year. friday check the cold front in the rockies. saturday goes to the northern plains. still have 3, 4, 5 days of above average temperatures and warmth and sunshine. everywhere east of the rockies. just enjoy this. it's quite a site and quite a weather pattern. late now, late october. >> it's the kind of news we both like to hear going into the weekend when we work our sixth day. >> sunday, late in the day should be gorgeous. >> perfect. great. beautiful view here in the studio. baseball playoffs in full swing. dodgers first world series ticket in nearly three decades. sports is next. my ancestry dna results are that i am 26% nigerian.

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ever had hepatitis b, a liver transplant, other liver or kidney problems, hiv or any other medical conditions and about all the medicines you take including herbal supplements. taking amiodarone with harvoni can cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. common side effects of harvoni include tiredness, headache and weakness. ready to let go of hep c? ask your hep c specialist about harvoni. welcome back. time for sports. game five of the alc. this was all yankees. hits an rbi single into right field. castro giving the yankees a 1-0 lead. rookie sensation aaron judge, rbi double down the third baseline. rick gardener scores all the way from first base. wasn't all about the hitting. yankees pitcher does his part. shutting out the astros. striking out eight batters in seven innings. he really brought his stuff.

then in the bottom of the seventh, hits the final. blasting a home run patting the yankees already comfortable lead. new york wins s 5-0. this series heads back to houston on friday. national league in game four of the west where the reigning champs chicago cubs are back on their heels. look to clench ticket to first world series since 1988. cubs would not go quietly. snapped 0-20 slump. two solo home runs. one come can go at the bottom of the second and another in the fifth, helping the cubs take a 3-1 lead. justin turner, no stranger terror late game. sends a bomb to left field. pulling the dodgers within one. davis getting down to rookie. ground out to 4, 6, 3. double play. end the game. cubs survived this one. remain down in the series. game five is tonight in the

windy city. let's go to nba. season opener against cleveland cavaliers. celtics all-star suffered dislocated left ankle. tibia after he collided in the air with lebron james. before the celtics home opener against milwaukee. gave a message to fans saying he is going to be all right. the greek freak, the celtics scoring 37. mill causeway kwaukee wins this >> some got freaked out by the yankees stadium. >> you play in the bronx, you got to come with your game. >> got to bring your stuff. still ahead, one of president trump's recent claims falls into question and several news outlets ready to fact check. what jeff sessions did and didn't say during latest round of capitol hill questioning. coming up next.

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welcome back, everybody. it is the bottom of the hour. start with the morning's top stories. following breaking news out of afghanistan. there has been an attack on a military base. out of the 60 afghan troops manning the base, 43 are dead. nine more wounded. six more currently missing.

taliban takes responsibility for the middle of the night attack. following a string of attacks across afghanistan on tuesday. killed 74 people and wounded several hundred more. >> captured the alleged gunman in a two state shooting spree. 37-year-old shot five people yesterday, killing three at workplace just outside of baltimore and later shooting and injuring another person he knew in wilmington delaware. has extensive criminal background have not revealed motive for shooting. president initially praised the deal by lamar alexander and pat timur ray before offing rebuke of the plan.

went before the senate judiciary committee yesterday. spoke with lawmakers for five hours. remained tight lipped over decision to fire former fbi director james comey and ongoing russia probe. >> did the president ever mention to you his concern about lifting the cloud on the russia investigation. >> senator feinstein, that calls for communication that i've had with the president, and, i believe, it remains confidential. >> but you don't deny that there was a communication. >> i do not confirm or deny the existence of any communication between the president that i consider to be confidential. >> why did it take so long. >> the investigation. >> no, the firing. >> you mean why did the president -- >> we knew, the president knew

when he was nothiinaugurated th comey jumped in the middle of the e-mail investigation, took the job of attorney general over. that's the main reason he was fired, why did he wait so long to fire comey. >> i'm not sure he ever grasped the full import of that. he asked the deputy, attorney general rosenstein, me for recommendation. that's the recommendation we gave him. >> ahead of attorney session's testimony, president trump weighted back into the controversy over his firing of james comey. sending a series of early morning tweeting including one that's red as it has turned out james comey lied and leaked and totally protected hillary clinton. he was the best thing that ever happened to her. >> russia's role in the 2016 election was a major focus at the senate judiciary hearing. sessions discussed moscow's potential threat to future elections and also taking part in heated exchange on the campaign's contact with russian

officials. take a listen. >> do you think we're doing enough to prepare for future interference by russia and other foreign adversaries in the information space. >> probably not. we're not. and the matter is so complex that most of us we're not able to fully grasp the technical dangers that are out there. we have commercial penetration by some of our toughest trading partners. we've got our disruption and interference it appears by russians officials, people. and it requires a real review. >> that's been the suggestion that you've raised and others that it was somehow we had conversations that were improper. now. >> no, you had a long time senator franken. i would like to respond.

>> we'll note that senator cruz went two minutes over. i don't want -- if you're going to cut me off and so i want to ask you some questions. no, mr. chairman, i don't have to sit here and listen to his -- >> you've the one -- >> without having a chance to respond. give me a break. >> wow. some tense moments there between franken and sessions. all right. cnn report claiming that multiple anonymous white house sources say chief of staff john kelly did not know about the claim that president obama did not call the families of service members who died in combat yesterday. press secretary sara huckabee sanders was asked what kelly knew and when. >> i know he spoke to general

kelly multiple times today. >> did he know he would be raising the issue of his son's memory. >> i'm not sure if he knew that specific comment, but they had certainly spoken about it and he's aware and spoken several times since then. >> can you describe how general kelly feels about it. >> i think general kelly is disgusted by the way this has been politicized and the focus has become on the process and not the fact that american lives were lost. inning he's disgusted and frustrated by that. if he has any anger it's towards that. >> also checking the claim on contact with family members killed in action. >> they asked me that question and for the most part, to the best of my knowledge, i think i've call every family of somebody that's died. >> so you can imagine it did not take long for that claim to come into question. in fact the associated press found relatives of four soldiers

that died overseas during president trump's time in office. they said they never received any calls from the president, relatives of three others also said they didn't even get letters. a "washington post" said they have interviewed the families of 13 of the at least 20 americans who have been killed in action since trump became president in january. about half have received phone calls. the others said they have not heard from the president directly. nbc also confirmed "the washington post" report that one grieving military father who did hear from trump said he was offered $25,000 from the president. now chris whose son was killed in june, said the president offered to check and help for an online fundraiser after he said the ex-wife would receive the death gratuity. contacted the white house about the account on wednesday morning and officials declined to discuss the events in detail, but in a statement after the story was accomplished, white house post said the check has

been sent. it's disgusting that the media is taking something that should be recognized as a generous and sincere gesture made by the president and using it to advance the media bias agenda. told nbc last night he had not yet received the check. >> back with us in washington. defense reporter jacqueline. let's switch gears here looking ahead to north korea. we haven't heard a coherent plan for the white house in regards to strategy and north korea. how do they tend to go about this. >> i think there's a lot of concern. i've heard from people when you talk to different parts of the administration and get different ideas of the strategy for north korea is and we've seen some of this publically as well. seen the state department, defense department, defense secretary and jim mattis saying diplomacy should be the number one priority in terms of ending the crisis. then oern the other hand you he the president saying we'll see

what happens with north korea. >> let me ask you, very interesting report that essentially says about a handful of excia officials are now running for congress. running as democrats. and obviously all of us recall the president's criticism of the intelligence community when he first came into office. a lot of back and forth. >> i think it's a natural thing that former cia officials would be running. given the focus in the administration in the new cycle on foreign policy and matters of national security. it's something they're prepared to talk about. i think -- i feel like many people what they know about the intelligence community mainly is the russia probe. i would expect the candidates to face a lot of questions on the russian intelligence probe is

and how they came to their answers. some they may be unable to share. >> got a final question for you here. colleagues at politico reporting the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. now considering switching teams to president trump's exstrategist steve bannon. how likely is it that bannon is going to flip some of them. >> many donors are taking a wait and see approach to see if the senate under mitch mcconnell's leadership is able to notch any legislative wins. may be a decision they make after they see how tax reform and health care and how those things go. >> live for us in washington, d.c. this morning. thanks for joining us. virginia governor campaign flier that excluded the democratic. asked for fairfax's exclusion after not endorsing him. due to critical stance on two

proposed natural pipelines. comes as polls show that virginia governor has raised. polls from the recent center has the race in a dead heat while the other poll shows him as a favorite heading into the race. barack obama will join northam. both events are viewed as efforts to reverse. during last year's presidential race. let's turn to business. records keep oncoming in from wall street. the treasury secretary trying to build momentum for tax reform. cnbc joins us live with more. what more can you tell us about this. >> reporter: yes, steven mnuchin, u.s. secretary yesterday said the stock market

could take a big hit in tax reform is not passed. spoke to politico. said expectations of a tax cut have already been priced into the market. also gave a quote, absolute guarantee trump will sign a tax reform bill before the end of the year. as we say, that coincides with the dow going from record to record yesterday. closing above the important 23,000 level for the first time ever. that too comes on the eve of the 30 year anniversary of black monday. this day happened back in 87 when the stock market dropped by as much as 23% during the session. now, let's talk about amazon. the deadline to place a bid for amazon's second headquarters is today. roughly 100 cities across the u.s. have expressed interest in making a run for the second headquarters as big as chicago and new york and small rural areas in pennsylvania. and plans to invest more than $5 billion and hire 50,000 people

for second headquarters. >> and also reports that the ceo of american express is stepping down. can you tell us about that. >> yes, has been at the helm of amex for 17 years. 66 years old and just managed to turn around a financial services company and says now is the right time to hand over the reigns to someone new. that someone new is the vice chairman. 58 and that will be effective from february 8. the news was wildly expected. didn't see a major move in after hours trade thachlt . that is a long time as a ceo of a big company, 17 years. taking bets on where we think the headquarters. >> atlanta. i lived in atlanta for a long time. it's a progressive city. it's growing. >> big airport. >> great place for amazon. >> we'll find out soon. still ahead, terrifying

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and we covered it, july first, twenty-fifteen. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ welcome back. meteorologist bill karins. what do you got. >> on the slow weather days. get beautiful weather patterns like this. a good time taking a step back and seeing where we are with the climate. this is where we are. 2017 low where we stand right now. shows you the red areas much warmer or record warmer than normal. blue shows you record colder. much colder than normal. hard to find blue on this map. one or two spots in the north atlantic and one or two spots in the pacific. much of the globe is averaging above average temperatures. year to date, second warmest on

record. looking to finish number two or three. for the long recorded history of course. the reason what's so shocking about this is last year was the warmest ever recorded on earth. that was el nino. oceans are warmer: el nino is gone. we are in a neutral state right now. the fact we're still on pace for the second warmest globally is very impressive stuff. you know, definitely gets you sitting there looking at it like bad trends. also, the other thing that's going happen is all the billion dollar weather disasters this career. we had 15. just added three with irma, harvey, maria. we had the tornado outbreaks and fires out in california. $15 billion weather disasters. last year we had $15. one more billion disaster would

be the most we've ever recorded. been very dry. drought setting up in the areas of the northeast. hurting the foliage a little bit. rainfall has only been about 40% to normal. a lot of people think it's a little dull this year. most likely because it's been very skbarm dry very warm and dry. >> hopefully some leaves are going to start to turn. >> they're turning, but sometimes they're just dropping. hasn't been the best. >> thanks so much. houston police have released a wild new video in hopes of catching three gunman accused of killing a man on monday. and injuring another before carjacking a woman and her 11 month old niece. you can see the gunman running up on a minivan before dragging the woman out of the passenger side. she tumbles to the ground while crutching the baby, still in her car seat. this is just stunning. one suspect has been arrested. this is like something you would

see out of a movie, really disturbing. >> that is so terrifying to see. all right, sweeping allegations and sexual misconducted by ousted executive harvey weinstein, u.s. olympic star is adding to the stories of abuse. >> reporter: she won gold and silver at the 2012 games in london, but she took perhaps her most important platform on twitter. the olympian sharing her story of sexual abuse. inspired, she says, by the reaction to the harvey weinstein scandal and the me too movement. accusing her former team doctor, larry naser, of molesting her. >> this is happening everywhere, she writes. wherever there is a position of

power, there seems to be abuse. i had a dream to go to the olympics, but the things i had to endure were unnecessary and disgusting. the abuse began when she was 13 and continued during trips overseas. he'd given me a sleeping overseas. he had given me a sleeping pill for the fight. the next thing, i know, i was alone if his hotel room getting treatment. i thought i was going die that night. >> when you hear somebody else tell their story and be so brave, it gives you the strength to come forward and saw, this happened to me, too. >> dr. nassar is awaiting two trials for molesting two patients. he offer nod comment. maroney says it's never too late to speak up. a champion in the gym and now an advocate outside of it. miguel almaguer, nbc news. >> it certainly is never too late to share up.

it's encouraging she is coming forward. >> it's been a powerful read. >> it's good to see she held accountable for his action there. china lays ahead the sweeping vision for road aheadments we have xi jinping's road for the country and what they may mean for his team in office. cd's, baseball cards... your old magic set? and this wrestling ticket... which you still owe me for. seriously? $25 i didn't even want to go. ahhh, your diary. "mom says it is totally natural..." $25 is nothing. abracadabra, bro. the bank of america mobile banking app. the fast, secure and simple way to send money. ...you might be missing to stasomething... ♪ ...your eyes. that's why there's ocuvite. it helps replenish nutrients your eyes can lose as you age. nourish your eyes to help keep them healthy.

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congress in beijing, during his marathon, 205-minute speech the president laid out his view for the future of china as he embarks on his second term. >> it's not a record, joining us now, live from beijing, nbc news correspondent had to sit through the entire speech, is that correct? >> every minute. >> considering china's foreign policy issues, north korea trade, so many issues, where does he see himself as the countries roll on the world stage going forward? >> well, this particular ep e exercise is about consolidating the pow ore of xi jinping. in the speech, he talked about global security and the alleges and mostly he focused on china's greatness and a new era for socialism. already, he is said to have the tightest grip on china in some

30 years, perhaps the most power leader hins mao tse dong. he has almost complete control over the internet, religion, culture and boosted under surveillance. this is important about the u.s.-china relationship. china's influence is rising at a time when president trump's approach's spoils america first. so this is the sort of power structure that president trump will be coming into when he makes his first state visit to china november 8th. the timing is happening just after this conference confirms xi jinping as the all powerful leader of this country. >> thank you for joining us coming up next, much more over the controversy of president trump's canceling of the

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the best hand selected picks this fall. >> let's talk about the stories you will be hearing about in the day ahead. >> president trump will welcome the governor of puerto rico with the island's hurricane recovery efforts slightly dominating that conversation. later in the evening, he will take part in a gala dinner hop noring first lady melania trump meanwhile, mr. obama will start the day in new jersey lending his support to the democratic nominee for governor there. he heads to virginia to help nominee for governor in that state "morning joe" starts right now. >> this was a president who loves our country very much, who has the greatest level of respect for men and women in the uniform and wanted to call and offer condolences to the family.

i think to try to create something from that, that the congress woman is doing is, frankly, appalling and disgusting. >> the white house fights back at the notion that president trump is putting politics into the deaths of american soldiers. we will break down the very latest to his reaction to the deadly ambush to u.s. troops overseas, amid growing questions about the mission, itself, meanwhile the president was for a bipartisan health care proposal before he was against it. the last time between the two polar opposite position, about 20 hours, good morning, everyone, it's thursday, october 19th. with us, we have veteran columnist and msnbc contributor mike barnicle, mark halperin, former fbi special agent and msnbc contributor clint watts and national contributor reporter for nbc news carol lee. joe, before we dive