♪ you better watch out ♪ you better not cry ♪ you better not lie to the fbi ♪ ♪ robert mueller's coming to town ♪ ♪ robert mueller's coming to town ♪ ♪ robert mueller's coming to town ♪ just days after michael flynn admitted to the fbi, there are new questions whether president trump has tweeted himself into legal trouble. white house lawyers are now offering different arguments of obstruction of justice paul manafort was confined to

his home. he was working on an op-ed piece and they have ties. roy moore is jumping back into the fundraising race as well. [ music playing ] good morning, everyone, good morning this morning there are new questions of obstruction of justice. on saturday he tweeted. i had to fire general flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. the tweet caused an uproar, it suggested that president trump actually knew michael flynn had committed a felony by lying to the fbi, but the president's personal lawyer john dowd stepped in claiming he was the one that wrote the tweet, not the president. now dowd has revealed potential

legal defense in the ongoing russia probe telling nbc news it's ignorant to say the tweet admitted obstruction. >> that argues, quote the president no not obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under article 2 and has every right to view any case. last night ty cobb handled the inquiry sedaned himself from that argument telling nbc news i expect a fact-based exoneration that does not cover that legal strategy. all right, paul upon a for the's bid hit a snag. prosecutorss filed an objection citing his recent efforts to write an opinion piece about his work in ukraine about a man believed to be livinged to the russian intelligence, they were

writing the op-ed as recently as last thursday t. government says it was written in english and the plan was to have it published in an unknown organization. we are told a draft has been filed under seal with the court. a spokesman for man for the declined to comment. >> there are new involvement with k.t. mcfarlane, last week the "times" wrote she wrote russia had quote thrown the election to donald trump. now the "time's" reports that information in that e-mail contradicts statements what she knew about michael flynn's contact with sergei kislyak. according to "time's" cory booker questioned mcfarlane in july whether she spoke with flynn with kislyak before he took office. she reported thinkly said i am

notice ae ware of any of the issues above. according to e-mail chain, mcfarlanes with aware of the phone call, reportedly writing hours before the conversation, quote, general flynn is talking to the russian ambassador this evening. well, that conversation was the same day the u.s. sanctioned russia for meddling in the u.s. election and it's the same conversation that flynn has pled guilty of lying about to the football fib. the "time's" attempts to reach mcfarlane were unsuccessful. to alabama, a week away from election day, roy moore received a key endorsement. the white house said they endorsed moore, because he wants someone in the senate to follow his again da. he offered his full support and told the alabama judge, go get 'em, roy, the washington published a report from debbie

watson gibson who previously claims moore dated her when she was 17-years-old and he was 34-years-old, offering new evidence. >> i came across a high school graduation card from roy moore. happy graduation, debbie, i wanted to give you this card, myself. i know you will be a success in anything you do, roy. i've known roy moore for many years ago i met him in 1981, we dated for a brief time and we kissed with my consent and i'm very sad to say he didn't know me. he did not perpetrate sexual misconduct towards me, nor did i claim that but i now know for sure he is a liar. >> allegations to sexual misconduct, roy's denials caused some to do an about face t. republican national committee which pulled its funding and ground support for moore earlier

announced it would reinstate its support saying it would spend over $1 million to help him in the final week of his campaign. republicans on the hill remain split. >> i would support him, will support him. it's a numbers game, i want republicans to maintain control. >> i still think it's unfortunate. we are going to have a tough enough time in the coming years and being the party of roy moore is not going to help. >> if he did what has been alleged, i still think he should drop out. he, of course, denies it. it's up to the people of alabama now and once the people of alabama agree, he will be seated. he has to be. >> former republican candidate mitt romney took issue with republicans backing moore, tweeting yesterday, roy moore and the u.s. senate would be a stain on the gop and on the nation.

lee corfman and the courageous heroes, no wovote is worth our integri integrity. >> nbc news' vaughan hilliard, great to have you join us, let's talk about the news that president trump has given a full endorsement of roy moore. the rnc is fully supporting him now with their fund raising capabilities. how are alabama voters reacting to those two pretty significant developments? >>. >> good morning, the story sounds like one we watched unfold onyear ago. this morning in alabama, which steve bannon is supposed to appear with roy moore, when you talk with voters here the sentiment is not that different tan what we heard in previous weeks. we have been careful to steer away from polls. it's a difficult state to poll where this race is headed.

i want to point out a poll about 77% of republicans did not believe the allegations against roy poor. that's what's significant. that's what we've heard on the ground. now with the backing of the president of the united states, who will remind you, received double the vote total that hillary clinton did last november, it's significant. because it's validation that essentially for a republican senate in this administration in washington, d.c., they need roy moore, despite these allegations, which donald trump seems to question himself, ultnatalie, when we are seconds, days away, he's pushed that focus on it. >> i think it's shocking to see both these endorsements. steve bannon will join roy moore at a campaign rally tonight whamplt do we expect to hear from him? >> reporter: steve bannon was the one that did not step away from roy moore when these allegations first came out. i spoke to his aide, he said he is sticking by him.

roy moore is a catalyst for this move. that roy moore has become a part of. he was his first victory in defeating luther strange two months ago. what i should no want to note about this tonight as well as donald trump's appearance, this is backing a candidate that has little operation in this state. i mean, it's essentially a ghoeft campaign. they have six staffs on the groundingthere is no canvassing, essentially it's a republican candidate banking on winning this race compared on name compared to democrat doug jones running an all out campaign across the state. >> it's remarkable with the sexual harassment reckoning in the country, mou how people are acceptable of believing the women except in roy moore. >> it specs to the pace that trump still has in this country. >> vaughan hilliard, thank you. well the supreme court aloud

late yesterday on president trump's travel ban. legal challenges are heard by lower courts. it keeps restrictions on five of the six nation, including his original order, which were iran, libya somalia and yemen. it lifts restriction on sudan. it also blocks the issuance of all from north korea and immigrant visas, as well as non-immigrant visas aened visas from chad and blocks visas on government travel from venezuela. two appeals courts are scheduled to hear arguments in separate cases later this week t. supreme court, itself, will visit whether to except close family members witness they hear appeals early next year. >> house republicans are taking the next step to overhaul the tax code. they voted yesterday to formally interwith the senate and recognize the two chamber's

plans as party members race to send a final bill to president trump before the end of the year. nbc news capitol hill correspondent casey hunt has a look at the impact this may have on all americans. >> reporter: at staik, every american family's bottom line. >> we are ostep closer to delivering to the american people a historic tax relief as a giant present for christmas. >> reporter: the nearly 500-page tax bill passed early saturday morning without a single democratic vote. >> can you dell me what that word is? >> if you itemize, your tacks are going up. if you pay a lot in state and local tacks, your taxes are going up. >> under the bill, most american families will see their individual tax rate go down. whether your family wins or loses will depend on your circumstance, american was could do betternd this tax bill include families with children, who will see a higher tax credit. wealthy american wasly avoid the

state tax if the house has its way. >> people who don't itemize have a distinct advantage. >> that will be helpful to them. >> reporter: protesters at the capitol trying to draw attention to those who lose out. those in high tax states lose their state and local income tax deduction, graduates that earn thousands more and americans could see their health insurance premiums go up t. house and senate plan to hold a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two bills starting this week. in a race against the clock with unpredictable consequences for families and republicans in congress. >> donald trump and gop leaders never sold this tax bill to the american people. because it's designed to benefit businesses. >> our thanks, to casey hunt for that report, still ahead, new warnings ahead of president trump's possible announcement

act moving the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. we will go to jerusalem live next. hundreds forced out of their homes after a fast moving wildfire breaks out in camp. . those stories and a check on your weather when we come back. people would stare. psoriasis does that. it was tough getting out there on stage. i wanted to be clear. i wanted it to last. so i kept on fighting.

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welcome back. president trump missed the deadline, yesterday, he announced he was moving the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem or sign a waiver for another six months. every president has signed that waiver stipulateing it back in 1995, including trump earlier this year at a white house says the decision will be announced quote in the coming days. the president is expected to give a speech tomorrow, possibly recognizing jerusalem as israel's capital without moving the embassy outright. >> joining us live from jerusalem, nbc news correspondent ron allen. ron, good afternoon with you

there. your time. if the administration goes through with either option, what does it do to the possibility of peace in the middle east? because on one hand they're going full steam ahead with trying to relaunch peace efforts. but a decision by a lot of people enough would jeopardize that? >> reporter: yeah, that's putting it mildly, as you well know. welcome do your stomping grounds here. it's one big issue. it's jerusalem. and there is probably no bigger issue in this conflict with value, political value. it's such a sacred place. the bottom line is the israelis want president trump to reverse decades of u.s. policy and defy this national community and declare jerusalem to be the capital alone t. palestinians want at least the even half to become their exam of a future state. while there is a process going on, there is no break through or indications that things are moving forward in a very positive manner. there have been almost daily

warnings from the arab and muslim world that president trump should not do anything t. leader of turkey says it should lead to a breakoff with israel. he talked about leaders of jordan, saudi arabia, egypt. she on the phone call with france telling him not to do anything. diplomatic outposts in this region have been told to be on alert for possible unrest. israelis are talking about stepping up security. they say they are prepared for the eventualliteventuallity. president trump is very unpredictable. no one know what is he will do. >> all these countries are warning the u.s. as we've seen in places like with the climate change, that is even possibly more for the trump administration and the iran is more reason. >> it may cause widespread -- chaos not to be an alarmist aboutt throughout the middle east. let's get a check on your

weather with nbc meteorologist bill kierans. severe wildfires in california this morning. >> reporter: that's been the story we have been following all morning long. this sven chur ra, a lot of the people have evacuated. they are comparing it to the santa rosa fire. remember how many structures burned and people died. it's moving rapidly, it's 40-to-60 miles per hour overnight. they are doing water drops in the downtown area of ventura. there were palm trees on fire outside of city hall. they are doing fire containment lines to try to protect the ventura high school n. santa paula, that has a fire near it, too. evac weighings are ongoing. there was a report on the scanner won of the battalion chiefs was hit by another vehicle. they have an ambulance trying to get him. there are no reports of

fatalities, but there have been numerous ambulance could to scenes, people are trapped by fire. it's burn, almost right down towards the water and towards the oaks. so here's the map. this is the critical and extreme fire conditions. here's santa barbara, the area of concern is right in here near ventura. gusts 30 to 40 and the problem that they're going to seet the winds are up high. they stay pretty high. there is 40 and 50 to the purple and the pink. this is all the way into thursday morning the fire crew there, it's an extremely difficult situation. when they do water drops, it's not that accurate anyways, but they feel helpless on the ground. they're trying to save, make these fire lines. they know they have structures burning. they can't even touch, it's so hot and the embers and the windows, this looks like a horrendous situation and i can almost guarantee, this will be one of the biggest breaking news

stories of the day. >> really quickly, is it common to see this, this time of year? >> not into december. we're into the rainy season. it continues to be dry. it's not going to rain for the next week or two. they haven't had rain in southern california yet. >> that res some of the pictures coming in, where the fire started. there is more pictures of structures. we will be bringing you those as we get them in. they're helpless right now. there is one of the structures that disintegrated into the ground. it's burning into the historic area of ventura, into the city. i can't express. >> how far do you think this could go, this could spread? >> they're trying to contain it. it's only a half a mile from the ocean. >> that itself direction the winds are pushing. hopefully they can knockt down with air crews. i have been listening to the scanner, it's heart breaking listening to the fire crews, they keep sending them out, pull them back. they requested 100 engines from

all surrounding communities. they don't typically air drop this strong at night like this. they're helpless, they're trying to do whatever they can. >> bill kierans, thanks, for. that we'll be right back. more people shop online for the holidays than ever before. (clapping) and the united states postal service delivers more of those purchases to homes than anyone else in the country. ( ♪ ) because we know, even the smallest things are sometimes the biggest. even the smallest things here's the story of green mountain coffee roasters sumatra reserve. let's go to sumatra. the coffee here is amazing. because the volcanic soil is amazing. so we give farmers like win more plants. to grow more delicious coffee. which helps provide for win's family. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee roasters. [ click ] [ keyboard clacking ]

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[lagale force winds,s absolute chaos out here! accumulations up to 8 inches... ...don't know if you can hear me, but [monica] what's he doing? [lance] can we get a shot of this cold front, right here. winter has arrived. whooo! hahaha [vo] progress is an unstoppable force. brace yourself for the season of audi sales event. audi will cover your first month's lease payment on select models during the season of audi sales event. . >> welcome back. time now for sport. the bengals and steelers have a history between them. warning discretion theed a veezed to the first quarter, 3rd andp. big ben roethlisberger gets picked off by bengals adam

jones, coughs up the ball after being hit in the head by eli rogers. later on, pittsburgh linebacker ryan shazier suffered a scary back injury after he lowered his head to make a tackle. shazer was carted a tough field and taken to the university of cincinnati medical center. >> that looks bad, where he was diagnosed with a spinal contusion. steelers report shazier will not need surgery and will return to pittsburgh today. however, the violence did not stop as juju schuster hits bur ticketfict. they tied in the fourth quarter with big ben finding antonio brown in the end zone, kicker boswell hits the game winning 38-yard field goal as time expires. steelers win this one 23-20.

but it was a brutal one. all right. meanwhile the new york giants ill received geno smith experiment was a complete fire. the team fired ben mcadoo after posting a loss to the raiders. they told reporters that the decision was not because mcadoo ben benched quarterback eli manning. take a listen. >> i don't think there was any one final straw. i just think that where we are as a franchise right now, you know, we're 2 and 10. we have been spiraling out of control. i felt we needed a complete overall. i don't think there was any event or finaling a that precipitated that. >> following that, our news reports manning will regain his starting job with ten cowboys

host them on sunday. i'm sure he's frustrated. >> especially to see that again to make this point. we talked about it last week, he was second all time in leading starts to have that broken for just one game for a coach's decision, ultimately fired, i think will make more eli manning fans. >> 24 hours not 84. and by the way, i saw that steelers' game that injury looked really bad. we are thankful it wasn't more worse than it was. >> with all the concussions and problems, i think it makes fans wonder about the sport at this point. >> they say he doesn't need surgery, that itself the silver lining in that one. >> thanks, louis. in the wak of sexual allegations, there are new reports that congressman john conyers won't seek re-election. those stories and more coming up next.

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. >> good morning, everybody, it is the bottom of the hour. >> just days after former trump national security advisor at mitted to lying to the fbi, there are concerns whether he tweeted himself. >> he said he had to fire flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi, halle jackson has more on this. >> the president, 2,000 miles from washington unable to escape serious questions about what he

knew and when about his former national security adviser, the president simply saying he feels bad badly. >> hillary clinton lied. they destroyed his life. i think it's a shame. >> setting aside that james comey testified, hillary clinton didn't lie to the fbi the focus now, did president trump obstruct justice and could this tweet be used against him. quote, i had to fire general flynn. he lied to the vice president and the fbi. the problem, if the president knew he lied to the fbi, if he did ask him to lay off flynn like comey says, the president denies, he could open himself up to obstruction of justice charges, some charges democrats are already raising. >> there the a credible case of obstruction of justice against donald trump. >> reporter: now a new and controversial defense from the president's personal lawyer,

john dowd tells nbc news, he's the one behind the president's tweets, it's ignorant to say he admitted obstruction, going further, the president cannot obstruct justice at all. he is allowed to express himself about any case a. president could be in trouble. ask richard nixon or bill clinton who faced impeachment by congress for obstruction. >> the president may not be able to be prosecuted while in office, but it's absolutely relevant whether or not he committed obstruction of justice. >> reporter: so where does this all go next? that demands on what mike flynn is sharing. convicted or cooperating? >> where does all this go? thanks. the republicans in the house have taken the next step towards merging their tax bill as criticisms over a-year-old to threaten to de-fund the process, how republicans voted to

formally enter with the senate and reconcile the two chambers' plans, meanwhile, house speaker ryan has named nine house members who will chair the panel. they will be outnumbered by republicans and are not expected to influence that caucus. they entered the caucus bills to a halt over a short-term spending bill to keep the government opened at the end of the week, dealing an embarrassing blow to the leaders. they say the timing on the vote over a continuing resolution to fund the federal government. take a listen to this. >> we're not enthused about this two-week bill, any spending bill that lands two days before christmas usually means not a

good deal for the taxpayer. we're not in favor of that. >> i think what happens is you may be beyond christmas. have you some time going into january. if you have to do another c.r. that takes you to the first or 26th. you are not threatenned with a shutdown clock right before christmas. i think it it would have a chilling effect on our economy and members' decisions. in the end, it's a more prudent place to put a c.r. >> following the protest, house leaders agreed to extend government funding until december 30th, instead of running out before christmas. new year's eve might be an issue. nancy pelosi and chuck schumer announced they will go to the white house on thursday to meet with president trump to discuss the year-end agenda, including a budget agreement. it comes a week after president trump rips i ripped the two leaders, causing them to cancel a meeting with him. congress has come under fire

that taxpayer money has long been used to pay out settlement and sexual misconduct claims against its members. sun one of those members is now pledging to reimburse taxpayers. last week politico outed him behind a payment to a former staffer of $84,000 t. congressman spoke about the decision to his local district yesterday. take a listen. >> even though the settlement agreement has been paid. i am doing this week to probably speaker ryan or somebody and say, look, here's the amount of my settlement. gift back to the taxpayers. i want to be clear that i didn't do anything wrong but i also don't want the taxpayers to be on the hook for this i want to be able to talk about it and fix

the system without people saying, make, you don't have a right to talk about it or fix it. >> another congressman that has come under scrutiny about sexual harassment is said to be john conyers plans to announce he will not be seeking re-election. conyers a long serving member of the house of representatives rejected ka us to resign from house speaker paul ryan and fellow democrat nancy pelosi. those came after conyers reached the settlement with, came forward to describe the details of the alleged inappropriate behavior a. tweet from conyers attorney indicated the 88-year-old law maker would be calling into a detroit radio announcement 10:15 this morning yesterday, roy moore picked up a key endorser in his race. trump supports moore, saying

democrat's refusal to give one vote for massive tax cuts is why we need republican roy moore to win in alabama. the white house said trump wanted someone in the senate to support his agenda. moore tweeted out later that morning that trump called him from air force one offering his full support and telling the former alabama judge quote go get 'em, roy. well, joins you us from alabama once again is msnbc vaughan hilliard. let's talk about the democrats and how roy jones reacted to the recent influx of the phone and polling numbers favoring roy moore now the president is behind him. >> reporter: he was never supposed to be in this race in the first place the fact that a democrat built up a competitive robust campaign, he has a

volunteer network. i have been to multiple field offices over the last three weeks. they have canvassers, phone bankers, a volunteer apparatus that is substantial. if this weren't alabama you would think doug jones would be out far ahead, looking at signs and activity and comparing that to roy moore, which has very little, if at all operation, he has six staffs, there is no phone banking or van vasing. on sunday for instance he visited nine different churches in the tuscaloosa area. he has been on the campaign trail 11 days in a row, compare that to republican roy moore who has been practically not on the campaign at all. it's note worthy. >> so in speaking of how doug jones, vaughan, had deeper pockets than roy moore shall we say, the rnc now reinstateing it support for moore. this is kind of something he

leads in the last week leading up to the election. >> it's a shot in the arm. they had 11 operatives when theyance elled that with roy moore. they lost out three weeks on gathering data, voter data they can target in the get out the vote period here. it's a question of what roy moore needs, their organic grass roots report. you recall, it's going to be a big hill for doug jones to get over if roy moore can just get a couple elements in here and convince just enough voters to come out to the polls on tuesday. it should be good enough. >> less than a week to go, thank

you. >> president trump traveled to utah yesterday to form ally announce a rollback in the designation of national land as monuments. there is years of stand staircase by some 2 million acres at a rally in the state capital of salt lake city. thousands took to the streets and a number of environmental groups, immediately filed a lawsuit challenging his authority to roll back the land protections, but in a place by his democratic predecessor's bill bill clinton and barack obama. it was well cold by orrin hatch who was at the president's side during his marks, trump praised the seven-term senator, urged him to run for he election in 2018 the reason from politico, frequent critic mitt romney has been preparing to run because he would be retiring.

the president simply said, quote, he's a good man. mitt's a good man. >> you think he wants him to run for senate? >> interesting relationship. >> to say the least. >> the latest on the fast moving wildfires in california forcing one u hundreds of people out of their homes overnight. >> bill kierans will bring us the latest and have a check on the rest of the country as well, stay with us. ♪

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♪ give ancestrydna, the only dna test that can trace your origins to over 150 ethnic regions- and open up a world of possibilities. ♪ save 30% for the holidays at ancestrydna.com welcome back, everybody, the fbi submitted more than 4,000 requests to take back guns from people that failed backgrounds checks t. take-backs were requested be i the fbi after it found individuals had a criminal record, mental health issue or some other problem. it marked the largest in ten years according to fbi record the fbi vets millions of gun purchases each year f. they do not complete background checks

within 72 hours, federal law allows the sale to go forward. it is fought how many safely they executed last year or how many weapons were recovered. >> that the a scary thought to think there are 4,000 guns in the hands of people that should not have them now. let's bring if bill kierans with a quick check of the weather. >> that wildfire out in california is getting worse? . it actually pred all the way, it was moving one football field per second. that's how fast it went and traveled overnight. it's now up to 27,000 acres, num hus homes and structures as we speak. they are comparing there to the santa rosa fire. there are active windy conditions over downtown ventura. at one point people in santa

barra lost power. >> that has been returned. these are pictures from ventura, california. into the city, itself. look at how dramatic these issues are, you don't see homes burning in this. there have been numerous structures. i went to the scanning system, see how they plan to coordinate all the efforts. >> that burned completely to the ground. look how active fire is, the wind is, so those embers have been picked up. they get shot down wind, new fires formed. that's how they spread so rapidly. this is an area, ventura, the one report i heard was lincoln drive, that's this area right here to sunset in here. this is sunset, 50 homes are on fire all at one time, so we will see pictures of ashes, they couldn't get crews to fight these, it was too hot and too big and too much of a fire. so here's the downtown ventura area. this sven chur ra high sch scho located right in here, sorry about that.

this sven chur ra high school right in here. this is also a hospital located right here. they are trying to get all the units at this foothill road right here and pauly street. that's what they told all the crews from out of town to go. they're trying to save everything south of this. north of this, you know, some of this is on fire. some of it's not. this is the fire line and they're trying to save everything south words the ocean. >> when you hear the speed of which this thing moves. >> you are trying to save laves. >> i was in contact with one family that lost a house on cedar street. they told me they saw the flames outside the window, that i got in the car and left. i was going to try to talk to the guy and get him on air with us here. he said he is consoling his son he was upset because he didn't bring a spiderman toy, the house

is destroyed. >> all right. bill kierans, thanks for that still ahead, a top united nations's diplomat heads to north korea amid tension with the u.s. >> we will go live overseas on what, if anything, these talks may do to calm the situation. that's coming up. psoriasis does that. it was tough getting out there on stage. i wanted to be clear. i wanted it to last. so i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. and keeps on working. now? they see me. see me. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you- cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen.

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all right. welcome back, everybody, a top united nations diplomat is headed to north korea for several days of talks. an american is set to meet with

north korean officials, including the minister and vice minister to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. it comes amid a massive u.s.-south korea exercise involving 230 aircraft, including two dozen stealth fighters and roughly 12,000 american troops, joining us live now from beijing, nbc news correspondent. thank you for talking to us. the minister calling the entire incident on the peninsula quote regrettable. what more are you hearing from this? >> reporter: chinese officials are looking to jeffrey feldman and the united nations to bring the situation closer to what has been china's position all along there needs to be a freeze for freeze, both the u.s. and north korea need to step back to deescalate tensions to the point where talks have a point of resuming. jeffrey feltman was invited back

in december. they said they wanted to have a policy discussion. this does come at a time when the u.n. is boosting its diplomatic presence in the region. gutierrez will be in japan meeting with japanese prime minister shinzo abe. for mr. feldman, he is meeting with senior regime officials, not com john eun, still the u.n. is saying they need to open any and all possible channels at this point t. timing of it, of course the u.s. and south korea holding this massive military drill involving 230 airplanes, 12,000 u.s. military personnel, coming a week after north korea says it's tested it's most powerful weapon yet, that, of course, comes in a year of troubling milestones. >> we will have to see if this instance works. so far, none of it has. thank you. all right, coming up next on morning joe, much more on that

growing scrutiny about president trump's tweet with michael flynn and whether it amounts to obstruction of justice. >> time ryan weighs in on the republican tax plan. why he says it's a disgrace. morning joe just moments away. i. lower premiums? extra benefits? it's open enrollment. time to open the laptop... ...and compare medicare health plans. why? because plans change, so can your health needs. so, be open-minded. look at everything-like prescription drug plans... and medicare advantage plans from private insurers. use the tools at medicare.gov. or call 1-800-medicare. open to something better? start today. ♪

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a new product. take a look at this. >> do you have trouble waking up in the morning? need an extra jolt to get out of bed? then try the all new trump tweets alarm clock, the only alarm clock that wakes you up by reading trump's latest insane tweets, which happen every day at like 6:00 am. [ whistle ] >> we need roy moore to win in wak up to trump's latest and insane tweets. >> we need roy moore to win in alabama. the investigation is a witch hunt. i'm getting rid of lavenlg it's a big cold lie. >> the trump tweet ace harm clark, crazy, never sleeps. >> here's the reality to the situation, that is literally our live, though. >> that is true, unfortunately. >> all right. before we toss it over to morning joe, let's get a check on the stories you will be hearing about on the day ahead. >> we start at the white house, we find halle jackson with a look at the day ahead. good morning to you. >> reporter: hey there good morning to you. this morning, we are look tact

start of another really busy da i in washington. up pennsylvania avenue, you have this tax issue worked out t. house and senate trying to square the differences between the two bills on that massive tax overhaul that will affect everybody watching this show right now t. president is keeping his eye on that, on that senate race in alabama. now officially endorsing roy moore as you know accused of sexual abuse, the senate candidate. you've also good that fallout after he said he fired former adviser mike flynn for lying to the vice president and for lying to the fbi. >> that has raised some questions in the mind of some about whether the president obstructed justice what he knew and when. these are some questions the president's personal lawyer is batting down. it will be another extremely busy day in washington and extremely busy week as we keep

an eye on policy decisions, too, like, for example, related to israel, whether the president will later in the week in fact move to make jerusalem, formally the capital the recognized capital. lots is happening. we'll keep an eye on all of it. back to you. >> a lot, indeed. the supreme court is set to hear arguments involving a cake shop in colorado refusing to bake a wedding cake for the same sex couple. they aing argued it violates h religious views, they argued against him in 2018, the engaged counsel sueded on the grounds of sexual allegations there have been called for conyers to step down after multiple allegations surfaced, which conyers strongly denied the "new york times" reporting conyers plans to announce he will not be seeking re-election. that u.s. does it for us.

"morning joe" that's right right now. >> if he can show he did not commit obstruction of justice, he can complete his tomorrows, there are serious allegations that occurred. in america they believe no one is above the law t. president has gotten himself into this fix that is very serious. >> 18 years ago, a u.s. senator by the name of jeff connections thought it was possible for a president to commit obstruction of justice today. >> you know, i think, actually, if you look, it's what separates democracies from dictatorships. >> right. >> no man or woman are considered to be above the la. >> thank god for then senator sessions. >> we have an attorney general who understands that in america, no one or woman is above the law, even the president of the united states can obstruct